Si l’obéissance caractérisant la Moselle napoléonienne est un mythe sans fondement, c’est que de 1810 à 1814 la Lorraine allemande, région généralement connue comme l’une des plus soumises du Grand Empire, apparaît de plus en plus dissidente. Tous les ingrédients de la sédition sont réunis : résistance aux mesures d’un pouvoir discrédité, opposition à ses agents, révoltes populaires, contrebande et fraude galopantes, recours croissant à la violence.Jusque-là, le département de la Moselle était pourtant connu pour être, tout à la fois, soumis, obéissant, légaliste et fidèle : l’esprit des Mosellans était présenté comme « excellent », aussi bien par les administrateurs napoléoniens que par les historiens qui ont suivi. Depuis sa prise de fonction en 1805, le préfet de la Moselle, Viénot de Vaublanc, ne cessait d’assurer le pouvoir central de la docilité de son département et répondait même de la fidélité de ses administrés.Dans cette démonstration qui tendra à prouver que l’obéissance du département de la Moselle tient bien plus du mythe que de la réalité historique, la Lorraine allemande sera notre unique champ d’investigation. La dissidence de cette dernière, de 1811 à 1814, nous portera à remettre en question certains mythes particulièrement tenaces dans une région frontalière sarro-mosellane où la légende exerce, aujourd’hui encore, un certain empire.
The obedience characterising the Napoleonic Department of the Moselle is a myth without foundation. In fact, the German-speaking Lorraine, generally considered one of the most submissive regions of the First French Empire, grew increasingly rebellious between 1810 and 1814. The region exhibited all the signs of rebellion: resistance to measures of a discredited power, opposition to its agents, popular riots, soaring contraband and smuggling, and growing resort to violence. Until then the Department of the Moselle had been regarded as obedient, legalist and loyal. The Napoleonic administrators described the spirit of the population as « excellent ». Since his assumption of duties in 1805, the Prefect of the Moselle Viénot de Vaublanc had assured the French central power about the tractability of his department and had even answered for the loyalty of his administrés.At the origin of the rebellion lay a decision by the French Ministry for Finances that definitively ended the cultivation of tobacco in Napoleonic Moselle. Stricken by poverty and, to some extent, hostile to the deprivation of a right they had previously enjoyed without restrictions, the population in many cantons resorted to illegality, either by necessity or by choice. Alongside the illegal cultivation of tobacco (concealed by numerous mayors in their correspondence with the sub-prefectoral or prefectoral power), smuggling and contraband became widespread. The Moselle administration attempted to conceal this insubordination, but the central power learned of its reach despite the administration’s efforts. The Prefect grew increasingly desperate, as did his officers.The popular discontent in the German-speaking Lorraine had definitively cast doubt on the legitimacy of the Napoleonic regime. In this demonstration we will focus on the people of German-speaking Lorraine and show that the obedience of the Napoleonic Department of the Moselle is exaggerated. Many longstanding beliefs about the Franco-German bordering region will be called into question. Indeed, Bonapartism and legalism in the German-speaking Lorraine, as well as resistance of the population against the allied armies conquering France, seem not to belong to historical reality, but rather to myth.
