<P> The Imperial Territory of Alsace - Lorraine ( German : Reichsland Elsaß - Lothringen or Elsass - Lothringen ) was a territory created by the German Empire in 1871 , after it annexed most of Alsace and the Moselle department of Lorraine following its victory in the Franco - Prussian War . The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and east of the Vosges Mountains . The Lorraine section was in the upper Moselle valley to the north of the Vosges . </P>
<P> The Imperial Territory of Alsace - Lorraine ( German : Reichsland Elsaß - Lothringen or Elsass - Lothringen ) was a territory created by the German Empire in 1871 , after it annexed most of Alsace and the Moselle department of Lorraine following its victory in the Franco - Prussian War . The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and east of the Vosges Mountains . The Lorraine section was in the upper Moselle valley to the north of the Vosges . </P>
when did france lose alsace and lorraine to germany
when did france lose alsace and lorraine to germany
1871
1871