The Literary digest history of the world war, compiled from original and contemporary sources: American, British, French, German, and others . From Bel-fort north to Epinal runs aline of formidable forts, whileto the east the difficult Vosgescountry affords a natural pro-tection. Between the twofirst-class fortresses of Touland Verdun, lies the forti-fied area of the upper Meuse,while opposite Verdun, andcommanded by it, lies agateway into France fromthe German fortress of Metz—a gap some thirty mileswide. Of the fortresses erected bythe French, the most south-erly was Belfort, distant about t
The Literary digest history of the world war, compiled from original and contemporary sources: American, British, French, German, and others . From Bel-fort north to Epinal runs aline of formidable forts, whileto the east the difficult Vosgescountry affords a natural pro-tection. Between the twofirst-class fortresses of Touland Verdun, lies the forti-fied area of the upper Meuse,while opposite Verdun, andcommanded by it, lies agateway into France fromthe German fortress of Metz—a gap some thirty mileswide. Of the fortresses erected bythe French, the most south-erly was Belfort, distant about ten miles due west fromthe Alsatian town of Altkirch. One of the best fortifiedcities in France, Belfort, lies only fifteen miles from theintersection of Alsace and Switzerland, commands the valleybetween the Vosges and Jura, and is on roads from Paristo Basel, and from Lyons to Strassburg and population and industries were greatly increased by animmigration of Alsatians that followed the Franco-PrussianWar. In that war Belfort held out for three months againstthe Germans, the defenders capitulating only on receipt from. General de Castelnac Who commanded in the Alsace-Lorraine campaign and was Chiefof Staff to Joffre early in the war 274 INVASION OF BELGIUM AND ALSACE-LORRAINE the government, two weeks after the fall of Paris, of anorder to do so. It has a population of about 30,000. Toul, sixty miles northwest of Belfort, is one of the mostancient towns in France, its bishopric having been foundedby an Irish monk, St. Mansuy, who died about 350. It is afortress of the first class, and was taken by the Germans in1870. It is situated between a canal and the Moselle, fifteenmiles west of Nancy, and twenty-three miles from the Lor-raine border. Immediately after the Franco-Prussian War,when the whole system of frontier defense in France wasrevised, Toul was made the most formidable of all the newfortresses on the Meuse and :\Ioselle. The perimeter of thedefenses p
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Keywords: ., boo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectworldwar19141918
