History of Strasbourg remained neutral during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), and retained its status as a Free Imperial City. However, the city was later annexed by Louis XIV of France to extend the borders of his kingdom. Louis' advisors believed that, as long as Strasbourg remained independent, it would endanger the King's newly annexed territories in Alsace, and, that to defend these large rural lands effectively, a garrison had to be placed in towns such as Strasbourg. Indeed, the bridge over the Rhine at Strasbourg had been used repeatedly by Imperial (Holy Roman Empire) forces, and three times during the Franco-Dutch War
Model European Union Strasbourg universities, student organisations, NGOs, various student simulations of the United Nations and the EU, but also major youth organisations as AEGEE,JEF, AIESEC or Erasmus Student Network (ESN). Furthermore, the conference was supported by high-range EU politicians such as Martin Schulz, José Manuel Barroso, Hans-Gert Pöttering and Herman van Rompuy. Model European Union Strasbourg was one of the National winners of the European Charlemagne Youth Prize 2010 and 2016. The Model European Union Strasbourg 2015 edition, was selected by the European Commission as a success story because it was judged as having a strong fit with the aims and objectives of