A peacetime battleground: national symbols, patriotism and prestige in the French-occupied Rhineland, 1920–23

Abstract

Tensions and violence were central to the French interwar occupation of the Rhineland. This article examines symbolic opposition and violence carried out by locals, as perceived by the French authorities, mainly involving attacks on flags, singing banned patriotic songs, or displaying German patriotic colours. Although rarer than physical violence, the ways in which French officials documented and responded to such incidents allow for an insight into the mindset of the French occupiers. The victorious but sensitive French were especially concerned with notions of prestige, dignity and authority, drawing on colonial ideas, and quick to punish attacks on symbols of French power. Even during the beginning of the organized ‘passive resistance’ campaign in 1923, French authorities were as concerned with songs and flags as with demonstrations and physical violence. French sensitivity around national symbols betrayed deeper insecurities and uncertainties regarding their role both in the occupied territory and the wider world.