Alsace and Lorraine then became French provinces.
When in the war of 1870, we demanded back the district which
had been criminally wrested from us, that was not a conquest
of foreign territory but, rightly and properly speaking,
what today is called disannexation.
It is doubtful that Count von Hertling will ever leave in history the
memory of a great Chancellor; but, if he does, it will be no doubt in
the History of Ignorance and Falsehood. Never has a statesman in so
few words uttered with such impudence so many untruths!
Historically speaking, there are in Alsace-Lorraine three parts: there
is Lorraine, there is Alsace, and there is the southern part of
Alsace including the town of Mulhouse.
As regards the town of Mulhouse, the question is most simple and
clear. The town never, at any time, belonged to Germany or to the
Germans. It belonged to Switzerland and, at the end of the 18th
century, during the French revolution, the town, after a referendum,
decided to become French. A delegation was sent to Paris, to the
French Parliament, then called the _Conseil des Cinq-Cents_, and the
delegation expressed publicly, officially, the desire of Mulhouse to
be part of the French territory. There was a deliberation, and
unanimously the _Conseil des Cinq-Cents_ voted a motion couched in the
following terms: "_The French Republic accepts the vow of the citizens
of Mulhouse.
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