The Rhine was the Romans’ bulwark against the Teutonic invaders and was
long a boundary between the province of Gaul and the German tribes.
Under Charlemagne the Rhine valley became the focus of civilization.
Except between 1697 and 1871 the Rhine was always a purely German river;
at the peace of Ryswick, Alsace-Lorraine was appropriated by France, and
the Rhine became part of the dividing line between France and Germany.
In 1801 Napoleon incorporated the whole of the left bank with France; in
1815 the arrangement in force before 1801 was restored; and after 1871
the Rhine became once more wholly German. It has often been crossed by
armies; twice by Julius Cæsar; again in the Thirty Years’ war, and in
the wars of Louis XIV., the Revolution, and Napoleon. Its navigation was
declared free in 1868.
The Rhine is connected by canals with the rivers Danube, Rhone and
Marne. There is a railway along both its banks, but a steamboat is
greatly preferable for viewing the incomparable course between Cologne
(Köln) and Mainz (_Fr._, Mayence) as shown in panoramic form on
preceding page. Its beauties are better displayed, also, at most points,
in ascending the river than in descending it.
=THE DANUBE= (_Ger._, Donau), one of the most important rivers of
Europe, and next to the Volga the largest, originates in two small
streams rising in the Schwarzwald, or Black Forest, in Baden,
Germany, and uniting at Donaueschingen, two thousand two hundred and
sixty-four feet above sea level. The Germans occupy the entire upper
basin, and portions of the middle and lower; the Slavs parts of both
banks of the middle course; the Magyars the central portion of the
valley; and the Roumanians the lower regions.