Database presentation
The border1871 database collects incidents that occurred on the French-German border between 1871 and 1914.
This work is the result of a research project carried out by Benoit Vaillot as part of his doctoral thesis under the supervision of Professors Pieter M. Judson (European University Institute) and Catherine Maurer (University of Strasbourg): At the nation's gates. A history from below of the French-German border 1871-1914.
In its current form, the database contains almost 800 incidents that occurred on the Franco-German border between 1871 and 1914. What does a “border incident” mean? A border incident is an event that took place close to the border and was the subject of diplomatic dialogue between two states, because it involved matters of state sovereignty and/or national identity. Most of these incidents take the following forms: border violations (when border officials enter foreign territory in uniform and/or arms, i.e., wearing the insignia of sovereignty); brawls or violence between French and German nationals; patriotic or nationalist actions and manifestations; insults or calls to sedition; etc. In general, the term refers to an event occurring at the border and likely to give rise to a diplomatic conflict.
The ambition of this database is to approach the history of the border through the actors who make it/take part in it/constitute it. More than 1,300 biographical notices, sometimes brief, list the people involved in the events recorded. All the different locations with their current and former toponyms (the names that were used at the time, in French as well as in German) are georeferenced using the INSEE municipality code.
This work aims at to providing researchers, teachers and the general public with access to data developed in the course of doctoral research, which may lead to new studies. To quote: Benoit Vaillot, border1871 database, consulted on [day/month/year] at the following address:
https://border1871.eu/database
