The Strasbourg liberation story has been both neglected by wider audiences in favour of the Battle of the Bulge, and disputed in France, between promoters of the recently commissioned Free French resistance fighters, and the claims of the colonial divisions from the then French Empire, who fought and died on French soil. And no popular historical account of the heroic and often brutal campaign exists in English. For half a century, Strasbourg was a hotly contested prize fought over between France and Germany. As the historic capital of the border region of Alsace, it passed into German hands after the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71, then returned to France after World War 1. Following Vichy France-s capitulation to Nazi Germany in 1940, Strasbourg and Alsace were incorporated into the Greater German Reich. Strasbourg-s historic significance to France was attested by General Leclerc-s oath of Kufra in March 1941, when he and his troops swore to fight until -our flag flies over the Cathe
