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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 geographical term originally, it has also acquired some political and cultural connotations, becoming a political entity as the
Prussian '''Rhine Province''', and continuing in the names of the German
Bundeslnder Rhineland-Palatinate and
North Rhine-Westphalia.
The Rhine Province was created in 1824 by joining the provinces of
Lower Rhine and
Jlich-Kleve-Berg. Its capital was
Koblenz; it had 8.0 million inhabitants (1939). In
1920, the
Saarland was separated from the Rhine Province and put under
French administration. In
1946, the Rhine Province was divided up between the states of
North Rhine-Westphalia and
Rhineland-Palatinate.
The
Treaty of Versailles (1919) specified the de-militarisation of the entire area after
World War I 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.
In violation of the
Locarno Pact and the
Treaty of Versailles,
Nazi Germany reoccupied the Rhineland on
March 7,
1936. The occupation was done with very little military support and could easily have been stopped had it not been for the
appeasement mentality of post-war
Europe. The remilitarization of the Rhineland was very popular with locals, however, because of a resurgence of German nationalism and harbored bitterness over French occupation of the Rhineland until 1926.
de:Rheinland
ja:ラインラント
sv:Rhenlandet
