The Rhineland (Rheinland in German) is the general name for the land on both sides of the river Rhine in the west of Germany. After the collapse of the French Empire in the early 19th century, the German-speaking regions at the middle and lower course of the Rhine river were annexed to the kingdom of Prussia. The Prussian administration reorganised the territory as the Rhine Province (also known as Rhenish Prussia), a term continuing in the names of the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia. Following the First World War of the early 20th century, the western part of Rhineland was occupied by Entente forces, then demilitarized under the Treaty of Versailles. German forces reoccupied the territory in 1936, as part of a diplomatic test of will, three years before the outbreak of the Second World War. The Rhine (Dutch: ; French: ; German: ; Italian: ; Romansh: ) is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe at 1,320 kilometres (820 miles), with an average discharge of more than 2,000 cubic meters per second. ... Map of the First French Empire in 1811, with the Empire in dark blue and sattelite states in light blue Capital Paris Language(s) French Government Monarchy Emperor  - 1804-1814/1815 Napoleon I Napoleon II Legislature Parliament  - Upper house Senate  - Lower house Corps législatif History  - French Consulate  - Established 18... Motto: Suum cuique Latin: To each his own Prussia at its peak, as leading state of the German Empire Capital Königsberg, later Berlin Political structure Duchy, Kingdom, Republic Duke1  - 1525–68 Albert I  - 1688–1701 Frederick III King1  - 1701–13 Frederick I  - 1888–1918 William II Prime Minister1,2... The Rhineland (Rheinland in German) is the general name for the land on both sides of the river Rhine in the west of Germany. ... The Rhenish Palatinate (Rheinpfalz, sometimes Lower Palatinate or Niederpfalz) occupies rather more than a quarter of the German Bundesland (federal state) of Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz) and contains the towns of Ludwigshafen, Kaiserslautern, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, Pirmasens, Landau and Speyer. ... Coat of arms Location Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DEA Capital Düsseldorf Prime Minister Jürgen Rüttgers (CDU) Governing parties CDU / FDP Votes in Bundesrat 6 (from 69) Basic statistics Area  34,084 km² (13,160 sq mi) Population 18,033,000... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... The Treaty of Versailles (1919) was the peace treaty which officially ended World War I between the Allied and Associated Powers and Germany. ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...

Geography

The Rhineland includes parts of Germany west of the Rhine river (in yellow), as well as areas on the east bank.

The Rhineland is in the western part of Germany, and abuts international boundaries with France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. The River Rhine forms the region's eastern boundary south (upstream) of a point north of Bingen. Image File history File linksMetadata Rhineland. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Rhineland. ... The Rhine (Dutch: ; French: ; German: ; Italian: ; Romansh: ) is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe at 1,320 kilometres (820 miles), with an average discharge of more than 2,000 cubic meters per second. ... Bingen am Rhein, or Bingen, or Bingen on the Rhine is a modern-day city located at the junction of the rivers Rhine and Nahe in southwestern Germany near the city of Mainz. ...

The southern and eastern parts are mainly hill country (Westerwald, Hunsrück,Taunus and Eifel), cut by river valleys, principally the Rhine and Mosel. The north takes in the Ruhr valley. The Westerwald is a mountain chain in Germany. ... A typical view of the Hunsrück countryside. ... View (from top of Frankfurt) of Altkoenig and Grosser Feldberg For the automobile, see Ford Taunus. ... The Eifel is a hilly region in Germany. ... The Moselle (French Moselle, German Mosel, Luxembourgish Musel, Dutch Moezel, from Latin Mosella, little Meuse) is a river flowing through France, Luxembourg and Germany, joining the Rhine river at Koblenz. ... For the conurbation see Ruhr Area. ...

Some of the bigger cities in the Rhineland include Aachen, Bonn, Cologne, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Essen, Koblenz, Krefeld, Leverkusen, Ludwigshafen, Mainz, Mannheim, Mönchengladbach, Wiesbaden and Wuppertal. Oche redirects here; in darts the oche is the line from which players must throw. ... Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany, located about 20 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia. ... For other uses, see Cologne (disambiguation). ... Duisburg is a German city and port in the western part of the Ruhr Area (Ruhrgebiet) in North Rhine-Westphalia. ... Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and (together with Cologne and the Ruhr Area) the economic center of Western Germany. ... Essen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... Map of the Koblenz region Koblenz (also Coblenz in pre-1926 German spellings; French Coblence) is a city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck (German Corner) and its monument ( Emperor William I on horseback) are situated. ... Krefeld is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... Leverkusen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... Map of Germany showing Ludwigshafen am Rhein Ludwigshafen am Rhein is a city in Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, with about 166,000 inhabitants. ... Mainz is a city in Germany and the capital of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. ... Mannheim is a city in Germany. ... Mönchengladbach is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ... Wiesbaden is a city in central Germany. ... Wuppertal university Wuppertal is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ...

Culture

The Rhineland is an overwhelmingly Roman Catholic region. In Germany it is often pictured as a region with an easygoing lifestyle, characterized by a vivid tradition of carnival, the cultivation (and consumption) of wine and a regional tradition of songs and singing ("rhenish songs") - markedly contrasted against the supposedly "stiff" Prussians and Westphalians. This is an image by which the locals also identify themselves. The valley of the Rhine - a section of which is nowadays a UNESCO world heritage site - with its lovely landscape, its towns and castles has been an object of German romanticism since the 19th century with numerous folktales, legends, songs and poems having been written or gathered about. Among the best-known are "Loreley" by Heinrich Heine and the legend of the Nibelungs. The Rhineland is also known for its cathedrals, monasteries and an outstanding tradition of literacy like e.g. the historic library of Cologne's cathedral, which dates back to the early medieval era. The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established in 1945. ... A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a specific site (such as a forest, mountain, lake, desert, monument, building, complex, or city) that has been nominated and confirmed for inclusion on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 State... The Rock of Lorelei by the Rhine Lorelei Lorelei Loreley sign on the bank of the Rhine View of the Rhine as seen by Lorelei The Loreley (also written as Lorelei) is a rock on the eastern bank of the Rhine near St. ... Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (born Chaim Harry Heine, December 13, 1797 – February 17, 1856) was a journalist, an essayist, and one of the most significant German romantic poets. ... German Nibelung and the corresponding Old Norse form Niflung (Niflungr) refers in most of the German texts and in all the Old Norse texts to the royal family or lineage of the Burgundians who settled at Worms. ...

The political entity

The Rhine Province was created in 1824 by joining the provinces of Lower Rhine and Jülich-Cleves-Berg. Its capital was Koblenz; it had 8.0 million inhabitants by 1939. In 1920, the Saar was separated from the Rhine Province and administered by the League of Nations until a plebiscite in 1935, when the region was returned to Germany. At the same time, in 1920, the districts of Eupen and Malmedy were transferred to Belgium (see German-Speaking Community of Belgium). In 1946, the Rhine Province was divided up between the newly-founded states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate. The town of Wetzlar became part of Hesse. The Rhineland (Rheinland in German) is the general name for the land on both sides of the river Rhine in the west of Germany. ... A province is a territorial unit, almost always a country subdivision. ... i hate erin saunders ... Jülich-Cleves-Berg was a combination of states of the Holy Roman Empire. ... Map of the Koblenz region Koblenz (also Coblenz in pre-1926 German spellings; French Coblence) is a city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck (German Corner) and its monument ( Emperor William I on horseback) are situated. ... The Saar, corresponding to the current German state of the Saarland, was from governed by the League of Nations under the Treaty of Versailles from 1920 until a plebicite in 1935, when it was returned to Germany. ... The League of Nations was an international organization founded as a result of the Paris Peace Conference in 1919-1920. ... St Nikolaus church in Eupen Eupen is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège, 15 km from the German border (Aachen), from the Dutch border (Maastricht) and from the nature reservation Hohes Venn (Ardennes). ... Malmedy Cathedral, built in 1777 Malmedy is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. ... The Executive (government) of the German-speaking Community meets in Eupen Flag of the German-speaking community in Belgium The German-speaking Community of Belgium (German: , short DGB) is one of the three federal communities in Belgium. ... Coat of arms Location Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DEA Capital Düsseldorf Prime Minister Jürgen Rüttgers (CDU) Governing parties CDU / FDP Votes in Bundesrat 6 (from 69) Basic statistics Area  34,084 km² (13,160 sq mi) Population 18,033,000... The Rhenish Palatinate (Rheinpfalz, sometimes Lower Palatinate or Niederpfalz) occupies rather more than a quarter of the German Bundesland (federal state) of Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz) and contains the towns of Ludwigshafen, Kaiserslautern, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, Pirmasens, Landau and Speyer. ... Wetzlar is a town in the German federal state (Bundesland) of Hesse, capital of the Lahn-Dill district. ... Hesse (German: Hessen) is a state of Germany with an area of 21,110 km² and just over six million inhabitants. ...

Today, the German region of Rhineland consists of the states of Saarland, the southwestern half of North Rhine-Westphalia, and the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. North Rhine-Westphalia is one of the prime German industrial areas, containing significant mineral deposits (coal, lead, lignite, magnesium, oil and uranium) and water transport. In Rhineland-Palatinate agriculture is more important, especially the highly valued vineyards in the Ahr, Mittelrhein, Rheinhessen, Rheinpfalz, Rheingau and the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer area. Saarland is one of the 16 states of Germany. ... Coat of arms Location Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country NUTS Region DEA Capital Düsseldorf Prime Minister Jürgen Rüttgers (CDU) Governing parties CDU / FDP Votes in Bundesrat 6 (from 69) Basic statistics Area  34,084 km² (13,160 sq mi) Population 18,033,000... The Rhenish Palatinate (Rheinpfalz, sometimes Lower Palatinate or Niederpfalz) occupies rather more than a quarter of the German Bundesland (federal state) of Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz) and contains the towns of Ludwigshafen, Kaiserslautern, Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, Pirmasens, Landau and Speyer. ... Coal Coal (IPA: ) is a fossil fuel formed in swamp ecosystems where plant remains were saved by water and mud from oxidization and biodegradation. ... For Pb as an abbreviation, see PB. General Name, Symbol, Number lead, Pb, 82 Chemical series poor metals Group, Period, Block 14, 6, p Appearance bluish gray Standard atomic weight 207. ... Coal Coal is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by mining. ... General Name, Symbol, Number magnesium, Mg, 12 Chemical series alkaline earth metals Group, Period, Block 2, 3, s Appearance silvery white Standard atomic weight 24. ... Pumpjack pumping an oil well near Lubbock, Texas Ignacy Łukasiewicz - inventor of the refining of kerosene from crude oil. ... General Name, Symbol, Number uranium, U, 92 Chemical series actinides Group, Period, Block n/a, 7, f Appearance silvery gray metallic; corrodes to a spalling black oxide coat in air Standard atomic weight 238. ... The Ahr is a river in Germany, a left tributary of the Rhine. ... St. ... Rheinhessen (in English: Rhenish Hesse) refers to the part of the former Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt located west of the Rhine river and now part of Rhineland-Palatinate. ... The Palatinate (German: Pfalz), historically also Rhenish Palatinate (German: Rheinpfalz), is a region in south-western Germany. ... Rheingau valley with the River Rhein The Rheingau (in English: Rhine District) is the hill country on the north side of the Rhine River between Wiesbaden and Rüdesheim near Frankfurt, reaching from the western Taunus to the Rhine. ... Mosel-Saar-Ruwer is a German wine-growing-region in the valleys of the rivers Moselle, Saar and Ruwer near Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate. ...

Following the First World War

Following the Armistice of 1918, Allied forces occupied the Rhineland as far east as the river with some small bridgeheads on the east bank at places like Cologne. Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles of 1919 the occupation was continued. The treaty specified three occupation Zones, which were due to be evacuated by Allied troops five, ten and finally 15 years after the formal ratification of the treaty, which took place in 1920, thus the occupation was intended to last until 1935. In fact, the last Allied troops left Germany five years prior to that date in 1930 in a good-will reaction to the Weimar Republic's policy of reconciliation in the era of Gustav Stresemann and the Locarno Pact. Front page of the New York Times on Armistice Day, 11 November 1918 The armistice treaty between the Allies and Germany was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on November 11, 1918, and marked the end of the First World War on the Western Front. ... For other uses, see Cologne (disambiguation). ... The Treaty of Versailles (1919) was the peace treaty which officially ended World War I between the Allied and Associated Powers and Germany. ... Anthem Das Lied der Deutschen Germany during the Weimar period, with the Free State of Prussia (in blue) as the largest state Capital Berlin Language(s) German Government Republic President  - 1918-1925 Friedrich Ebert  - 1925-1933 Paul von Hindenburg Chancellor  - 1919 Philipp Scheidemann(first)  - 1933 Adolf Hitler (last) Legislature Reichstag... Gustav Stresemann (May 10, 1878 – October 3, 1929) was a German liberal politician and statesman who served as Chancellor and Foreign Secretary during the Weimar Republic. ... The Locarno Treaties were seven agreements negotiated at Locarno, Switzerland on 5–16 October 1925 and formally signed in London on December 1, in which the World War I western European Allied powers and the new states of central and eastern Europe sought to secure the post-war territorial...

Sections of the Rhineland bordering Belgium were annexed from Germany by the Treaty of Versailles. The cantons of Eupen, Malmedy and Sankt Vith though entirely German in culture and language became the East Cantons of Belgium. The Treaty of Versailles (1919) was the peace treaty which officially ended World War I between the Allied and Associated Powers and Germany. ... St Nikolaus church in Eupen Eupen is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège, 15 km from the German border (Aachen), from the Dutch border (Maastricht) and from the nature reservation Hohes Venn (Ardennes). ... Malmedy Cathedral, built in 1777 Malmedy is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. ... Geography Country Belgium Region Walloon Region Community German-speaking Community Province Liège Arrondissement Verviers Coordinates Area 146. ... The German-speaking Community of Belgium or Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft Belgien in German is one of several federal communities in Belgium. ...

The French troops especially had become notorious for their harsh treatment of the local civilian population. The French in a clear breach of the Treaty tried to separate the occupied areas from Germany by establishing an independent Rhenish Republic as a French puppet state. Separatist riots were encouraged and supported by the French, who tried to exploit traditional anti-Prussian resentments in the overwhelmingly Catholic region. In the end, the separatists failed to gain any decisive support among the population. The Rhenish Republic (Rheinische Republik), as proclaimed at Aachen / Aix-la-Chapelle, in October 1923, comprised three territories, named North, South and Ruhr, with regional capitals respectively in Aachen / Aix-la-Chapelle, Koblenz and Essen. ...

The treaty of Versailles also specified the de-militarization of the entire area to provide a buffer between Germany on one side and France, Belgium and Luxembourg (and to a lesser extent, the Netherlands) on the other side, which meant that no German forces were allowed there after the Allied forces had withdrawn. Furthermore (and quite unbearably from the German perspective) the treaty entitled the Allies to reoccupy the Rhineland at their will, if the Allies unilaterally found the German side responsible for any violation of the treaty.

In violation of the Treaty of Versailles and the spirit of the Locarno Pact, Nazi Germany remilitarized the Rhineland on Saturday, March 7, 1936. The occupation was done with very little military force, the troops entering on bicycles, and no effort was made to stop it (See Appeasement of Hitler). France could not act due to political instability at the time, and, since the remilitarisation occurred on a weekend, the British Government could not find out or discuss actions to be taken until the following Monday. As a result of this, the governments were inclined to see the remilitarisation as a fait accompli. The Locarno Treaties were seven agreements negotiated at Locarno, Switzerland on 5–16 October 1925 and formally signed in London on December 1, in which the World War I western European Allied powers and the new states of central and eastern Europe sought to secure the post-war territorial... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... The Remilitarization of the Rhineland by the German Army took place on 7 March 1936 when German forces entered the Rhineland. ... March 7 is the 66th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (67th in leap years). ... 1936 (MCMXXXVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Appeasement. ...

Hitler took a risk when he sent his troops to the Rhineland. He told them to 'turn back and not to resist' if they were stopped by the French Army. The French did not try to stop them because they were currently holding elections and no president wanted to start a war with Germany.

The British government agreed with the act in principle, "The Germans are after all only going into their own back garden" Lord Lothian, but rejected the Nazi manner of accomplishing said act. Winston Churchill, however, advocated military action through cooperation by the British and the French. Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC (Can) (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and author. ...

The remilitarization of the Rhineland was favoured by some of the local population, because of a resurgence of German nationalism and harboured bitterness over the Allied occupation of the Rhineland until 1930 (Saarland until 1935). Saarland is one of the 16 states of Germany. ...

A side-effect of the French occupations was the offspring of French colonial troops. These mixed-race Germans were not accepted into broader German society and were known as Rhineland Bastards. They were an object of the Nazi sterilisation programmes in the 1930s. The American poet Charles Bukowski was born in 1920 in Andernach as the son of a German mother and a Polish-American US soldier, serving among the occupation troops. Bukowski describes his father harshly, as making use of his army food supplies to get a German woman (Bukowski's mother) into his bed. This is an allusion to the intentional malnutrition of the civilian population in the time between the signature of the armistice and the peace treaty. Rhineland Bastard was a derogatory term used in Nazi Germany to describe the children of mixed German and African or Melanesian parentage. ... Henry Charles Bukowski (August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994), was an influential Los Angeles poet and novelist. ... // Andernach (pronounced: [ˈandərˌnax], the syllable -ach as in Gaelic) is a town in the district of Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany of currently about 30,000 inhabitants which are named der/die Andernacher (male singular and plural forms are identical), and the lady/-ies are die Andernacherin...

The 1944-1945 military campaigns

Two different military campaigns were fought in the Rhineland.

U.S. Army

For five months from September 1944 until February 1945, the U.S. First Army fought a costly battle to capture the Hurtgen Forest. In terrain that negated Allied advantages and favoured the German defenders, the U.S. Army lost 24,000 troops. The value of their sacrifice has been argued over by military historians. Shoulder Sleeve Insignia of the U.S. First Army. ... Combatants United States Germany Commanders Courtney Hodges Walther Model Strength 120,000 80,000 Casualties 33,000 casualties 12,000 dead The Battle of Hurtgen Forest (German: Schlacht im Hürtgenwald) is the name given to the series of fierce battles fought between the American and German forces during World...

Canadian Army

In early 1945, after a long winter stalemate, military operations by most Allied armies in Northwest Europe resumed with the goal of reaching the Rhine. From their winter positions in The Netherlands, the First Canadian Army under General Henry Crerar reinforced by elements of the British Second Army under General Miles Dempsey, drove through the Rhineland beginning in the first week of February 1945. The First Canadian Army was the senior Canadian operational formation in Europe during the Second World War. ... General Henry Duncan Graham Crerar CH CB DSO KStJ CD (April 28, 1888 - April 1, 1965) was a Canadian general and the countrys leading field commander in World War II. Born in Hamilton, Ontario, he died at Ottawa, Ontario. ... The British Second Army was extant in both World Wars. ... Lieutenant-General Dempsey Lieutenant-General Sir Miles Christopher Dempsey GBE KCB DSO MC (15th December 1896 - 5th June 1969) was commander of the British Second Army during the D-Day landings in World War II. After graduating from Sandhurst Military Academy in 1915 Dempsey joined the Royal Berkshire Regiment. ...

Operation Veritable lasted several weeks, with the end result of clearing all German forces from the west side of the Rhine river. The supporting operation by the First US Army, Operation Grenade, was planned to coincide from the River Roer, in the south. This was delayed for two weeks however, by German flooding of the Roer valley. Operation Veritable was the northern part of the Second World War pincer movement by Field Marshall Bernard Montgomerys 21st Army Group to clear the land between the Rhine and Roer rivers. ... Operation Grenade was the plan for The US Ninth Army to cross the Roer (Rur) river in February 1945. ... The Rur (-German, in Dutch and French: Roer, not to be confused with the Ruhr) is a river in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. ...

Other actions

On March 7, 1945 a company of armoured infantry of the U.S. 9th Armored Division captured the last intact bridge over the Rhine at Remagen. General George Patton's Third US Army also made a crossing of the river the day before the much anticipated Rhine crossings by the 21st Army Group (First Canadian Army and the British Second Army) under Field Marshal Montgomery in the third week of March 1945. March 7 is the 66th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (67th in leap years). ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday. ... Shoulder sleeve patch of the United States Army 9th Armored Division. ... Remagen is a city in Germany in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate, district Ahrweiler. ... General George Smith Patton Jr. ... The First Canadian Army was the senior Canadian operational formation in Europe during the Second World War. ... The British Second Army was extant in both World Wars. ... Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, KG, GCB, DSO, PC (17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976) was a British Army officer, often referred to as Monty. He successfully commanded Allied forces at the Battle of El Alamein, a major turning point in World War II, and...

Operation Varsity was a massive airborne operation in conjunction with Operation Plunder, the amphibious crossings. By early April, the Rhine had been crossed by all the Allied armies operating west of the river, and the battles for the Rhineland were over. Combatants United States United Kingdom Canada Nazi Germany Casualties 1,111 Dead; 1,625 wounded or missing Operation Varsity was an airborne operation towards the end of World War II, intended to gain a foothold across the River Rhine in western Germany as a part of Operation Plunder. ... During World War II, Operation Plunder was the crossing of the Rhine river at Rees, Wesel and south of the Lippe Canal by the British Second Army, under Lieutenant-General Miles C Dempsey, and the US Ninth Army, under Lieutenant-General William H Simpson. ...

Battle Honours

In the official histories of the British and Canadian armies, the term Rhineland refers only to fighting west of the river in February and March 1945, with subsequent operations on the river and to the east known as "Rhine Crossing". Both terms are official Battle Honours in the Commonwealth forces.

See also

• Alsace-Lorraine
• Rhine