Fortification
Wooden log walls built in the gorodni style
This type of structure was the most popular in Rus between the second half of the 10th and the mid-15th centuries. The upper part of the wall projected slightly forwards as a rule, overhanging the lower part. The resulting clearance, called oblam, was designed with the same aim as hoarding or machicolations in European castles – to command the foot…
![Konya [Iconium] City-Fortress](https://weaponsandwarfare.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Konya-Iconium-City-Fortress-330x220.jpg "Konya [Iconium] City-Fortress 6")
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CHATEAU GAILLARD
In March 1204, Chateau Gaillard fell to the army of King Philip Augustus, and with the loss of the castle the English lost their claims to Normandy. Chateau Gaillard, Les Andelys, France. Richard the Lion Hearted claimed to have built his “cocky castle” on the border of Normandy in only…
Panzerturms: The Gothic Line
At the Hitler Line, a single Panzerturm had systematically knocked out thirteen North Irish Horse tanks in minutes. Fighting defensively, and sited to take best advantage of the terrain, a Pantherturm had several advantages over tanks, artillery or standard bunkers. It’s low silhouette made it easy to conceal and, once…
Switzerland WWII – Military Deterrence
WWII Swiss M°18/40 Rifleman. Physical map of Switzerland. Prior to 1940 the Swiss military publicly relied on its well-advertised capacity to muster in arms over 10 percent of the population in well-prepared border positions, to defend its internationally guaranteed neutrality against all comers. But in reality, since the rise of…
Maunsell Sea Forts
The coasts of Kent and Essex Counties, England, overlook the Thames Estuary, the only sea route to London. Throughout World War II it was constantly endangered by German minelayers, U-boats, and the Luftwaffe. From 1939 until 1942 the British navy patrolled the area; then a series of seven sea forts…
Marshal Vauban’s Last Combats (1700-1707)
A new defensive organization of the border (to a certain extent prefiguring the 1930s Maginot Line) was called “PrĂ© Carré” and would be, from then on, Vauban’s main task and principal mission until the end of his life. During Louis XIV’s reign, these regions without natural barriers were heavily fortified…
The siege of Ostend and the Spinola offensives 1601-8
Ostend’s military machines by Pompeo Giustiniani 1 & 3, the construction of wicker filled with stones and earth were buried in the trenches by the besiegers; they were used in the western part of the town to allow the fording of the Old Haven. 2 & 4, to the east,…