1.
Fortification
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Fortifications are military constructions or buildings designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and also used to solidify rule in a region during peace time. Humans have constructed defensive works for many thousands of years, in a variety of increasingly complex designs, the term is derived from the Latin fortis and facere. From very early history to modern times, walls have been a necessity for cities to survive in a changing world of invasion. Some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were the first small cities to be fortified, in ancient Greece, large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae. A Greek Phrourion was a collection of buildings used as a military garrison. These construction mainly served the purpose of a tower, to guard certain roads, passes. Though smaller than a fortress, they acted as a border guard rather than a real strongpoint to watch. The art of setting out a camp or constructing a fortification traditionally has been called castramentation since the time of the Roman legions. Fortification is usually divided into two branches, permanent fortification and field fortification, there is also an intermediate branch known as semi-permanent fortification. Castles are fortifications which are regarded as being distinct from the fort or fortress in that they are a residence of a monarch or noble. Roman forts and hill forts were the antecedents of castles in Europe. The Early Middle Ages saw the creation of towns built around castles. Medieval-style fortifications were made obsolete by the arrival of cannons in the 14th century. Fortifications in the age of black powder evolved into much lower structures with greater use of ditches and earth ramparts that would absorb, Walls exposed to direct cannon fire were very vulnerable, so were sunk into ditches fronted by earth slopes. The arrival of explosive shells in the 19th century led to yet another stage in the evolution of fortification, steel-and-concrete fortifications were common during the 19th and early 20th centuries. However the advances in warfare since World War I have made large-scale fortifications obsolete in most situations. Demilitarized zones along borders are arguably another type of fortification, although a passive kind, many military installations are known as forts, although they are not always fortified. Larger forts may be called fortresses, smaller ones were known as fortalices
2.
Barbed wire
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It is used to construct inexpensive fences and is used atop walls surrounding secured property. It is also a feature of the fortifications in trench warfare. A person or animal trying to pass through or over barbed wire will suffer discomfort, Barbed wire fencing requires only fence posts, wire, and fixing devices such as staples. It is simple to construct and quick to erect, even by an unskilled person, the first patent in the United States for barbed wire was issued in 1867 to Lucien B. Smith of Kent, Ohio, who is regarded as the inventor. Joseph F. Glidden of DeKalb, Illinois, received a patent for the invention in 1874 after he made his own modifications to previous versions. Barbed wire was the first wire technology capable of restraining cattle, Wire fences were cheaper and easier to erect than their alternatives. When wire fences became widely available in the United States in the late 19th century and they made intensive animal husbandry practical on a much larger scale. Englishman Richard Newton brought barbed wire to the Argentine pampas in 1845, fencing consisting of flat and thin wire was first proposed in France, by Leonce Eugene Grassin-Baledans in 1860. His design consisted of bristling points, creating a fence that was painful to cross, in April 1865 Louis François Janin proposed a double wire with diamond-shaped metal barbs, he was granted a patent. Michael Kelly from New York had a idea, and proposed that the fencing should be used specifically for deterring animals. More patents followed, and in 1867 alone there were six patents issued for barbed wire, only two of them addressed livestock deterrence, one of which was from American Lucien B. Smith of Ohio. Before 1870, westward movement in the USA was largely across the plains with little or no settlement occurring, after the American Civil War the plains were extensively settled, consolidating Americas dominance over them. Ranchers moved out on the plains, and needed to fence their land in against encroaching farmers, the railroads throughout the growing West needed to keep livestock off their tracks, and farmers needed to keep stray cattle from trampling their crops. A cost-effective alternative was needed to make cattle operations profitable, the Big Four in barbed wire were Joseph Glidden, Jacob Haish, Charles Francis Washburn, and Isaac L. Ellwood. Glidden, a farmer in 1873 and the first of the Big Four, is credited for designing a successful sturdy barbed wire product. Gliddens idea came from a display at a fair in DeKalb, Illinois in 1873, Rose had patented The Wooden Strip with Metallic Points in May 1873. This was simply a wooden block with wire protrusions designed to keep cows from breaching the fence and that day, Glidden was accompanied by two other men, Isaac L. Ellwood, a hardware dealer and Jacob Haish, a lumber merchant. Like Glidden, they wanted to create a more durable wire fence with fixed barbs
3.
Barbed tape
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Barbed tape or razor wire is a mesh of metal strips with sharp edges whose purpose is to prevent passage by humans. The term razor wire, through usage, has generally been used to describe barbed tape products. While razor wire is much sharper than the barbed wire, it is named after its appearance. However, the points are sharp and made to rip and grab onto clothing. The multiple blades of a wire fence are designed to inflict serious cuts on anyone attempting to climb through. Razor wire usually contains a core of hardened steel strip that is often under tension, so if cut, more recently barbed tape has been used in more commercial and residential security applications. Residential usage of barbed tape has been criticized by some as the appearance of the barbs is thought to detract from the appearance of a neighborhood. Due to its dangerous nature, razor wire/barbed tape and similar fencing/barrier materials is prohibited in some locales, norway prohibits any barbed wire except in combination with other fencing, in order to protect domesticated animals from exposure. Some local jurisdictions further regulate or prohibit barbed wire altogether, razor-wire has a central strand of high tensile strength wire, and a steel tape punched into a shape with barbs. The steel tape is then cold-crimped tightly to the wire everywhere except for the barbs, Barbed tape is very similar, but has no central reinforcement wire. The process of combining the two is called roll forming, like barbed wire, barbed tape is available as either straight wire or spiral concertina wire. Unlike barbed wire, which usually is only as plain steel or galvanized, barbed tape is also manufactured in stainless steel. Typically the core wire is galvanized and the tape is stainless, Barbed tape is also characterized by the shape of the barbs. There does not seem to be much available research to indicate whether longer barbs are more effective in resisting penetration. Barbed wire became common in the American West in the 1870s, Barbed tape was first manufactured by Germany during World War I, as an expedient measure during a shortage of wire. Since it was punched out of a rolled ribbon of steel tape. From the early 1970s, unreinforced barbed tape was used in perimeter barriers of US prisons. In the early 1980s, several manufacturers began offering barbed tape with an embedded reinforcing wire, early brand names of reinforced barbed tape included Man Barrier and Razor Ribbon
4.
Fence
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A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its whole length, alternatives to fencing include a ditch. Brushwood fencing, a fence made using wires on either side of brushwood, slate fence, a type of palisade made of vertical slabs of slate wired together. Commonly used in parts of Wales and this type of fence is commonly used for privacy. Vaccary fence, a fence to restrain cattle, made of upright thin slabs of stone, the slabs are not necessarily linked to each other. Found in various places in the north of the UK where suitable stone can be found, vinyl fencing Wattle fencing, of split branches woven between stakes. Wood-panel fencing Wrought iron fencing, made from steel, also known as ornamental iron. Hedge, including, Cactus fence Hedgerows of intertwined, living shrubs Live fencing is the use of woody species for fences. Transformer stations are surrounded with barbed-wire fences. Around mast radiators, wooden fences are used to avoid the problem of eddy currents, common disagreements include what kind of fence is required, what kind of repairs are needed, and how to share the costs. In some legislatures the standard height of a fence is limited, servitudes are legal arrangements of land use arising out of private agreements. Under the feudal system, most land in England was cultivated in common fields, by the sixteenth century the growth of population and prosperity provided incentives for landowners to use their land in more profitable ways, dispossessing the peasantry. Fences redefined the means by which land is used, resulting in the law of servitudes. In the United States, the earliest settlers claimed land by simply fencing it in, ownership of a fence on an ownership boundary varies. Generally title deeds will show which side owns the fence, using a T symbol, commonly the cladding is on non-owners side, enabling access to the posts for the owner when repairs are needed but this is not a legal requirement. They may then erect a fence or hedge on the spoil, exceptions often occur, for example where a plot of land derives from subdivision of a larger one along the centre line of a previously-existing ditch or other feature. On private land in the United Kingdom, it is the responsibility to fence their livestock in. Conversely, for land, it is the surrounding landowners responsibility to fence the commons livestock out
5.
Dragon's teeth (fortification)
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Dragons teeth are square-pyramidal fortifications of reinforced concrete first used during the Second World War to impede the movement of tanks and mechanised infantry. The idea was to slow down and channel tanks into killing zones where they could easily be disposed of by anti-tank weapons and they were employed extensively, particularly on the Siegfried Line. In practice, the use of engineers and specialist clearance vehicles enabled them to be disposed of relatively quickly. The obstacles could also simply be buried using bulldozers and dump trucks, Dragons teeth were used by several armies in the European Theatre. The Germans made extensive use of them in the Siegfried Line, typically, each tooth was 90 to 120 cm tall depending on the precise model. Land mines were laid between the individual teeth, and further obstacles constructed along the lines of teeth. Behind minefields were the dragons teeth and they rested on a concrete mat between ten and thirty meters wide, sunk in a meter or two into the ground. On top of the mat were the teeth themselves, truncated pyramids of reinforced concrete about a meter in height in the front row and they were staggered and spaced in such a manner that a tank could not drive through. The only way to take those pillboxes was for infantry to get behind them, but behind the first row of pillboxes and dragon’s teeth, there was a second, and often a third, and sometimes a fourth. Due to the numbers laid and their durable construction, many thousands of dragons teeth can still be seen today, especially in the remains of the Siegfried. Switzerland continues to maintain lines of teeth in certain strategic areas. In the military jargon these constructions are often referred to as Toblerone lines, Dragons teeth are also present in some areas along the Korean Demilitarized Zone borderline and were also used on the Eastern Side of the Berlin Wall. Bollard is another term for such a post, some countries, such as those formed after the breakup of Yugoslavia, have movable teeth, positioned at roadsides at strategic locations, which are to be lifted and placed on the roads. Some stages of Rallye Deutschland, the German round of the WRC rally championship, are run on roads belonging to the training ground at Baumholder. The roads are lined with teeth, known as hinkelsteins. They usually serve as obstacles to prevent tanks from leaving the roads, popular Science, June 1942, pp. 106–112. Field expedient tank traps constructed of logs, white Cliffs Underground - Dragons Teeth and Tank Traps around Englands south coast Dragons Teeth on Libyan border with Egypt ANTI-TANK OBSTACLES, ISLE OF GRAIN, KENT
6.
Land mine
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A land mine is an explosive device concealed under or on the ground and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets, ranging from combatants to vehicles and tanks, as they pass over or near it. Such a device is typically detonated automatically by way of pressure when a target steps on it or drives over it, a land mine may cause damage by direct blast effect, by fragments that are thrown by the blast, or by both. The name originates from the ancient practice of mining, where tunnels were dug under enemy fortifications or troop formations. These killing tunnels were at first collapsed to destroy targets located above, nowadays, in common parlance, land mine generally refers to devices specifically manufactured as anti-personnel or anti-vehicle weapons. The use of mines is controversial because of their potential as indiscriminate weapons. They can remain dangerous many years after a conflict has ended, harming the economy, to date,162 nations have signed the treaty. To act as passive area-denial weapons, land mines are currently used in large quantities mostly for this first purpose, thus their widespread use in the demilitarized zones of likely flashpoints such as Cyprus, Afghanistan and Korea. As of 2013, the governments that still laid land mines were Myanmar in its internal conflict. Land mines continue to kill or injure at least 4,300 people every year, even decades after the ends of the conflicts for which they were placed. This claim is dubious, as gunpowder warfare did not develop in China until the advent of the flamethrower in the 10th century, while the land mine was not seen in China until the late 13th century. Explosive land mines were being used in 1277 by the Chinese during the Song dynasty against an assault of the Mongols, the invention of this detonated enormous bomb was credited to one Lou Qianxia of the 13th century. The wad of the mine was made of wood, carrying three different fuses in case of defective connection to the touch hole. Pieces of bamboo are sawn into sections nine feet in length, all septa in the bamboo being removed, save only the last, boiling oil is next poured into and left there for some time before being removed. The fuse starts from the bottom, and is compressed into it to form an explosive mine, the gunpowder fills up eight-tenths of the tube, while lead or iron pellets take up the rest of the space, then the open end is sealed with wax. A trench five feet in depth is dug, the fuse is connected to a firing device which ignites them when disturbed. Further description of how this flint device operated was not made until a Chinese text of 1606 AD revealed that a drive had been used to work the steel wheel. Besides the use of steel wheels providing sparks for the fuses, there were other methods used as well, when the weapons were removed from the mound, this movement disturbed the bowl beneath them where the butt ends of the staffs were, which in turn ignited the fuses. According to the Wubei Huolongjing volume of the 17th century, the formula for this slow-burning incandescent material allowed it to burn continuously for 20 to 30 days without going out
7.
Union (American Civil War)
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The Union was opposed by 11 southern slave states that formed the Confederate States, or the Confederacy. All of the Unions states provided soldiers for the U. S. Army, the Border states played a major role as a supply base for the Union invasion of the Confederacy. The Northeast provided the resources for a mechanized war producing large quantities of munitions and supplies. The Midwest provided soldiers, food, horses, financial support, Army hospitals were set up across the Union. Most states had Republican governors who energetically supported the war effort, the Democratic Party strongly supported the war in 1861 but in 1862 was split between the War Democrats and the anti-war element led by the Copperheads. The Democrats made major gains in 1862 in state elections. They lost ground in 1863, especially in Ohio, in 1864 the Republicans campaigned under the National Union Party banner, which attracted many War Democrats and soldiers and scored a landslide victory for Lincoln and his entire ticket. The war years were quite prosperous except where serious fighting and guerrilla warfare took place along the southern border, prosperity was stimulated by heavy government spending and the creation of an entirely new national banking system. The Union states invested a great deal of money and effort in organizing psychological and social support for soldiers wives, widows, orphans, and for the soldiers themselves. Most soldiers were volunteers, although after 1862 many volunteered to escape the draft, Draft resistance was notable in some larger cities, especially New York City with its massive anti-draft riots of 1863 and in some remote districts such as the coal mining areas of Pennsylvania. In the context of the American Civil War, the Union is sometimes referred to as the North, both then and now, as opposed to the Confederacy, which was the South. The Union never recognized the legitimacy of the Confederacys secession and maintained at all times that it remained entirely a part of the United States of America, in foreign affairs the Union was the only side recognized by all other nations, none of which officially recognized the Confederate government. The term Union occurs in the first governing document of the United States, the subsequent Constitution of 1787 was issued and ratified in the name not of the states, but of We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union. Union, for the United States of America, is repeated in such clauses as the Admission to the Union clause in Article IV. Even before the war started, the preserve the Union was commonplace. Using the term Union to apply to the non-secessionist side carried a connotation of legitimacy as the continuation of the political entity. In comparison to the Confederacy, the Union had a large industrialized and urbanized area, additionally, the Union states had a manpower advantage of 5 to 2 at the start of the war. Year by year, the Confederacy shrank and lost control of increasing quantities of resources, meanwhile, the Union turned its growing potential advantage into a much stronger military force
8.
Ambrose Burnside
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Ambrose Everett Burnside was an American soldier, railroad executive, inventor, industrialist, and politician from Rhode Island, serving as governor and a United States Senator. His distinctive style of facial hair became known as sideburns, derived from his last name and he was also the first president of the National Rifle Association. Burnside was born in Liberty, Indiana and was the fourth of nine children of Edghill and Pamela Brown Burnside and his great-great-grandfather Robert Burnside was born in Scotland and settled in the Province of South Carolina. His father was a native of South Carolina, he was an owner who freed his slaves when he relocated to Indiana. Ambrose attended Liberty Seminary as a boy, but his education was interrupted when his mother died in 1841, he was apprenticed to a local tailor. He graduated in 1847, ranking 18th in a class of 47 and he traveled to Veracruz for the Mexican–American War, but he arrived after hostilities had ceased and performed mostly garrison duty around Mexico City. In 1849, he was wounded by an arrow in his neck during a skirmish against Apaches in Las Vegas and he was promoted to 1st lieutenant on December 12,1851. In 1852, he was assigned to Fort Adams, Newport, Rhode Island, the marriage lasted until Marys death in 1876, but it was childless. In October 1853, Burnside resigned his commission in the United States Army and he devoted his time and energy to the manufacture of the famous firearm that bears his name, the Burnside carbine. President Buchanans Secretary of War John B, Floyd contracted the Burnside Arms Company to equip a large portion of the Army with his carbine, mostly cavalry, and induced him to establish extensive factories for its manufacture. The Bristol Rifle Works were no sooner complete than another gunmaker allegedly bribed Floyd to break his $100,000 contract with Burnside, Burnside ran as a Democrat for one of the Congressional seats in Rhode Island in 1858 and was defeated in a landslide. The burdens of the campaign and the destruction by fire of his contributed to his financial ruin. He then went west in search of employment and became treasurer of the Illinois Central Railroad, McClellan, who later became one of his commanding officers. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Burnside was a general in the Rhode Island Militia. He raised the 1st Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry Regiment, and was appointed its colonel on May 2,1861, two companies of this regiment were then armed with Burnside Carbines. Within a month, he ascended to command in the Department of Northeast Virginia. He commanded the brigade without distinction at the First Battle of Bull Run in July, and took over division command temporarily for wounded Brig. Gen. David Hunter. His 90-day regiment was mustered out of service on August 2 and he conducted a successful amphibious campaign that closed more than 80% of the North Carolina sea coast to Confederate shipping for the remainder of the war
9.
Knoxville Campaign
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The mountainous, largely Unionist region of East Tennessee was considered by President Abraham Lincoln to be a key war objective. Besides possessing a population largely loyal to the Union, the region was rich in grain and livestock, throughout 1862 and 1863, Lincoln pressured a series of commanders to move through the difficult terrain and occupy the area. Burnsides plan to advance from Cincinnati, Ohio, with his two corps was delayed when the IX Corps was ordered to reinforce Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in the Vicksburg Campaign. While awaiting the return of the IX Corps, Burnside sent a brigade under Brig. Gen. William P. Sanders to strike at Knoxville with a force of cavalry and infantry. In mid-June, Sanders men destroyed railroads and disrupted communications around the city, controlled by the Confederate Department of East Tennessee, by mid-August, Burnside began his advance toward the city. The direct route to Knoxville ran through the Cumberland Gap, a position favoring the Confederate defenders. Instead, Burnside chose to flank them, despite poor road conditions, his men were able to march as many as 30 miles per day. As the Chickamauga Campaign began, Buckner was ordered south to Chattanooga, leaving only a brigade in the Cumberland Gap. Maj. Gen. Samuel Jones replaced Buckner as commander of the department at East Tennessee, one of Burnsides cavalry brigades reached Knoxville on September 2, virtually unopposed. The following day, Burnside and his main force occupied the city, in the Cumberland Gap,2,300 inexperienced soldiers commanded by Brig. Gen. John W. Frazer had built defenses but had no orders about what to do following Buckners withdrawal. On September 7, confronted by DeCourcy to his north and Brig. Gen. James M. Shackelford approaching from the south, Burnside and an infantry brigade commanded by Col. Samuel A. Gilbert left Knoxville and marched 60 miles in only 52 hours. Finally realizing that he was outnumbered, Frazer surrendered on September 9. Foster attacked at noon and in the battle, shelled the town and initiated a flanking movement. Confederate Brig. Gen. John S. Williams, with his force, set out to disrupt Union communications. He wished to take Bulls Gap on the East Tennessee & Virginia Railroad. On October 3, while advancing on Bulls Gap, he fought with Brig. Gen. Samuel P. Carters Union Cavalry Division, XXIII Corps, at Blue Springs, about nine miles from Bulls Gap, Carter withdrew, not knowing how many of the enemy he faced. Carter and Williams skirmished for the few days. On October 10, Carter approached Blue Springs in force, the battle began about 10,00 a. m. with Union cavalry engaging the Confederates until afternoon while another mounted force attempted to place itself in a position to cut off a Rebel retreat
10.
Electrical telegraph
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An electrical telegraph is a telegraph that uses electrical signals, usually conveyed via dedicated telecommunication lines or radio. From early studies of electricity, electrical phenomena were known to travel with great speed, in 1753 an anonymous writer in the Scots Magazine suggested an electrostatic telegraph. In 1774 Georges-Louis Le Sage realised an early electric telegraph, the telegraph had a separate wire for each of the 26 letters of the alphabet and its range was only between two rooms of his home. In 1800 Alessandro Volta invented the voltaic pile, allowing for a current of electricity for experimentation. Both their designs employed multiple wires to represent almost all Latin letters, thus, messages could be conveyed electrically up to a few kilometers, with each of the telegraph receivers wires immersed in a separate glass tube of acid. The telegraph receivers operator would watch the bubbles and could record the transmitted message. This is in contrast to later telegraphs that used a single wire, hans Christian Ørsted discovered in 1820 that an electric current produces a magnetic field which will deflect a compass needle. In the same year Johann Schweigger invented the galvanometer, with a coil of wire around a compass, in 1824, Peter Barlow said that such a system only worked to a distance of about 200 feet, and so was impractical. In 1825 William Sturgeon invented the electromagnet, with a winding of uninsulated wire on a piece of varnished iron. During his tenure at The Albany Academy from 1826 to 1832, in 1835 Joseph Henry and Edward Davy invented the critical electrical relay. Davys relay used a needle which dipped into a mercury contact when an electric current passed through the surrounding coil. This allowed a weak current to switch a larger current to operate a powerful local electromagnet over very long distances, Davy demonstrated his telegraph system in Regents Park in 1837 and was granted a patent on 4 July 1838. He also developed an electric relay, the first working telegraph was built by the English inventor Francis Ronalds in 1816 and used static electricity. At the family home on Hammersmith Mall, he set up a subterranean system in a 175 yard long trench as well as an eight mile long overhead telegraph. The lines were connected at both ends to revolving dials marked with the letters of the alphabet and electrical impulses sent along the wire were used to transmit messages, offering his invention to the Admiralty in July 1816, it was rejected as “wholly unnecessary”. Elements of Ronalds’ design were utilised in the subsequent commercialisation of the telegraph over 20 years later, the telegraph invented by Baron Schilling von Canstatt in 1832 had a transmitting device which consisted of a keyboard with 16 black-and-white keys. These served for switching the electric current, the receiving instrument consisted of six galvanometers with magnetic needles, suspended from silk threads. Both stations of Shillings telegraph were connected by eight wires, six were connected with the galvanometers, one served for the return current, when at the starting station the operator pressed a key, the corresponding pointer was deflected at the receiving station
11.
Second Schleswig War
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The Second Schleswig War was the second military conflict as a result of the Schleswig-Holstein Question. It began on 1 February 1864, when Prussian forces crossed the border into Schleswig, decisive controversy arose due to the passing of the November Constitution, which integrated the Duchy of Schleswig into the Danish kingdom in violation of the London Protocol. Reasons for the war were the controversy in Schleswig and the co-existence of conflicting political systems within the Danish unitary state. The war ended on 30 October 1864, when the Treaty of Vienna caused Denmarks cession of the Duchies of Schleswig, Holstein, the northern and middle parts of Schleswig spoke Danish, but over time, the language in the southern half had shifted gradually to German. German culture was dominant among the clergy and nobility, Danish culture had a social status and was spoken mainly by the rural population. For centuries, while the rule of the king was absolute, however, when ideas of liberal democracy spread and nationalist currents emerged about 1820, identification was mixed between Danish and German. To that was added a grievance about tolls charged by Denmark on shipping passing through the Danish Straits between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, to avoid that expense, Prussia planned the Kiel Canal, which could not be built so long as Denmark ruled Holstein. Much of the focused on the heir of King Frederick VII of Denmark. Prince Christian had served on the Danish side in the First Schleswig War in 1848-1851, at the time, the king of Denmark was also duke of the duchies of Holstein and Schleswig. In 1848, Denmark had received its first free constitution and at the time had fought a civil war with the Germans of Schleswig-Holstein in which Prussia had intervened. The peace treaty stipulated that the duchy of Schleswig should not be treated any differently from the duchy of Holstein in its relations with the Kingdom of Denmark and that was a clear breach of the 1851 peace treaty and gave Prussia and the German union a casus belli against Denmark. France had colonial problems, not least with Britain, Bismarck had effectively neutralized Russia politically and succeeded in obtaining cooperation from Austria which underlined its major power status within the German union. The adoption of the Constitution of Denmark in 1849 complicated matters further, as many Danes wished for the new constitution to apply to all Danes. Thus two systems of government co-existed within the state, democracy in Denmark, and absolutism in Schleswig. This caused a deadlock for practical lawmaking, in Copenhagen, the Palace and most of the administration supported a strict adherence to the status quo. In 1858, the German Confederation deposed the union constitution of the Danish monarchy concerning Holstein and Lauenburg, the two duchies were henceforth without any constitution, while the union constitution still applied to Schleswig and Denmark proper. As the heirless King Frederick VII grew older, Denmarks successive National-Liberal cabinets became increasingly focused on maintaining control of Schleswig following the kings demise. The king died in 1863 at a critical time, work on the November Constitution for the joint affairs of Denmark and Schleswig had just been completed
12.
Second Boer War
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The Second Boer War, usually known as the Boer War and also at the time as the South African War, started on 11 October 1899 and ended on 31 May 1902. Great Britain defeated two Boer states in South Africa, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State, Britain was aided by its Cape Colony, Colony of Natal and some native African allies. The British war effort was supported by volunteers from the British Empire, including Southern Africa, the Australian colonies, Canada, India. All other nations were neutral, but public opinion in them was largely hostile to Britain, inside Britain and its Empire there also was significant opposition to the Second Boer War. The British were overconfident and under-prepared, the Boers were very well armed and struck first, besieging Ladysmith, Kimberley, and Mafeking in early 1900, and winning important battles at Colenso, Magersfontein and Stormberg. Staggered, the British brought in numbers of soldiers and fought back. General Redvers Buller was replaced by Lord Roberts and Lord Kitchener and they relieved the three besieged cities, and invaded the two Boer republics in late 1900. The onward marches of the British Army were so overwhelming that the Boers did not fight staged battles in defense of their homeland, the British quickly seized control of all of the Orange Free State and Transvaal, as the civilian leadership went into hiding or exile. In conventional terms, the war was over, Britain officially annexed the two countries in 1900, and called a khaki election to give the government another six years of power in London. However, the Boers refused to surrender and they reverted to guerrilla warfare under new generals Louis Botha, Jan Smuts, Christiaan de Wet and Koos de la Rey. Two more years of attacks and quick escapes followed. As guerrillas without uniforms, the Boer fighters easily blended into the farmlands, which provided hiding places, supplies, the British solution was to set up complex nets of block houses, strong points, and barbed wire fences, partitioning off the entire conquered territory. The civilian farmers were relocated into concentration camps, where very large proportions died of disease, especially the children, then the British mounted infantry units systematically tracked down the highly mobile Boer guerrilla units. The battles at this stage were small operations with few combat casualties The war ended in surrender, the British successfully won over the Boer leaders, who now gave full support to the new political system. Both former republics were incorporated into the Union of South Africa in 1910, the conflict is commonly referred to as simply the Boer War, since the First Boer War is much less well known. Boer was the term for Afrikaans-speaking white South Africans descended from the Dutch East India Companys original settlers at the Cape of Good Hope. It is officially called the South African War and it is known as the Anglo-Boer War among some South Africans. In Afrikaans it may be called the Anglo-Boereoorlog, Tweede Boereoorlog, in South Africa it is officially called the South African War
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