At the end of each Pharos course students are invited to leave feedback. I review the feedback and try to take on board the comments made. One student felt that there was a lot of attention to history of Europe and it was not going to assist researching their ancestors. The feedback is anonymous, but I do want to respond to the comment and explain why European history matters.

Modern Europe includes more than 50 countries. There are no European empires, all countries are their own sovereign nation, but there are allegiances. The empires, and how they historically coped with war affected the landscape of Europe and by default affected the wider elements of the countries involved.

Here is one such example:

Alsace-Lorraine is a French region; comprising of just over 5,000 acres. The territory includes the French departments of Haut-Rhin, Bas-Rhin and Moselle, numbered respectively as 68, 67 and 57. Historically, the region was part of Germanys Holy Roman Empire, where it was a German territory under several sovereignties until the conclusion of the Thirty Year War (1618-1648) .

• Under the Peace of Westphilia (1648) Alsace-Lorraine pasted from Germany to France.
• Following the French-German war of 1871, the territory passed from France to Germany.
  

  Postcard is in Julie Goucher’s collection. Shows the map of France before the Alsace-Lorraine region was ceded to France following WWI (postcard predate 1914).

• Under the Treaty of Versailles (1919), following the First World War, Alsace-Lorraine passed from Germany to France.
• In 1940, during the Second World War, and the fall of the France, the region passed back to Germany.
• As the Second World War concluded in 1945, the region passed back to France.

In the space of about 300 years, Alsace-Lorraine has moved between France and Germany five time. In doing so, that has impacted on the records and history of the region, and therefore you need to perhaps not just consider French history, but German history too. Remember, our ancestors did not live in isolation of decisions made by governments, whether that impacted on the social, economical or political elements of their lives.

Indeed, in schools both French and German is taught. Alsatian which is a German dialect remains in common usage in the region.

• You can download the Departments of France & Department Archives handout.
• You can read the Understanding France series of posts here.
• You can find out more about the Pharos course, Researching ancestors in Continental Europe here.