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A defense line or fortification line is a geographically-recognizable line of troops and armament, fortified and set up to protect a high-value location or defend territory.
A
defense
Defense or defence may refer to:
Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups
* Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare
* Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks
* Defense industr ...
line may be based on natural difficult
terrain
Terrain or relief (also topographical relief) involves the vertical and horizontal dimensions of land surface. The term bathymetry is used to describe underwater relief, while hypsometry studies terrain relative to sea level. The Latin word ...
features, such as rivers or marshes, mountain ranges, or coastlines; temporary
field fortification
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
works such as
trench
A trench is a type of excavation or in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a wider gully, or ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or pit).
In geology, trenches result from eros ...
es; and/or more permanent
fortifications
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
such as
fortress
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
es and
bunker
A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. ...
s.
List of defense lines
Some notable defense lines include:
Historical
*
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' wall") is a series of fortifications that were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against various nomadic grou ...
, China
*
Sassanian defense lines
The defense lines (or ''"limes"'') of the Sasanians were part of their military strategy and tactics. They were networks of fortifications, walls, and/or ditches built opposite the territory of the enemies. These defense lines are known from trad ...
**
Great Wall of Gorgan
The Great Wall of Gorgan is a Sasanian-era defense system located near modern Gorgan in the Golestān Province of northeastern Iran, at the southeastern corner of the Caspian Sea. The western, Caspian Sea, end of the wall is near the remains o ...
, Persia
**
Derbent Walls
*
Defence lines of the Netherlands
Roman Defence Line
* Upper German Limes Limes Germanicus
Pre 1874 Defence Lines
* Circumvallatielinie van Groenlo
* Frisian Water Line (Friese Waterlinie)
* Groningse Waterlinie
* Helperlinie
* West Brabant waterline
* Linie van Beverwijk
* Li ...
*
Median Wall
The Median Wall was a wall built to the north of the ancient city of Babylon at a point where the distance between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates decreases considerably. It was believed to have been constructed during the latter part of the reig ...
(before 401 BC)
*
Limes Germanicus
The (Latin for ''Germanic frontier'') is the name given in modern times to a line of frontier () fortifications that bounded the ancient Roman provinces of Germania Inferior, Germania Superior and Raetia, dividing the Roman Empire and the unsub ...
, Germany
*
Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall ( la, Vallum Aelium), also known as the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Hadriani'' in Latin, is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. R ...
, United Kingdom (122)
*
Antonine Wall
The Antonine Wall, known to the Romans as ''Vallum Antonini'', was a turf fortification on stone foundations, built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth. Built some twe ...
, United Kingdom (142)
*
Serpent's Wall
Serpent's Wall ( uk , Змієві вали, translit=Zmiievi valy is an ancient system of earthen earthworks ( valla) located in the middle Dnieper Ukraine (Naddniprianshchyna)Kuchera, M. Serpent Walls (ЗМІЄВІ ВАЛИ)'. Encyclopedia of H ...
, Ukraine
*
Western Russian fortresses
The Western Russian fortresses are a system of fortifications built by the Russian Empire in Eastern Europe in the early 19th century. The fortifications were constructed in three chains at strategic locations along Russia's western border, pri ...
, Russia
*
Civil War Defenses of Washington
The Civil War Defenses of Washington were a group of Union Army fortifications that protected the federal capital city, Washington, D.C., from invasion by the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War (see Washington, D.C., in the Amer ...
, United States
*
Victoria Lines
The Victoria Lines, originally known as the North West Front, are a line of fortifications that spans 12 kilometres along the width of Malta, dividing the north of the island from the more heavily populated south.
Location
The Victoria Lines ru ...
, Malta (1875)
*
Hindenburg Line
The Hindenburg Line (German: , Siegfried Position) was a German defensive position built during the winter of 1916–1917 on the Western Front during the First World War. The line ran from Arras to Laffaux, near Soissons on the Aisne. In 191 ...
, France (1916)
*
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 the ...
, France (1929)
*
Schuster Line
The Schuster Line ( lb, Schuster-Linn) was a line of barriers and barricades erected by the Luxembourg government along its borders with Germany and France shortly before World War II. The line was named after Joseph Schuster, Luxembourg's chief en ...
, Luxembourg
*
Metaxas Line
The Metaxas Line (, ''Grammi Metaxa'') was a chain of fortifications constructed along the line of the Greco-Bulgarian border, designed to protect Greece in case of a Bulgarian invasion after the rearmament of Bulgaria. It was named after Ioanni ...
, Greece (1936-1941)
*
Mannerheim Line
The Mannerheim Line ( fi, Mannerheim-linja, sv, Mannerheimlinjen) was a defensive fortification line on the Karelian Isthmus built by Finland against the Soviet Union. While this was never an officially designated name, during the Winter War it ...
, Finland (1939–1940)
*
K-W Line
The Koningshooikt—Wavre Line, abbreviated to KW Line (french: Ligne KW; nl, KW-stelling) and often known as the Dyle Line after the Dijle, Dijle (Dyle) river, was a -long fortified line of defence prepared by the Belgian Army between Koningsho ...
, Belgium (1939)
*
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 west ...
, Germany
*
Gothic Line
The Gothic Line (german: Gotenstellung; it, Linea Gotica) was a German Defense line, defensive line of the Italian Campaign (World War II), Italian Campaign of World War II. It formed Generalfeldmarschall, Field Marshal Albert Kesselring's la ...
, Italy
*
Winter Line
The Winter Line was a series of German and Italian military fortifications in Italy, constructed during World War II by Organisation Todt and commanded by Albert Kesselring. The series of three lines was designed to defend a western section of ...
(
Gustav
Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to:
*Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin
Art, entertainment, and media
* ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film
* ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...
,
Bernhardt Bernhardt is both a given name and a surname, deriving from multiple languages, such as German. Notable people with the name include:
Given name:
*Bernhardt Esau (born 1957), Namibian politician and Deputy Ministry of Trade and Industry
*Bernhardt ...
and
Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...
Lines), Italy
*
Panther–Wotan line
The Panther–Wotan line, or ''Ostwall'' in German, was a defensive line partially built by the German Wehrmacht in 1943 on the Eastern Front. The first part of the name refers to the short northern section between Lake Peipus and the Baltic Se ...
, Russia (1943)
*
McNamara Line
The McNamara Line, an operational strategy employed by the United States in 1966–1968 during the Vietnam War, aimed to prevent infiltration of South Vietnam by NVA forces from North Vietnam and Laos. Physically, the McNamara Line ran across So ...
, South Vietnam (1966)
*
Bar Lev Line, Sinai Peninsula (1973)
Modern
*
Russia–Ukraine barrier
Russia–Ukraine barrier, also known as Ukrainian Wall or European Wall, or as Project Wall in Ukraine is a fortified border barrier by Ukraine on the Russia–Ukraine border. The aim of the project, according to Ukraine, is preventing Russian mi ...
, Ukraine
*
Muhamalai FDL, Sri Lanka
*
Nagarcoil FDL, Sri Lanka
Notes
References
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