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Fort Du Télégraphe
The Fort du Télégraphe, or Fort Berwick, is located in the Maurienne valley on the road to the Col du Galibier between Valloire and Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne, at the Col du Télégraphe, dominating the valley of the Arc. The location at an altitude of previously accommodated a telegraph of the Chappe system using articulating arms to send messages between Lyon and Milan, and after 1809, Venice. The fort has two entrances with drawbridges to allow access to different levels of the fort, with inclined ramps to allow easy movement of artillery pieces. When completed in 1884 after four years of construction, the fort was manned by 170 men, firing four artillery pieces at the main fort and four more at detached batteries. History The site was first occupied by Marshal Berwick in the early 18th century. The Fort du Télégraphe was completed between 1886 and 1890 as a part of the Séré de Rivières system of fortifications. It saw no action until 1940, when it fired on Italian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Séré De Rivières System
The system was named after Raymond Adolphe Séré de Rivières, its originator. The system was an ensemble of fortifications built from 1874 along the frontiers and coasts of France. The fortresses were obsolescent by 1914 but were used during the First World War. Background Following the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, France found itself seriously weakened and isolated from the rest of Europe, menaced by Germany and stung by the loss of Alsace-Lorraine. At the same time as the departure of the last German troops, France created the Defence Committee (), which was active between 1872 and 1888, whose mission was to reorganize the defence of the French frontiers and coasts. It was necessary to compensate for the lost territories of the north-east; to modernise old fortifications, which had been shown to be wanting in the last war and to create new fortifications proof against modern weaponry using new and more powerful explosives. The committee was created by a preside ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Telegraphy
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pigeon post is not. Ancient signalling systems, although sometimes quite extensive and sophisticated as in China, were generally not capable of transmitting arbitrary text messages. Possible messages were fixed and predetermined and such systems are thus not true telegraphs. The earliest true telegraph put into widespread use was the optical telegraph of Claude Chappe, invented in the late 18th century. The system was used extensively in France, and European nations occupied by France, during the Napoleonic era. The electric telegraph started to replace the optical telegraph in the mid-19th century. It was first taken up in Britain in the form of the Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph, initially used mostly as an aid to railway signalling. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Forces Of The Interior
The French Forces of the Interior (french: Forces françaises de l'Intérieur) were French resistance fighters in the later stages of World War II. Charles de Gaulle used it as a formal name for the resistance fighters. The change in designation of these groups to FFI occurred as France's status changed from that of an occupied nation to one of a nation being liberated by the Allied armies. As regions of France were liberated, the FFI were more formally organized into light infantry units and served as a valuable manpower addition to regular Free French forces. In this role, the FFI units manned less active areas of the front lines, allowing regular French army units to practice economy of force measures and mass their troops in decisive areas of the front. Finally, from October 1944 and with the greater part of France liberated, the FFI units were amalgamated into the French regular forces continuing the fight on the Western Front, thus ending the era of the French irregulars ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maginot Line
The Maginot Line (french: Ligne Maginot, ), named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by France in the 1930s to deter invasion by Germany and force them to move around the fortifications. The Maginot Line was impervious to most forms of attack. In consequence, the Germans invaded through the Low Countries in 1940, passing it to the north. The line, which was supposed to be fully extended further towards the west to avoid such an occurrence, was finally scaled back in response to demands from Belgium. Indeed, Belgium feared it would be sacrificed in the event of another German invasion. The line has since become a metaphor for expensive efforts that offer a false sense of security. Constructed on the French side of its borders with Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium, the line did not extend to the English Channel. French strategy therefore envisioned a move into Belgium ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alpine Line
The Alpine Line (french: Ligne Alpine) or Little Maginot Line (French: ''Petite Ligne Maginot'') was the component of the Maginot Line that defended the southeastern portion of France. In contrast to the main line in the northeastern portion of France, the Alpine Line traversed a mountainous region of the Maritime Alps, the Cottian Alps and the Graian Alps, with relatively few passes suitable for invading armies. Access was difficult for construction and for the Alpine Line garrisons. Consequently, fortifications were smaller in scale than the fortifications of the main Line. The Alpine Line mounted few anti-tank weapons, since the terrain was mostly unsuitable for the use of tanks. Ouvrage Rimplas was the first Maginot fortification to be completed on any portion of the Maginot Line, in 1928. The Alpine Line was unsuccessfully attacked by Italian forces during the Italian invasion of France in 1940. Following World War II, some of the larger positions of the Alpine Line were retai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
James FitzJames, 1st Duke Of Berwick
James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, 1st Duke of Liria and Jérica, 1st Duke of Fitz-James (21 August 1670 – 12 June 1734) was an Anglo-French military leader, illegitimate son of King James II of England by Arabella Churchill, sister of the 1st Duke of Marlborough. Berwick was a successful general in the pay of Louis XIV of France. Early life FitzJames was born at Moulins in France before his father's accession to the throne, and was brought up in France as a Catholic. He was the son of James and his mistress Arabella Churchill, sister of the English captain general and statesman John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. He was educated at the Stuarts' expense in the College of Juilly, the Collège du Plessis, and the Jesuit College of La Flèche. He went into the service of Charles V, Duke of Lorraine, and was present at the siege of Buda. FitzJames was created Duke of Berwick, Earl of Tinmouth and Baron Bosworth by his father in 1687. He then returned to Hung ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drawbridge
A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable bridges, such as bascule bridges, vertical-lift bridges and swing bridges, but this article concerns the narrower historical definition of the term where the bridge is used in a defensive structure. As used in castles or defensive structures, drawbridges provide access across defensive structures when lowered, but can quickly be raised from within to deny entry to an enemy force. Castle drawbridges Medieval castles were usually defended by a ditch or moat, crossed by a wooden bridge. In early castles the bridge might be designed to be destroyed or removed in the event of an attack, but drawbridges became very common. A typical arrangement would have the drawbridge immediately outside a gatehouse, consisting of a wooden deck with one ed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Semaphore Line
An optical telegraph is a line of stations, typically towers, for the purpose of conveying textual information by means of visual signals. There are two main types of such systems; the semaphore telegraph which uses pivoted indicator arms and conveys information according to the direction the indicators point, and the shutter telegraph which uses panels that can be rotated to block or pass the light from the sky behind to convey information. The most widely used system was invented in 1792 in France by Claude Chappe, and was popular in the late eighteenth to early nineteenth centuries. This system is often referred to as ''semaphore'' without qualification. Lines of relay towers with a semaphore rig at the top were built within line of sight of each other, at separations of . Operators at each tower would watch the neighboring tower through a telescope, and when the semaphore arms began to move spelling out a message, they would pass the message on to the next tower. This s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arc (Savoie)
The Arc () is a river in the Savoie département of south-eastern France. It is a left tributary of the Isère, which it joins at Chamousset, approximately downstream from Albertville. Its source is near the border with Italy, in the Graian Alps, northeast of Bonneval-sur-Arc. The valley of the Arc, the Maurienne, is an important transport artery between France and Italy. Towns crossed by the river * Bonneval-sur-Arc * Bessans * Lanslevillard * Lanslebourg-Mont-Cenis * Termignon * Sollières-Sardières * Bramans * Avrieux * Villarodin-Bourget * Modane * Fourneaux * Freney * Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne * Saint-Martin-de-la-Porte * Saint-Julien-Mont-Denis * Villargondran * Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne * La Chambre * Épierre * Argentine * Aiguebelle * Aiton See also * Arc (Provence), a river in southern France. * List of rivers of France This is a list of rivers that are at least partially in France. The rivers are grouped by sea or ocean. The rivers flowing into the sea ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its Metropolitan France, metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea; overseas territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean. Due to its several coastal territories, France has the largest exclusive economic zone in the world. France borders Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Andorra, and Spain in continental Europe, as well as the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Netherlands, Suriname, and Brazil in the Americas via its overseas territories in French Guiana and Saint Martin (island), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Col Du Télégraphe
Col du Télégraphe is a mountain pass in the French Alps situated above the Maurienne valley between the eastern end of the massif d'Arvan-Villards and the massif des Cerces. The pass links Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne to the north and Valloire to the south, as well as forming an access point to the col du Galibier via its north face. The route is often used during the ascent to Col du Galibier in the Tour de France, and is thus popular with cyclists. Details of the climb From the north, starting at Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne, the climb is long, gaining in height (an average of 7.3%). The maximum gradient is 9.8% at the summit. On this side mountain pass cycling milestones are placed every kilometre. They indicate the current height, the distance to the summit, the average slope in the following kilometre, and the number of the street. As of July 2015, some milestones are missing in the middle part of the climb. From the south, the climb starts at Valloire and is long a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne
Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne (, literally ''Saint-Michel of Maurienne''; frp, Sin Mestyé) is a commune in the Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. Geography Climate Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne has a oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classification ''Cfb''). The station is located at an altitude of ; due to its location on a leeward slope, there is significantly less precipitation than nearby areas. It is quite common to exceed in summer, sometimes the maximum temperature can reach , and in winter it is relatively rare to fall below . The average annual temperature in Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne is . The average annual rainfall is with December as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne was on 19 August 2012; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 5 February 2012. See also * Communes of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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