Alsace-Lorraine

Blumenthal, Daniel, 1860-Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.4

Word count: 63K words
Chapters: 7

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Alsace-Lorraine by Daniel BlumenthalAuthor: Blumenthal, Daniel, 1860-,Language: English, Class: DD: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Germany, Release Date: Jun 2, 2012

Editor's review

This book is Daniel Blumenthal's historical discussion of the Alsace-Lorraine question, a free public-domain eBook from Project Gutenberg. Located between France and Germany, Alsace-Lorraine was long a focus of contention and identity conflict between the two countries; understanding this region helps grasp the complexity of nation-state formation, boundary changes, and local identity in modern Europe. The book is short and belongs to the history category, suitable as an introductory read for understanding the region's historical background and for comparative reading alongside related works on modern and contemporary European history. Readers are advised to first understand the basic outline of Franco-German relations from the Franco-Prussian War to around World War I before entering the text, and to note the author's era-specific standpoint and discursive context, reading critically. The electronic edition facilitates searching place names, treaties, and personal names, and is suitable for note-taking and further verification. Overall, it is better suited to readers with a habit of historical reading as a topical supplement rather than as a substitute for a general history.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in modern and contemporary European history, Franco-German relations, and border issues
Students and researchers needing to understand the historical background of Alsace-Lorraine
Readers who enjoy reading public-domain historical documents and taking topical notes
Non-specialist readers seeking a short introduction to regional history

Not a good fit for

Beginners expecting a systematic general history or textbook-style narrative
Readers interested only in contemporary commentary and not in historical background
Readers unaccustomed to English public-domain documents and needing detailed annotations

Reading tips

First clarify the timeline of changes in Alsace-Lorraine's sovereignty after the Franco-Prussian War, then read the main text.
Mark the author's standpoint and era context while reading, distinguishing factual statements from personal judgments.
Read in comparison with chapters on European nationalism and Franco-German relations to form a background framework.
Use the electronic edition's search function to organize place names, treaties, and personal names, and take brief reading notes.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book suitable for readers with no background?

It is not very suitable for complete beginners. This is a topical historical discussion; although short, it requires readers to supplement background information themselves. Reading will be smoother after first understanding the Franco-Prussian War and the basic outline of Franco-German border changes; otherwise it is easy to lose the main points for lack of context.

What background knowledge should I prepare before reading?

It is advisable to grasp three points first: the geographical location of Alsace-Lorraine between France and Germany, its annexation by Germany after the Franco-Prussian War, and the basic direction of Franco-German relations around World War I. With this background, readers will more easily understand the questions the author addresses and the mode of argument.

What practical advice is there for reading the electronic edition?

The electronic edition facilitates full-text search: first search place names, treaties, and personal names to build an index of figures and events; use annotations while reading to record the author's standpoint and questionable claims; after finishing, verify key facts against other historical materials, avoiding treating a single document as the sole basis.

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About the author

Blumenthal, Daniel, 1860- Author · 1860

Daniel Blumenthal (Blumenthal, Daniel) was born in 1860; the year of his death and the details of his life are unknown, and publicly available information is limited. One work by him is held in the collection, Alsace-Lorraine, which deals with matters relating to that region. Because biographical material on the author is scarce, his education, career, and writing life are difficult to trace in detail. Judging from the surviving work, he focused on a specific regional subject and wrote in a factual, plain style, concentrating on presenting the history and current situation of the topic at hand. This book is the main basis for understanding his writing orientation and offers readers interested in the subject an early textual reference. Given the limited number of his works, his overall influence cannot be fully assessed, and only through this one work can his area of concern be glimpsed.