Fortification
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China (Chinese: Wanli Changcheng; “10,000-Li Long Wall”) consists of a series of defensive structures built across northern China. One of the largest building-construction projects ever carried out, it runs (with all its branches) about 4,500 miles (7,300 km) east to west. Large parts of the fortifi cation date from the 7th to the 4th century B.C.E.…
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Prussian Fortifications II
Siege of Prague. The city and its defences. 1742 The Second Silesian War 1744-5 Recent history ought to have convinced Maria Theresa that Frederick would be content to remain within his borders only so long as the Austrians were doing badly against the French and Bavarians. The spectacular Austrian successes…
Trench Warfare 1865
Part of the elaborate Confederate works outside Petersburg, after their evacuation in April 1865; such trenches extended for many miles in both directions. Following a series of engagements a state of mutual siege arose when the Army of the Potomac encountered the Army of North Virginia in the region of…
Fort Beauséjour 1755
Fort BeausĂ©jour and Cathedral (c.1755) Fort BeausĂ©jour, Spring 1754.© Parks Canada / L. Parker Fort BeausĂ©jour, Spring 1756 © Parks Canada / L. Parker The main event of King George’s War 1744-1748 (in Europe the struggle for of Austrian Succession) was the capture of Louisbourg. Under the terms of the…
French and Indian War (1754-1763)Â II
The most successful part of Braddock’s general plan was the capture of Forts BeausĂ©jour and Gaspereau, controlling the isthmus of Chignecto as well as land access to Nova Scotia, and supporting the discontented among the 20,000 French Acadians who had been British subjects since 1714 but had never been required…
Roman Watchtowers
There is no real consensus as to what such monumental linear boundaries as the walls in northern Britain or between the Rhine and Danube in Germany were for and how they functioned. Almost as puzzling are cases where Roman soldiers were distributed in very small detachments, often less than ten…
Massive Mines
1 UNDERGROUND WORLD Specialist tunneling companies dug subterranean trenches across much of the Western Front, such as those preserved in the Wellington Quarry beneath Arras in northeastern France. The mine tunnels were among the most ambitious of all. 2 BIG BANG A rare photograph captures the explosion of the mine…