The territory of the former Alsace-Lorraine, legally known as Alsace-Moselle, is a region in the eastern part of France, bordering with Germany. Its principal cities are Metz and Strasbourg. Alsace-Moselle was part of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918, and was subsequently reoccupied by Germany from 1940 until its recapture by the Allies at the end of World War II. Consisting of the two departments that make up the region of Alsace, which are Haut-Rhin and Bas-Rhin, and the department of Moselle, which is the northeastern part of Lorraine, there are historical reasons for the continuance of local law in Alsace-Moselle. Alsace-Moselle maintains its own local legislation, applying specific customs and laws on certain issues in spite of its being an integral part of France. These laws are principally in areas that France addressed by changing its own law in the period 1871–1919, when Alsace-Moselle was a part of Germany. Alsace-Moselle has many speakers of a form of High German known as Alsatian, an Alemannic dialect of Upper German. Its native speakers are mostly in Alsace. Several Franconian dialects of West Middle German are also spoken in the district of Moselle, although their number of native speakers has dwindled significantly since the Second World War and the French language is now overwhelmingly heard in these districts. The region's German-language past is now, at the beginning of the 21st century, mostly evident in the names of towns, streets, villages and rivers. Protestantism is widespread in Alsace, while there are comparatively few Protestants in most other parts of France. Principles The local law () in Alsace-Moselle is a legal system that operates in parallel with French law. It preserves those statutes made by the German authorities during annexation that were considered still to be beneficial in these territories following their return to France. Created in 1919, the local law preserves those French laws that were in force before 1870 and were maintained by the German government but were repealed after 1871 in France. It also maintains German laws enacted by the German Empire between 1871 and 1918, specific provisions adopted by the local authorities, and French laws that have been enacted after 1919 to be applicable only in the three concerned departments. In 1919, a Commissioner of the Republic (), whose duty was to restart the French administration in Alsace-Moselle following German defeat in World War I, had to choose between