As far as I know (and I grew up there), there is zero support for any kind of independence over there, and quite an opposite pride in being French, and having fought and suffered to be French (there's nothing that Alsatians hate more than to be told that they are not completely French). In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
And data from what I believe is EU research shows nearly 900,000 Alsatian speakers.
The Euromosaic study funded by the EU is a good place to start looking at where linguistic minorites exist. These often form the basis for nationalist movements. And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
Hm, let's see...
3. I do'nt see how it is suppressed.
Sorry, maybe not the best word I chose. I didn't mean suppression by force, I meant being eclipsed by the presence and use of the others. What you mention that many people learn Hochdeutsch rather than Alsatian is part of this (and parallels what happened and happens to some German dialects in Germany proper, BTW). *Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
I'd need to dig up sources again, but that's been the experience of my growing up there, and occasional visits. I cna ask my parents who live there... In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
And I'll ask you a simple question.
What, if any, reason is there for Alsace to not call for self rule and independence if they can retaing the economic adavantages of being French by staying in the EU.
This is the problem that the growth of the EU creates. That post 1914 state system is being challenged from below by national minorities and above by European regulations. Who needs France when you can get the same things from the EU? And I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage-Billy Bragg
if they can retaing the economic adavantages of being French by staying in the EU.
In France, they are the second richest region, close to Germany but with support of the central French state. Alone, they are the poorer cousin of the Rhine valley as Basel, Baden-Würtenberg et al. are even wealthier...
Who needs France when you can get the same things from the EU?
The question also is: what State will let go more easily. Not France, for sure. In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes
That is an issue of democracy, too. Those whom the Gods wish to destroy They first make mad. -- Euripides
