Editing Rhine (section)

===Medieval and modern history===
{{further|Rhine romanticism}}
[[File:Louis XIV crosses the Rhine at Lobith - Lodewijk XIV trekt bij het Tolhuis bij Lobith de Rijn over, 12 juni 1672 (Adam Frans van der Meulen).jpg|thumb|French forces under [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]] [[Franco-Dutch War|cross the Rhine]] into the Netherlands in 1672.]]
By the 6th century, the Rhine was within the borders of [[Francia]]. In the 9th, it formed part of the border between [[Middle Francia|Middle]] and [[Eastern Francia]], but in the 10th century, it was fully within the [[Holy Roman Empire]], flowing through [[Swabia]], [[Franconia]] and [[Lower Lorraine]]. The mouths of the Rhine, in the [[county of Holland]], fell to the [[Burgundian Netherlands]] in the 15th century; Holland remained contentious territory throughout the [[European wars of religion]] and the eventual collapse of the Holy Roman Empire, when the length of the Rhine fell to the [[First French Empire]] and its client states. The [[Alsace]] on the left banks of the [[Upper Rhine]] was sold to Burgundy by Archduke [[Sigismund of Austria]] in 1469 and eventually fell to [[kingdom of France|France]] in the [[Thirty Years' War]]. The numerous historic [[List of castles in Rhineland-Palatinate|castles in Rhineland-Palatinate]] attest to the importance of the river as a commercial route.
 
Since the [[Peace of Westphalia]], the Upper Rhine formed a contentious border between France and Germany. Establishing "[[natural border]]s" on the Rhine was a long-term goal of French foreign policy, since the [[Middle Ages]], though the [[language border]] was – and is – far more to the west. French leaders, such as [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]] and [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon Bonaparte]], tried with varying degrees of success to annex lands west of the Rhine. The [[Confederation of the Rhine]] was established by Napoleon, as a French [[client state]], in 1806 and lasted until 1814, during which time it served as a significant source of resources and military manpower for the [[First French Empire]]. In 1840, the [[Rhine crisis]], prompted by French prime minister [[Adolphe Thiers]]{{'s}} desire to reinstate the Rhine as a natural border, led to a diplomatic crisis and a wave of nationalism in Germany. 
[[File:Royal Newfoundland Regiment crossing the Rhine into Germany.jpg|right|thumb|Allied soldiers of the [[Royal Newfoundland Regiment]] crossing the Rhine into Germany after the end of WWI, December 1918]]
The Rhine became an important symbol in [[German nationalism]] during the formation of the German state in the 19th century (see [[Rhine romanticism]]).
* The song ''[[Die Wacht am Rhein]]'', which almost became a national anthem.
* ''[[Das Rheingold]]'' – inspired by the {{Lang|de|[[Nibelungenlied]]}}, the Rhine is one of the settings for the first opera of [[Richard Wagner]]'s ''[[Der Ring des Nibelungen]]''. The action of the epic opens and ends underneath the Rhine, where three Rheinmaidens swim and protect a hoard of gold.
* The [[Loreley]]/Lorelei is a rock on the eastern bank of the Rhine, that is associated with several legendary tales, poems and songs. The river spot has a reputation for being a challenge for inexperienced navigators.

At the end of [[World War I]], the [[Rhineland]] was subject to the [[Treaty of Versailles]]. This decreed that it would be occupied by the allies, until 1935 and after that, it would be a demilitarized zone, with the German army forbidden to enter. The Treaty of Versailles and this particular provision, in general, caused much resentment in Germany. The Allies' troops left the Rhineland in 1930 and, following the rise to power of [[Adolf Hitler]], the German army re-occupied it in 1936, which proved an enormously popular action in Germany. Although the Allies could probably have prevented the reoccupation, Britain and France were not inclined to do so, a feature of their policy of [[appeasement]] to Hitler.

[[File:Crossingtherhine.jpg|thumb|Soldiers of the [[US 89th Infantry Division]] cross the Rhine in assault boats under German fire as part of [[Operation Plunder]] on 24 March 1945.]]
In [[World War II]], it was recognized that the Rhine would present a [[Western Allied invasion of Germany|formidable natural obstacle to the invasion of Germany, by the Western Allies]]. The Rhine bridge at [[Arnhem]], immortalized in the book, ''[[A Bridge Too Far (book)|A Bridge Too Far]]'' and the [[A Bridge Too Far (film)|film]], was a central focus of the [[battle of Arnhem]], during the failed [[Operation Market Garden]] of September 1944. The bridges at [[Nijmegen]], over the Waal distributary of the Rhine, were also an objective of [[Operation Market Garden]]. In a separate operation, the [[Ludendorff Bridge]], crossing the Rhine at [[Remagen]], became famous, when U.S. forces were able to capture it intact – much to their own surprise – after the Germans failed to demolish it. This also became the subject of a film, ''[[The Bridge at Remagen]]''.
''[[Seven Days to the River Rhine]]'' was a [[Warsaw Pact]] war plan for an invasion of Western Europe during the [[Cold War]].

Until 1932, the generally accepted length of the Rhine was {{Convert|1230|km|mi|sp=us}}. In 1932 the German encyclopedia Knaurs Lexikon stated the length as {{Convert|1320|km|mi|sp=us}}, presumably a typographical error. 
After this number was placed into the authoritative Brockhaus Enzyklopädie, it became generally accepted and found its way into numerous textbooks and official publications. The error was discovered in 2010, and the Dutch Rijkswaterstaat confirms the length at {{convert|1232|km|mi|abbr=off|sp=us}}.{{notetag|name=length}}