Fortification

The fortification (of the Latin fortis , extremely, and facere , to make) is art Militaire, to reinforce a position or a place against an attack.

Principles

It has two principal functions:

  • the obstacle by delaying the attacker in its progression towards the brought closer confrontation and obliging it to remain longer under the fire of the defenders
  • the protection , by putting at the shelter attacks of the enemy troops charged to defend the obstacles. This component of protection perhaps filled of two ways, directly, by the use of enough solid constructions to stop the enemy projectiles, and indirectly by the use of the distance and the advantage in range and more recently of the camouflage. In a general way, the generalization of increasingly sophisticated firearms with have for consequence to increase the need for protection, the obstacle losing to him importance with the mechanization of the troops of attack.

It can however have other functions, like a symbolic system, concretizing a capacity or a property.

Classification

It is possible to qualify the fortifications of many manners.

Permanence

The fortifications are usually divided into two branches, those permanent, profiting from a work and resources important, and those of countryside which are carried out in a way more or less impromptu on the ground by the troops. However the limit between the two is rather fuzzy, bus of the fortifications of countryside can be transformed into fortifications known as semi-permanent, when time and the resources allow it, or when the need is felt some.

Cut and the objective

The objective of the fortifications, on the other hand, always was very variable for him, seeking to protect from a simple residence like a strong Maison or a strong Château feudal (castle of Roquetaillade), with a whole country with a vast defensive system, like the Great wall of China and the Ligne Maginot.

Time

History

Primitive fortifications

The means of keeping the enemy, apart from the place which one wants to protect, is found very early in the history of humanity with the palisade out of wooden, the Talus of ground, or the Mur of dry stones piled up, according to the areas. Sufficient against the fauna, this obstacle quickly will appear insufficient against the Man, who imagines quantity of means to cross it, the first instrument of seat, appears with the scale which makes it possible to climb the wall. It thus becomes necessary to defend the obstacle, against the invader. The wall being difficult to defend of in bottom, one invents the Covered way which makes it possible to traverse its top, while being protected from outside, by the Parapet, placing the defenders in an advantageous position for the body with body and the shooting.

The place protected by this type of early fortification is generally the village, where the defenders live and where they store their reserves and richnesses. The enclosure is often circular, surrounding the dwellings; the form of the most current defense seems to have been Dun, where a ground slope is created inside, by digging a ditch. The slope constitutes the covered way, the parapet is made up is by another smaller slope, or a palisade out of wooden. In the rocky areas like the Ireland or the Scotland, the stone is used to hold the side of the slope. In the Mediterranean zone, the enclosures are consisted colossal stones piled up without any binder.

The apogee of this type of fortification seems to be reached by the Germanic tribes , which César in its time faced. Their cities were surrounded by composite slopes consisted an assembly of stones, ground and tree trunks placed in length, very difficult to thus destroy, because thick and resistant to water hammers and insensitive with fire thanks to the presence of wet ground.

Appearance of the Masonry

The invention of brick dried with the sun revolutionizes art to strengthen, making it possible to create walls much higher, and thus impregnable by climbing. These techniques are born among civilizations from the fertile Croissant, they require in addition to progress in the art of construction, a social structure authorizing the requisition of many workers for long periods, which allows the first royalties which emergent then. The object of this new type of fortification also appears, they are the first big cities of the history. The goal is to be able to shelter the reserves and the population of all the surrounding countryside in a place inaccessible to the enemy, work of defense is thus differently more important than than required the protection of a simple village. One thus sees appearing colossal works, like the walls of the town of Ninive in Assyrie, with brick walls of almost forty meters in height.

The appearance of the ram and sabotage and mine against the walls, obliges to build those in a solid way with more than ten meters thickness. To avoid a too important work, the solution is then found, to build two parallel walls and to fill the interval between the two with ground. These new types of attack cause the appearance of the turns which furnish the lengths with wall, allowing by their projection compared to the wall, to beat by crossed shootings, the dead angle where the sappers and the ram operate. They constitute also a refuge overhanging the parapet, which makes it possible to bombard this one after a catch by the attacker, and moreover, it is used as buttress with the wall. It is as at that time as the parapet is furnished with Créneau X, which makes it possible to the defenders to shelter between two shootings. The strengthened cities of this time become almost impregnable by a direct attack, it remains only the solution of the investment and the seat of long life, to make it fall by the famine or rendering.

However, the Greeks of the traditional period and thereafter the Romans, develop and systematize new tactics and techniques of seat or Poliorcétique. Those are related to the appearance of new heavy weapons of jet, the Baliste S and catapults, and of the turns of seat. This type of seat, although effective, request for very long preliminary works, of which the construction of an enclosure, often double, girdling besieged, to avoid the Left S this one and possibly, an attack of an opposing army of help. Great earthworks, are also necessary to bring the machines of seat in contact with defenses, for example of large slopes in fill, to advance the turns of seat.

Comparatively, the defensive systems evolve/move less for this period, the effort relates mainly to the use of the existing ground to conceive the strengthened network: one seeks to be pressed on rivers or natural important unevennesses. To protect the cities, one creates Forteresse S, located on the heights to constitute the point strong of the position. The Romans on the other hand will bring much in the field of the fortification of countryside, with their more or less provisional camps. This wood and ground work, realized sometimes in a few hours, is nevertheless rather difficult to take, providing a sure shelter to the troops. One of their characteristics, the Ditch, also spreads in the permanent fortifications. It has three advantages, it prevents the attacker from bringing a machine of seat in contact with the wall, without to have filled it beforehand, it provides materials for the construction of the wall or the hillock constituting the obstacle, and finally it increases by its depth, the height of this one.

Other improvements start to be spread, of many towers are built on a basis circular or oval, instead of square or rectangular before, which enables them to better resist the impacts Baliste S. In addition, the materials evolve/move, the brick yielding the place to the stone, more current with the septentrional latitudes and less sensitive to the effect of fire and the shocks. It also seems that the Romans set up the first Hourd S which make it possible to draw to the bottom of the wall, without being discovered.

The strong castle

The mound castrale

The cruel invasions and the fall of the Roman Empire cause a fold on smaller communities. The fortifications any more will not seek to protect from vast enclosures, but a simple residence, that of the lord.

The keep or main tower

The keep was used as a last resort, when the remainder of the castle or the city was taken by the enemies. They is there that in particular the lord takes refuge, its family, as well as the most eminent members of her court.

Several keeps are worthy to be notified: among those, that of the castle of Coucy (dynamited during the First World War), that of Gisors, that of the Guyon Rock (decreased by a third but with an underground of access)…

Improvements of active defense

The history of the castle-forts is in particular illustrated by the French fortress and Loire Valley which presents some of oldest most important: Angers, Chinon, Langeais, Lavardin, Loaches.

Traditional forts

Appearance of artillery and the beginning of the bastion

The appearance of the guns changes at the beginning little thing in the methods of seat, marginally appearing more powerful than the various balistae. But little by little, the parts become increasingly powerful thanks to the improvement of the techniques of manufacture and start to use bronze projectiles, then out of wrought iron, instead of the stone and of wood of use before. These new balls which do not burst with the impact with high speeds at the time of the impact, return the construction of built walls able to resist to them increasingly difficult. Moreover, the guns draw more and more quickly and precisely, it becomes possible to concentrate several successive shootings on a precise zone, to create a breach, in any wall, which was impossible with nevrobalistic artillery. The fortification must evolve/move in front of this new threat. Following the demonstration made by the army of François {{Ier}} at the time of the Wars of Italy, the brittleness of the traditional fortresses is a heard cause.

The seat from now on is regarded as an artillery battle between the guns which tackle the fortified town and those which defend it. Art to strengthen thus will consist in giving to the latter the maximum of advantages in the fight. As of the 14th century appear the gun turns, low and massive, which reinforce the existing forts. The following phase will be to decrease the height of the Courtine S and the turns. The work emerges then hardly from its ditch, which took again the function of obstacle, held since the paddle of civilization by the high wall which became too vulnerable. The curtains lose to them Créneau X, with the profit of embrasures for the guns, and of the detached works start to appear around the principal body of the fortress. The function of the latter is to delay to the maximum the attack against the fortress itself, without presenting any shelter for the attacker, once they are taken. Caponnière S allow also an easier defense of the ditch.

At the time of the war of Dutch independence, a new Germanic school of fortification emerges and poses the bases in the new manners of defending the fortified towns. It introduces the Glacis, a soft, private inclined zone of very covered, which surrounds the fortress. Another innovation, the Way covered, which separates the ditch from the glacis: it makes it possible to deploy Mousquetaire S, to very shoot attacker who would venture on the glacis. It is slightly below the principal curtains which are armed by the guns with the place, which allows the staging of fires; it is not protected side fortress, and thus does not offer any advantage after its catch. The use of the ground extracted the ditch in the construction industry becomes again dominating, masonry is employed mainly to build two walls framing the ditch, the escarpe side curtain and the contrescarpe side glacis. The tower disappears with the profit from the Bastion, between which Demi-lune S are intercalated, which replace the first detached works. These two types of work carry artillery of the place.

All these novel methods are formalized, in France, in a first treaty of fortification written in 1600 by Jean Errard. It there determines the distances between the works according to the range of the arquebus and recommends the staging of fires. Antoine Deville and Blaise de Pagan continues his work, in particular by introducing the use of Réduit S, within the works, to delay their fall by providing to the defenders a fallback position where they can take refuge and profit from an advantage, with the center even of the work. The principle of spreading out in the depth was born, it is ensuitee improved by their successors, of which Vauban.

Systems of Vauban

.

The modern fortification

Terminology

Type of fortification

Many military installations are known like strong , although they are not always not strengthened . Moreover larger forts can be classified like fortress or work for the modern fortifications, of smaller like blockhouse or casemates . The word fortification can also indicate the improvement of the defensive capacity of a zone with installations.

Elements of fortification

The military Engineering is often in charge of construction while these are the own troops (Sapeur S) which are assigned to the destruction of that of the enemy. One names seat, surrounding intended to capture a fortification which cannot be taken quickly and by the only force.

The application and the evolution of the principles of the military architecture between Xe and XVe century can in particular be observed starting from the fortresses of the Loire Valley: Angers, Chinon, Langeais, Lavardin, Loaches.

Bibliography: Schweitz (Daniel), Castles and fortresses of the Middle Ages in Loire Valley, Touraine, Anjou, Berry, Orléanais, Vendômois, Breton walk, Turns, CLD, 2006.

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