At the time of its construction, Fort des Ayvelles, controlled Meuse and the railway line linking what city in the Grand Est region of France, that lies 129 km east-northeast of Paris?
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Fort des Ayvelles The Fort des Ayvelles, also known as the Fort Dubois-Crancé, is a fortification near the French communes of Villers-Semeuse and Les Ayvelles in the Ardennes, just to the south of Charleville-Mézières. As part of the Séré de Rivières system of fortifications, the fort was planned as part of a new ring of forts replacing the older citadel of Mézières with dispersed fortifications. With advances in the range and destructive power of artillery, the city's defensive perimeter had to be pushed away from the city center to the limits of artillery range. The Fort des Ayvelles was the only such fortification to be completed of the ensemble, as resources were diverted elsewhere. At the time of its construction the fort controlled the Meuse and the railway line linking Reims, Montmédy, Givet and Hirson. The Fort des Ayvelles was reduced in status in 1899, its masonry construction rendered obsolete by the advent of high-explosive artillery shells. However, it was re-manned for the First World War before it was captured by the Germans on 29 August 1914. The fort was partly destroyed in 1918. During the Battle of France in 1940 the fort was bombarded. French resisters were executed at Ayvelles during both world wars. At present the fort is maintained by a preservation society, and may be visited.
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Reims Reims ( ; also spelled Rheims; ] ), a city in the Grand Est region of France, lies 129 km east-northeast of Paris. The 2013 census recorded 182,592 inhabitants ("Rémoises" (feminine) and "Rémois" (masculine)) in the city of Reims proper (the "commune"), and 317,611 inhabitants in the metropolitan area ("aire urbaine"). Its river, the Vesle, is a tributary of the Aisne.
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Seine–Nord Europe Canal The Seine–Nord Europe Canal is a projected high-capacity ("grand gabarit") canal in France that would link the Oise River at Compiègne with the Canal Dunkerque-Escaut, east of Arleux. The objective is to expand trade flows in a fuel-efficient and ecologically friendly manner between the Seine basin and Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, while reducing saturation on the A1 motorway in France and reducing the CO2 emissions in the transport sector within this corridor.
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Suresnes Suresnes (] ) is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 9.3 km from the center of Paris. The nearest communes are Neuilly-sur-Seine, Puteaux, Rueil-Malmaison, Saint-Cloud and Boulogne-Billancourt. It is also on a tram line giving access to La Defense and its rail services.
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LGV Picardie The LGV Picardie is a proposed high-speed railway line running between Paris and Calais, via Amiens, in France.
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Gare de Gannes The Gannes station ("Gare de Gannes") is a railway station on the Paris-Nord - Lille line located in the commune of Gannes in the Oise department, France.
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Val-de-Marne Val-de-Marne (] ) is a French department, named after the Marne River, located in the Île-de-France region. The department is situated to the southeast of the city of Paris.
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Fort de Montmorency The Fort de Montmorency was built following the Franco-Prussian War to defend Paris. Located to the north of Paris in Montmorency, the fort was part of an outer ring of fortifications built in response to improvements in the range and effectiveness of artillery since the construction of the Thiers fortifications of the 1840s. It was built between 1875 and 1879 in accordance with improved principles of fortification developed for the Séré de Rivières system.
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History of Île-de-France Île-de-France is a province of France encompassing the north-central departments of Val-d’Oise, Seine-et-Marne, Seine-Saint-Denis, Ville-de-Paris, Hauts-de-Seine, Val-de-Marne, Essonne, and Yvelines. It is bounded by the regions of Picardy (Picardie) to the north, Champagne-Ardenne to the east, Burgundy (Bourgogne) to the southeast, Centre to the south, and Haute-Normandie to the northwest. Its capital is Paris and it has an area of 4,637 square miles (12,011 square km), and a population of 11,491,000 (2006).
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Bondy Bondy (] ) is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 10.9 km from the centre of Paris.
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Fortified Position of Namur The fortified position of Namur ("position fortifiée de Namur" (PFN)) was established by Belgium following World War I to fortify the traditional invasion corridor between Germany and France through Belgium. The position incorporated the fortress ring of Namur, originally designed by Belgian General Henri Alexis Brialmont to deter an invasion of Belgium by France. The old fortifications consisted of nine forts built between 1888 and 1892 on either side of the Meuse, surrounding Namur. In the years immediately prior to World War II the forts were modernized to address shortcomings exposed during the 1914 Battle of Liège and the short siege of Namur. While the Namur defenses continued to nominally deter France from violating Belgium's neutrality, the seven upgraded forts were intended as a backstop to the fortified position of Liège, which was designed to prevent a second German incursion into Belgium on the way to France. The neutrality policy and fortification programs failed, and the Namur forts saw brief combat during the Battle of Belgium in 1940.
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Brabant (train) The Brabant was an express train that linked Gare du Nord in Paris, France, with Brussel Zuid in Brussels, Belgium. The train was named after the historical Duchy of Brabant of which Brussels was the capital.
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Ancemont Ancemont is a commune in the Meuse department in the Grand Est region in northeastern France.
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Regnévelle Regnévelle is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France.
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Laimont Laimont is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
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Maxey-sur-Meuse Maxey-sur-Meuse is a commune in the Vosges department in Grand Est in northeastern France.
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Fort de l'Est Fort de l'Est is a military strong point designed to protect Paris. It was built between 1841 and 1843 in Saint-Denis at the direction of French prime minister Adolphe Thiers, and was part of an immense defensive belt comprising 17 detached forts and the Thiers Wall surrounding Paris. The evolution of artillery quickly made these fortifications obsolete.
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Château de Sedan The Château de Sedan is a castle situated in Sedan, France, on a headland on the border of Meuse, flanked by the rivers Bièvre and Vra, in the Ardennes "département" of France. It is a grand fortress of medieval European stock, covering an area of 35000 m2 in its seven floors.
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Clermont-en-Argonne Clermont-en-Argonne (formerly Clermont-sur-Meuse) is a commune in the Meuse department in Grand Est in north-eastern France.
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Fort de Villiers Fort de Villers was built following the Franco-Prussian War to defend Paris. Located to the east of Paris in Villiers-sur-Marne, the fort was part of an outer ring of eighteen major fortifications built in response to improvements in the range and effectiveness of artillery since the construction of the Thiers fortifications of the 1840s. It was built in accordance with improved principles of fortification developed for the Séré de Rivières system.
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Gare de Massy TGV Massy TGV is a TGV railway station in Massy, France. Massy TGV is a new station, located in Île-de-France, was built for the LGV Atlantique. Thus certain trains serve at Montparnasse Station and this station simultaneously, although it is not allowed to use the TGV for such a short distance. The proximity of station the Massy – Palaiseau RER station (one can even consider that Massy TGV is an extension of this station) makes it possible for this station to serve a great part of south Paris and its suburbs. The station also offers the advantage of enabling Lille-Tours(-Bordeaux) and Strasbourg-Tours(-Bordeaux) trains to serve Paris via the LGV Interconnexion Est without having to turn around at a terminus station (e.g. Gare de Paris-Est or Paris-Gare de Lyon). However, in spite of these advantages, the traffic of this station remains low.
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Fort de Saint-Cyr The Fort de Saint-Cyr, located in the commune of Montigny-le-Bretonneux, (Yvelines), is one of the forts built at the end of the 19th century to defend Paris. After the first world war the fort was used as an army weather station and arms depot. Classed in 1992 as a monument historique, it is now used as a film depository for the preservation of movies under the Cinémathèque française.