Barrage (artillery)
A barrage is a particular method of delivering massed artillery fire from a few or many batteries. Individual guns or howitzers are aimed at points, typically 20–30 yards apart, the lines are usually 100 yards apart and fire is lifted from one line to the next and one or several lines may be simultaneously engaged by different firing units. The artillery usually fired at a steady rate, using high explosive or shrapnel shells. Offensive barrages move forward in front of the troops, the pattern of barrage movement may be creeping, rolling or block. Barrage fire is not aimed at targets, it is aimed at areas in which there are known or expected targets. It contrasts with a concentration, in which the aim at a specific target in an area typically 150–250 metres diameter. The barrage was developed by the British in the Second Boer War, by late 1916 the creeping barrage was the standard means of applying artillery fire to support an infantry attack, with the infantry following the advancing barrage as closely as possible.
Its employment in this way recognised the importance of fire in neutralizing, rather than destroying. It was found that a moving barrage immediately followed by the assault could be far more effective than weeks of preliminary bombardment. Barrages remained in use in World War II and later, but only as one of a variety of artillery tactics made possible by improvements in predicted fire, target location, the term barrage is widely, and technically incorrectly, used in the popular media for any artillery fire. The moving barrage was developed during the Boer War, one of several tactical innovations instituted under command of General Redvers Buller and it was a response to Boer defensive positions, notably at Tugela Heights and effective long range rifle fire. Artillery usually fired over open sights at visible targets, until the Second Boer War when indirect fire started to be used, the largest unit accustomed to firing at a single target was the brigade, normally 18 guns. Trench warfare led to the necessity for indirect firing through the use of observers, more sophisticated artillery fire plans, gunners had to use increasingly complicated calculations to lay the guns.
Individual guns were aimed so that their fall of shot was co-ordinated with others to form a pattern, in the case of a barrage, the term “barrage” was first used in World War I in English in the orders for the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in 1915. A lifting barrage was a development in which the barrage lifted periodically to a further back. A moving barrage was a barrage that lifted in small increments, usually 100 yards every few minutes, so that it moved forward slowly, British normal practice evolved to fire at two lines simultaneously. Eventually, three patterns of advancing the barrage developed, in a creeping barrage, fire moved from one line to the next. In a block barrage, the block moved as block to the lines that were not previously engaged
Eastern Front (World War I)
It stretched from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south, included most of Eastern Europe and stretched deep into Central Europe as well. The term contrasts with Western Front, which was being fought in Belgium, in the opening months of the war, the Imperial Russian Army attempted an invasion of eastern Prussia in the northwestern theater, only to be beaten back by the Germans after some initial success. At the same time, in the south, they successfully invaded Galicia, in Russian Poland, the Germans failed to take Warsaw. But by 1915, the German and Austro-Hungarian armies were on the advance, dealing the Russians heavy casualties in Galicia and in Poland, Grand Duke Nicholas was sacked from his position as the commander-in-chief and replaced by the Tsar himself. Several offensives against the Germans in 1916 failed, including Lake Naroch Offensive, General Aleksei Brusilov oversaw a highly successful operation against Austria-Hungary that became known as the Brusilov Offensive, which saw the Russian Army make large gains.
The Kingdom of Romania entered the war in August 1916, the Entente promised the region of Transylvania in return for Romanian support. The Romanian Army invaded Transylvania and had successes, but was forced to stop and was pushed back by the Germans and Austro-Hungarians when Bulgaria attacked them in the south. Meanwhile, a revolution occurred in Russia in February 1917, Tsar Nicholas II was forced to abdicate and a Russian Provisional Government was founded, with Georgy Lvov as its first leader, who was eventually replaced by Alexander Kerensky. The newly formed Russian Republic continued to fight the war alongside Romania, Kerensky oversaw the July Offensive, which was largely a failure and caused a collapse in the Russian Army. The new government established by the Bolsheviks signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Central Powers, taking it out of the war and making large territorial concessions. Romania was forced to surrender and signed a similar treaty, the front in the east was much longer than that in the west.
This had an effect on the nature of the warfare. While World War I on the Western Front developed into trench warfare and this was because the greater length of the front ensured that the density of soldiers in the line was lower so the line was easier to break. Once broken, the communication networks made it difficult for the defender to rush reinforcements to the rupture in the line. Propaganda was a key component of the culture of World War I and it was most commonly deployed through the state-controlled media to glorify the homeland and demonize the enemy. Propaganda often took the form of images which portrayed stereotypes from folklore about the enemy or from glorified moments from the nations history, on the Eastern Front, propaganda took many forms such as opera, spy fiction, spectacle, war novels and graphic art. Across the Eastern Front the amount of used in each country varied from state to state. Propaganda took many forms within each country and was distributed by different groups
10th Army (German Empire)
The 10th Army was an army level command of the German Army in World War I formed in January 1915 in Cologne. It served exclusively on the Eastern Front and it was dissolved on 6 January 1919. During World War I the 10th Army was stationed on the Eastern Front where it fought against Russia and it took part in the occupation of Poland and Belorussia at the end of 1918 when the war ended. Published the newspaper Zeitung der 10, the 10th Army had the following commanders, Armee-Abteilung or Army Detachment in the sense of something detached from an Army. It is not under the command of an Army so is in itself a small Army, armee-Gruppe or Army Group in the sense of a group within an Army and under its command, generally formed as a temporary measure for a specific task. Heeresgruppe or Army Group in the sense of a number of armies under a single commander, 10th Army for the equivalent formation in World War II Great Retreat Lake Naroch Offensive Cron, Hermann. Imperial German Army 1914–18, Structure, Orders-of-Battle
Hermann von Eichhorn
Hermann Emil Gottfried von Eichhorn was a Prussian officer, Generalfeldmarschall during World War I. He was a recipient of Pour le Mérite with Oak Leaves, one of the highest orders of merit in the Kingdom of Prussia and, Eichhorn was born in Breslau in the Province of Silesia. In 1912 he took command of the 7th Army Inspection, the headquarters for the Imperial German XVI, XVIII. At the outbreak of World War I, Eichhorn was incapacitated in consequence of an accident and he became the commanding general of the 10th Army on 21 January 1915, which he would command until 5 March 1918. This Army engaged in the battle of the Masurian Lakes in February 1915. In August, he took Kovno and afterwards the fortresses of Grodno and Olita and he received the Pour le Mérite on 18 August 1915 and the oak leaves to the Pour le Mérite on 28 September 1915. On 30 July 1916, while remaining in command of the 10th Army, Eichhorn became supreme commander of Army Group Eichhorn based around 10th Army, on 18 December 1917, Eichhorn was promoted to Generalfeldmarschall.
On 3 April 1918, Field Marshal von Eichhorn became supreme commander of Army Group Kiev and he was assassinated in Kiev on 30 July 1918 by Boris Mikhailovich Donskoy of Left Socialist Revolutionaries. He is buried at the Invaliden Friedhof in Berlin and he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Berlin on 18 February 1918. Wilhelm II, German Emperor, decreed that one of the eight towers of Malbork Castle had to bear his name, according to him Eichhornstraße in Berlin is named in the Marzahn-Hellersdorf. Photo of Eichhorn and his adjutant
International Standard Book Number
The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay.
The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces.
Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
Iron Cross
The Iron Cross was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and in the German Empire and Nazi Germany. It was established by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia in March 1813 backdated to the birthday of his late wife Queen Louise on 10 March 1813 during the Napoleonic Wars, Louise was the first person to receive this decoration. The recommissioned Iron Cross was awarded during the Franco-Prussian War, World War I, the Iron Cross was normally a military decoration only, though there were instances of it being awarded to civilians for performing military functions. The design of the symbol was black with a white or silver outline. It was ultimately derived from the cross pattée occasionally used by the Teutonic Order from the 13th century, the black cross patty was used as the symbol of the German Army from 1871 to March/April 1918, when it was replaced by the Balkenkreuz. In 1956, it was re-introduced as the symbol of the Bundeswehr, the Black Cross is the emblem used by the Prussian Army, and by the army of Germany from 1871 to present.
It was designed on the occasion of the German Campaign of 1813, from this time, the Black Cross featured on the Prussian war flag alongside the Black Eagle. The design is due to neoclassical architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel, based on a sketch by Frederick William, the design is ultimately derivative of the black cross used by the Teutonic Order. This heraldic cross took various forms throughout the history, including a simple Latin cross. When the Quadriga of the Goddess of Peace was retrieved from Paris at Napoleons fall, an Iron Cross was inserted into her laurel wreath, making her into a Goddess of Victory. The Black Cross was used on the naval and war flags of the German Empire, the Black Cross was used as the symbol of the German Army until 1915, when it was replaced by a simpler Balkenkreuz. The Reichswehr of the Weimar Republic, the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany, the traditional design in black is used on armored vehicles and aircraft, while after German reunification, a new design in blue and silver was introduced for use in other contexts.
The ribbon for the 1813,1870 and 1914 Iron Cross was black with two white bands, the colors of Prussia. The non-combatant version of this award had the same medal, but the black, the ribbon color for the 1939 EKII was black/white/red/white/black. Since the Iron Cross was issued several different periods of German history. For example, an Iron Cross from World War I bears the year 1914, the reverse of the 1870,1914 and 1939 series of Iron Crosses have the year 1813 appearing on the lower arm, symbolizing the year the award was created. The 1813 decoration has the initials FW for King Frederick William III, the final version shows a swastika. There was the 1957 issue, a replacement medal for holders of the 1939 series which substituted an oak-leaf cluster for the banned swastika
German Empire
The German Empire was the historical German nation state that existed from the unification of Germany in 1871 to the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1918, when Germany became a federal republic. The German Empire consisted of 26 constituent territories, with most being ruled by royal families and this included four kingdoms, six grand duchies, five duchies, seven principalities, three free Hanseatic cities, and one imperial territory. Although Prussia became one of kingdoms in the new realm, it contained most of its population and territory. Its influence helped define modern German culture, after 1850, the states of Germany had rapidly become industrialized, with particular strengths in coal, iron and railways. In 1871, it had a population of 41 million people, and by 1913, a heavily rural collection of states in 1815, now united Germany became predominantly urban. During its 47 years of existence, the German Empire operated as an industrial, Germany became a great power, boasting a rapidly growing rail network, the worlds strongest army, and a fast-growing industrial base.
In less than a decade, its navy became second only to Britains Royal Navy, after the removal of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck by Wilhelm II, the Empire embarked on a bellicose new course that ultimately led to World War I. When the great crisis of 1914 arrived, the German Empire had two allies and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, however, left the once the First World War started in August 1914. In the First World War, German plans to capture Paris quickly in autumn 1914 failed, the Allied naval blockade caused severe shortages of food. Germany was repeatedly forced to send troops to bolster Austria and Turkey on other fronts, Germany had great success on the Eastern Front, it occupied large Eastern territories following the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. German declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare in early 1917 was designed to strangle the British, it failed, but the declaration—along with the Zimmermann Telegram—did bring the United States into the war. Meanwhile, German civilians and soldiers had become war-weary and radicalised by the Russian Revolution and this failed, and by October the armies were in retreat, Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire had collapsed, Bulgaria had surrendered and the German people had lost faith in their political system.
The Empire collapsed in the November 1918 Revolution as the Emperor and all the ruling monarchs abdicated, and a republic took over. The German Confederation had been created by an act of the Congress of Vienna on 8 June 1815 as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, German nationalism rapidly shifted from its liberal and democratic character in 1848, called Pan-Germanism, to Prussian prime minister Otto von Bismarcks pragmatic Realpolitik. He envisioned a conservative, Prussian-dominated Germany, the war resulted in the Confederation being partially replaced by a North German Confederation in 1867, comprising the 22 states north of the Main. The new constitution and the title Emperor came into effect on 1 January 1871, during the Siege of Paris on 18 January 1871, William accepted to be proclaimed Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. The second German Constitution was adopted by the Reichstag on 14 April 1871 and proclaimed by the Emperor on 16 April, the political system remained the same.
The empire had a parliament called the Reichstag, which was elected by universal male suffrage, the original constituencies drawn in 1871 were never redrawn to reflect the growth of urban areas
Brusilov Offensive
Historian Graydon Tunstall called the Brusilov Offensive the worst crisis of World War I for Austria-Hungary and the Triple Ententes greatest victory, but it came at a tremendous loss of life. The offensive involved a major Russian attack against the armies of the Central Powers on the Eastern Front, was launched on 4 June 1916 and it took place in an area of present-day western Ukraine, in the general vicinity of the towns of Lviv and Lutsk. The offensive was named after the commander in charge of the Southwestern Front of the Imperial Russian Army, under the terms of the Chantilly Agreement of December 1915, France and Italy committed to simultaneous attacks against the Central Powers in the summer of 1916. Russia felt obliged to lend troops to fight in France and Salonika, the Russians initiated the disastrous Lake Naroch Offensive in the Vilno area, during which the Germans suffered only one-fifth as many casualties as the Russians. This offensive took place at French request, in the hope that the Germans would transfer more units to the East after their attack on Verdun.
General Aleksei Brusilov presented his plan to the Stavka, the Russian high command, Brusilovs plan aimed to take some of the pressure off French and British armies in France and the Italian Army along the Isonzo Front and, if possible, to knock Austria-Hungary out of the war. As the Austrian army was engaged in Italy, the Russian army enjoyed a significant numerical advantage on the Galician front. Gen. Alexei Evert, commander of the Russian Western Army Group, Tsar Nicholas II had taken personal command of the army in September 1915. Evert was a supporter of Nicholas and the Romanovs. The objectives were to be the cities of Kovel and Lviv, although Stavka had approved Brusilovs plan, his request for supporting offensives by neighboring fronts was denied. Mounting pressure from the western Allies caused the Russians to hurry their preparations, Brusilov amassed four armies totaling 40 infantry divisions and 15 cavalry divisions. He faced 39 Austrian infantry divisions and 10 cavalry divisions, formed in a row of three lines, although German reinforcements were brought up.
Brusilov, knowing he would not receive significant reinforcements, moved his reserves up to the front line and he used them to dig entrenchments about 300 by 90 metres along the front line. These provided shelter for the troops and hindered observation by the Austrians, the Russians secretly crept to within 91 metres of the Austrian lines and at some points as close as 69 metres. Brusilov prepared for an assault along 480 kilometres of front. The Stavka urged Brusilov to considerably shorten his attacking front to allow for a much heavier concentration of Russian troops, Brusilov insisted on his plan and the Stavka relented. The initial attack was successful and the Austro-Hungarian lines were broken, Brusilovs tactical innovations laid the foundation for the German infiltration tactics used in the Western Front. On 8 June forces of the Southwestern Front took Lutsk, the Austrian commander, Archduke Josef Ferdinand, barely escaped the city before the Russians entered, a testament to the speed of the Russian advance
Battle of the Somme
The Battle of the Somme, known as the Somme Offensive, was a battle of the First World War fought by the armies of the British and French empires against the German Empire. It took place between 1 July and 18 November 1916 on both sides of the reaches of the River Somme in France. The battle was intended to hasten a victory for the Allies and was the largest battle of the First World War on the Western Front, more than one million men were wounded or killed, making it one of the bloodiest battles in human history. The French and British had committed themselves to an offensive on the Somme during Allied discussions at Chantilly, Oise, in December 1915. Initial plans called for the French army to undertake the main part of the Somme offensive, the first day on the Somme was, in terms of casualties, the worst day in the history of the British army, which suffered 57,470 casualties. These occurred mainly on the front between the Albert–Bapaume road and Gommecourt, where the attack was defeated and few British troops reached the German front line, the battle is notable for the importance of air power and the first use of the tank.
At the end of the battle and French forces had penetrated 10 km into German-occupied territory, the Anglo-French armies failed to capture Péronne and halted 5 km from Bapaume, where the German armies maintained their positions over the winter. Debate continues over the necessity and effect of the battle, David Frum opined that a century later, the Somme remains the most harrowing place-name in the history of the British Empire. Allied war strategy for 1916 was decided at the Chantilly Conference from 6–8 December 1915, in December 1915, General Sir Douglas Haig replaced Field Marshal Sir John French as Commander-in-Chief of the BEF. Haig favoured a British offensive in Flanders close to BEF supply routes, to drive the Germans from the Belgian coast, Haig was not formally subordinate to Marshal Joseph Joffre but the British played a lesser role on the Western Front and complied with French strategy. A week the Germans began an offensive against the French at Verdun, by 31 May, the ambitious Franco-British plan for a decisive victory, had been reduced to a limited offensive to relieve pressure on the French at Verdun with a battle of attrition on the Somme.
The Chief of the German General Staff, Erich von Falkenhayn, intended to end the war by splitting the Anglo-French Entente in 1916, Falkenhayn chose to attack towards Verdun to take the Meuse heights and make Verdun untenable. The British would have to begin a hasty relief offensive, Falkenhayn expected the relief offensive to fall south of Arras against the Sixth Army and be destroyed. If such Franco-British defeats were not enough, Germany would attack the remnants of armies and end the western alliance for good. Eloi, south of Ypres and reduced the German counter-offensive strategy north of the Somme, to one of passive, the Battle of Verdun began a week after Joffre and Haig agreed to mount an offensive on the Somme. The battle changed the nature of the offensive on the Somme, as French divisions were diverted to Verdun, German overestimation of the cost of Verdun to the French contributed to the concentration of German infantry and guns on the north bank of the Somme. The German offensive at Verdun was suspended in July, and troops, the Brusilov Offensive, absorbed the extra forces that had been requested on 2 June by Fritz von Below, commanding the German Second Army, for a spoiling attack on the Somme.
During the offensive the Russians inflicted c. 1,500,000 losses including c. 407,000 prisoners, three divisions were ordered from France to the Eastern Front on 9 June and the spoiling attack on the Somme was abandoned
Operation Michael
Operation Michael was a major German military offensive during the First World War that began the Spring Offensive on 21 March 1918. It was launched from the Hindenburg Line, in the vicinity of Saint-Quentin and its goal was to break through the Allied lines and advance in a north-westerly direction to seize the Channel ports, which supplied the British Expeditionary Force and to drive the BEF into the sea. Two days General Ludendorff, the Chief of the German General Staff, changed his plan and pushed for a due west. This was designed to separate the French and British Armies and crush the British forces by pushing them into the sea, much of the ground fought over was the wilderness left by the Battle of the Somme in 1916. The action was officially named by the British Battles Nomenclature Committee as The First Battles of the Somme,1918. The failure of the offensive marked the beginning of the end of the First World War for Germany, the arrival in France of large reinforcements from the United States replaced Entente casualties but the German Army was unable to recover from its losses before these reinforcements took the field.
Operation Michael failed to achieve its objectives and the German advance was reversed during the Second Battle of the Somme,1918 in the Allied Hundred Days Offensive. On 11 November 1917, the German High Command discussed what they hoped would be an offensive on the Western Front the following spring. A decision to attack was taken by General Erich Ludendorff on 21 January 1918, at the start of 1918, the German people were close to starvation and growing tired of the war. Germany had 192 divisions and three brigades on the Western Front by 21 March, out of 241 in the German Army, of these divisions,110 were in the front line,50 of which faced the shorter British front. Another 67 divisions were in reserve, with 31 facing the BEF, by May 1918,318,000 American soldiers were due in France, with another million planned to arrive before August. The Germans knew that the chance of victory was to defeat the Allies before the build-up of the American Expeditionary Force was complete. The German strategy for the 1918 Spring Offensive or Kaiserschlacht, involved four offensives, Georgette, Michael took place on the Somme and Georgette was conducted on the Lys and at Ypres, which was planned to confuse the enemy.
Blücher took place against the French in the Champagne region, although British intelligence knew that a German offensive was being prepared, this far-reaching plan was much more ambitious than Allied commanders expected. Ludendorff aimed to advance across the Somme, wheel north-west, to cut the British lines of communication behind the Artois front, trapping the BEF in Flanders. Allied forces would be away from the Channel ports, which were essential for British supply. The British would be surrounded and surrender, the line, taken over from the French, barely existed, needing much work to make it easily defensible to the positions further north, which slowed progress in the area of the Fifth Army. During the winter of 1917–1918, the new British line was established in an arc around St. Quentin, there were many isolated outposts, gaps in the line and large areas of disputed territory and waste land
Berlin
Berlin is the capital and the largest city of Germany as well as one of its constituent 16 states. With a population of approximately 3.5 million, Berlin is the second most populous city proper, due to its location in the European Plain, Berlin is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. Around one-third of the area is composed of forests, gardens, rivers. Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest municipality in the world, following German reunification in 1990, Berlin once again became the capital of all-Germany. Berlin is a city of culture, media. Its economy is based on high-tech firms and the sector, encompassing a diverse range of creative industries, research facilities, media corporations. Berlin serves as a hub for air and rail traffic and has a highly complex public transportation network. The metropolis is a popular tourist destination, significant industries include IT, biomedical engineering, clean tech, biotechnology and electronics. Modern Berlin is home to world renowned universities, orchestras and its urban setting has made it a sought-after location for international film productions.
The city is known for its festivals, diverse architecture, contemporary arts. Since 2000 Berlin has seen the emergence of a cosmopolitan entrepreneurial scene, the name Berlin has its roots in the language of West Slavic inhabitants of the area of todays Berlin, and may be related to the Old Polabian stem berl-/birl-. All German place names ending on -ow, -itz and -in, since the Ber- at the beginning sounds like the German word Bär, a bear appears in the coat of arms of the city. It is therefore a canting arm, the first written records of towns in the area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th century. Spandau is first mentioned in 1197 and Köpenick in 1209, although these areas did not join Berlin until 1920, the central part of Berlin can be traced back to two towns. Cölln on the Fischerinsel is first mentioned in a 1237 document,1237 is considered the founding date of the city. The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties, and profited from the right on the two important trade routes Via Imperii and from Bruges to Novgorod.
In 1307, they formed an alliance with a common external policy, in 1415 Frederick I became the elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which he ruled until 1440. In 1443 Frederick II Irontooth started the construction of a new palace in the twin city Berlin-Cölln
Fortress of Mainz
The Fortress of Mainz was a fortressed garrison town between 1620 and 1918. With the dissolution of the Confederation and the Austro-Prussian War, control of the fortress first passed to Prussia, in 1839 an article on Mainz in The Penny Cyclopædia stated that Mainz was one of the strongest fortresses in Europe, and a chief bulwark of Germany against France. This garrison in time of peace consisted of 6,000 men, the military governor, who retained his post five years, was alternately an Austrian and a Prussian general. A criticism of the fortress was that it was too large, the fortress of Mainz was connected, by a bridge over the Rhine, with the strongly fortified village of Kastel. Among the principal works were the citadel, with the Eichelstein, and that called the Hauptstein, the inner works consisted of 14 principal and 13 smaller bastions. On the land there were four great gates with double drawbridges. The Rhine runs from south to north, and the Main from east to west, about a mile above the junction of the two rivers was the village of Kostheim on the Main, and a little farther up a bridge of boats, defended by a strong tête-de-pont.
Karl Baedeker writing in 1864 stated that Mainz was amongst the strongest fortresses of the German Confederation, on the north side of the town stood a vast Military Hospital, facing the Schlossplatz. In time of peace the garrison consisted of 3,000 Prussian, according to Lehnhardts map of Mainz ~1844 many bastions are to be found, Attribution This article incorporates text from a work in the public domain, Mainz. The Penny Cyclopædia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge
German Empire
Imperial German Army