14 octobre 1919
30 juin 1930
Haut-commissariat français
HCF
France. Haut-commissariat français auprès de la Haute Commission interalliée des territoires rhénans (1919-1930)
Le Haut-commissariat est d’abord l’ensemble des services français de la HCITR, dont les chefs de service siègent dans les comités interalliés qui préparent les décisions soumises à la HCTIR.
Services centraux à Coblence
• Cabinet du Haut-commissaire
Le Cabinet gère le courrier et les archives ; à partir de 1926 lui sont rattachés les services de presse et d’information, du personnel et tous les services annexes.
• Secrétariat général
Ce service qui dispose d’un bureau à Paris est plus particulièrement chargé des relations avec le ministère des Affaires étrangères et avec les différents ministères.
• Services financiers
Ils sont chargés de l’élaboration du plan financier de l’occupation, de la gestion financière des services français (budget, comptabilité, traitement du personnel, etc.), de la préparation et de la conduite du plan financier concernant le rendement des gages. Ils poursuivent en parallèle une œuvre de documentation financière par l'étude des questions intéressant les finances privées et publiques de l'Allemagne et la législation fiscale.
• Services économiques
Ils ont compétence sur toutes les questions intéressant le régime commercial et douanier en Allemagne et en France, ainsi que sur les questions contentieuses. Ils recueillent tous renseignements d'ordre économique intéressant les territoires rhénans occupés et plus généralement l'Allemagne, afin de les exploiter en vue des communications à transmettre aux départements ministériels ou des publications à faire paraître.
• Services juridiques
Ils sont chargés de l’examen de la législation et de la jurisprudence allemande, des litiges avec les juridictions allemandes, de la liaison avec les tribunaux militaires de l’Armée du Rhin.
• Service des affaires militaires et d’occupation
Appelé dans les premières années de l’occupation Bureau militaire, il est chargé de l’organisation du contrôle civil de l’occupation (nomination des délégués de districts et de cercles et contrôle de leur activité), de la centralisation des rapports de ces délégués et de l’établissement des rapports d’ensemble. Ce service est également chargé de la surveillance de l’activité des groupements politiques et paramilitaires et de la surveillance générale de la propagande allemande.
Au niveau local
• Les délégués
La zone d’occupation française comprend six délégations supérieures : les provinces du Palatinat bavarois et de Hesse et les districts prussiens de Wiesbaden, Trèves, Coblence et Bonn. Les délégués supérieurs ont autorité sur les délégués de cercles ; sur les soixante-douze cercles que comptent les territoires occupés, soixante-trois se trouvent dans la zone française. Les délégués sont supprimés en 1925 à la suite des accords de Locarno.
Services purement français
• Service de l’instruction publique
Il est chargé de l’organisation et du fonctionnement des établissements français d’enseignement primaire et secondaire, du Centre d'études germaniques, de l'École de commerce et de l'École d’agriculture ; il organise des cours de français pour les Allemands.
• Service de presse et d’information
Il s’occupe de la surveillance de la presse allemande et de l’organisation de la propagande française, de la publication de la Revue Rhénane éditée sous les auspices du Haut-commissaire français pendant l’occupation.
• Sections économiques
Dans les différents centres industriels et économiques, dix sections économiques, dites aussi SEF (sections économiques françaises), fonctionnent sous le contrôle du Haut-commissariat français, à Luxembourg, Ludwigshafen, Mayence, Trèves, Coblence, Bonn, Cologne, Krefeld, Düsseldorf et Aix-la-Chapelle. Ce sont des agences commerciales à la disposition des entrepreneurs français. Elles fournissent également des renseignements sur la situation économique et sociale et mettent en oeuvre l'action économique de l’occupation (sanctions économiques de 1921, préparation de l’occupation de la Ruhr). Les sections économiques sont supprimées en 1925 à la suite des accords de Locarno.
La convention d’armistice du 11 novembre 1918 contient déjà à titre de garantie contre une agression allemande l’évacuation des pays de la rive gauche du Rhin par les armées allemandes, suivie de leur occupation par l’ensemble des troupes alliées (française, belge, britannique) et des États-Unis, ainsi que des têtes de pont de trente kilomètres de rayon sur la rive droite, au niveau des principaux points de passage du Rhin (Mayence, Coblence, Cologne). Ces territoires doivent être administrés par les autorités locales sous le contrôle des troupes d'occupation des Alliés et des États-Unis. Celles-ci exercent le droit de réquisition ; leur entretien est à la charge du gouvernement allemand.
Le maréchal Foch, commandant en chef, qui a reçu par la convention d'armistice le pouvoir suprême en territoires occupés, crée un Contrôle général de l'administration des territoires occupés (décembre 1918) dirigé par Paul Tirard, dont le siège, primitivement fixé à Luxembourg, est transféré dans les derniers temps de la période d'armistice à Coblence. Il comprend six départements ayant respectivement en charge les affaires politiques et administratives, financières, industrielles, commerciales et diplomatiques, juridiques et législatives et sur place un réseau de représentants français – les contrôleurs – dans chacun des soixante-douze districts.
Les négociations entre les puissances alliées et leur volonté de créer un organisme administratif chargé de traiter les affaires civiles, davantage émancipé de l’influence prédominante du commandant suprême et où chacune des puissances alliées serait représentée, aboutit en avril 1919 à la création d’une Commission interalliée des territoires rhénans (CITR). Celle-ci est composée d’un représentant de chacune des quatre forces d’occupation ; Paul Tirard en est le président, tout en continuant d'assurer les fonctions de contrôleur général de l’administration des territoires rhénans.
Le traité de Versailles définit les conditions de l’occupation dans les articles 428 et 432, complétés par l’Arrangement rhénan signé également le 28 juin 1919. La rive gauche du Rhin, ainsi que des territoires sur la rive droite autour de Cologne, Coblence, Mayence et Kehl, doivent être administrés par les Français et leurs alliés belges, britanniques et américains pour une période de quinze ans. L’administration civile allemande conserve ses prérogatives, mais est placée sous le contrôle et la direction d’une commission interalliée en qualité de représentation souveraine des forces d’occupation. La CITR se transforme en Haute Commission interalliée des territoires rhénans (HCITR) et les quatre membres de la CITR deviennent hauts-commissaires. Pour la France, c’est Paul Tirard qui est nommé, par décret du 14 octobre 1919, Haut-commissaire de la République française et président de la HCITR.
Le décret du 25 novembre 1919 fixe les attributions du haut-commissaire français dans les provinces du Rhin. Placé sous l’autorité du ministère des Affaires étrangères, il centralise les questions relatives à la rive gauche du Rhin et correspond avec le ministre des Affaires étrangères qui transmet sa correspondance aux ministères concernés. Sont placés sous sa responsabilité les organes, commissions ou fonctionnaires chargés dans les territoires occupés des questions relatives à l’administration ou à la vie économique du territoire.
La France qui a la zone d’occupation la plus étendue (elle s’accroît en 1923 avec l’absorption de la zone américaine) est considérée comme le principal occupant. Afin de maintenir l’unité entre les Alliés, de favoriser le rapprochement intellectuel et économique franco-rhénan, et dans le cadre d’une politique d’influence à long terme encourageant l’autonomisme rhénan, elle crée différents services français qui représentent près d’un millier d’agents en 1921.
À la suite des accords de Locarno dits pacte de stabilité ou pacte rhénan (octobre 1925), entre l'Allemagne d'une part, la Belgique, la France, la Grande-Bretagne et l'Italie d'autre part, qui garantissent les frontières occidentales de l’Allemagne, une liquidation partielle des services du Haut-commissariat est opérée le 31 décembre 1925. Les sections économiques et les délégués des cercles sont supprimés, les services sont réorganisés, des licenciements réduisent les effectifs à moins de deux cents agents en 1926.
L'évacuation des territoires occupés est réglée par les négociations de La Haye en août 1929. Elle se produit en 1930, soit cinq ans avant le terme ultime fixé par le traité de Versailles.
L'évacuation de Coblence par les troupes françaises a lieu le 30 novembre 1929, le siège de la HCITR et du Haut-commissariat est alors transféré à Wiesbaden. Le dernier acte est l'évacuation de Wiesbaden et de Mayence, quartier général de l’Armée française du Rhin, le 30 juin 1930.
Was this content helpful? Let Archives Portal Europe and the archival institution know what you think.
Feedback is sent directly to the institution holding this material and should preferably be submitted in English or in the language of the institution, if possible. The institution will aim at getting back to you as soon as possible to help you with your request, though you might need to allow between two and four weeks for this depending on the current workload at the institution.
Please select amongst the relevant tips we can help with. If you still have questions, please do not hesitate to contact us, and we will be in touch as soon as possible.
Starting your search here will include all content available in Archives Portal Europe. Simply enter your keyword(s) and hit the search button. Wrap fixed expressions in quotation marks, e.g. “French Revolution”. Check the box to “Search each term separately” in case you are looking for documents containing at least one word, but not necessarily all keywords; this will also allow you to search for the same term in multiple languages at the same time (e.g. “French Revolution” “Révolution Française”). You can also use wildcards - find more about Research Tools here. If you would like to use more specific settings, try our Advanced search
The additional advanced search options give you the possibility to focus your search in:
When searching with multiple terms at the same time, wrap fixed expressions in quotation marks (e.g. "French Revolution"), or check the box "Search each term separately" in case you are looking for either one term of the other. This will also allow you to search for the same term in multiple languages (e.g. "French Revolution" "Révolution française"). You can also choose one of the suggestions matching your search term once you start typing.
This will only show results that include documents that have been digitised and are available online
Use this option to search only one or more keywords, rather than all of them
Select where your search terms should appear specifically inside the archival description:
You can filter results by selecting where your search terms appears specifically inside the archival description:
You can filter results by selecting where your search terms appears specifically inside the description of the archive:
Please note that this filter will only include institutions, for which a type has been provided as part of their descriptions:
Enter a start and/or end date in the format DD-MM-YYYY, i.e. 01-01-1900 for 1 January 1900. This will allow you to focus your search on a specific period of time. You can use the calendar function or type directly in the text field. The checkbox "Exact date search" concentrates the search on one specific date.
Check "View in context" to view the results in the hierarchical structure of archives.
For more details see Research Tools
Please sign in to save your searches.
A holdings guide is an overview of the collections and fonds of one archival institution.
A finding aid is a structured description of archival materials per collection or fonds up to item level.
You can filter results by selecting one or more countries of interest. You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your filter selection will appear above. Click "Clear filters" to see all results matching your initial search request again.
You can filter results by one or more holding archival institutions. You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your filter selection will appear above. Click "Clear filters" to see all results matching your initial search request again.
You can select to view results from a specific Finding Aid, i.e., a structured description of archival materials per collection or fonds up to item level. You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your filter selection will appear above. Click "Clear filters" to see all results matching your initial search request again.
You can filter by type of descriptive document:
You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your filter selection will appear above. Click "Clear filters" to see all results matching your initial search request again.
You can filter results by selecting "Fonds description" for a general overview or "Other descriptions" for item level. You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your filter
selection will appear above. Click "Clear filters" to see all results
matching your initial search request again.
You can filter results by selecting only those containing digital objects, i.e. the link to the digitised version of the archival material you are looking for. You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your filter selection will appear above. Click "Clear filters" to see all results matching your initial search request again.
You can filter results by type of digital object you are interested in:
You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your filter selection will appear above. Click "Clear filters" to see all results matching your initial search request again.
You can filter results based on the date of creation of the archival material (which may differ from the time period you are interested in - e.g., philosophers from the Enlightenment period reflecting on classic thinkers)
Please note that not all documents contain a machine-readable date. More information here
You can filter results based on the date of creation of the archival material (which may differ from the time period you are interested in - e.g., philosophers from the Enlightenment period reflecting on classic thinkers). This filter will only include materials with "Full dates", i.e. those that include date information available for date-based searches. You can either search for a specific date of interest or focus step by step on the time span of a century, decade, year or month. When searching for a specific date, enter the date in the format DD-MM-YYYY, i.e. 01/01/1900 for 1 January 1900, via the calendar function or by typing directly in the text field.
This filter concentrates on the earliest dates mentioned in the materials.
You can filter results based on the date of creation of the archival material (which may differ from the time period you are interested in - e.g., philosophers from the Enlightenment period reflecting on classic thinkers). This filter will only include materials with "Full dates", i.e. those that include date information available for date-based searches. You can either search for a specific date of interest or focus step by step on the time span of a century, decade, year or month. When searching for a specific date, enter the date in the format DD-MM-YYYY, i.e. 01/01/1900 for 1 January 1900, via the calendar function or by typing directly in the text field.
This filter concentrates on the latest dates mentioned in the materials.
You can filter results based on the language in which the material is written. Please note that this filter will only include materials where specific language information has been provided by the institution and is therefore in a machine-readable format. You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your selection will then be displayed above the search results (see "Search filters"). Clicking "Clear filters" will remove your selection and you will see all results matching your initial search request again.
You can filter results by selecting one or more topics of interest. Please note that this filter will only include materials where the topic has been assigned and is therefore in a machine-readable format. Read how to assign a topic to documents on the Topics page. You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your selection will then be displayed above the search results (see "Search filters"). Clicking "Clear filters" will remove your selection and you will see all results matching your initial search request again.
You can filter results by selecting where your search terms appears specifically inside the archival description:
You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your selection will then be displayed above the search results (see "Search filters"). Clicking "Clear filters" will remove your selection and you will see all results matching your initial search request again.
You can filter results by type of entities:
You can filter results based on the language in which the material is written. Please note that this filter will only include materials where specific language information has been provided by the institution and is therefore in a machine-readable format. You can also combine this filter with other filters. Your selection will then be displayed above the search results (see "Search filters"). Clicking "Clear filters" will remove your selection and you will see all results matching your initial search request again.
You can filter results based on the type of holding institution. Please note that this filter will only include institutions, for which a type has been provided as part of their descriptions.
Write your message in your own language and use this drop-down menu to have your message translated into English or in the language of the institution for a swifter response. By checking this box and selecting a language you will send your original message along with the translated version
What kind of suggestion would you like to make?
This is a test area to fill out all the copyright details for Attribution Creative Commons Licence
This object is not or no longer protected by copyright and has been labelled with the Public Domain Mark. It can be used by anyone without any restrictions.
This object is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication. All possible existing rights in the content are waived, and the object can be used by anyone without any restrictions.
This object is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution (BY) licence. You can copy, redistribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the licensed object, even
commercially, as long as you attribute the rights holder as described
in the licence.
This is a test area to fill out all the copyright details for Attribution Creative Commons Share Alike Licence
This is a test area to fill out all the copyright details for NoDerivs
This is a test area to fill out all the copyright details for NonCommercial
This object is in the public domain, but has been digitised as the outcome of a public-private partnership, where the terms of the contractual agreement limit commercial use for a certain period of time. You can copy, redistribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the object for non-commercial use only.
This object has been
identified as an Orphan Work in the country of first publication and in
line with the requirements of the national law implementing Directive
2012/28/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October
2012 on certain permitted uses of orphan works.
You are free to use this object in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. Please note that you are responsible for your own use, including the need to obtain other permissions e.g. with regard to publicity, privacy or moral rights.
This object is in the public domain, but is subject to known legal restrictions other than copyright which prevent its free re-use. Please contact the providing institution for more information.
This object is currently in copyright. Please contact the providing institution for more information and in order to acquire additional permissions for re-use.
The copyright status of this object has not been evaluated yet. Please contact the providing institution for more information.
You are free to use this object in any way that is permitted by the
copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. Please note that you are responsible for your own use, including the need to obtain other permissions e.g. with regard to publicity, privacy, or moral rights.
This object is currently in copyright and the rights holder(s) have allowed re-use for educational purposes only. You are free to use this object in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. Please note that you are responsible for your own use, including the need to obtain other permissions e.g. with regard to publicity, privacy or moral rights.
Please contact the providing institution for more information and in order to acquire additional permissions for any other uses.
This object is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution, ShareAlike (BY-SA) licence. You can copy, redistribute, remix, tweak and build upon the licensed object, even for commercial purposes, as long as you attribute the rights holder as described in the licence, and you license your adaptations of the object under the same terms.
This object is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution, ShareAlike (BY-SA) licence. You can copy, redistribute, remix, tweak and build upon the licensed object, even for commercial purposes, as long as you attribute the rights holder as described in the licence, and you license your adaptations of the object under the same terms.
This object is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution, No Derivates (BY-ND) licence. You can copy and redistribute the object, even
commercially, as long as no alteration is made to the object and you attribute the rights holder as described in the licence.
If you remix, transform or build upon the object, you may not distribute the modified material.
This object is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution, Non-Commercial (BY-NC) licence. You can copy, redistribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the licensed object for non-commercial use only and as long as you attribute the rights holder as described in the licence.
This object is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution, Non-Commercial, ShareAlike (BY-NC-SA) licence. You can copy, redistribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the licensed object for non-commercial use only, as long as you attribute the rights
holder as described in
the licence, and as long as you license your adaptations of the object under the same
terms.
This object is made available under the terms of the Creative Commons - Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivates (BY-NC-ND) licence. You can copy and redistribute the object for non-commercial use only, as long as no alteration is made to the object and as long as you attribute the rights
holder as described in
the licence.
If you remix, transform or build upon the object, you may not distribute the modified material.
This object is in the public domain, but has been digitised as the outcome of a public-private partnership, where the terms of the contractual agreement limit commercial use for a certain period of time. You can copy, redistribute, remix, tweak, and build upon the object for non-commercial use only.
This object has been
identified as an Orphan Work in the country of first publication and in
line with the requirements of the national law implementing Directive
2012/28/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October
2012 on certain permitted uses of orphan works.
You are free to use this object in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. Please note that you are responsible for your own use, including the need to obtain other permissions e.g. with regard to publicity, privacy or moral rights.
This object is in the public domain, but is subject to known legal restrictions other than copyright which prevent its free re-use. Please contact the providing institution for more information.
This object is currently in copyright. Please contact the providing institution for more information and in order to acquire additional permissions for re-use.
The copyright status of this object has not been evaluated yet. Please contact the providing institution for more information.
You are free to use this object in any way that is permitted by the
copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. Please note that you are responsible for your own use, including the need to obtain other permissions e.g. with regard to publicity, privacy, or moral rights.
This object is currently in copyright and the rights holder(s) have allowed re-use for educational purposes only. You are free to use this object in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. Please note that you are responsible for your own use, including the need to obtain other permissions e.g. with regard to publicity, privacy or moral rights.
Please contact the providing institution for more information and in order to acquire additional permissions for any other uses.