The sentiment of attachment to France stayed strong at least during the first 16 years of the annexation. During the Reichstag elections, the 15 deputies of 1874, 1881, 1884 (but one) and 1887 were called "protester deputies" (fr: ) because they expressed to the Reichstag their opposition to the annexation by means of the "1874 motion" in the French language: "May it please the Reichstag to decide that the populations of Alsace-Lorraine that were annexed, without having been consulted, to the German Reich by the treaty of Frankfurt have to come out particularly about this annexation." The Saverne Affair (usually known in English-language accounts as the Zabern Affair), in which abusive and oppressive behaviour by the military towards the population of the town of Saverne led to protests not just in Alsace but in other regions, put a severe strain on the relationship between the people of Alsace-Lorraine and the rest of the German Empire.