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Ouvrage Fermont
Ouvrage Fermont is a ''gros ouvrage'' of the Maginot Line, part of the Fortified Sector of the Crusnes in northeastern France, near the community of Montigny-sur-Chiers. It is located near the commune of Montigny-sur-Chiers, between the ''petit ouvrage'' Ferme Chappy and the ''gros ouvrage'' Latiremont. The position is near the western end of the Line, about four kilometers east of Longuyon, facing Belgium. There was significant combat at Fermont during the last stages of the Battle of France. It was repaired and reactivated during the 1950s and 1960s as a strongpoint in the event of an invasion by Soviet forces. After being abandoned by the military, it has been restored and is maintained as a museum. Design and construction The site was surveyed by the Commission d'Organisation des Régions Fortifiées (CORF), the Maginot Line's design and construction agency, in early 1931. Fermont was approved for construction in May 1931. It was completed at a cost of 77 million fra ... [...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] |
Casemate
A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which artillery, guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to Ancient history, antiquity, the term "casemate wall" means a double city wall with the space between the walls separated into chambers, which could be filled up to better withstand battering rams in case of siege (see #Antiquity: casemate wall, Antiquity: casemate wall). In its original early modern meaning, the term referred to a vaulted chamber in a fort, which may have been used for storage, accommodation, or artillery which could fire through an opening or embrasure. Although the outward faces of brick or masonry casemates proved vulnerable to advances in artillery performance, the invention of reinforced concrete allowed newer designs to be produced well into the 20th century. With the introduction of ironclad warships, the definition was widened to include a prot ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fortified Sector Of The Crusnes
The Fortified Sector of the Crusnes (''Secteur Fortifiée de la Crusnes'') was the French military organization that in 1940 controlled the section of the Maginot Line extending eastwards approximately from Longuyon. The sector roughly follows the valley of the Crusnes river. Crucially, the trace of the Maginot Line in the Crusnes sector is about ''behind'' the industrial city of Longwy which sits directly against the French borders with Belgium and Luxembourg. The Crusnes sector was one of the strongest Maginot Line sectors. It was attacked in 1940 by German forces in the Battle of France. Despite the withdrawal of the mobile forces that supported the fixed fortifications, the sector successfully fended off German assaults before the Second Armistice at Compiègne. The positions and their garrisons finally surrendered on 27 June 1940. Following the war many positions were reactivated for use during the Cold War. Three locations are now preserved and open to the public, wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Czechoslovak Border Fortifications
Czechoslovakia built a system of border fortifications as well as some fortified defensive lines inland, from 1935 to 1938 as a defensive countermeasure against the rising threat of Nazi Germany. The objective of the fortifications was to prevent the taking of key areas by an enemy—not only Germany but also Hungary and Poland—by means of a sudden attack before the mobilization of the Czechoslovak Army could be completed, and to enable effective defense until allies—Britain and France, and possibly the Soviet Union—could help. History With the rise of Hitler and his demands for unification of German minorities, including the Sudeten Germans, and the return of other claimed territories—Sudetenland—the alarmed Czechoslovak leadership began defensive plans. While some basic defensive structures were built early on, it was not until after conferences with the French military on their design that a full-scale effort began. A change in the design philosophy was noticeable in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atlantic Wall
The Atlantic Wall (german: link=no, Atlantikwall) was an extensive system of coastal defences and fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the coast of continental Europe and Scandinavia as a defence against an anticipated Allied invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe from the United Kingdom, during World War II. The manning and operation of the Atlantic Wall was administratively overseen by the German Army, with some support from ''Luftwaffe'' ground forces. The ''Kriegsmarine'' (German Navy) maintained a separate coastal defence network, organised into a number of sea defence zones. Hitler ordered the construction of the fortifications in 1942 through his Führer Directive No. 40. More than half a million French workers were drafted to build it. The wall was frequently mentioned in Nazi propaganda, where its size and strength were usually exaggerated. The fortifications included colossal coastal guns, batteries, mortars, and artillery, and thousands o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siegfried Line
The Siegfried Line, known in German as the ''Westwall'', was a German defensive line built during the 1930s (started 1936) opposite the French Maginot Line. It stretched more than ; from Kleve on the border with the Netherlands, along the western border of Nazi Germany, to the town of Weil am Rhein on the border with Switzerland – and featured more than 18,000 bunkers, tunnels and tank traps. From September 1944 to March 1945 the Siegfried Line was subjected to a large-scale Allied offensive. Name The official name for the German defensive line construction program before and during the Second World War that collectively came to be known as the "Westwall" (and "Siegfried Line", or sometimes "West Wall", in English) changed several times during the late 1930s reflecting areas of progress. * Border Watch programme (pioneering programme) for the most advanced positions (1938) * Limes Programme (1938) * Western Air Defense Zone (1938) * Aachen–Saar Programme (1939) * Ge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Maginot Line Ouvrages
Here is the list of all ''ouvrages'' of the Maginot Line, organized by sector and type of fortification. ''Ouvrage'' translates as "works" in English: published documents in both English and French refer to these fortifications in this manner, rather than as "forts". An ''ouvrage'' typically consists of a series of concrete-encased strongpoints, linked by tunnels. For a list of the ''ouvrages'' of the Alpine Line, or Little Maginot Line, see List of Alpine Line ouvrages. Belgian border Fortified Sector of Flanders Fortified Sector of Lille Fortified Sector of the Escaut Ouvrage * Ouvrage d'Eth Casemates * Casemate de Tallandier * Casemate de Jeanlain * Casemate de Notre Dame d'Amour * Casemate du Mont des Bruyères * Casemate de la Ferme des Rosières * Casemate de Marlières * Casemate de Haute Rive * Casemate de Drève St Antoine * Casemate de Lièvre Ouest * Casemate de Lièvre Est * Casemate de Trieux d'Escaupont Ouest * Casemate de Trieux d'Escaup ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
France And Weapons Of Mass Destruction
France is one of the five "Nuclear Weapons States" under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, but is not known to possess or develop any chemical or biological weapons. France was the fourth country to test an independently developed nuclear weapon, doing so in 1960 under the government of Charles de Gaulle. The French military is currently thought to retain a weapons stockpile of around 300 operational (deployed) nuclear warheads, making it the third-largest in the world, speaking in terms of warheads, not megatons. The weapons are part of the national ''Force de frappe'', developed in the late 1950s and 1960s to give France the ability to distance itself from NATO while having a means of nuclear deterrence under sovereign control. France did not sign the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which gave it the option to conduct further nuclear tests until it signed and ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty in 1996 and 1998 respectively. France denies ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Pact (WP) or Treaty of Warsaw, formally the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance, was a collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Poland, between the Soviet Union and seven other Eastern Bloc socialist republics of Central and Eastern Europe in May 1955, during the Cold War. The term "Warsaw Pact" commonly refers to both the treaty itself and its resultant defensive alliance, the Warsaw Treaty Organization (WTO). The Warsaw Pact was the military complement to the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon), the regional economic organization for the socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe. The Warsaw Pact was created in reaction to the integration of West Germany into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)"In reaction to West Germany's NATO accession, the Soviet Union and its Eastern European client states formed the Warsaw Pact in 1955." Citation from: in 1955 as per the London and Paris Conferences of 1954.The Warsaw Pact R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fermont Usine Citerne
Fermont () is a town in northeastern Quebec, Canada, near the Quebec-Labrador border about from Labrador City on Route 389, which connects to the Trans-Labrador Highway (Newfoundland and Labrador Route 500). It is the seat of the Regional County Municipality of Caniapiscau. Fermont (French contraction of "''Fer Mont''", meaning "Iron Mountain") was founded as a company town in the early 1970s to exploit rich iron ore deposits from Mont Wright, which is about to the west. The town is notable for the huge self-contained structure containing apartments, stores, schools, bars, a hotel, restaurants, a supermarket and swimming pool which shelters a community of smaller apartment buildings and homes on its leeward side. Popularly known as The Wall (''Le Mur''), the structure was designed to be a windscreen to the rest of the town. It permits residents (other than mine workers) to never leave the building during the long winter, which usually lasts about seven months. The town, des ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of The Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive (military), offensive military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western Front during World War II. The battle lasted from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945, towards the end of the war in Europe. It was launched through the densely forested Ardennes region between Belgium and Luxembourg. The primary military objectives were to deny further use of the Belgian port of Antwerp to the Allies and to split the Allied lines, which potentially could have allowed the Germans to encirclement, encircle and destroy the four Allied forces. Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, who since December 1941 had assumed direct command of the German army, believed that achieving these objectives would compel the Western Allies to accept a peace treaty in the Axis powers' favor. By this time, it was palpable to virtually the entire German leadership including Hitler himself that they had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Armistice At Compiègne
The Armistice of 22 June 1940 was signed at 18:36 near Compiègne, France, by officials of Nazi Germany and the Third French Republic. It did not come into effect until after midnight on 25 June. Signatories for Germany included Wilhelm Keitel, a senior military officer of the Wehrmacht (the German armed forces), while those on the French side held lower ranks including General Charles Huntziger. Following the decisive German victory in the Battle of France (10 May – 21 June 1940) during World War II, this armistice established a German occupation zone in Northern and Western France that encompassed about three fifths of France's European territory, including all English Channel and Atlantic Ocean ports. The remainder of the country was to be left unoccupied, although the new regime which replaced the Third Republic was mutually recognized as the legitimate government of all of Metropolitan France except Alsace-Lorraine. The French were also permitted to retain control of a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
