The Ardennes (department)

History

The department was created with the French revolution, the March 4th 1790, pursuant to the law of the December 22nd 1789, starting from part of old the provinces of Champagne and Argonne, of several Principautés, of which those of Arches and Sedan, counties (like Rethel) and of various territories attached to the France (coming from old the Spanish Netherlands) until the 18th century.

The May 12th 1793, the department increases bailliage inhabitant of Li2ege of Couvin and county of Empire of Fagnolle and the October 26th 1795 of the Duché of Bubble.

The November 20th 1815, the second treaty of Paris withdraws from the department of the Ardennes to attach them to the kingdom of the Netherlands the territories of Bouillon, Couvin, Mariembourg, Fagnolle and Philippeville.

The September 2nd 1870, Sedan is place of the capitulation of Napoleon III at the time of the Bataille of Sedan vis-a-vis the troops of the united German states ordered by Helmut von Moltke, the king of Prussia Guillaume I {{er}}, (Wilhelm I), future Empereur of the IIe Reich under the same name, and Bismarck attends the battle since hills dominating Sedan. The defeat rings the knell of the Second Empire.

During the two world wars, for strategic reasons the area is each time the crossing point of the enemy invasion, because of the low width of the Meuse and its steepsided valley. It should however be noted that the French soldiers consider that the area is defended all alone from its relief and its thick forests present on north of the department and neglect the defense of this territory. During First World War, Charleville is HQ Kronprinz, it is with Vouziers, inter alia, that the Czechoslovakian Légions fought with that which was going to become the first President of the republic, Masaryk and it is as beside this same city as was cut down the plane of Roland Garros.
It is the only French department to have been entirely occupied throughout conflict except the north of the Lorraine (the Moselle) and the Alsace, which were under German administration since 1871.
At the time of the Second world war, the principal effort of the German army was dedicated on this territory, in particular on Right Bank of the Meuse, symbolized by the Percée of Sedan which was going to involve the French troops in the trap strategic of the Plan yellow conceived by the general Von Mainstein and approved by Hitler.
It is in this department which the Ligne Maginot finished: the strong last of this line (extremely of Villy Ferté) is at approximately five kilometers of Carignan. The French staff did not want to continue the line of defense along the border with the Belgium, neutral country and ami.
After the armistice of 1940, the Ardennes were declared " closed Area " (makes zone of German settlement of it) during all the occupation by the army Nazi E.

Geography

See also: Geography of the department of the Ardennes

The department of the Ardennes belongs to the Région Champagne-Ardenne. It is bordering on the French departments of the Meuse, the Marne and the Aisne, as well as Belgium (more precisely the Walloon region). Its culminating point is named the Cross-Scaille and is located at 504 m of Altitude.

The department owes its name with a vast natural area, the Ardenne, which especially extends on the Walloon part (in the South) of the Belgium (provinces of Liege, Namur, Hainaut and Luxembourg), but also with the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg (Oesling) like in Germany (Eiffel) and elsewhere in France in the north of the department close to the Meuse in Lorraine; this natural area, mainly French-speaking, undulating by the solid mass relatively low of the Ardennes and made up around the South of the river basin of the Meuse, is included/understood only very partially in this department. The valley of the Meuse is known like “the valleye” in the department of the Ardennes. To the south, very quickly the plain of Champagne known as Crayeuse extends where the Aisne runs, after some zones " tampons" undulating (Thiérache in the west and Argonne in the east).

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