1.
Infantry
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Infantry is the general branch of an army that engages in military combat on foot. As the troops who engage with the enemy in close-ranged combat, infantry units bear the largest brunt of warfare, Infantry can enter and maneuver in terrain that is inaccessible to military vehicles and employ crew-served infantry weapons that provide greater and more sustained firepower. In English, the 16th-century term Infantry describes soldiers who walk to the battlefield, and there engage, fight, the term arose in Sixteenth-Century Spain, which boasted one of the first professional standing armies seen in Europe since the days of Rome. It was common to appoint royal princes to military commands, and the men under them became known as Infanteria. in the Canadian Army, the role of the infantry is to close with, and destroy the enemy. In the U. S. Army, the closes with the enemy, by means of fire and maneuver, in order to destroy or capture him, or to repel his assault by fire, close combat. In the U. S. Marine Corps, the role of the infantry is to locate, close with, and destroy the enemy fire and maneuver. Beginning with the Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century, artillery has become a dominant force on the battlefield. Since World War I, combat aircraft and armoured vehicles have become dominant. In 20th and 21st century warfare, infantry functions most effectively as part of a combined arms team including artillery, armour, Infantry relies on organized formations to be employed in battle. These have evolved over time, but remain a key element to effective infantry development and deployment, until the end of the 19th century, infantry units were for the most part employed in close formations up until contact with the enemy. This allowed commanders to control of the unit, especially while maneuvering. The development of guns and other weapons with increased firepower forced infantry units to disperse in order to make them less vulnerable to such weapons. This decentralization of command was made possible by improved communications equipment, among the various subtypes of infantry is Medium infantry. This refers to infantry which are heavily armed and armored than heavy infantry. In the early period, medium infantry were largely eliminated due to discontinued use of body armour up until the 20th century. In the United States Army, Stryker Infantry is considered Medium Infantry, since they are heavier than light infantry, Infantry doctrine is the concise expression of how infantry forces contribute to campaigns, major operations, battles, and engagements. It is a guide to action, not a set of hard, doctrine provides a very common frame of reference across the military forces, allowing the infantry to function cooperatively in what are now called combined arms operations. Doctrine helps standardise operations, facilitating readiness by establishing common ways of accomplishing infantry tasks, doctrine links theory, history, experimentation, and practice
2.
American Revolution
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The British responded by imposing punitive laws on Massachusetts in 1774 known as the Coercive Acts, following which Patriots in the other colonies rallied behind Massachusetts. Tensions escalated to the outbreak of fighting between Patriot militia and British regulars at Lexington and Concord in April 1775, the conflict then developed into a global war, during which the Patriots fought the British and Loyalists in what became known as the American Revolutionary War. The Continental Congress determined King George IIIs rule to be tyrannical and infringing the rights as Englishmen. The Patriot leadership professed the political philosophies of liberalism and republicanism to reject monarchy and aristocracy, Congress rejected British proposals requiring allegiance to the monarchy and abandonment of independence. The British were forced out of Boston in 1776, but then captured and they blockaded the ports and captured other cities for brief periods, but failed to defeat Washingtons forces. After a failed Patriot invasion of Canada, a British army was captured at the Battle of Saratoga in late 1777, a combined American–French force captured a second British army at Yorktown in 1781, effectively ending the war in the United States. The Treaty of Paris in 1783 formally ended the conflict, confirming the new nations complete separation from the British Empire. The United States took possession of all the territory east of the Mississippi River and south of the Great Lakes, with the British retaining control of Canada. Among the significant results of the revolution was the creation of a new Constitution of the United States. Historians typically begin their histories of the American Revolution with the British victory in the French and Indian War in 1763, the lands west of Quebec and west of a line running along the crest of the Allegheny mountains became Indian territory, temporarily barred to settlement. For the prior history, see Thirteen Colonies, in 1764, Parliament passed the Currency Act to restrain the use of paper money which British merchants saw as a means to evade debt payments. Parliament also passed the Sugar Act, imposing customs duties on a number of articles, none did and Parliament passed the Stamp Act in March 1765 which imposed direct taxes on the colonies for the first time. All official documents, newspapers, almanacs, and pamphlets—even decks of playing cards—were required to have the stamps, the colonists did not object that the taxes were high, but because they had no representation in the Parliament. Benjamin Franklin testified in Parliament in 1766 that Americans already contributed heavily to the defense of the Empire, stationing a standing army in Great Britain during peacetime was politically unacceptable. London had to deal with 1,500 politically well-connected British officers who became redundant, in 1765, the Sons of Liberty formed. They used public demonstrations, boycott, violence, and threats of violence to ensure that the British tax laws were unenforceable, in Boston, the Sons of Liberty burned the records of the vice admiralty court and looted the home of chief justice Thomas Hutchinson. Several legislatures called for united action, and nine colonies sent delegates to the Stamp Act Congress in New York City in October 1765, moderates led by John Dickinson drew up a Declaration of Rights and Grievances stating that taxes passed without representation violated their rights as Englishmen. Colonists emphasized their determination by boycotting imports of British merchandise, the Parliament at Westminster saw itself as the supreme lawmaking authority throughout all British possessions and thus entitled to levy any tax without colonial approval
3.
American Civil War
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The American Civil War was an internal conflict fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865. The Union faced secessionists in eleven Southern states grouped together as the Confederate States of America, the Union won the war, which remains the bloodiest in U. S. history. Among the 34 U. S. states in February 1861, War broke out in April 1861 when Confederates attacked the U. S. fortress of Fort Sumter. The Confederacy grew to eleven states, it claimed two more states, the Indian Territory, and the southern portions of the western territories of Arizona. The Confederacy was never recognized by the United States government nor by any foreign country. The states that remained loyal, including border states where slavery was legal, were known as the Union or the North, the war ended with the surrender of all the Confederate armies and the dissolution of the Confederate government in the spring of 1865. The war had its origin in the issue of slavery. The Confederacy collapsed and 4 million slaves were freed, but before his inauguration, seven slave states with cotton-based economies formed the Confederacy. The first six to declare secession had the highest proportions of slaves in their populations, the first seven with state legislatures to resolve for secession included split majorities for unionists Douglas and Bell in Georgia with 51% and Louisiana with 55%. Alabama had voted 46% for those unionists, Mississippi with 40%, Florida with 38%, Texas with 25%, of these, only Texas held a referendum on secession. Eight remaining slave states continued to reject calls for secession, outgoing Democratic President James Buchanan and the incoming Republicans rejected secession as illegal. Lincolns March 4,1861 inaugural address declared that his administration would not initiate a civil war, speaking directly to the Southern States, he reaffirmed, I have no purpose, directly or indirectly to interfere with the institution of slavery in the United States where it exists. I believe I have no right to do so, and I have no inclination to do so. After Confederate forces seized numerous federal forts within territory claimed by the Confederacy, efforts at compromise failed, the Confederates assumed that European countries were so dependent on King Cotton that they would intervene, but none did, and none recognized the new Confederate States of America. Hostilities began on April 12,1861, when Confederate forces fired upon Fort Sumter, while in the Western Theater the Union made significant permanent gains, in the Eastern Theater, the battle was inconclusive in 1861–62. The autumn 1862 Confederate campaigns into Maryland and Kentucky failed, dissuading British intervention, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which made ending slavery a war goal. To the west, by summer 1862 the Union destroyed the Confederate river navy, then much of their western armies, the 1863 Union siege of Vicksburg split the Confederacy in two at the Mississippi River. In 1863, Robert E. Lees Confederate incursion north ended at the Battle of Gettysburg, Western successes led to Ulysses S. Grants command of all Union armies in 1864
4.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
5.
New Haven, Connecticut
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New Haven, in the U. S. state of Connecticut, is the principal municipality in Greater New Haven, which had a total population of 862,477 in 2010. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut. It is the second-largest city in Connecticut, with a population of 129,779 people as of the 2010 United States Census, according to a census of 1 July 2012, by the Census Bureau, the city had a population of 130,741. New Haven was founded in 1638 by English Puritans, and a year later eight streets were laid out in a four-by-four grid, the central common block is the New Haven Green, a 16-acre square, and the center of Downtown New Haven. The Green is now a National Historic Landmark and the Nine Square Plan is recognized by the American Planning Association as a National Planning Landmark, New Haven is the home of Yale University. The university is an part of the citys economy, being New Havens biggest taxpayer and employer. Health care, professional services, financial services, and retail trade also help to form a base for the city. The city served as co-capital of Connecticut from 1701 until 1873, New Haven has since billed itself as the Cultural Capital of Connecticut for its supply of established theaters, museums, and music venues. New Haven is also the birthplace of George W. Bush, New Haven had the first public tree planting program in America, producing a canopy of mature trees that gave New Haven the nickname The Elm City. The area was visited by Dutch explorer Adriaen Block in 1614. Dutch traders set up a trading system of beaver pelts with the local inhabitants, but trade was sporadic. In 1637 a small party of Puritans reconnoitered the New Haven harbor area, the Quinnipiacs, who were under attack by neighboring Pequots, sold their land to the settlers in return for protection. By 1640, the theocratic government and nine-square grid plan were in place. However, the north of New Haven remained Quinnipiac until 1678. The settlement became the headquarters of the New Haven Colony, at the time, the New Haven Colony was separate from the Connecticut Colony, which had been established to the north centering on Hartford. Economic disaster struck the colony in 1646, however, when the town sent its first fully loaded ship of goods back to England. This ship never reached the Old World, and its disappearance stymied New Havens development in the face of the rising power of Boston. In 1660, founder John Davenports wishes were fulfilled, and Hopkins School was founded in New Haven with money from the estate of Edward Hopkins, in 1661, the judges who had signed the death warrant of Charles I of England were pursued by Charles II
6.
26th Infantry Division (United States)
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The 26th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the United States Army. A major formation of the Massachusetts Army National Guard, it was based in Boston, today, the divisions heritage is carried on by the 26th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade. Sent to Europe in World War I as part of the American Expeditionary Forces, sent to Europe once again for World War II, the division again fought through France, advancing into Germany and liberating the Gusen concentration camp before the end of the war. Following the end of World War II, the division remained as a command in the National Guard. However, the division was never called up to any major contengencies or see major combat. The 26th Infantry Division was first constituted on 18 July 1917 and it was formally activated on 22 August of that year in Boston, Massachusetts, and it was celebrated by Boston writers and by composers in pieces such as The Yankee Division March and Battery A March. The division commanded two brigades comprising national guard units from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, the 51st Infantry Brigade contained the 101st and 102nd Infantry Regiments, while the 52nd Infantry Brigade contained the 103rd and 104th Infantry Regiments, together with supporting units. Shortly thereafter, the commander, Major General C. R. Edwards. Edwards decided to settle on the suggestion of Yankee Division since all of the units of the division were from New England. Shortly thereafter, the division approved a shoulder sleeve insignia with a YD monogram to reflect this, on 21 September 1917, the division arrived at Saint-Nazaire, France. It was the division of the American Expeditionary Force to arrive on the Western Front at the time. Two additional divisions completed the first wave of American troop deployment, with the 2nd Division formed in France, the division immediately moved to Neufchâteau for training, as most of the divisions soldiers were raw recruits, new to military service. Because of this, much of the force was trained by the experienced French forces. It trained extensively with the other three US divisions, organized as the U. S, I Corps in January 1918, before being moved into a quiet sector of the trenches in February. The 26th Infantry Division remained in a quiet region of the lines along the Chemin des Dames for several months before it relieved the 1st Division near St. Mihiel on 3 April. The stay of the division in this sector was marked by several serious encounters with the enemy, there were furthermore almost nightly encounters between patrols or ambush parties, and the harassing fire of the artillery on both sides was very active. On 10,12 and 13 April, the lines held by the 104th Infantry in Bois Brule, in late April, German infantry conducted a raid on positions of the 26th Division, one of the first attacks on Americans during the war. At 0400 on 20 April, German field artillery bombarded the 102nd Infantrys positions near Seicheprey before German stoßtruppen moved against the village, the artillery box barrage, continuing 36 hours, isolated American units
7.
Chemin des Dames
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In France, the Chemin des Dames is part of the D18 and runs east and west in the département of Aisne, between in the west, the Route Nationale 2, and in the east, the D1044 at Corbeny. It is some thirty kilometres long and runs along a ridge between the valleys of the rivers Aisne and Ailette. It acquired the name in the 18th century, as it was the route taken by the two daughters of Louis XV, Adélaïde and Victoire, who were known as Ladies of France. At the time, it was scarcely a carriage road, the château belonged to Françoise de Châlus, former mistress of Louis XV, Countess of Narbonne-Lara and former lady of honour to Adélaïde, whom the two ladies visited frequently. To make the way easier, the count had the road surfaced, the ridges strategic importance first became evident in 1814 when Napoleons young recruits beat an army of Prussians and Russians at the Battle of Craonne. Three battles were fought along the Chemin des Dames east-to-west ridge located to the north of Paris during the First World War, all are named after the river which flows on the south side of the ridge. Their names are as follows, First Battle of the Aisne - Anglo-French counter-offensive following the First Battle of the Marne, Second Battle of the Aisne - main component of the Nivelle Offensive. Third Battle of the Aisne - third phase of the German Spring Offensive, during World War I, the Chemin Des Dames lay in that sector of the Western Front held by the French Army. Its strategic importance made it the ground of several major battles that took place between 1914 and 1918. The German army took a stand on the ridge in September 1914. After intensive combat, Germans took control of the plateau in November 1914, the front line then remained static until March 1917, during which time several thousand soldiers died in local attacks or coup de main operations. On 25 January 1915 German forces captured the Creute farm, the last remaining French position on the plateau, the best-known battle, called the Second Battle of the Aisne, took place between 16 April and 25 April 1917. To soften up the German defenses, General Robert Nivelle, an artilleryman by training and experience and this, of course, provided ample warning that a major French attack was coming. Then, on 16 April, seven French army corps attacked the German line along the Chemin des Dames ridge, the German positions also dominated the southerly slope over which the French attackers were progressing. On the first day, French infantry and some colonial Senegalese troops progressed to the top of the ridge in spite of intense German artillery counterfire and poor weather conditions. However, as French infantry reached the plateau, it was slowed down, as a result, the French took 40,000 casualties on the first day alone. Furthermore, during the following 12 days of the battle, French losses continued to rise to 120,000 casualties, the final count, when the offensive was over, was 271,000 French casualties and 163,000 Germans casualties. The German defenders suffered much less, but lost some 20,000 prisoners,40 cannons, the high French casualty count, in so few days and with such minimal gains, was perceived at headquarters and by the French public as a disaster
8.
United States campaigns in World War I
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This article is about the United States campaigns in World War I. The streamer uses the colors of the World War I Victory Medal ribbon which had a red center with a rainbow on each side of the center stripe, the double rainbow symbolizes the dawn of a new era and the calm which follows the storm. S. Army Exhibit Unit, to provide summaries of each of the campaign ribbons authorized to be displayed on the Army flag. It was subsequently updated by the Center of Military History to add the campaigns from Vietnam, the year the United States entered World War I was marked by near disaster for the Allies on all the European fronts. A French offensive in April, with which the British cooperated, was a failure and they thus became the first AEF units to meet the enemy. The German High Command decided to attack on the British-held Somme front in the direction of Amiens, British defense lines were pierced in rapid succession. By 26 March Amiens was seriously threatened, and on the day a gap was created between the French and British armies. But the Germans lacked reserves to exploit their initial successes. The Germans had advanced up to 40 miles, had captured 1,500 square miles of ground and 70,000 prisoners, and had inflicted some 200,000 casualties. They had failed, however, to any of their strategic objectives, destruction of the British, disruption of Allied lateral communicational. On 25 March 1918, at the height at the German drive, Pershing placed the four American divisions, but only a few American units actually engaged. They included the 6th, 12th, and 14th Engineers, the 69th Infantry Regiment and the 17th, 22d, and 148th Aero Squadrons, Ludendorff still hoped to destroy the hard-hit British Expeditionary Force before it had a chance to recover from the effects of the Somme drive. This was the purpose of a new German attack launched on 9 April 1918 on a front along the Lys River in Flanders. The Germans committed 46 divisions to the assault, and, using Hutier attacks once again, the British situation was desperate for some days. Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, Commander-in-Chief of the BEF, issued his famous backs to the order and appealed to Marshal Ferdinand Foch. But Foch, convinced that the British could hold their line, Fochs judgment proved to be correct, and Ludendorff called off the offensive on 29 April. Since 21 March the Germans had suffered some 350,000 casualties without having attained any vital objectives, about 500 Americans participated in the campaign, including troops of the 16th Engineers, 28th Aero Squadron, and 1st Gas Regiment. The next major German attack fell on 27 May on the thinly held, the French and British defenders were taken completely by surprise, and their positions were overrun rapidly on a forty-mile front
9.
Second Battle of the Marne
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The Second Battle of the Marne, or Battle of Reims was the last major German offensive on the Western Front during the First World War. The attack failed when an Allied counterattack by French and American forces, including several hundred tanks, overwhelmed the Germans on their right flank, the German defeat marked the start of the relentless Allied advance which culminated in the Armistice with Germany about 100 days later. To shield his intentions and draw Allied troops away from Belgium, the battle began on 15 July 1918 when 23 German divisions of the First and Third armies—led by Bruno von Mudra and Karl von Einem—assaulted the French Fourth Army under Henri Gouraud east of Reims. The U. S. 42nd Division was attached to the French Fourth Army and commanded by Gouraud at the time. Meanwhile,17 divisions of the German Seventh Army, under Max von Boehn, aided by the Ninth Army under Johannes von Eben, Ludendorff hoped to split the French in two. The German attack on the east of Reims was stopped on the first day, the defenders of the south bank of the Marne could not escape the three hour bombardment. Under cover of gunfire, stormtroopers swarmed across the river in every sort of transport—30-man canvas boats or rafts and they began to erect skeleton bridges at 12 points under fire from those Allied survivors who had not been suppressed by gas or artillery fire. Some Allied units, particularly COL Ulysses G. McAlexanders 38th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd U. S, the British XXII Corps and 85,000 American troops joined the French for the battle, and stalled the advance on 17 July 1918. The Allied preparation was very important in countering the German offensive and it was believed that the Allies had the complete picture of the German offensive in terms of intentions and capabilities. The Allies knew the key points of the German plan down to the minute, There is a legend, possibly true, that engineer Cpt. Hunter Grant, along with the help of engagement coordinator and engineer Cpt, the Germans, on finding and being taken in by these plans, then adjusted their attack to thwart the false Allied plan. Consequently, the French and American forces led by Foch were able to unleash a different attack on exposed parts of the lines, leaving the Germans with no choice. This engagement marked the beginning of a German withdrawal that was never effectively reversed, in September 1918 nine American divisions joined four French divisions to push the Germans from the St. Mihiel salient. By May, Foch had spotted flaws in the German offensives, the force which defeated the German offensive was mainly French, with American, British and Italian support. However, the presence of fresh American troops, unbroken by years of war, floyd Gibbons wrote about the American troops, saying, I never saw men charge to their death with finer spirit. On 19 July, the Italian Corps lost 9,334 officers, nevertheless, Berthelot rushed two newly arrived British infantry divisions, the 51st and 62nd, threw the Italians straight into attack down the Ardre Valley. The Germans ordered a retreat on 20 July and were forced back to the positions from which they had started their Spring Offensives and they strengthened their flank positions opposite the Allied pincers and on the 22nd, Ludendorff ordered to take up a line from the upper Ourcq to Marfaux. Costly Allied assaults continued for minimal gains, by 27 July, the Germans had withdrawn their center behind Fère-en-Tardenois and had completed an alternative rail link
10.
Verdun
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Verdun is a small city in the Meuse department in Grand Est in northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department, Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital of the department is the slightly smaller city of Bar-le-Duc. Verdun was founded by the Gauls and it has been the seat of the bishop of Verdun since the 4th century, with interruptions. The 843 Treaty of Verdun divided Charlemagnes empire into three parts, the city has been famous for dragées or sugared almonds from 1200 onwards, they were distributed at the baptism of French princes. Verdun was part of the kingdom of Lotharingia, and in 1374 it became a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire. The Bishopric of Verdun formed together with Tull and Metz the Three Bishoprics, from 1624 to 1636, a large bastioned citadel was constructed on the site of the Abbey of Saint Vanne. In 1670, Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban visited Verdun and drew up a scheme to fortify the whole city. Although much of his plan was built in the following decades, despite the extensive fortifications, Verdun was captured by the Prussians in 1792 during the War of the First Coalition, but abandoned by them after the Battle of Valmy. During the Napoleonic War, the citadel was used to hold British prisoners of war, in the Franco-Prussian War, Verdun was the last French fortress to surrender in 1870. Shortly afterwards, a new system of fortification was begun and this consisted of a mutually supporting ring of 22 polygonal forts up to 8 kilometres from the city, and an inner ring of 6 forts. The Battle of Verdun was fought on August 20,1792 between French Revolutionary forces and a Prussian army and this therefore opened the path to Paris. Norwich Duff visited Verdun in 1819, shortly after the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars and he writes, Verdun is prettily situated in a valley surrounded by hills. The River Meuse runs through the town and forms several canals and ditches round the town which is fortified and, I believe, the citadel and are a good deal out of repair and were at work on them. Though there is little to see at Verdun, every part of it felt interesting from the number of our countrymen confined here during the war, Verdun is famous for its sweetmeats, sugar plums, confits etc. which are said to be the best in France. They made us show our passports it being a fortified town, Verdun was the site of a major battle, and the longest-lasting, of the First World War. One of the costliest battles in history, Verdun exemplified the policy of a war of attrition pursued by both sides, which led to an enormous loss of life and very large casualty lists. Following the failure of the Schlieffen Plan in 1914 and the solidifying of the Western Front, once the French army had bled to death, Britain could be brought down by Germanys submarine blockade and superior military strength. Recent scholarship by Holger Afflerbach and others, however, has questioned the veracity of the Christmas memo, no copy has ever surfaced and the only account of it appeared in Falkenhayns post-war memoir
11.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
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