The Rhinelan (Rheinland in German) is the general name for the land on both sides of the river Rhine in the west of Germany. After the collapse of the French Empire in the early 19th century, the German-speaking regions at the middle and lower course of the Rhine river were annexed to the kingdom of Prussia. The Prussian administration reorganised the territory as the Rhine Province (also known as Rhenish Prussia), a term continuing in the names of the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia. Following the First World War of the early 20th century, the western part of Rhineland was occupied by Entente forces, then demilitarized under the Treaty of Versailles. German forces reoccupied the territory in 1936, as part of a diplomatic test of will, three years before the outbreak of the Second World War.