Editing Rhineland

{{Short description|Historic region of Germany}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{redirect|Rhenish|other uses|Rhenish (disambiguation)|and|Rhineland (disambiguation)}}
{{About|the Rhineland as a region|the historical period from 1822 until 1946|Rhine Province}}
{{Expand German|date=September 2018}}
[[File:Rheinprovinz-1830.svg|thumb|The Rhine Province (green) as of 1830 superimposed on modern borders.]]

The '''Rhineland''' ({{langx|de|Rheinland}} {{IPA|de|ˈʁaɪ̯nˌlant||audio=De-Rheinland.ogg}}; {{langx|nl|Rijnland}}; {{langx|ksh|Rhingland}}; {{langx|la|Rhenania}}) is a loosely defined area of [[Western Germany]] along the [[Rhine]], chiefly [[Middle Rhine|its middle section]]. It is the main industrial heartland of Germany because of its many factories, and it has historic ties to the [[Holy Roman Empire]], [[Prussia]], and the [[German Empire]].

==Term==
[[File:Rheinland.svg|thumb|Coat of arms of the Rhineland]]
Historically, the term "'''Rhinelands'''"<ref>{{cite book |last=Dickinson |first=Robert E. |year=1964 |title=Germany: A regional and economic geography |edition=2nd |location=London |publisher=Methuen |pages=357f |asin=B000IOFSEQ }}</ref> refers to a loosely defined region encompassing the land on the banks of the  Rhine, which were settled by [[Ripuarian Franks|Ripuarian]] and [[Salian Franks]] and became part of Frankish [[Austrasia]]. In the [[High Middle Ages]], numerous [[Imperial State]]s along the river emerged from the former [[stem duchy]] of [[Lotharingia]], without developing any common political or cultural identity.

A "Rhineland" conceptualization can be traced to the period of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] from the sixteenth until the eighteenth centuries when the Empire's [[Imperial Estates]] (territories) were grouped into regional districts in charge of defense and judicial execution, known as [[Imperial Circles]]. Three of the ten circles through which the Rhine flowed referred to the river in their names: the [[Upper Rhenish Circle]], the [[Electoral Rhenish Circle]], and the [[Lower Rhenish-Westphalian Circle]] (very roughly equivalent to the present-day German federal state of [[North Rhine Westphalia]]). In the twilight period of the Empire, after the [[War of the First Coalition]], a short-lived [[Cisrhenian Republic]] was established (1797–1802). The term covered the whole French annexed territory west of the Rhine (German: ''{{lang|de|Linkes Rheinufer}}''), but also included a small portion of the bridgeheads on the eastern banks. After the defeat of the [[First French Empire|French empire]], the regions of [[Province of Jülich-Cleves-Berg|Jülich-Cleves-Berg]] and [[Grand Duchy of the Lower Rhine|Lower Rhine]] were annexed{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} to the [[Kingdom of Prussia]]. In 1822 the Prussian administration reorganized the territory as the [[Rhine Province]] (''Rheinprovinz'', also known as Rhenish Prussia), a tradition that continued in the naming of the current [[States of Germany|German states]] of [[Rhineland-Palatinate]] and [[North Rhine-Westphalia]]. 

In the early 1800s, [[Rhine Province|Rhinelanders]] settled the [[Missouri Rhineland]], a German cultural region and wine-producing area in the U.S. [[State of Missouri]], and named it after noticing similarities in soil and topography to the Rhineland in [[Europe]]. By 1860, nearly half of all settlers in Missouri Rhineland came from [[Koblenz]], capital of the [[Rhine Province]].<ref name="missouriimmigrantwomensettlement">{{cite book |title=Immigrant Women in the Settlement of Missouri|author=Robyn Burnett|author2=Ken Luebbering|year=2005|publisher=University of Missouri Press|page=111}}</ref><ref name="walterdkampfhoefner">{{cite book |title=The Westfalians: From Germany to Missouri|author=Walter D. Kamphoefner|year=2014|publisher=Princeton University Press|page=103}}</ref>

The western part of the [[Occupation of the Rhineland|Rhineland was occupied]] by [[Triple Entente|Entente]] forces from the end of the [[First World War]] until 1930. Under the 1919 [[Treaty of Versailles]], German military presence in the region was banned, a restriction which the government of [[Weimar Germany]] pledged to honor in the 1925 [[Locarno Treaties]]. Nazi Germany [[Remilitarization of the Rhineland|remilitarized the territory]] in 1936 as part of a diplomatic test of will three years before the outbreak of the [[Second World War]].

==Geography==
[[File:Koblenz im Buga-Jahr 2011 - Deutsches Eck 01.jpg|thumb|''[[Deutsches Eck]]'', Koblenz]]
To the west the area stretches to the borders with [[Luxembourg]], [[Belgium]], and the [[Netherlands]]; on the eastern side, it encompasses the towns and cities along the river and the [[Bergisches Land]] area up to the [[Westphalia]]n ([[Siegerland]]) and [[Hesse|Hessian]] regions. Stretching down to the [[North Palatine Uplands]] in the south, this area, except for the [[Saarland]], more or less corresponds with the modern use of the term. 

The southern and eastern parts are mainly hill country ([[Westerwald]], [[Hunsrück]], [[Siebengebirge]], [[Taunus]] and [[Eifel]]), cut by river valleys, principally the [[Middle Rhine]] up to [[Bingen am Rhein|Bingen]] (or very rarely between the confluence with the [[Neckar]] and [[Cologne]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Marsden |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=djtpAAAAMAAJ |first=Walter |year=1973 |title=The Rhineland |publisher=Hastings House |location=New York |isbn=0-8038-6324-1 }}</ref>) and its [[Ahr]], [[Moselle]] and [[Nahe (Rhine)|Nahe]] tributaries. The border of the [[North German plain]] is marked by the lower [[Ruhr (river)|Ruhr]]. In the south, the river cuts the [[Rhenish Massif]].

The area encompasses the western part of the [[Ruhr]] industrial region and the [[Cologne Lowland]]. Some of the larger cities in the Rhineland are [[Aachen]], [[Bonn]], [[Cologne]], [[Duisburg]], [[Düsseldorf]], [[Essen]], [[Koblenz]], [[Krefeld]], [[Leverkusen]], [[Mainz]], [[Mönchengladbach]], [[Mülheim an der Ruhr]], [[Oberhausen]], [[Remscheid]], [[Solingen]], [[Trier]] and [[Wuppertal]].

[[German toponymy|Toponyms]] as well as local [[family name]]s often trace back to the Frankish heritage.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}The lands on the western shore of the Rhine are strongly characterized by [[Roman Empire|Roman]] influence, including [[viticulture]]. In the core territories, large parts of the population are members of the [[Catholic Church]].

==History==
===Pre-Roman===
At the earliest historical period, the territories between the [[Ardennes]] and the Rhine were occupied by the [[Treveri]], the [[Eburones]], and other [[Celtic tribes]], who, however, were all more or less modified and influenced by their Germanic neighbors. On the East bank of the Rhine, between the Main and the Lahn, were the settlements of the [[Mattiaci]], a branch of the Germanic [[Chatti]], while farther to the north were the [[Usipetes]] and [[Tencteri]].<ref name="eb1911"/>

===Romans and Franks===
[[File:Putz119.jpg|left|thumb|292x292px|Roman and barbarian parts of the Rhineland]]
[[Julius Caesar]] conquered the Celtic tribes on the West bank, and Augustus established numerous fortified posts on the Rhine, but the Romans never succeeded in gaining a firm footing on the East bank. As the power of the Roman empire declined the [[Franks]] pushed forward along both banks of the Rhine, and by the end of the 5th century had conquered all the lands that had formerly been under Roman influence. By the 8th century, the Frankish dominion was firmly established in western Germania and northern Gaul.

On the division of the [[Carolingian Empire]] at the [[Treaty of Verdun]] the part of the province to the east of the river fell to [[East Francia]], while that to the west remained with the kingdom of [[Lotharingia]].<ref name="eb1911"/>

===Holy Roman Empire===
[[File:Map of the Holy Roman Empire (1618) - DE.svg|thumb|The Holy Roman Empire in 1618]]
[[File:Bacharach-Merian.jpg|thumb|Attack by the [[Swedish intervention in the Thirty Years' War|Swedish army]] on the Spanish troops in [[Bacharach]] during the [[Thirty Years' War]]]]
By the time of Emperor [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto I]] (d. 973) both banks of the Rhine had become part of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], and in 959 the Rhenish territory was divided between the duchies of [[Lorraine (duchy)|Upper Lorraine]], on the Mosel, and [[Lower Lorraine]] on the Meuse.

As the central power of the [[Holy Roman Emperor]] weakened, the Rhineland disintegrated into numerous small independent principalities, each with its separate vicissitudes and special chronicles. The old Lotharingian divisions became obsolete, and while the Lower Lorraine lands were referred to as the [[Low Countries]], the name of [[Lorraine]] became restricted to the region on the [[upper Moselle]]  that still bears it. After the [[Imperial Reform]] of 1500/12, the territory was part of the [[Lower Rhenish–Westphalian Circle|Lower Rhenish–Westphalian]], [[Upper Rhenish Circle|Upper Rhenish]], and [[Electoral Rhenish Circle]]s. Notable Rhenish [[Imperial State]]s included:
*the ecclesiastical [[Prince-elector|electorates]] of [[Electorate of Cologne|Cologne]] (without [[Duchy of Westphalia|Westphalian]] possessions) and [[Electorate of Trier|Trier]]
*the duchies of [[Duchy of Jülich|Jülich]], [[Duchy of Cleves|Cleves]], and [[Berg (state)|Berg]], forming the [[United Duchies of Jülich-Cleves-Berg]] from 1521
*the [[County of Sponheim]] and numerous further [[Imperial Count]]ies
*the [[Free Imperial City|Free Imperial Cities]] of [[Free Imperial City of Aachen|Aachen]] and [[Cologne]].

Despite its dismembered condition and the sufferings it underwent at the hands of its French neighbors in various periods of warfare, the Rhenish territory prospered greatly and stood in the foremost rank of German culture and progress. Aachen was the place of coronation of the German emperors, and the ecclesiastical principalities of the Rhine played a large role in German history.<ref name="eb1911"/>

===French Revolution===
{{main|Left Bank of the Rhine}}

At the [[Peace of Basel]] in 1795, the whole of the left bank of the Rhine was taken by France. The population was about 1.6 million in numerous small states.  In 1806, the Rhenish princes all joined the [[Confederation of the Rhine]], a puppet of Napoleon.  France took direct control of the Rhineland until 1814 and radically and permanently liberalized the government, society, and economy. The Coalition of France's enemies made repeated efforts to retake the region, but France repelled all the attempts.<ref>{{cite book |isbn=978-0198225645 |last=Blanning |first=T. C. W. |title=The French Revolution in Germany: Occupation and Resistance in the Rhineland 1792-1802 |date=15 December 1983 }}</ref>  

The French swept away centuries worth of outmoded restrictions and introduced unprecedented levels of efficiency.{{citation needed|date=November 2024}}  The chaos and barriers in a land divided and subdivided among many different petty principalities gave way to a rational, simplified, centralized system controlled by Paris and run by Napoleon's relatives. The most important impact came from the abolition of all feudal privileges and historic taxes, the introduction of legal reforms of the [[Napoleonic Code]], and the reorganization of the judicial and local administrative systems.  The economic integration of the Rhineland with France increased prosperity, especially in industrial production, while business accelerated with the new efficiency and lowered trade barriers.  The Jews were liberated from the ghetto. There was limited resistance; most Germans welcomed the new regime, especially the urban elites, but one sour point was the hostility of the French officials toward the Roman Catholic Church, the choice of most of the residents.<ref>Hajo Holborn, ''A History of Modern Germany, 1648-1840'' (1964) pp 386-87 </ref> The reforms were permanent. Decades later workers and peasants in the Rhineland often appealed to Jacobinism to oppose unpopular government programs, while the intelligentsia demanded the maintenance of the Napoleonic Code (which stayed in effect for a century).<ref>Michael Rowe, "Between Empire and Home Town: Napoleonic Rule on the Rhine, 1799-1814", ''Historical Journal'' (1999) 42#2 pp. 643-674 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3020916 in JSTOR]</ref><ref>Michael Rowe, ''From Reich to state: the Rhineland in the revolutionary age, 1780-1830'' (2003)</ref>

===Prussian influence===
{{see also|Rhine Province}}
[[File:Rheinland Regierungsbezirke 1905.png|thumb|''Regierungsbezirke'' of the Prussian Rhine Province, 1905 map]]
A Prussian influence began on a small scale in 1609 by the occupation of the [[Duchy of Cleves]].  A century later, [[Prussian Guelders|Upper Guelders]] and [[Moers]] also became Prussian. The [[Congress of Vienna]] expelled the French and assigned the whole of the lower Rhenish districts to Prussia, who left them in undisturbed possession of the liberal institutions to which they had become accustomed under the French.<ref name="eb1911">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Rhine Province|volume=23|pages = 242&ndash;243|short=1}}</ref> The Rhine Province remained part of Prussia after [[Unification of Germany|Germany was unified in 1871.]]<ref>{{cite EB9 |wstitle = Prussia, Rhenish |volume= XX |last1= Muirhead |first1= James Fullarton |author1-link= James Fullarton Muirhead | pages =  |short=1}}</ref>

===1918–1945===
{{main|Allied occupation of the Rhineland}}
The occupation of the Rhineland took place following the [[Armistice with Germany]] of 11 November 1918. The occupying armies consisted of [[National Army (USA)|American]], [[Belgian Army|Belgian]], [[British Army|British]] and [[French Army|French]] forces. Under the [[Treaty of Versailles]], German troops were banned from all territory west of the Rhine and within 50 kilometers east of the Rhine.

In 1920, under massive French pressure, the [[Saar (League of Nations)|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 January 1923, in response to Germany's failure to meet its [[World War I reparations|reparations obligations]], French and Belgian troops [[Occupation of the Ruhr|occupied the Ruhr]] district, strictly controlling all important industrial areas. The Germans responded with passive resistance, which led to [[Hyperinflation in the Weimar Republic|hyperinflation]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hyperinflation and the invasion of the Ruhr |url=https://www.theholocaustexplained.org/the-nazi-rise-to-power/the-weimar-republic/invasion-of-the-ruhr/ |access-date=27 November 2023 |website=The Holocaust Explained|date=10 April 1933 }}</ref> and the French gained very little of the reparations they wanted. French troops left the Ruhr in August 1925.

The occupation of the remainder of the Rhineland ended on 30 June 1930.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Erster Weltkrieg und Besatzung 1918–1930 in Rheinland-Pfalz: 9. Der Abzug der Besatzungstruppen am 30. Juni 1930 |trans-title=The First World War and the Occupation 1918–1930 in Rhineland-Palatinate: 9. The withdrawal of the occupying troops on 30 June 1930 |url=https://www.1914-1930-rlp.de/staedte-doerfer/worms-1918-1930/9-der-abzug-der-besatzungstruppen-am-30-juni-1930.html#a3 |access-date=21 November 2023 |website=regionalgeschichte.net |language=de}}</ref>

{{main|Remilitarization of the Rhineland}}

On 7 March 1936, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, German troops marched into the Rhineland and other regions along the Rhine.  German territory west of the Rhine had been off-limits to the German military.

In 1945, the Rhineland was the scene of [[Rhineland Offensive|major fighting]] as the Allied forces overwhelmed the German defenders.<ref>Ken Ford, ''The Rhineland 1945: The Last Killing Ground in the West'' (Osprey, 2000)</ref>

===Post-1946===
In 1946, the Rhineland was divided into the newly founded states of [[Hesse]], [[North Rhine-Westphalia]], and [[Rhineland-Palatinate]]. North Rhine-Westphalia is one of the prime German industrial areas, containing significant mineral deposits ([[coal]], [[lead]], [[lignite]], [[magnesium]], [[petroleum|oil]], and [[uranium]]) and water transport. In the Rhineland-Palatinate agriculture is more important, including the vineyards in the [[Ahr (wine region)|Ahr]], [[Mittelrhein (wine region)|Mittelrhein]], and [[Mosel wine|Mosel]] regions.

==See also==
{{Portal|Germany}}
*[[Cologne/Bonn Region]]
*[[Lower Rhine region]]
*[[Rhineland-Palatinate]]
*[[North Rhine-Westphalia]]
*[[6070 Rheinland]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |last1 = Brophy |first1 = James M. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GEK3KmbxAQUC |title = Popular Culture and the Public Sphere in the Rhineland, 1800-1850|isbn = 9780521847698 |date = 9 August 2007|publisher = Cambridge University Press }}
*{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MLeiqd3JR-IC |title = The Propaganda War in the Rhineland: Weimar Germany, Race and Occupation After World War I|isbn = 9781780763460|last1 = Collar|first1 = Peter|date = 28 February 2013| publisher=Bloomsbury Academic }}
*{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eq7_AwAAQBAJ |title = Businessmen and Politics in the Rhineland, 1789-1834|isbn = 9781400853786|last1 = Diefendorf|first1 = Jeffry M.|date = 14 July 2014| publisher=Princeton University Press }}
*{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ep20DAEACAAJ |title = The Rhineland Crisis. 7 March 1936. A Study in Multilateral Diplomacy. Introd. By Donald Cameron Watt|last1 = Emmerson|first1 = James Thomas|year = 1977}}
*{{cite book |first1=Ken |last1=Ford |first2=Tony |last2=Brian |title=The Rhineland 1945: The Last Killing Ground in the West |location=Oxford |publisher=Osprey |year=2000 |isbn=1-85532-999-9 }}
*{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cjdYPO6A_KoC |title = From Reich to State: The Rhineland in the Revolutionary Age, 1780-1830|isbn = 9780521824439|last1 = Rowe|first1 = Michael|date = 31 July 2003| publisher=Cambridge University Press }}
*{{cite journal |jstor = 4546146|title = Echoes of the French Revolution in the Rhineland, 1830-1849|journal = Central European History|volume = 22|issue = 2|pages = 200–217|last1 = Sperber|first1 = Jonathan|year = 1989|doi = 10.1017/S000893890001150X|s2cid = 144043871}}
*{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0L5LL6P7y1AC |title = Rhineland Radicals: The Democratic Movement and the Revolution of 1848-1849|isbn = 0691008663|last1 = Sperber|first1 = Jonathan|date = 20 December 1992| publisher=Princeton University Press }}

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