Vintage: Historic B&W photos of Alsace Lorraine, Germany (1890s)
In 1871, the newly created German Empire’s demand for Alsace from France after its victory in the Franco-Prussian War was not simply a punitive measure. The transfer was controversial even among the Germans: The German Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, was initially opposed to it, as he thought (correctly) it would engender permanent French enmity toward Germany. Some German industrialists did…