Alsace-Lorraine is one of the 32 states of Germany. Up until 1871, the entire state was part of France. After the Franco-Prussian war, the upper portion was annexed along with most of Alsace as Alsace-Lorraine. After World War I, and the French invasion of Germany, the Germans demanded the remainder of Lorraine in compensation for their losses, but were denied by the Americans and British, who opted instead for greater war reparations. World War II changed the situation, when the Fascists in France invaded Germany and annexed everything up to the Rhine river. Once defeated, the Germans occupied a large swath of France, retreating back to the modern borders of Lorraine once the peace treaty was signed, using the territory as a demilitarized zone for a period of ten years, until the region was annexed to the Fifth French Republic.
