Wacht am Rhein

Joel S. Berson Berson at ATT.NET
Mon Oct 25 16:32:12 UTC 2010


If 1905, what Anglo-German wartime?  (Not even the Boer Wars, as I
have researched, and which were not really with the Germans and were
far from the Rhine.)

Wikipdeia calls "Die Wacht am Rhein' "a German 1841 poem and 1854
song" and says it "is a German patriotic anthem. The song's origins
are rooted in historical conflicts with France, and it was
particularly popular in Germany during the Franco-Prussian War and
the First World War."  But the Franco-Prussian War (my research tells
me) was 1870-1871, and did not involve Anglos.  And the First World
War didn't start until 1914.

Is the 1905 date correct?

Joel

At 10/24/2010 07:39 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>Wallace Irwin, for
>example, in his "A Few Words from Wilhelm" (1905), p.43 :
>
>Hi-lee, hi-lo, der vinds dey plow,
>Choost like der Wacht am Rhein;
>Und vat iss mein pelongs to Me
>Und vat iss yours iss mein!
>
>I love the interlingual wordplay and the subtle political humor in this
>eerie adumbration (ten years before the Lusitania!)  of rabid wartime
>anti-Germanism.

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