📅 On This Day in Military History

December 1

1 event across history

⚔️📍 Coblenz, Germany1918

U.S. Forces Occupy the Rhineland — WWI Aftermath

American troops of the Third Army crossed into Germany and occupied the Rhineland as part of the Allied occupation following Germany's armistice. It was the first time American soldiers had occupied enemy territory in Europe.

The Rhineland occupation was a key element of the Versailles peace process; its eventual end without German compliance on reparations contributed to the conditions that enabled Hitler's rise.

Outcome

Allied occupation of Rhineland begins; withdrawn 1923