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Alsace
Tag
(13)
1914
August
07
French cross the border into Alsace
On 7 August 1914 the French VII Corps crossed the border into German Alsace. The troops took Altkirch and Thann and the next day entered Mulhouse.
08
Key event
French troops take Mulhouse
On 8 August 1914 French troops entered Mulhouse in Alsace. France celebrated, but within two days a German counter-attack forced the French to retreat.
11
Germans retake Mulhouse
After a German counter-attack the French withdrew from Mulhouse, which they had taken only two days earlier. The town was back in German hands.
19
French retake Mulhouse
On 19 August 1914 General Paul Pau's Army of Alsace re-entered Mulhouse after heavy fighting. This time the French held the town for a week.
25
Germans retake Mulhouse for the second time
On 25 August 1914, after the French withdrawal, German troops occupied Mulhouse for the second time. The city remained in their hands until the end of the war.
1915
July
20
Key event
Start of the Battle of Le Linge
On 20 July 1915 French chasseurs alpins attacked the German positions on the Linge ridge in the Vosges. The first assault collapsed under fire from bunkers.
1917
February
14
House of Commons on war aims
On 14 February 1917 Balfour declined to explain war aims in the Commons. London spoke cautiously of Alsace-Lorraine, though its allies went further.
October
23
Barthou becomes foreign minister
On 23 October 1917 Louis Barthou replaced Alexandre Ribot at the head of French diplomacy. Ribot was brought down by a dispute over German peace feelers.
November
15
Alsace and Lorraine a war aim
On 15 November 1917 Lord Robert Cecil assured the Commons that the return of Alsace and Lorraine to France had been a British war aim from the outset.
December
28
Pichon on France's war aims
On 28 December 1917 Foreign Minister Pichon set out France's war aims in the Chamber of Deputies. He rejected the Brest talks and demanded Alsace-Lorraine back.
1918
January
05
Lloyd George on war aims
On 5 January 1918 Lloyd George set out British war aims to trade unionists, demanding a restored Belgium and independent Poland and a league of nations.
November
17
French enter Mulhouse
On 17 November 1918 General Hirschauer's French troops ceremonially entered Mulhouse, returning to a city they had twice had to leave in August 1914.
22
The French enter Strasbourg
On 22 November 1918 General Gouraud led the Fourth Army in a ceremonial entry into Strasbourg. After 48 years the capital of Alsace returned to France.