L'Alsace Est-Elle Allemande Ou Française? Réponse A M. Mommsen

After reading La cité antique, I knew I found a new favorite author, so I was researching around the internet for other books he wrote.

This little pamphlet, whose title translates into: Is Alsace German or French? was written during the Franco-Prussian war as a response to some letters to the Italian press written by German historian Theodore Mommsen, which justified the Prussians taking the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine by insisting that the provinces should be a part of Germany due to the race and language of their inhabitants.  Fustel de Coulanges demolishes Mommsen's argument that race and language are what determine nationality and shows how other factors are much more important.  Great reading for those interested in the Franco-Prussian war, the aftermath of the 1866 war of the German League against Prussia, and in the historical events and ideas leading up to World Wars I & II.

For those who don't read French, I translated de Coulanges's text into English and posted it online in blog form.  Feel free to check it out here.  I included links to Fustel de Coulanges's original French text as well as to an English translation of Theodore Mommsen's letters, so you can get both sides of the debate.