The districts of Alsace and Lorraine were under the regime of France. During the Franco-Prussian war (1870-1871) France was defeated and both these districts became the part of Prussia (Germany). Earlier they were reading their own language, i.e. the French.
With the new set up, an order was issued from Berlin to teach only the German in these two districts. M. Hamel was a teacher who had been teaching the French for the last 40 years.
In his last lesson, he told that from the next day the students would be learning the German from a new teacher. They won’t be learning their own most beautiful, clearest and the logical language which is quite foreign to them. In a way he told the significance of their own language and aroused their patriotic feelings. The old villagers too endorsed his views. There came a sudden changes in Franz.
He developed a sort of great disliking for German. He heard and saw the pigeons cooing on the roofs. He immediately remarked : “Will they make them sing in German, even the pigeons ?” It is worthnoting here that the Germans can impose German language on the people of Alsace and Lorraine powerfully but they can’t impose this language on the birds, etc. They can enslave the people but have no authority to compel the cooing pigeons. Any forceful imposition will cease their love for them.
