Page "Nation state" Paragraph 26

In some cases, these policies triggered bitter conflicts and further ethnic separatism.

But where it worked, the cultural uniformity and homogeneity of the population increased.

Conversely, the cultural divergence at the border became sharper: in theory, a uniform French identity extends from the Atlantic coast to the Rhine, and on the other bank of the Rhine, a uniform German identity begins.

To enforce that model, both sides have divergent language policy and educational systems, although the linguistic boundary is in fact well inside France, and the Alsace region changed hands four times between 1870 and 1945.