Meurthe is a former
département of
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
. Its
préfectureA prefecture in France can refer to :*the Chef-lieu de département, the town in which the administration of a département is located ;*the Chef-lieu de région, the town in which the administration of a région is located ;...
(capital) was
NancyNancy is a city in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France, and formerly the capital of the Duchy of Lorraine, and then the French province of the same name.The city is the head of the department...
. It ceased to exist following the annexation of
Alsace-LorraineAlsace-Lorraine was a territorial entity created by the German Empire in 1871 after the annexation of most of Alsace and the Moselle region of Lorraine in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and on the east of the Vosges Mountains...
by
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
in 1871.
The Meurthe
département was created on March 4, 1790, during the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
, out of a part of the
former provinceThe Kingdom of France was organised into provinces until March 4, 1790, when the establishment of the département system superseded provinces...
of
LorraineLorraine is a historical area in present-day northeast France. Some of the main cities are Metz, Nancy and Verdun.-Lotharingia:Lorraine was originally an independent kingdom. It was created in 843, when the Carolingian empire was divided between the three sons of Louis the Pious...
. It took its name from the
Meurthe RiverThe Meurthe is a river in north-eastern France, right tributary to the river Moselle. Its source is in the Vosges mountains, near the Col de la Schlucht in the Vosges département. It gave its name to the present French département Meurthe-et-Moselle and the former département Meurthe...
flowing through it.
As of 1866, Meurthe had 714 communes. Its area was 6,070 km² (2,344 sq.
Meurthe is a former
département of
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
. Its
préfectureA prefecture in France can refer to :*the Chef-lieu de département, the town in which the administration of a département is located ;*the Chef-lieu de région, the town in which the administration of a région is located ;...
(capital) was
NancyNancy is a city in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France, and formerly the capital of the Duchy of Lorraine, and then the French province of the same name.The city is the head of the department...
. It ceased to exist following the annexation of
Alsace-LorraineAlsace-Lorraine was a territorial entity created by the German Empire in 1871 after the annexation of most of Alsace and the Moselle region of Lorraine in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and on the east of the Vosges Mountains...
by
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
in 1871.
General characteristics
The Meurthe
département was created on March 4, 1790, during the
French RevolutionThe French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based...
, out of a part of the
former provinceThe Kingdom of France was organised into provinces until March 4, 1790, when the establishment of the département system superseded provinces...
of
LorraineLorraine is a historical area in present-day northeast France. Some of the main cities are Metz, Nancy and Verdun.-Lotharingia:Lorraine was originally an independent kingdom. It was created in 843, when the Carolingian empire was divided between the three sons of Louis the Pious...
. It took its name from the
Meurthe RiverThe Meurthe is a river in north-eastern France, right tributary to the river Moselle. Its source is in the Vosges mountains, near the Col de la Schlucht in the Vosges département. It gave its name to the present French département Meurthe-et-Moselle and the former département Meurthe...
flowing through it.
As of 1866, Meurthe had 714 communes. Its area was 6,070 km² (2,344 sq. miles). It was divided into 5
arrondissements: Nancy,
Château-SalinsChâteau-Salins is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.-See also:*Communes of the Moselle department...
,
LunévilleLunéville is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France.It is a sub-prefecture of the department and lies on the Meurthe River.-History:...
,
SarrebourgSarrebourg is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France. It lies in on the upper course of the river Sarre.It should not be confused with Saarburg in Germany....
and
ToulToul is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France.It is a sub-prefecture of the department.-Geography:Toul is located between Commercy and Nancy, and situated between the Moselle River and the Canal de la Marne au Rhin....
.
History
After the French defeat in the
Franco-Prussian WarThe Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between France and Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and Bavaria...
of 1870-1871, the northeastern part of the Meurthe
département was annexed to the
German EmpireThe German Empire is the name commonly used in English to describe Germany from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871 to 1918, when it became a German republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of Wilhelm II .The term Second Reich...
by the
Treaty of FrankfurtThe Treaty of Frankfurt was a peace treaty signed in Frankfurt on May 10, 1871, at the end of the Franco-Prussian War.- Summary :The treaty:...
. On May 18, 1871, about one-third of the Meurthe
département, corresponding approximately to the
arrondissements of Château-Salins and Sarrebourg in the northeast of the
département, were detached from Meurthe and annexed to Germany, becoming part of the
Reichsland of
Elsaß-LothringenAlsace-Lorraine was a territorial entity created by the German Empire in 1871 after the annexation of most of Alsace and the Moselle region of Lorraine in the Franco-Prussian War. The Alsatian part lay in the Rhine Valley on the west bank of the Rhine River and on the east of the Vosges Mountains...
.
The remaining two-third of Meurthe were merged with the one-fifth of the
MoselleMoselle is a department in the east of France named after the river Moselle.- History :Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
département (
arrondissement of
BrieyBriey is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France.It is located above and in a steep section of the valley of the little River Woigot, some thirty kilometres to the west of the autoroute that connects Metz with Luxembourg...
, in the extreme west of Moselle, to the northwest of Meurthe) which had escaped German annexation, and on September 7, 1871 the merger gave birth to the new
Meurthe-et-MoselleMeurthe-et-Moselle is a department in the Lorraine region of France, named after the Meurthe and Moselle rivers.- History :Meurthe-et-Moselle was created in 1871 at the end of the Franco-Prussian War from the parts of the former departments of Moselle and Meurthe which remained French...
département (area: 5,246 km², compared to 6,070 km² for the former Meurthe), with its
préfecture at Nancy.
In 1919, with the French victory in the First World War, Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France by Germany at the
Treaty of VersaillesThe Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
. However, it was not decided to recreate the old
départements of Meurthe and Moselle by reverting to the old
département borders of before 1871. Instead, Meurthe-et-Moselle was left untouched, and the one-third of Meurthe and four-fifth of Moselle that had been annexed by Germany in 1871 were merged to create the new
département of Moselle, whose name is the same as the old
département of Moselle, but whose borders are quite different.
Population
At the 1866 French census, the Meurthe
département had a population of 428,387 inhabitants. In 1872, after the annexation and merger, the new Meurthe-et-Moselle
département had a population of 365,137 inhabitants.
At the 1999 French census, if Meurthe still existed it would have had a population of 647,307 inhabitants. On the other hand, in 1999 Meurthe-et-Moselle had a population of 713,779 inhabitants (the industrial area of Briey and
LongwyLongwy is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France.The inhabitants are known as Longoviciens.-Economy:...
merged in 1871 is more populated than the rural areas of Château-Salins and Sarrebourg lost in 1871).
See also
Meurthe RiverThe Meurthe is a river in north-eastern France, right tributary to the river Moselle. Its source is in the Vosges mountains, near the Col de la Schlucht in the Vosges département. It gave its name to the present French département Meurthe-et-Moselle and the former département Meurthe...