Nationalism, ethnicity, and language choice: The effect of Nazi assimilationist policies in Alsace, 1940–1945

Abstract

This article examines the complex interaction of nationalism, ethnicity and language during and after the 1940–45 Nazi occupation of Alsace. It focuses on the structure and texture of intergroup relations between Nazis and Alsatians, and analyses Alsatian claims that Nazi authorities did more for the cause of France and of the French language than two and a half centuries of previous French rule. It argues that in situations of intergroup contact, the role of cultural and linguistic similarity in predicting behaviour is secondary to the powerful effects of group self‐perception, perception of others, purposes, power, and identity/language choices. It shows that while historical and social contexts influence or determine language use, choice of language, in turn, offers significant clues about the perception of and reaction to particular circumstances. After World War II Alsatians felt the need to affirm their allegiance to France and to differentiate themselves from their former occupiers. These factors can be seen as an important cause of Alsatian acquiescence to French postwar assimilationist policies, and of the decline of the German dialect that has been spoken there for fifteen centuries.

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