1. Periods

2. Occupying forces
    Belgian forces  British Army of the Rhine  French Army of the Rhine  American forces in Germany (1918–1923)  Siamese Expeditionary Forces 

3. See also

4. References

5. Bibliography

6. External links

Periods

• First Armistice (11 November 1918 – 13 December 1918)
• First prolongation of the armistice (13 December 1918 – 16 January 1919)
• Second prolongation of the armistice (16 January 1919 – 16 February 1919)
• Third prolongation of the armistice (16 February 1919 – 10 January 1920)
• 1920: Foundation of Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission (10 January 1920, Versailles Treaty paragraphs 428–431)
• 1930: under the terms of the 1925–26 Locarno Treaties, Allied troops, withdrew.^[3]
• 1936: Remilitarization of the Rhineland by German troops under Hitler, on March 7.^[3]

Occupying forces

Belgian forces

This consisted of 20,000 soldiers{{fact|date=June 2018}} (five divisions)^[4] with its headquarters at Aachen, and with its troops stationed in Krefeld.^[5] They were commanded by Armand Huyghé.

British Army of the Rhine

The British Army entered German territory on 3 December 1918.^[6] The British Army of the Rhine was established as the occupying force in March 1919. Based at Cologne, they published The Cologne Post.

French Army of the Rhine

The French Eighth and Tenth armies originally constituted the French forces involved in the occupation. The Eighth Army was commanded by General Augustin Gérard and occupied the Palatinate. The Tenth Army was commanded by General Charles Mangin and was responsible for the rest of the French zone from its headquarters in Mainz.

On 21 October 1919, they were combined to form the French Army of the Rhine.

In 1919 France stationed between 25,000 and 40,000 French colonial soldiers in the Rhineland.^[7] Some German women married African soldiers from the occupying forces, while others had children by them out of wedlock (hence the disparaging label "Rhineland Bastards")^[8] and were considered by right-wing Germans to constitute a public disgrace.^[9] General Henry Tureman Allen reported to the US Secretary of State that from the start of the occupation until June 1920 there were 66 cases of formal accusations against colored colonial troops, out of which there were 28 convictions, and admits there were many more unreported cases.^[10] Despite these occasional cases, "the wholesale atrocities by French negro Colonial troops alleged in the German press, such as the alleged abductions, followed by rape, mutilation, murder and concealment of the bodies of the victims are false and intended as political propaganda".^[11]

French occupation of Frankfurt occurred from 6 April to 17 May 1920. On the second day nine civilians were shot by Moroccan troops in an incident outside the Hauptwache. This incident was used to launch a racist campaign against the French use of colonial troops, linking the incident with allegations of wide spread assaults by Black soldiers in the French occupation army on local women^[10] including accusations of systemic rape and other atrocities targeting the German civilian population and attributed mainly to Senegalese Tirailleurs.^[12] The events resulted in a widespread campaign by the German right-wing press, which dubbed them as "The Black Shame" (Die schwarze Schande or Die schwarze Schmach) and depicted them as a form of French humiliation of the German nation.^[13]

In 1923, in response to German failure to pay reparations under the Treaty of Versailles, France and Belgium occupied the industrial Ruhr area of Germany, most of which lies across the river on the east bank of the Rhine, until 1925. Many Germans were killed during civil disobedience protests. e.g. against dismissal of German officials.^[14][15]

American forces in Germany (1918–1923)

The United States originally provided around 240,000 men in nine veteran divisions, nearly a third of the total occupying force. General John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force (A. E. F.) on the Western Front, established Third Army for the purpose, under the command of Major General Joseph T. Dickman.^[16] Third Army was assigned to occupy the northern sector of the Coblenz bridgehead. By July 1919, Third Army was disbanded, having been reduced to about 8,400 men, and was renamed American Forces in Germany (AF in G). AF in G withdrew on 24 January 1923, vacating Ehrenbreitstein, which was promptly occupied by the French.

Siamese Expeditionary Forces

The Siamese Expeditionary Forces also participated in the occupation until 1919 with their troops being stationed in Neustadt an der Weinstraße, located in the French area.

See also

• Free State Bottleneck
• Rhenish Republic
• Left Bank of the Rhine

References

Bibliography

• {{cite book|last=Edmonds|first=J.E.|origyear=1943|year=1987|title=The Occupation of the Rhineland 1918–29|publisher=HMSO|isbn=978-0-11-290454-0}}
• {{cite book|last=Pawley|first=Margaret|title=The Watch on the Rhine: The Military Occupation of the Rhineland, 1918–1930|publisher=I.B.Tauris|date=2008|isbn=978-1-84511-457-2}}
• {{cite journal|last=Wigger|first=Iris|date=2010|title='Black Shame' – the campaign against 'racial degeneration' and female degradation in interwar Europe|journal=Race and Class|publisher=Institute of Race Relations|volume=51|issue=3|issn=0306-3968|isbn=978-1-84787-414-6}}

External links

• The French Occupation of the Rhineland, 1918–1930
• Map of Europe during the Occupation of the Rhineland at omniatlas.com

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