. Battlefields of the World War, western and southern fronts; a study in military geography . sefolds were sufficient toguide the running watersand so to determine thelocation of parallel val-leys. The rocks weresometimes broken aswell as bent, and thenorthwest-southeastbreaks, or faults, likewisedetermined the courseof stream erosion, thusemphasizing the paralleltopographic featuresdependent upon rockstructure. Geological structure,by determining surfaceform, exercises a profound influence upon the military history of aregion. It is evident that the valleys just described must form asuccessio
. Battlefields of the World War, western and southern fronts; a study in military geography . sefolds were sufficient toguide the running watersand so to determine thelocation of parallel val-leys. The rocks weresometimes broken aswell as bent, and thenorthwest-southeastbreaks, or faults, likewisedetermined the courseof stream erosion, thusemphasizing the paralleltopographic featuresdependent upon rockstructure. Geological structure,by determining surfaceform, exercises a profound influence upon the military history of aregion. It is evident that the valleys just described must form asuccession of natural defense lines against an enemy advancingnorth or south across the chalk uplands of Artois and , it has well been said that these valleys give to northernFrance a distinctly military character. History offers ampleconfirmation of this conclusion. During the War of the SpanishSuccession the French armies took their final stand in the cam-paign of 1711 behind the Canche, Marshal Villars establishinghis famous ne plus ultra lines on the southern side of this natural. Fig. 26—Parallel valleys of the Somme andneighboring rivers, due to parallel folds andfaults in the underlying rocks, and constitutingnatural defense lines of great historic importance STRATEGIC POSITION 89 trench from its mouth to its source, whence they continuedeastward behind the marshes of the Scarpe and Sensee. TheDuke of Marlborough found the French position along theCanche practically impregnable and directed his strategyagainst a portion of the line farther east. The Authie nextsouth repeatedly served as an important line of defense, andthe fortified town of Doullens, which guarded the eastern endof the valley barrier, so often suffered the horrors of fire andsword that certain etymologists would derive its name fromvallum dolens, the vale of sorrow. Even the small valley of theMaye takes a significant rank in military geography, for it wasalong the northern slope of this depressio
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectworldwar19141918
