The Rhineland (Rheinland in German) is the general name for the land on both sides of the river Rhine in the west of Germany. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. The Rhine (Rhein Rijn Rhin Reno Rain Rhenus is one of the longest and most important Rivers in Europe at 1320 kilometres (820 mi with an average discharge Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. After the collapse of the French Empire in the early 19th century, the German-speaking regions at the middle and lower course of the Rhine river were annexed to the kingdom of Prussia. The Empire of the French (1804-1814 also known as the Empire of France, Greater French Empire, First French Empire, French Empire, or Prussia ( Latin: Borussia, Prutenia; Prūsija Prūsija Prusy Old Prussian: Prūsa) was most recently a historic state The Prussian administration reorganised the territory as the Rhine Province (also known as Rhenish Prussia), a term continuing in the names of the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia. The Rhine Province (Rheinprovinz also known as Rhenish Prussia ( Rheinpreußen) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free Germany (Deutschland is a Federal Republic consisting of sixteen States, known in German as Länder (singular Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz is one of the 16 federal states (German Bundesländer) of Germany. North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen usually shortened to NRW, official short form NW is the westernmost and - in terms of population and economic output - the Following the First World War of the early 20th century, the western part of Rhineland was occupied by Entente forces, then demilitarized under the Treaty of Versailles. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All The Triple Entente (" entente " — French for "agreement" was the name given to the loose alignment of the United Kingdom, the The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. German forces reoccupied the territory in 1936, as part of a diplomatic test of will, three years before the outbreak of the Second World War. Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including

Geography

The Rhineland includes parts of Germany west of the Rhine river (in yellow), as well as areas on the east bank.

The Rhineland is in the western part of Germany, and abuts international boundaries with France, Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands. The River Rhine forms the region's eastern boundary south (upstream) of a point north of Bingen. The Rhine (Rhein Rijn Rhin Reno Rain Rhenus is one of the longest and most important Rivers in Europe at 1320 kilometres (820 mi with an average discharge Bingen am Rhein (or Bingen or Bingen on the Rhine) is a city located at the junction of the rivers Rhine and Nahe in the district of Mainz-Bingen

The southern and eastern parts are mainly hill country (Westerwald, Hunsrück,Taunus and Eifel), cut by river valleys, principally the Rhine and Mosel. The Westerwald (ˈvɛstɐvalt is a low Mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate The Hunsrück is a low Mountain range in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The Taunus is a low mountain range in Hesse, Germany that composes part of the Rhenish Slate Mountains. The Eifel is a low mountain range in western Germany. It occupies parts of southwestern North Rhine-Westphalia and northwestern Rhineland-Palatinate The Moselle (Moselle Mosel Musel is a River flowing through France, Luxembourg and Germany. The north takes in the Ruhr valley. The Ruhr is a medium-size River in western Germany ( North Rhine-Westphalia) a right tributary (east-side of the Rhine.

Some of the larger cities in the Rhineland include Aachen, Bonn, Cologne, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Essen, Koblenz, Krefeld, Leverkusen, Ludwigshafen, Mainz, Mannheim, Mönchengladbach, Wiesbaden and Wuppertal. ( Ripuarian: Oche, Dutch: Aken, Spanish: Aquisgrán, Italian: Aquisgrana, French, Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located about 20 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia Duisburg (ˈdyːsbʊɐ̯k is a German city in the western part of the Ruhr Area ( Ruhrgebiet) in North Rhine-Westphalia. Düsseldorf (ˈdʏsəldɔɐf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Essen (ˈɛsən is a City in the center of the Ruhr Area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Koblenz (also Coblenz in pre-1926 German Spellings French Coblence) is a city situated on both banks of the Rhine History The origins of the town were in Roman times when the legions founded the military camp of Gelduba (today the borough of Gellep Leverkusen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the eastern bank of the Rhine, half way between Cologne and Ludwigshafen am Rhein is a City in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz (ˈmaɪ̯nʦ (Mayence is a City in Germany and the capital of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Mannheim is a City in Germany. With 327318 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in the state of Baden-Württemberg after the capital Stuttgart Mönchengladbach (mœnçənˈglatbax is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Wiesbaden, a city in southwest Germany, is the capital of the state of Hesse. ||-||} Wuppertal (ˈvʊpɐtaːl is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

The political entity

The Rhine Province was created in 1824 by joining the provinces of Lower Rhine and Jülich-Cleves-Berg. The Rhine Province (Rheinprovinz also known as Rhenish Prussia ( Rheinpreußen) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free A province is a territorial unit almost always an Administrative division. The Lower Rhine (Niederrhein kilometers 660 to 1033 of the Rhine River flows from Bonn, Germany, to the North Sea. Jülich-Cleves-Berg was a combination of states of the Holy Roman Empire. Its capital was Koblenz; it had 8. Koblenz (also Coblenz in pre-1926 German Spellings French Coblence) is a city situated on both banks of the Rhine 0 million inhabitants by 1939. In 1920, the 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. The Territory of the Saar Basin (in French: Le Territoire du Bassin de la Sarre, in German: Saarbeckengebiet) also referred as the Saar The League of Nations was an International organization founded as a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919–1920 At the same time, in 1920, the districts of Eupen and Malmedy were transferred to Belgium (see German-Speaking Community of Belgium). Eupen is a Municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège, 15 km from the German border ( Aachen) from the Dutch Malmedy is a Municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liege. The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those The German-speaking Community of Belgium (Deutschsprachige Gemeinschaft Belgiens DGB) is one of the three federal communities in Belgium. In 1946, the Rhine Province was divided up between the newly-founded states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate. North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen usually shortened to NRW, official short form NW is the westernmost and - in terms of population and economic output - the Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz is one of the 16 federal states (German Bundesländer) of Germany. The town of Wetzlar became part of Hesse. Wetzlar is a town in the German federal state ( Bundesland) of Hesse, capital of the Lahn-Dill district Hesse (Hessen is a state of Germany with an area

Today, the German region of Rhineland consists of the states of Saarland, the southwestern half of North Rhine-Westphalia, and the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Saarland (ˈzaːɐ̯lant in German; French: Sarre) is one of the 16 federal states (German Bundesländer) of Germany. North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen usually shortened to NRW, official short form NW is the westernmost and - in terms of population and economic output - the Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz is one of the 16 federal states (German Bundesländer) of Germany. North Rhine-Westphalia is one of the prime German industrial areas, containing significant mineral deposits (coal, lead, lignite, magnesium, oil and uranium) and water transport. Characteristics Lead has a dull luster and is a dense, Ductile, very soft highly Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, or Rosebud coal by Northern Pacific Railroad, is a soft brown fuel with characteristics that put it somewhere Magnesium (mægˈniːziəm is a Chemical element with the symbol Mg, Atomic number 12 Atomic weight 24 Petroleum ( L petroleum, from Greek πετρέλαιον, lit Uranium (jʊˈreɪniəm is a silvery-gray Metallic Chemical element in the In Rhineland-Palatinate agriculture is more important, including the vineyards in the Ahr, Mittelrhein, Mosel, Nahe, Pfalz (Palatinate) and Rheinhessen regions. Ahr is a region ( Anbaugebiet) for quality wine in Germany, and is located in the valley of the river Ahr, a tributary of Rhine, and is situated Mittelrhein (or Middle Rhine) is a region ( Anbaugebiet) for quality wine in Germany, and is located along a 120 km stretch of river Rhine Mosel is one of 13 German wine regions ( Weinbaugebiete) for quality wines (''QbA'' and ''Prädikatswein'', and takes its name from the Moselle River Nahe is a region ( Anbaugebiet) for quality wine in Germany, and is located around river Nahe in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Palatinate (Pfalz is a German wine -growing region ( Weinbaugebiet) in the area of Bad Dürkheim, Neustadt an der Weinstraße, and Rheinhessen (in English often Rhine-Hesse or Rhenish Hesse) is the largest of 13 German wine regions ( Anbaugebiete) for quality wines (''QbA''

Following World War I

Following the Armistice of 1918, Allied forces occupied the Rhineland as far east as the river with some small bridgeheads on the east bank at places like Cologne. The armistice treaty between the Allies and Germany was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on November 11, 1918 Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles of 1919 the occupation was continued. The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. The treaty specified three occupation Zones, which were due to be evacuated by Allied troops five, ten and finally 15 years after the formal ratification of the treaty, which took place in 1920, thus the occupation was intended to last until 1935. In fact, the last Allied troops left Germany five years prior to that date in 1930 in a good-will reaction to the Weimar Republic's policy of reconciliation in the era of Gustav Stresemann and the Locarno Pact. The term Weimar Republic ( ˈvaɪmarɐ repuˈbliːk is used by historians to signify the democratic and Republican period of Germany from 1919 to 1933 ( May 10, 1878 &ndash October 3, 1929) was a German liberal politician and statesman who served as Chancellor and Foreign Minister The Locarno Treaties were seven agreements negotiated at Locarno, Switzerland on 5 October &ndash 16 October 1925 and formally signed

Sections of the Rhineland bordering Belgium were annexed from Germany by the Treaty of Versailles. The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. The cantons of Eupen, Malmedy and Sankt Vith though entirely German in culture and language became the East Cantons of Belgium. Eupen is a Municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège, 15 km from the German border ( Aachen) from the Dutch Malmedy is a Municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liege. St Vith (Sankt Vith Saint-Vith Sankt Väit is a Municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège, and in the German speaking community in Eupen-Malmedy, or the East Cantons (in German, die Ostkantone; in French, les Cantons de l'Est; in Dutch, de Oostkantons The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those

The French troops especially had become notorious for their harsh treatment of the local civilian population. The French in a clear breach of the Treaty tried to separate the occupied areas from Germany by establishing an independent Rhenish Republic as a French puppet state. The Rhenish Republic (Rheinische Republik was proclaimed at Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle in October 1923 during the Occupation of the Ruhr by troops from France Separatist riots were encouraged and supported by the French, who tried to exploit traditional anti-Prussian resentments in the overwhelmingly Catholic region. In the end, the separatists failed to gain any decisive support among the population.

The Treaty of Versailles also specified the de-militarization of the entire area 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, which meant that no German forces were allowed there after the Allied forces had withdrawn. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Kingdom of Belgium is a Country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters as well as those Luxembourg (Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg Grand-Duché de Luxembourg Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small Landlocked country in Western Europe, bordered by The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands Furthermore (and quite unbearably from the German perspective) the treaty entitled the Allies to reoccupy the Rhineland at their will, if the Allies unilaterally found the German side responsible for any violation of the treaty.

In violation of the Treaty of Versailles and the spirit of the Locarno Pact, Nazi Germany remilitarized the Rhineland on Saturday, March 7, 1936. The Locarno Treaties were seven agreements negotiated at Locarno, Switzerland on 5 October &ndash 16 October 1925 and formally signed Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers The Remilitarization of the Rhineland by the German Army took place on 7 March 1936 when German forces entered the Rhineland. Events 161 - Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius dies and is succeeded by co-Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The occupation was done with very little military force, the troops entering on bicycles, and no effort was made to stop it (See Appeasement of Hitler). France could not act due to political instability at the time, and, since the remilitarisation occurred at a weekend, the British Government could not find out or discuss actions to be taken until the following Monday. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. As a result of this, the governments were inclined to see the remilitarisation as a fait accompli.

Hitler took a risk when he sent his troops to the Rhineland. He told them to 'turn back and not to resist' if they were stopped by the French Army. The French did not try to stop them because they were currently holding elections and no president wanted to start a war with Germany.

The British government agreed with the act in principle, "The Germans are after all only going into their own back garden" Lord Lothian, but rejected the Nazi manner of accomplishing said act. Winston Churchill, however, advocated military action through cooperation by the British and the French. Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, FRS, PC, PC (Can ( 30 November 1874

The remilitarization of the Rhineland was favoured by some of the local population, because of a resurgence of German nationalism and harboured bitterness over the Allied occupation of the Rhineland until 1930 (Saarland until 1935). Saarland (ˈzaːɐ̯lant in German; French: Sarre) is one of the 16 federal states (German Bundesländer) of Germany.

A side-effect of the French occupations was the offspring of French colonial troops. These mixed-race Germans were not accepted into broader German society and were known as Rhineland Bastards. Rhineland Bastard was a derogatory term used in Nazi Germany to describe children of mixed German and African parentage They were an object of the Nazi sterilisation programmes in the 1930s. The American poet Charles Bukowski was born in 1920 in Andernach as the son of a German mother and a Polish-American US soldier, serving among the occupation troops. Henry Charles Bukowski ( August 16 1920 – March 9 1994) was a German American Poet, Novelist, and Andernach (pronounced) is a town in the district of Mayen-Koblenz, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany of currently about 30000 inhabitants which are

The 1944–1945 military campaigns

Two different military campaigns were fought in the Rhineland.

U. S. Army

For five months, from September 1944 until February 1945, the U.S. First Army fought a costly battle to capture the Hurtgen Forest. The First United States Army was a field army of the United States Army. The heavily forested and ravined terrain of the Hurtgen negated Allied combined arms advantages( close air support, armor, artillery) and favoured German defenders. The U. S. Army lost 24,000 troops. The military necessity of their sacrifice has been debated by military historians.

Canadian Army

In early 1945, after a long winter stalemate, military operations by most Allied armies in Northwest Europe resumed with the goal of reaching the Rhine. From their winter positions in The Netherlands, the First Canadian Army under General Henry Crerar reinforced by elements of the British Second Army under General Miles Dempsey, drove through the Rhineland beginning in the first week of February 1945. The First Canadian Army was the senior Canadian operational formation in Europe during the Second World War. General Henry Duncan Graham "Harry" Crerar CH, CB, DSO, KStJ, CD, PC ( April 28, 1888 The British Second Army existed in both the First and Second World Wars World War I During World War I, the army was formed on

Operation Veritable lasted several weeks, with the end result of clearing all German forces from the west side of the Rhine river. Operation Veritable was the northern part of the Second World War pincer movement by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery 's 21st Army Group The supporting operation by the First US Army, Operation Grenade, was planned to coincide from the River Roer, in the south. During World War II, Operation Grenade was the plan for the U The Rur -German in Dutch and French Roer, &mdash not to be confused with the Ruhr &mdash is a river in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands This was delayed for two weeks however, by German flooding of the Roer valley.

Other actions

On March 7, 1945 a company of armoured infantry of the U.S. 9th Armored Division captured the last intact bridge over the Rhine at Remagen. Events 161 - Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius dies and is succeeded by co-Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar The 9th Armored Division (the "Phantom Division" was an armoured division of the United States Army in World War II. Remagen is a town in Germany in Rhineland-Palatinate, in the district of Ahrweiler. General George Patton's Third US Army also made a crossing of the river the day before the much anticipated Rhine crossings by the 21st Army Group (First Canadian Army and the British Second Army) under Field Marshal Montgomery in the third week of March 1945. For the 19th century Scottish jurist/politician see George Patton Lord Glenalmond. The First Canadian Army was the senior Canadian operational formation in Europe during the Second World War. The British Second Army existed in both the First and Second World Wars World War I During World War I, the army was formed on Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, KG, GCB, DSO, PC, (məntˈgʌmərɪ əv ˈæləmeɪn

Operation Varsity was a massive airborne operation in conjunction with Operation Plunder, the amphibious crossings. Operation Varsity was a joint American&ndashBritish airborne operation that took place in March 1945 towards the end of World War II. Commencing on the night of 23 March, 1945 during World War II, Operation Plunder was the crossing of the Rhine river at Rees, By early April, the Rhine had been crossed by all the Allied armies operating west of the river, and the battles for the Rhineland were over.

Battle Honours

In the official histories of the British and Canadian armies, the term Rhineland refers only to fighting west of the river in February and March 1945, with subsequent operations on the river and to the east known as "Rhine Crossing". Both terms are official Battle Honours in the Commonwealth forces.

See also

• Alsace-Lorraine
• Rhine