I should add, one of my more distant ancestors was Alsatian. He came to the US prior to 1870 precisely because he did not want to be drafted into the French army and forced to fight the Germans (he considered himself German as did plenty of others).
That’s fascinating. I have heard of those Alsatians who left Alsace after 1871 for France (or North Africa), for they preferred French to German rule, but not of the opposite.
Even as a historian, history keeps surprising me 🙂
By the way, American self-taught philosopher Eric Hoffer (1902-83), a New York native and political moderate, was the son of Alsatian parents. His first language was ‚Elsässerdeutsch‘, not English 🙂