Occupation of the Rhineland

The Occupation of the Rhineland from 1 December 1918 until 30 June 1930 was a consequence of the collapse of the Imperial German Army in 1918. Despite Germany proving victorious on the eastern front following the Russian Revolution, the military high command had failed to prevent the continuing erosion of morale, both domestically and in the army. Despite transferring veteran troops from the eastern front to fight on the western front, the Spring Offensive was a failure and following the outbreak of the German Revolution, Germany's provisional government was obliged to agree to the terms of the 1918 armistice. This included accepting that the troops of the victorious powers occupied the left bank of the Rhine and four right bank "bridgeheads" with a 30 kilometres radius around Cologne, Koblenz, Mainz and a 10 kilometres radius around Kehl. Furthermore, the left bank of the Rhine and a 50 kilometres -wide strip east of the Rhine was declared a demilitarized zone. The Treaty of Versailles repeated these provisions, but limited the presence of the foreign troops to fifteen years after the signing of the treaty . The purpose of the occupation was on the one hand to give France security against a renewed German attack, and on the other to serve as a guarantee for reparations obligations. After this was apparently achieved with the Young Plan, the occupation of the Rhineland was prematurely ended on 30 June 1930. The administration of occupied Rhineland was under the jurisdiction of the Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission with its seat at the Upper Presidium of the Rhine Province in Koblenz.

The United States occupied the central area of the Rhineland along the Mosel river and the Koblenz bridgehead. General John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces , created the Third US Army for this purpose, giving the command to Major General Joseph T. Dickman. In early 1919, the Third Army comprised some 250,000 men. The Americans opened their headquarters in a Prussian government building by the Rhine in Koblenz. In these days, the Stars & Stripes flew over Ehrenbreitstein Fortress. In July 1919, the Third Army was disbanded and replaced by the American Forces in Germany under the command of Major General Henry Tureman Allen. After a constant troop withdrawal, the AFG comprised some 20,000 men in a reduced territory in late 1919. Compared to the French occupation zone, the Americans got along with the German population much better, including a number of love affairs. General Allen took even part in saving Ehrenbreitstein Fortress from destruction by the Allied forces in 1922. After more than four years of occupation, the Harding administration decided to bring the troops back home. Finally, the last Americans left their headquarters in Koblenz in January 1923. The American occupation zone was consequently handed over to the French, who from that moment on controlled the major portion of the occupied Rhineland.

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