In 1975, the French-German-Swiss intergovernmental agreement created an intergovernmental . Germanys bordering country to the east is Poland. Corrections? Corrections? Maritime borders are not all included. Including all of its territories, France has twelve time zones, the most of any country. The country regained independence in 1918 as the Second Polish Republic, and the border was reestablished. The Rhine forms the eastern border of Alsace on the French side and the western border of Baden-Wrttemberg on the German side. The decisive French victory at the Battle of Fleurus in July 1794 and the founding of the Batavian Republic in January 1795 confirmed the French occupation of Belgium. The Commune was suppressed after two months, and the harsh provisions of the Treaty of Frankfurt were then implemented: Germany annexed Alsace and half of Lorraine, with Metz. The assembly ceased to recognise Victor Amadeus III of Sardinia as the sovereign. Metropolitan France's only land border with a non-Schengen country is with Andorra, while the Channel Tunnel forms a railway link with the United Kingdom. The area was initially part of the Kingdom of France but was acquired by the German Empire in 1871 in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War. The French right wing, commanded by Mac-Mahon and accompanied by Napoleon himself, attempted to relieve Bazaine but was itself encircled and trapped by the Germans at Sedan on August 31. Hindenburg Line is the boundary dividing Germany and Poland. Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France in 1919 after World War I. Grades 5 - 12+ Subjects Geography, Human Geography, Physical Geography, Social Studies, World History Photograph U.S.-Mexico Border A border is a physical or political line that separates geographic areas. The victories of Napoleon Bonaparte in Italy forced Austria to sign the treaty of Campo Formio on October 27, 1797. The boundary then follows a general direction towards south, to the Mediterranean, it reaches the sea at Menton in France and Ventimiglia in Italy. Where is the Rhine River in France and Germany? The Alpine foothills and the Alps are found on the Austria-Germany border. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. It does not store any personal data. The city of Baarle-Hertog forms a Belgian exclave in the Netherlands. It has also sent a warship as . The Republic of Le Saugeais is situated between the towns of Pontarlier and Morteau in eastern France (Credit: Lebby Eyres) The area had its own patois - a version of the French, Swiss and . Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Where is the border between France and Germany? This settlement was finally negotiated by Adolphe Thiers and Favre and was signed February 26 and ratified March 1. The Schleswig border recorded an influx in cross-border movement in the Second World War after many German refugees crossed into Denmark. In 1980 an agreement was signed to define the border into the Bielsa-Aragnouet tunnel,[5] and 1984, during the construction of the road linking the Roncal Valley with Arette, it was agreed a mutual transfer of land of 2710 m2.[6]. Because of its ancient German associations and because of its large German-speaking population, Alsace-Lorraine was incorporated into the German Empire after Frances defeat in the Franco-German War (187071). Alsace-Lorraine was the name given to the 5,067 square miles (13,123 square km) of territory that was ceded by France to Germany in 1871 after the Franco-German War. According to University of California, Berkeley, historian Peter Sahlins, "as a model of French identity, it formed part of a constitutive myth of the state. After suffering a check at the Battle of Wrth on August 6, 1870, the commander of the French right (south) wing, Marshal Patrice Mac-Mahon, retreated westward. 1,177 people on the wanted list were arrested, there were 1,235 breaches of residency laws, 406 breaches against narcotics laws, 205 breaches of weapons laws, 47 cases of falsified documents, and 19 people with extremist backgrounds were hindered from entering Germany. The origin of the international border can be traced back hundreds of years when medieval Slavic and German tribes inhabited the region. It is connected to the United Kingdom by . German Chancelor Angela Merkel and French President Franois Hollande are celebrating 50 years of Franco-German relations in Berlin this week. After the first abdication of Napoleon on April 6, 1814, France lost, by the Treaty of Paris, all its territories conquered after 1792. On October 26, an assembly of Savoyard lites met at Chambry. Learn how and when to remove this template message, "The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Borders_of_France&oldid=1145773598, This page was last edited on 20 March 2023, at 22:30. This article related to geography of France is a stub. While both languages are official languages in their respective countries, the vast majority of people in . This notion was influential among the French revolutionaries after 1790, notably among the Jacobins. Jules Michelet, in his History of France, saw in it a deterministic cause of the history of France. Borders are political boundaries. It runs from the Alps in the north, a region in which it passes over Mont Blanc, down to the Mediterranean coast in the south. Updates? The border then changed after the French defeat during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), where the French Third Republic was forced to yield Alsace-Lorraine to the new German Empire in 1871. The international border is the second-longest that Germany shares with another country, with a total length of 437 miles. The two countries established the French-Italy relation in 1861 when the interstate boundary was created. The tunnel was closed for nearly three years following the fire.[2]. Partition of the Western Alps between the provinces of Gaul and Italy in Roman Empire. English map representing the North West Regions of Italy (Kingdom of Sardinia, Duchy of Milan, Republic of Genoa) and the border with France in the 18th century. The war marked the end of French hegemony in continental Europe and resulted in the creation of a unified Germany. What's more, at a recent NATO meeting, Germany signed a deal with 14 other NATO countries and Finland on a new air defense system called the European Sky Shield Initiative, or ESSI. The Pont Saint-Ludovic / Ponte San Ludovico border crossing point between Menton, France and Ventimiglia, Italy. Prussia started the negotiations that finished with the first treaty of Basel, signed April 5, 1795, by which Prussia ceded to France its territories on the left bank of the Rhine. In 2005 France re-imposed border controls after the bomb attacks by Islamist militants in London. Following the provisions of the treaties of Bayonne, the border is physically marked on the ground by 602 cairns showing the division between the two countries. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. [4][6], "Espaa asume la jurisdiccin de la isla de los Faisanes, la ms pequea del mundo", Treaties of Bayonne of 1856, 1862, 1866 and 1868, "Convenio de 25 de abril de 1980 entre Espaa y Francia para fijar la delimitacin de la frontera en el interior del tnel transpirenaico Bielsa Aragnouet, hecho en Pars", "United Nations - Office of Legal Affairs", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=FranceSpain_border&oldid=1149365751, The Treaty of 1856, establishing the boundary between the provinces of, The treaty of 1862, which marked the boundaries in the provinces of, The treaty of 1866, which did the same from the valley of, This page was last edited on 11 April 2023, at 19:42. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. The following is a list of border crossing points in France (French: points de passages frontaliers, or "PPF") forming the external border of the Schengen Area. claimed and administered French territory, Franco-Dutch treaty on Saint Martin border controls, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=FranceItaly_border&oldid=1133219626, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 12 January 2023, at 19:22. It was created in 1871 by the German During the mandates of the Queen of Spain Isabel II and French emperor Napoleon III between the two countries were signed several agreements by which the border was established:[4], Later both countries concluded agreements under the same point. The Army of the Alps invaded Savoy, part of the Kingdom of Sardinia allied with Austria, and took it with very little resistance between the September 21 and 22, 1792. Germany was able to deliver 380,000 troops to the forward zone within 18 days of the start (July 14) of mobilization, while many French units reached the front either late or with inadequate supplies. France-Germany border. The debate resurged in 1830 at the independence of Belgium and then between 1871 and 1918, when Alsace-Lorraine was annexed and incorporated by the German Empire. France-Spain border. The easternmost point of the border lies at the tri-point where Germany, the Czech Republic, and Austria meet, while the borders western endpoint is found at the Germany-Austria-Switzerland tri-point. Was Strasbourg ever part of Germany? Since Bazaines army was still bottled up in Metz, the result of the war was virtually decided by this surrender. The natural border divided the then Frankish Empire and Denmark. In 1860, the Treaty of Turin links the Savoy and County of Nice to France; the border between the French Empire and the Kingdom of Sardinia was surveyed the following year. France-Switzerland border. These lines, more often called borders, are created by people to separate areas governed by different groups. Spain has an exclave in France, Llvia, in the Pyrnes-Orientales. Bazaine capitulated at Metz with his 140,000 troops intact on October 27, and Paris surrendered on January 28, 1871. A border is a real or artificial line that separates geographic areas. The French built the line of concrete fortifications, obstacles, and weapons installations along their border with Germany during . Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. L doivent finir les bornes de notre Rpublique. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. A significant portion of the border follows the Upper Rhine. After Waterloo, by the second Treaty of Paris in 1815, France was taken back to its 1790 borders and therefore lost Savoy. They correspond to the Rhine, the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea, the Pyrenees and the Alps, according to the revolutionaries. An estimated one million people live in regions found on both sides of the border. The Germans occupied the Italian zone from 1943, and the territory was finally liberated by France in 1944. [4] On December 17, the Convention adopted the Declaration of the French Revolutionary Administration of Conquered Lands (French: Dcret sur l'administration rvolutionnaire franaise des pays conquis), prelude to the annexation of Belgium by France. Later there would be some agreements on specific areas: the agreement signed in Perpignan in 1764, which established the boundaries between Empord and Coll Perts[2] and the Elizondo Treaty in 1785 establishing limits on the height of Aldudes is demarcated and Valcarlos. Most historians of France today reject the theory of France's natural borders. The Battle of Sedan was a disaster for the French. [2] Even so, it was not until 1786 when the idea was again developed. From the Swiss city Basel past Mulhouse and Strasbourg in France to near Karlsruhe in Germany, the Rhine River forms the border between France and Germany. However, Denmark briefly reintroduced border controls on its part of the border during the 2016 European Migrant Crisis, to prevent illegal migrants from slipping in from Germany. The state of Austria was reestablished after the signing of the Austrian State Treaty in 1955. Between Belgian and Dutch Limburg, the border is mostly formed by the Meuse (Maas) river. Upstream of Karlsruhe (48.967N 8.234E. The nine countries that Germany shares its land boundary with are Austria, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, France, Luxembourg, Denmark . This means that, when travelling from the UK to France by Eurostar, French immigration checks are carried out by the Police aux Frontires on British soil before boarding the train, whilst French customs checks take place upon arrival on French soil. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Under the Consulate and the First French Empire, Napoleon expanded France to its theoretical natural borders through his conquests, mainly with the goal of controlling the coasts. First is the Peace of Westphalia (1648), which . Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. It begins at the west tripoint of FranceItalySwitzerland (.mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}455523N 070240E / 45.92306N 7.04444E / 45.92306; 7.04444) near the top of Mont Dolent (3,820 m), in the French commune of Chamonix (department of Haute-Savoie), the Italian city of Courmayeur (Aosta Valley) and the Swiss commune of Orsires (canton of Valais). Three national parks are located along the border: Vanoise National Park and Mercantour National Park on the French side and Gran Paradiso National Park on the Italian side. About 104,000 officers and men were taken prisoner, including both Napoleon and Mac-Mahon. Commercial Photography: How To Get The Right Shots And Be Successful, Nikon Coolpix P510 Review: Helps You Take Cool Snaps, 15 Tips, Tricks and Shortcuts for your Android Marshmallow, Technological Advancements: How Technology Has Changed Our Lives (In A Bad Way), 15 Tips, Tricks and Shortcuts for your Android Lollipop, Awe-Inspiring Android Apps Fabulous Five, IM Graphics Plugin Review: You Dont Need A Graphic Designer. Strasbourg, German Strassburg, city, capital of Bas-Rhin dpartement, Grand Est rgion, eastern France. Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. The country has a land border that spans 2,307 miles in length. The plebiscites were conducted following provisions of the Treaty of Versailles, in the aftermath of the First World War, which Germany lost. The Rhine forms the eastern border of Alsace on the French side and the western border of Baden-Wrttemberg on the German side. Metropolitan France 's only land border with a non-Schengen country is with Andorra, while the Channel Tunnel forms a railway link with the United Kingdom. Shortly after the start of the western border, following the course of the river Bidasoa, Pheasant Island located in the middle of the river has a particular border regime: the island is a condominium whose sovereignty is shared between the two countries determined by if it is the first or the second half of a year.[1]. China has claimed neutrality in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, with Beijing calling for peace in the conflict but it has also refused to condemn Russia's invasion or make any . Moreover, its population was initially enthusiastic over the new French republic, and German rule remained unpopular for some years among the inhabitants, who continued to protest the German annexation. It passes Saarbrcken, Petite-Rosselle, Freyming-Merlebach, Creutzwald (where it follows the Bist for a short stretch), berherrn, and meets the E29 before it terminates at the French-Luxembourgian-German tripoint on the Moselle, near the village of Schengen, Luxembourg (492736N 62208E / 49.460N 6.369E / 49.460; 6.369; chosen as the symbolic site for the signing of the Schengen Agreement between France, Germany, and the Benelux countries in 1985). Historically, the area was at the centre of Charlemagnes Frankish empire in the 9th century and later became part of the Germanys of the Holy Roman Empire, remaining a German territory under various sovereignties up to the Thirty Years War. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The border between France and Germany France shares a border with many countries including Switzerland, Monaco, Belgium, Spain and Italy, but this story is concerned with the border to the east, that neighbours Germany. Most of these were along the borders to France and Austria.[1]. It was created in 1871 by the German Empire after they won the Franco-Prussian War. Both countries were among the founders of the G7, NATO, and the inner six countries that formed the European Union. germany The German military said on Monday it had flown out 311 people so far from an airfield near Khartoum. When travelling from the UK to France by Eurotunnel, French immigration and customs checks both take place on British soil before boarding the train. It's a particularly hilly part of Europe, with a strip of small mountains running from north to south called Les Vosges. The Germany-Denmark boundary stretches 86 miles in length. The border between the two countries dates back to that separating the Kingdom of Sardinia and France during the 19th century. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/place/Alsace-Lorraine, CRW Flags - Flag of Alsace-Lorraine (France) under German occupation (1870-1919), Minority Rights Group International - Alsatians and Lorrainians, Alsace-Lorraine - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. The border continues eastward along the Pyrenees to Andorra ( 423613N 12630E ). The contemporary concept of a border as a sharp, precise line stems from two sources. The two countries have removed border controls along the entire border, in line with the Schengen Agreement, but Germany briefly reintroduced controls on its side of the border in 2016 during the European Migrant Crisis. frontier a zone of contact with or without a specified boundary line. The territory was then returned to France 48 years later after the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. The overseas departments and territories of France are not part of the Schengen Area. Between then and the conclusion of the formal Treaty of Frankfurt on May 10, 1871, the republican government was threatened by an insurrection in Paris, in which radicals established their own short-lived government, the Paris Commune. German losses numbered 460 officers and 8,500 men. Switzerland is situated south of Germany and is Germanys sole non-EU bordering country. France is located in Western Europe and shares borders with Andorra, Spain, Monaco, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium. Prussias defeat of Austria in the Seven Weeks War in 1866 had confirmed Prussian leadership of the German states and threatened Frances position as the dominant power in Europe. After the victory at Fleurus, long debates took place at the Convention to decide the fate of the Austrian Netherlands. The exception is at Marne-la-ValleChessy, where the UK Border Force no longer maintains a full presence and passengers boarding the Eurostar there clear immigration and customs on arrival in the UK. The other parts of the border is mostly on land. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. The Third Reich would forcefully annex the region in 1941 during the Second World War, but surrendered it again after its defeat in the aftermath of the war. Omissions? Maginot Line. East. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Mannerheim Line is the line of fortification on the Russia Finland border. "[6], The theory of France's natural borders was commonplace in French textbooks until the mid-20th century. The term borderlands straddles the distinction between frontier and border and is often used as a synonym for frontier as a zone. Where does France and Germany collide in Strasbourg? In the 1991 Sangatte Protocol, France signed an agreement with the United Kingdom to introduce 'juxtaposed controls' (in French, des bureaux de contrles nationaux juxtaposs, or 'BCNJ') at Eurostar and Eurotunnel stations. In 2003, France signed an agreement with the United Kingdom to introduce 'juxtaposed controls' (in French, des bureaux de contrles nationaux juxtaposs, or 'BCNJ') at Dover on the British side and at Calais, Dunkirk and Boulogne-sur-Mer on the French side. The border follows the Upper Rhine from the tripoint (Dreilndereck) with the French-Swiss and the German-Swiss borders at Basel (47.590N 7.589E), passing between Strasbourg and Offenburg. When travelling in the reverse direction from France to the UK by Eurostar, French immigration exit checks and British immigration checks both take place on French soil before boarding the train, whilst British customs checks take place upon arrival on British soil. The immediate cause of the Franco-German War, however, was the candidacy of Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen (who was related to the Prussian royal house) for the Spanish throne, which had been left vacant when Queen Isabella II had been deposed in 1868. The FranceItaly border is 515 km (320 mi) long. On September 19 the Germans began to besiege Paris. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. [3] The points of paved road crossings between the two countries are, from north to south, quoted in this exhaustive list: In 1999, there was a large fire in the Mont Blanc Tunnel after a truck crashed into other vehicles. In 1995, with the entry into force of Schengen Agreement, border controls for people and goods were abolished, thus ensuring freedom of movement across the border. This territory was retroceded to France in 1919 after World War I, was ceded again to Germany in 1940 during World War II, and was again retroceded to France in 1945. The border starts at the Germany-Switzerland-France tri-point and ends at the German-France-Luxembourg tri-point. The border separates three regions (Aosta Valley, Piedmont and Liguria) and four provinces of Italy (Aosta, Turin, Cuneo and Imperia) from two regions (Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Cte d'Azur) and five departments of France (Haute-Savoie, Savoie, Hautes-Alpes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and Alpes-Maritimes). By 1905, however, many of Alsace-Lorraines Roman Catholics had been alienated by the French republics anticlerical policies, and so they shifted their aspirations toward an autonomous Alsace-Lorraine within the German Empire. Maintaining this signaling runs either on behalf of both states. The French-German border is where two of the most widely spoken languages in the world come together. The Germans had superiority of numbers, since, true to Bismarcks hopes, the South German states (Bavaria, Wrttemberg, and Baden) regarded France as the aggressor in the conflict and had thus sided with Prussia. Thousands of residents who considered themselves French emigrated during this period. The culminating triumph of Bismarcks plans came on January 18, 1871, when King William I of Prussia was proclaimed German emperor at Versailles, the former palace of the kings of France. In addition, the territories of France border an additional 5 countries and territories. The France-Germany border (French: Frontire entre l'Allemagne et la France; German: Grenze zwischen Deutschland und Frankreich) separates the boundaries of France and Germany and has a length of 450 km (280 mi). There are no countries which are between Germany and France. Changes of borders with Nice and Savoy annexed by France in 1860. Human rights groups called the punishment excessive. When travelling from France to the UK by Eurotunnel, after French immigration exit checks, British immigration and customs checks both take place on French soil before boarding the train shuttle. The FranceItaly border is mainly mountainous. It runs from the Alps in the north, a region in which it passes over Mont Blanc, down to the Mediterranean coast in the south. In addition, the territories of France border an additional 5 countries and territories.[5]. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. The border between France and what is now Belgium stretches 620km (390 miles). It has flavors of both France and Germany and sits right on the border of the two countries in the new Grand Est region of France. The Franco-German border can be traced back to the 17th century, and the various treaties following the Thirty Years' War (16181648), starting with the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) and the Treaty of Nijmegen (16781679), marking the Rhine as the frontier between the Kingdom of France, and the different German states. The Prussian Anacharsis Cloots published that year the Wishes of a Gallophile (French: Voeux d'un gallophile) and pronounced himself in favor of the annexation by France of the left bank of the Rhine, "natural boundary of the Gauls" (French: borne naturelle des Gaules). In fact, the war against the United Kingdom rested partly on the ban on all commerce with Great Britain. This article was most recently revised and updated by, The French collapse and the siege of Paris, https://www.britannica.com/event/Franco-German-War, Chemins de mmoire - The Franco-Prussian War, 1870-71, Franco-Prussian War - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). The natural borders of France ( French: Frontires naturelles de la France) were a nationalist theory developed in France, notably during the French Revolution. French Guiana borders Brazil and Suriname, whereas Saint-Martin borders Sint Maarten . [8] Pushed by Merlin de Douai, the Convention feared that a separate Belgian republic, along the lines of the Batavian Republic, would be too weak to resist the British and the Austrians, and would become a buffer state against the French republic. However, most of the current international border was established as a result of the 1920 Schleswig plebiscites that saw the subdivision of the duchy of Schleswig between the two countries. Middle Francia (Latin: Francia media) was a short-lived Frankish kingdom which was created in 843 by the Treaty of Verdun after an intermittent civil war between the grandsons of Charlemagne resulted in division of the united empire.Middle Francia was allocated to emperor Lothair I, the eldest son and successor of emperor Louis the Pious.His realm contained the imperial cities of Aachen (the . Free shipping for many products! The Prussian chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, and Spains de facto leader, Juan Prim, persuaded the reluctant Leopold to accept the Spanish throne in June 1870. It begins in the west on the Bay of Biscay at the French city of Hendaye and the Spanish city of Irun (.mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}432232N 014731W / 43.37556N 1.79194W / 43.37556; -1.79194). Furthermore, France had to pay an indemnity of five billion francs and cover the costs of the German occupation of Frances northern provinces until the indemnity was paid. French Guiana borders Brazil and Suriname, whereas Saint-Martin borders Sint Maarten. The debate over France's borders continued throughout the nineteenth century. The years from 1871 to 1914 were marked by an extremely unstable peace, since Frances determination to recover Alsace-Lorraine and Germanys mounting imperialist ambitions kept the two nations constantly poised for conflict. Linguistically, the German dialect known as Alsatian remains the lingua franca of the region, and both French and German are taught in the schools. The nine countries that Germany shares its land boundary with are Austria, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, France, Luxembourg, Denmark, Poland, Switzerland, and Belgium. France and Germany pushed earlier this week to tighten European Union borders to head off what French President Emmanuel Macron called the "threat of terrorism" after suspected Islamist . These checks resulted in 178 people who had been banned from entering Germany being denied entry. Although Alsace is part of France, its borders have not always been clear. There are numerous rivers that either cross the border or form a part of it including Biela, Elbe, Ohre, and Floha. Germany would later invade Poland during the Second World War, but after its defeat in the war, the border was reconstructed and followed the traditional border along the Neisse and Oder rivers. What three countries are between France and Germany? The eastern end point is the tripoint (together with Germany) at Vaalserberg. According to the plebiscites, the northern portion of the duchy was allocated to Denmark while the southern, albeit smaller portion, was allocated to Germany. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". The Franco-Spanish border runs for 656.3 kilometres (407.8 mi) between southwestern France and northeastern Spain. Geographically strategic, it was fought over for centuries between the French and Germans and Alsace and Lorraine. The border between France and Germany is know as The Imperial However, the two monarchies merged in 1938 and dissolved the border. French is spoken by around 75 million people, while German is the native language of around 80 million people. It established both the German Empire and the French Third Republic.