뉴스레터

Strasbourg, a city in France, is getting attention from Korean people recently once it appeared as one of the destinations in a popular reality TV show featuring old men in their 70s backpacking Europe. Located in the Alsace region of France, Strasbourg is also well known for its magnificent cathedral and Petite-France (small France), in which the Japanese animated film "Howl's Moving Castle" was set. Historically speaking, however, Strasbourg, as its German-ish name might suggest, was a region of bitter dispute between France and Germany. This city was the "dark spot" of France with a history of as many as 17 changes in control. Let us go back in time to the 1870 Franco-Prussian War and find out why Strasbourg and the Alsaces-Lorraine region became the "dark spot" with frequent changes in ownership.

Q : The Franco-Prussian War was a war between France and Prussia. What were the background, course, and consequences of this war?

As is well known, the Franco-Prussian War is a war between France and Prussia. Let us first look at the historical context in which this war would break out. At that time, Bismarck of Germany wanted the Prussia-led German unification while Napoleon III of France tried to stop it. Meanwhile, the dispute between the two countries over election of the Spanish king intensified. Eventually, on July 19, 1870, France declared a war against Prussia. But the Prussian (German) army, with support from the North German Confederation and the South German states, had overwhelming military superiority, and they advanced to France. Even after Napoleon III's surrender on September 2, the German army proceeded with the war; they surrounded Paris, and went on to occupy Strasbourg in late September and then Metz in late October. Eventually, on January 28, 1871, the gates of Paris were opened. After the war, in February, France and Germany signed a peace agreement in Versailles. And in May, they signed a peace treaty in Frankfrut, by which the defeated France paid 5 billion francs in compensation for Germany and the Alsaces-Lorraine region was incorporated into German territory. Meanwhile, on January 18, before the gates of Paris were opened, the foundation of the German Empire was declared in the Palace of Versailles. This was the worst humiliation France had ever experienced as a nation.

Q : Why did France think they lost the war? And what was the first urgent action France took?

After defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, France had to beg for peace. As the most confident and proud French people lost the war, their national pride was hurt more than ever. French authorities were desperate to find ways to boost the morale of their people and unite them. For a start, they surveyed their military officers on the cause of defeat, and found out that there was something seriously wrong with their army. For example, the French officers of the time were extremely ignorant of the country they were fighting against. They didn't even know how to read a large-scale map. Some of the officers had even insisted that they would be better off remaining map-illiterate than learning how to read a map in the battlefield. Worse, the meeting of geographers who made and controlled national maps in France discontinued in 1831, forty years before the Franco-Prussian War. As a result, when the German army had advanced near Paris, the French army didn't have large-scale maps that would allow them to understand the region.

"La Tache Noire," painted by
Albert Bettanier in 1887 and housed
by the Carnavalet Museum in Paris

Both the Ministry of Education and the media of France said, "What defeated us were the elementary school teachers of Germany." They were talking about the difference in education between the two countries. In Germany, geography was taught systematically from elementary school. In contrast, geography was hardly taught in France, where the main subject in school was history. Accordingly, they concluded, the French officers hadn't been taught geography and map reading in school and therefore had been faced with big challenges in the war. Once this conclusion was drawn, the French Minister of Education ordered an immediate survey of geography education conducted in schools across the country. According to reports on school education at that time, there were no teachers who majored in geography, nor was geography being taught, except that some maps were used to explain history where necessary while history was taught. From this point on, schools in France, following the Ministry of Education's instructions, began establishing departments to foster geography teachers and diverting half the time used in teaching history to teaching geography. Thus, the subject began to be called History/Geography from then on. 'La Tache Noire,' a picture painted at that time, features a class studying a map where regions taken away from France by Germany are marked black. This picture captures the patriotism of the people of the defeated country and the seriousness of students focused on their class.

Meanwhile, it is worth noting the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur, of which construction was started right after the Franco-Prussian War and completed in 1919. Standing on Montmartre today, this church was built by the French people to atone for their spiritual and ethical corruption after defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, and with the hope of uniting the defeated and dispirited people of France.

Q : The Alsace-Lorraine region was taken away from France by Prussia. What kind of place is it, and when was it returned to France?

Throughout history, the Alsace-Lorraine region has been the disputed territory between France and Germany which has seen many repeated changes in sovereignty. For example, since 921 A.D., this region had been part of the Holy Roman Empire, until it was made French territory by the Peace of Westphalia (1648). Centuries later, as France lost the Franco-Prussian War (1870), this region was incorporated back into the German Empire.

When Germany lost WWI (November 1918), this region temporarily gained status as an independent state. But the Treaty of Versailles (the peace treaty signed in 1919 between the victorious Allies and Germany) sent it back into French territory. In 1940, this region was annexed by Nazi Germany, but, as the Allies won WWII, incorporated back into France, and it has remained French territory since.

Q : Today, Korea as a nation is faced with challenges as China is distorting the history of Koguryo and Japan is laying claims on Dokdo. What measures do we take? And what lessons can we learn from the example of France?

A few years ago, when China's controversial distortion of Koguryo's history became an issue, the importance of history education appealed to the Korean public. Accordingly, history as part of social studies was attached more importance, and eventually became a separate subject. East Asian history was also added to the curriculum. Meanwhile, with Japan making increasingly stronger claims on Dokdo, there are still strong voices for more teaching of history in school. But can reinforcing history education alone be the cure-it-all solution whenever an issue of perception of history and territory is raised with neighboring countries? What the subject is to education may be what the nutrient in our body is to our health. The intake of a certain nutrient in excess does not guarantee to maintain good health. The effects of nutrients on our body will vary greatly depending on how balanced the diet is and especially how the diet is used. So I suggest that instead of focusing on simply finding historical evidence that Dokdo had been Korean territory all along, we should take a geographical and spatial approach to Dokdo as an entity. And this approach will help students perceive Dokdo with a more vivid sense of space and territory.

Secondary education in Korea is too much about preparing students for the college entrance exam. Once the exam is over, whatever the students had spent over a decade learning are forgotten instantly. Perception of history and territory cannot be taught effectively if the students are simply encouraged to learn certain concept and knowledge necessary only to take the exams. We need to bolster both history and geography education at the same time so that the students can take a comprehensive approach to territorial issues that concern us from historical and spatial points of view.