Coordinates: 50°22′N 7°36′E

Occupation of the Rhineland

The Occupation of the Rhineland from 1 December 1918 until 30
Occupation of the Rhineland
June 1930 was a consequence of the collapse of the Imperial German
Army in 1918. Despite Germany proving victorious on the eastern
front following the Russian Revolution, the military high command
had failed to prevent the continuing erosion of morale, both
domestically and in the army. Despite transferring veteran troops from
the eastern front to fight on the western front, the spring offensive was
a failure and following the outbreak of the German Revolution the
Germany's provisional government was obliged to agree to the terms
of the 1918 armistice. This included accepting that the troops of the
victorious powers occupied the left bank of the Rhine and four right
bank "bridgeheads" with 30 kilometers radius around Cologne,
Koblenz, Mainz and 10 kilometres (6 mi) radius around Kehl.
Furthermore, the left bank of the Rhine and a 50 kilometres (31 mi)
wide strip east of the Rhine was declared a demilitarized zone. The The Watch on the Rhine, (The Last Phase) by
Treaty of Versailles repeated these provisions, but limited the presence Sir William Rothenstein
of the foreign troops to fifteen years until 1934. The purpose of the Date 1 December 1918 – 30 June 1930
occupation was on the one hand to give France security against a
Duration 11 years, 6 months, 4 weeks and
renewed German attack, and on the other to serve as a guarantee for
1 day
reparations obligations. After this was apparently achieved with the
Young Plan, the occupation of the Rhineland was prematurely ended on 30 June 1930. The administration of occupied Rhineland was
under the jurisdiction of the Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission with its seat at the Upper Presidium of the Rhine Province in
Koblenz.

Contents
Periods
Occupying forces
Belgian forces
British Army of the Rhine
French Army of the Rhine
American forces in Germany (1918–1923)
Siamese Expeditionary Forces
See also
References
Bibliography
External links

Periods
First Armistice (11 November 1918 – 13 December 1918)
First prolongation of the armistice (13 December 1918 – 16 January 1919)
Second prolongation of the armistice (16 January 1919 – 16 February 1919)
 Third prolongation of the armistice (16 February 1919 – 10 January
1920)
1920: Foundation of Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission(10
January 1920, Versailles Treaty paragraphs 428–431)
1930: under the terms of the 1925–26Locarno Treaties, Allied troops
withdrew
1936: Remilitarization of the Rhinelandby German troops under Hitler,
on March 7

Occupying forces

Belgian forces
This consisted of 20,000 soldiers (five divisions)[3] with its headquarters at Aachen,
and with its troops stationed in Krefeld.[4] They were commanded by Armand
Huyghé.

British Army of the Rhine

The British Army entered German territory on 3 December 1918.[5] The British Occupations of the Rhineland and
Saar regions:
Army of the Rhine was established as the occupying force in March 1919. Based at
— blue: France
Cologne, they published The Cologne Post.
— yellow: Belgium
— brown: United Kingdom
— stripes : Ruhr, occupied by France
French Army of the Rhine and Belgium
The French Eighth and Tenth armies originally constituted the French forces — green: Saar, occupied by France
involved in the occupation. The Eighth Army was commanded by General Augustin under the auspices of theLeague of
Nations[1] French forces continued to
Gérard and occupied the Palatinate. The Tenth Army was commanded by General
occupy German territory in the
Charles Mangin and was responsible for the rest of the French zone from its Rhineland until the end of 1930,
headquarters in Mainz. while France continuedto control the
smaller Saarland region until 1935.[2]
On 21 October 1919, they were combined to form the French Army of the Rhine.

In 1919 France stationed between

25,000 and 40,000 French colonial
soldiers in the Rhineland.[6] Some
German women married African
soldiers from the occupying forces,
while others had children by them
out of wedlock (hence the
disparaging label "Rhineland
French troops at the Ehrenbreitstein Bastards")[7] and were considered
by right-wing Germans to German civilians waiting to be
constitute a public disgrace.[8] searched for firearms by Belgian
General Henry Tureman Allen reported to the US Secretary of State that from the soldiers before being allowed to pass
start of the occupation until June 1920 there were 66 cases of formal accusations over Ober-Kassel-DusseldorfBridge.
against colored colonial troops, out of which there were 28 convictions, and admits
there were many more unreported cases.[9] Despite these occasional cases, "the
wholesale atrocities by French negro Colonial troops alleged in the German press, such as the alleged abductions, followed by rape,
[10]
mutilation, murder and concealment of the bodies of the victims are false and intended as political propaganda".
French occupation of Frankfurt occurred from 6 April to 17 May 1920. On the
second day nine civilians were shot by Moroccan troops in an incident outside the
Hauptwache. This incident was used to launch a racist campaign against the French
use of colonial troops, linking the incident with allegations of wide spread assaults
by Black soldiers in the French occupation army on local women[9] including
accusations of systemic rape and other atrocities targeting the German civilian
population and attributed mainly to Senegalese Tirailleurs.[11] The events resulted in
a widespread campaign by the Germanright-wing press, which dubbed them as "The
The March 6, 1923, edition of the
Black Shame" (Die schwarze Schandeor Die schwarze Schmach) and depicted them
Chicago Daily Tribune headlining the
[12]
as a form of French humiliation of the German nation. killing of German civilians by French
soldiers during the Ruhr occupation.
In 1923, in response to German failure to pay reparations under the Treaty of
Versailles, France and Belgium occupied the industrial Ruhr area of Germany, most
of which lies across the river on the east bank of the Rhine, until 1925. Many Germans were
ficials.[13][14]
killed during civil disobedience protests. e.g. against dismissal of German of

American forces in Germany (1918–1923)

The United States originally provided around 240,000 men in nine veteran divisions, nearly a
third of the total occupying force. General John J. Pershing, commander of the American
Expeditionary Force (A. E. F.) on the Western Front, established Third Army for the purpose,
under the command of Major General Joseph T. Dickman.[15] Third Army was assigned to
occupy the northern sector of the Coblenz bridgehead. By July 1919, Third Army was
disbanded, having been reduced to about 8,400 men, and was renamed American Forces in
Germany (AF in G). AF in G withdrew on 24 January 1923, vacating Ehrenbreitstein, which
American soldier on guard
was promptly occupied by the French. at Niederahren, Germany.

Siamese Expeditionary Forces

The Siamese Expeditionary Forcesalso participated in the occupation until 1919 with their troops being stationed in Neustadt an der
Weinstraße, located in the French area.

See also
Free State Bottleneck
Rhenish Republic
Left Bank of the Rhine

References
1. Edmonds, (1943), p. 1
2. Emmanuel Pénicaut. "L'armée française en Sarre, 1918-1930"(http://rha.revues.org/index6363.html)(in French).,
Revue historique des armées, Service historique de la défense.
3. Pawley (2008) p. 39
4. Pawley (2008) p. 41
5. Philip Gibbs on the Allied Occupation of the Rhineland, December 1918
(http://www.firstworldwar.com/source/rhineo
ccupation_gibbs.htm) accessed 11 September 2010
6. Wigger (2010) p. 35
7. Tina Campt, Other Germans: Black Germans and the Politics of Race, Gender
, and Memory in the Third Reich
(University of Michigan Press, 2004), p. 50 f.f
 8. Julia Roos, "Women's Rights, Nationalist Anxiety, and the 'Moral' Agenda in the Early Weimar Republic: Revisiting
the 'Black Horror' Campaign against France's African Occupation roops".
T Central European History, 42 (September
2009), 473–508.
9. "Finds Negro troops orderly on Rhine"(https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1921/02/20/112671939.pdf)
(PDF). The New York Times. 20 February 1921. "Undoubtedly many cases have occurred where many girls or
women have been assaulted by of the French colored Colonial troops...cases which were not included inficial
of
figures...natural desire to keep out..."
10. "FINDS NEGRO TROOPS ORDERLY ON RHINE; General Allen Reports Charges Are German Propaganda,
'Especially for America' " (https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1921/02/20/112671939.pdf)
, The New
York Times, 20 February 1921
11. LES TIRAILLEURS SENEGALAIS ET L’ANTHROPOLOGIE COLONIALE UN LITIGE FRANCO-ALLEMAND AUX
LENDEMAINS DE LA PREMIERE GUERRE MONDIALE(http://ethiopiques.refer.sn/article.php3?id_article=1014),
Hans-Jürgen Lüsebrink
12. La « Honte Noire ». Racisme et propagande allemande après la Première Guerre mondiale
(http://ipr.univ-paris1.fr/s
pip.php?article109), Estelle Fohr-Prigent
13. "Anaconda Standard" (https://newspaperarchive.com/us/montana/anaconda/anaconda-standard/1923/02-10/page-
6?tag=germans+killed+in+ruhr&rtserp=tags/?pep=germans-killed-in-ruhr) . 1923-02-10. "Twenty Germans were said
to have been killed and several French soldiers wounded when a mob at Rapoch attempted to prevent the expulsion
of one hundred officials. Picture shows French guard being doubled outsidethe station at Bochum following a
collision between German mob and the French"
14. "Hanover Evening Sun"(https://newspaperarchive.com/us/pennsylvania/hanover/hanover-evening-sun/1923/03-15?t
ag=germans+killed+in+ruhr&rtserp=tags/?pep=germans-killed-in-ruhr/)
. 1923-03-15. "Three Germans killed in Ruhr
by French sentries"
15. Pawley (2008) pp. 32–33

Bibliography
Edmonds, J.E. (1987) [1943].The Occupation of the Rhineland 1918–29. HMSO. ISBN 978-0-11-290454-0.
Pawley, Margaret (2008). The Watch on the Rhine: The Military Occupation of the Rhineland, 1918–1930. I.B.Tauris.
ISBN 978-1-84511-457-2.
Wigger, Iris (2010). "'Black Shame' – the campaign against 'racial degeneration' and female degradation in interwar
Europe". Race and Class. Institute of Race Relations. 51 (3). ISBN 978-1-84787-414-6. ISSN 0306-3968.

External links
The French Occupation of the Rhineland, 1918–1930
Map of Europe during the Occupation of the Rhineland at omniatlas.com

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