The Forts and Fortifications of Europe
Author: Joseph E. Kaufmann
Publisher:
Published: 2014
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13:
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The Forts and Fortifications of Europe 1815- 1945: The Neutral States
Author: J.E. Kaufmann
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2014-10-30
Total Pages: 258
ISBN-13: 1783463929
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAfter the Napoleonic Wars the borders of Europe were redrawn and relative peace endured across the region, but the volatile politics of the late nineteenth century generated an atmosphere of fear and distrust, and it gave rise to a new era of fortress building. In the neutral states situated between France and Germany - The Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland - the need for extensive fixed defences was particularly urgent, and this is the subject of this highly illustrated new study. The strategic thinking that gave rise to these defensive schemes is described in detail, as is the planning, design and construction of the lines themselves. Their operational history in wartime, in particular during the Second World War, is a key element of this expert account.
The Forts and Fortifications of Europe 1815-1945: The Central States
Author: J.E. Kaufmann
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2014-07-02
Total Pages: 271
ISBN-13: 1848848064
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAfter the Napoleonic Wars the borders of Central Europe were redrawn and relative peace endured across the region, but the volatile politics of the late nineteenth century generated an atmosphere of fear and distrust, and it gave rise to a new era of fortress building, and this is the subject of this highly illustrated new study. The authors describe how defensive lines and structures on a massive scale were constructed along national frontiers to deter aggression. The Germans, Austro-Hungarians and Czechs all embarked on ambitious building programmes. Artillery positions, barbed-wire networks, casemates, concrete bunkers, trench lines, observation posts all sprang up in a vain attempt to keep the peace and to delay the invader. The strategic thinking that gave rise to these defensive schemes is described in detail in this study, as is the planning, design and construction of the lines themselves. Their operational history in wartime, in particular during the Second World War, is a key element of the account.
Fortress Europe
Author: J.E. Kaufmann
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
Published: 2022-06-02
Total Pages: 791
ISBN-13: 1399002732
DOWNLOAD EBOOKA few of the fortifications and fortified lines of the world wars are well known and have often been written about, illustrated and studied. But they tend to distract attention from the wide range of fixed defenses constructed across Europe on an enormous scale after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, during a period of insecurity and aggression. That is why this new, highly illustrated study, which covers the entire continent, is so valuable. The authors examine the major fortified positions and describe their strategic purpose, their design and construction, and the role they played in military planning and operations. The outstanding contribution of the major military architects of the time is a key theme. The work of Séré de Rivières, Brialmont and others had a major influence on the course of the First World War and on the fortifications built before and during the Second World War. Their approach is visible in the designs for the Maginot Line, the East and West walls of Germany, the Vallo Alpino in Italy, the Soviet Stalin and Molotov lines, the Mannerheim and Salpa lines of Finland, the Greek Metaxas Line, the Beneš Line of Czechoslovakia as well as the defenses built by the Dutch and Scandinavians. The breadth of the coverage, the degree of detail and the numerous illustrations make the book essential reading and reference for anyone who has a special interest in the world wars and the history of fortifications.
International Law in the Long Nineteenth Century (1776-1914)
Author: Inge Van Hulle
Publisher: BRILL
Published: 2019-09-16
Total Pages: 242
ISBN-13: 9004412085
DOWNLOAD EBOOKInternational Law in the Long Nineteenth Century gathers ten studies that reflect the ever-growing variety of themes and approaches that scholars from different disciplines bring to the historiography of international law in the period. Three themes are explored: ‘international law and revolutions’ which reappraises the revolutionary period as crucial to understanding the dynamics of international order and law in the nineteenth century. In ‘law and empire’, the traditional subject of nineteenth-century imperialism is tackled from the perspective of both theory and practice. Finally, ‘the rise of modern international law’, covers less familiar aspects of the formation of modern international law as a self-standing discipline. Contributors are: Camilla Boisen, Raphaël Cahen, James Crawford, Ana Delic, Frederik Dhondt, Andrew Fitzmaurice, Vincent Genin, Viktorija Jakjimovska, Stefan Kroll, Randall Lesaffer, and Inge Van Hulle.
The Belgian Army and Society from Independence to the Great War
Author: Mario Draper
Publisher: Springer
Published: 2018-02-13
Total Pages: 287
ISBN-13: 3319703862
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book explores Belgian state-building through the prism of its army from independence to the First World War. It argues that party-politics, which often ran along geographical, linguistic, and religious lines, prevented both Flemings and Walloons from reconciling their regional identities into a unified concept of Belgian nationalism. Equally, it obstructed the army from satisfactorily preparing to uphold Belgium’s imposed neutrality before 1914. Situated uneasily between the two powerhouses of nineteenth-century Europe, Belgium offers a unique insight into the concepts of citizenship and militarisation in a divided society in the era of fervent nationalism. By examining the composition, experience, and image of the army’s officer corps and rank and file, as well as those of the auxiliary forces, this book shows that although military and civilian society often stood aloof from one another, the army, as a national institution, offered a fleeting glimpse into the dichotomy that was pre-war Belgium.
Fighting Terror after Napoleon
Author: Beatrice de Graaf
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2020-10-01
Total Pages: 519
ISBN-13: 1108901603
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAfter twenty-six years of unprecedented revolutionary upheavals and endless fighting, the victorious powers craved stability after Napoleon's defeat in 1815. With the threat of war and revolutionary terror still looming large, the coalition launched an unprecedented experiment to re-establish European security. With over one million troops remaining in France, they established the Allied Council to mitigate the threat of war and terror and to design and consolidate a system of deterrence. The Council transformed the norm of interstate relations into the first, modern system of collective security in Europe. Drawing on the records of the Council and the correspondence of key figures such as Metternich, Castlereagh, Wellington and Alexander I, Beatrice de Graaf tells the story of Europe's transition from concluding a war to consolidating a new order. She reveals how, long before commercial interest and economic considerations on scale and productivity dictated and inspired the project of European integration, the common denominator behind this first impulse for a unification of Europe in norms and institutions was the collective fight against terror.
Military Aspects of Geology
Author: E. P. F. Rose
Publisher: Geological Society of London
Published: 2019-01-31
Total Pages: 316
ISBN-13: 1786203944
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book complements the Geological Society’s Special Publication 362: Military Aspects of Hydrogeology. Generated under the auspices of the Society’s History of Geology and Engineering Groups, it contains papers from authors in the UK, USA, Germany and Austria. Substantial papers describe some innovative engineering activities, influenced by geology, undertaken by the armed forces of the opposing nations in World War I. These activities were reactivated and developed in World War II. Examples include trenching from World War I, tunnelling and quarrying from both wars, and the use of geologists to aid German coastal fortification and Allied aerial photographic interpretation in World War II. The extensive introduction and other chapters reveal that ‘military geology’ has a longer history. These chapters relate to pre-twentieth century coastal fortification in the UK and the USA; conflict in the American Civil War; long-term ‘going’ assessments for German forces; tunnel repair after wartime route denial in Hong Kong; and tunnel detection after recent insurgent improvisation in Iraq.
Dachau to Dolomites
Author: Tom Wall
Publisher: Merrion Press
Published: 2019-01-04
Total Pages: 306
ISBN-13: 1785372270
DOWNLOAD EBOOKDachau to the Dolomites is the dramatic but little-known story of a group of prominent Nazi SS hostages transported from various concentration camps to a remote Alpine valley in the final days of the Third Reich. Five Irishmen were among the 160 prisoners whom Himmler and other SS leaders attempted to use as barter to save the regime or, as a final resort, themselves. As well as eminent international statesmen, aristocrats and clergy, the group contained opposition German generals and civilian relatives of those who had plotted against Hitler, including the family of Claus von Stauffenberg, who placed the bomb in Hitler's Wolf's Lair. Among the hostages were a number of British officers, survivors of the famous 'Great Escape', and also Colonel John McGrath from Roscommon, a World War I veteran who had left his job as manager of Dublin's Theatre Royal to rejoin the British Army in 1939. They had been held with Russian, Italian and Polish special prisoners as 'Nacht und Nebel' - Night and Fog - prisoners, whose existence was a state secret. They lived in constant danger of execution, a fate some did not escape, including Stalin's son, who died following a fracas with Irish prisoners. It is an astonishing and epic tale encompassing heroic endurance, escape, betrayal, tragedy and love.
Himmler's Hostages
Author: Tom Wall
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
Published: 2021-01-18
Total Pages: 313
ISBN-13: 1526785862
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe notorious Nazi leader’s attempt to take war prisoners hostage at the end of WWII is revealed in this lively and expertly researched history. During the final weeks of the Second World War, Heinrich Himmler assembled the most famous and noteworthy SS prisoners be taken hostage. Himmler’s plan was to use these individuals as bargaining chips to save the Reich—or, failing that, himself. Known as the Prominenten, this group included European politicians and former heads of state, five British survivors of the ‘Great Escape,’ two MI5 agents, and Irish born POWs. This meticulously researched study sheds new light on how the British prisoners came to be integrated with a multinational group of VIPs in Dachau concentration camp, including German family groups of men, women and children; relatives of those implicated in plot to kill Hitler. The lively narrative describes kidnapping, escape attempts, interpersonal conflict, betrayal and comradeship. It also reveals intrigues and love affairs among the prisoners, culminating in their dramatic attempt to free themselves from the SS.
