Lorraine
Region and former province of northeast France in the upper reaches of the Meuse and Moselle rivers; bounded in the north by Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany, and in the east by Alsace; area 23,547 sq km/9,092 sq mi; population (1999 est) 2,310,400. It comprises the départements of Meurthe-et-Moselle, Meuse, Moselle, and Vosges, and its chief cities are Metz (the administrative capital), Nancy (the historic capital of the old province), Luneville, and Epinal. There are deposits of coal, iron ore, and salt; grain, fruit, and livestock are farmed. In 1871, after the Franco-Prussian War, the northeastern part of the region was ceded to Germany as part of Alsace-Lorraine. The whole area saw heavy fighting in World War I.
History
Lorraine was originally that portion of the empire of Charlemagne which fell to Lothair I by the Treaty of Verdun in 843, and was called Lotharingia. The name was originally given to two areas between the Saône and the Rhine, the northern portion between the Moselle and the Rhine bearing the name Upper Lorraine and the southern portion Lower Lorraine. The latter soon became known as Brabant, and the name Lorraine became confined to the Moselle country.It was an area of constant dispute between France and Germany. In 1736 the French obtained the duchy for the ex-king of Poland, Stanislas, whose daughter had been married to Louis XV. In 1766 the death of Stanislas was followed by the incorporation of Lorraine with France, until 1871, when its northeastern quarter was annexed by Germany, forming one of the three districts of Elsass-Lothringen, or Alsace-Lorraine. After World War I Alsace-Lorraine was returned to the French, but it was annexed again by the Germans during World War II (1940–44). The region suffered heavy damage during both World Wars.
A German dialect is spoken in a part of Moselle département along with French; the rest of the region is French-speaking.
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