Alsace-Lorraine could live whole centuries with the Germans without becoming germanized, whereas two centuries of life in common with France, freely consented to, had proved sufficient to make them Frenchmen. This spontaneous fusion could never have been possible if Alsace-Lorraine and France had not always had the same ideals of civilization. The Alsatian and the Lorrainer leaned always toward French culture, and from the moment they were politically separated from the Holy Empire they had nothing more in common with German _Kultur_.
The Alsatian-Lorrainer, who from the point of view of character greatly resembles the free citizen of America, is a very practical man. He willingly makes use of all the opportunities in life to improve his economic condition, but joined to these qualities is a deeply rooted idealism which will make any sacrifice to secure his independence, and to assure for him the dignity of freedom. He has brilliant military qualities, but he will never be a militarist. He will fight bravely for the defence of a just cause about which he is enthusiastic, because it means the fulfilment of a sacred duty. But he will never be willing to remain under the dominion of a power like that of Prussia and be forced to carry arms for causes that he detests and disdains. The Alsatian-Lorrainer has no affection for dynasty, he is absolutely wanting in respect for the hierarchy; he has a feeling for order and equality before the law, he is loyal and respectful to authority but exempt from all servitude. The German, on the contrary, with his class feeling, abasing himself, as it were, in platitudes before his superiors, hard and arrogant toward his inferiors, in admiration before the _Angestammtes Herrscherhaus_ (traditional dynasty), accustomed to march under the lash, without any idealism, finding in the distribution of the booty of war a compensation for all humiliations,--such a man does not understand that the Alsatian-Lorrainer does not rejoice to find himself belonging to a nation of the elect, a nation that has the most formidable war machine to crush, from time to time according to its whim, any growth of material prosperity effected by free competition in the economic struggle.