The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-08-16
View Of Territory
Now Stage of War
Army Of Half Million Men Required to Invest Defenses of
Paris-Plans For Protection of Wide Frontier Arent
Description of Fortifcations at Strassbug ana
Other Points by Colonel J. q. Fiebegcr.

therefore placed of,'y two and haI
miles erom the inner line. The inter
Val t2tween forts Nos & and : rs near
- two ralica. bat Il - understood that
this interval has since heen diminish
ed by the construction of an additional
fort between them.
Fort No. prolongs the lire south
ward. ana So also a work similar 10 the
forts Nos ! 20 ! the inner tne CoNla
notr be besjcged from the ground in
rear Of this work. as the inundation
covers it's front.
"Tho southern line If forts was
liked hy the necessity Of placing fort
beyond the thick woods, which
cover the marsh in It's rear. Forts 2,
/ q and II are all low ground, and have
vet bitches
The three forts on the east side
- the Nhtne SIRE each about three
ralIrs from the inner line mad the
interval between adjacent forts is two
miles
aThe Tire Is completed by fort T.
when is Aleo blil: n low site and is
protected by wet bitches. The forts
with wet ditches have 80 masonry
scraps ar courterscraps and as 1t rule
have no caponiers % sweep the d'tches
ia front Of the faces \ strategic
railway. connects the various forts
alerg the main front.
Of Aucieut Construction
THE exact tate Of the original con-
qtructior Of the inner line about Stras-
hilrr- is Unknown: about {he middle of
the sixteenth century 1t was recon-
-trt3eteG by q German engineer SpeEle,
and WIS later remedcied ny Marshal
Vauhan. after the city was taken hy
Tive French In 1881.
AT the outhreal ~ the Frauco-Gcr-
man war 1t consisted cf continuous
bas{i0n line Surrounding the city. The
}tn@ was surrounded by vide, wei
cltchts in advance If which there was
an elaborate system Of outworks. ana
ncvond the outworlSs m elaborate SFs-
Tern OF advanced works Al the east
end OF the city was a graft star
shaped citadel, formed or five hastion
fronts with wet d4trhes and ou' works
cot the original line the Germans
have left the south side where the
lite Is covered by the inundation. hut
have removed tho line Of the North
ana West OF the city to provide for
The cltvs growth. The new line con-
etructeA on these sides is a simple
polygonal Inc with central eaponiers
land wet bitches
Franco German Frontier.
An Interesting study in the defense
~ Il lind frontier !s that of the Fran
ro~Cfcrman frontier. The common
boundary Of France and Germany, as
fixed by the treaty Of peace after tho
war Of 1S70-I871 begins on the north
~ he grand 5uchy % Luxembourg. and
runs in southeasterIy direction 70 a
point on the crest OF the Nesees noun
.a3ns about seven miles from Stras-
burg II then follows the Nosge9
mountains TO their southern terminus
ri the paton d'Alsace and then to the
Sve SIS frontier Tho total distance in
= straight line fyofu one extremity to
he other ia nearly $50 niles.
German defenses Between the
= frontier and the Rhine lie the Ger
: man provinces IF Rhineland the Pal
atinatc Lorraine and Alsace. Access
to this territory Is secured to Ger
? many by the great ihtrenchments,
camps and bridge heads ~ Cologre G,
Cohlenz, Nainz and Strasbure rs well
as by the smaller fortresses OF Ger
vnersheirl and Neu Brssarh The
Rhine at Coblena Is nearly $50 miles
from the frontier, w ile al Neu Brisach
Il Is about thirty
ION the frontier is Inc great In
t trenched camp Of Metz and the bar
rier fort Of Diedenhofen or Thionville-
THE German capital Berlin is 400
miles from the frontier, and separar "a
| from 1t by another fortified lire, that
Of the E}he river.
! French Defenses
n "Dne hundred and seventy miles
| west az the'frontier IS the French cap
| it'll. Paris the objective Of an invad-
/, ing army.
i oThe independent lines OF railways
! connecting Paris and the German
| Rhine fortresses are four In number
| Wiz:
1 Ct -soissons- Laon Mezieres-
Il Diedenh afen-T reves- Cologne- Coblenz.
2 49, Paris Rei1ns Verdun Metz
| + inz-Germersheim
| "9-paris-F3pernay- Tot Nancy -1-u
| nerNille- strashurr
| "a Paris Troyes Langres- Belfort-
Muhihauson- Neu Brisach.
: I'm both the French and the Ger
man territory west of the Rhine there
:, IS a perfect network Of railroads,
| formed by their connecting lines Both
| territories ere also completely covered
| hy network - improved highways.
| Military operations can, therefore. be
| conducted with great facility.
| THE situation in which France
| found herself At the close Of the Fran
| co-German war was as follaws She
| had lost her frontier fortresses ~ Metz
| and Straabura. ana everywhere 50 ~
| the German outpostS at letst two DAYS
| march nearer hor capital thar they
| had been before she lost AlsHCe and
| Lorraine. The indemnity she was
| forced 10 pay Germany shA saw en-
| uloyed IN improving the Gesma1 rali-
| way system west ~ the Rn,ns and
| In reconstructing le RHINE fortrcsses
| Between the frontier ami her capital
there were no string natural lines Of
defense and only Anticipated fartifi-
cations Even should she reorganize
h@r military system and create an
arYny as large as that Of Germany she
would still be at great disadvantage
IA any future war
New SYSTEM adopted.
ITO remedy the ~ltuation me gu
peror council OF defense adopted
system of defense designed by General
Sere dc Rlyiere. of the French en-
gneers,
Assuming that Parts would be the
Ultimate object OF an invading army.