The fortified region of Belfort (place fortifiée de Belfort) formed the first line of defense in the Séré de Rivières system of fortifications in the Belfort Gap. Located in northeastern France between Épinal and Besançon, the primary line was built in the late 19th century to deal with advances in artillery that had made older defensive systems obsolete.
Belfort has been a fortified place since the Middle Ages, when a castle was built in 1226. After withstanding seven sieges, the medieval fortifications were modernized between 1637 and 1648 by the Comte de la Suze. Vauban added hornworks and a barracks to the castle and enclosed the city in a new wall according to Vauban's "second system", which resisted a siege in 1815.[1]
As armies made greater use of artillery, it became necessary to extend city defenses to keep opponents sufficiently distant to prevent bombardment of the city from neighboring high ground. The first ring of forts was built at the direction of General Baron Haxo, beginning in 1817. The forts of La Miotte, La Justice and the Le Vallon camp were built and the city walls were improved. Further increases in the range of artillery caused the construction of more forts to the south and east, resulting in Fort Bellevue, Fort des Barres and the Forts des Perches. These forts formed a rough ring about 1,200 to 1,500 m (3,900 to 4,900 ft) from the town walls which resisted attack in 1870-71.[1]
Shortly after the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871, Belfort, an important road and railway node and the frontier cities of Épinal, Toul and Verdun were chosen to constitute the first line of defense against an invasion from the annexed French provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. The fortifications were part of an extensive network of new forts proposed and carried out by Raymond Adolphe Séré de Rivières. The fortified region of Belfort runs between Fort de Giromagny, part of the High Moselle line and Fort Lachaux of the defensive network of Lomont. The object of the program was to transform the Belfort area into a fortified camp.
The fortified camp concept concentrates artillery into permanent forts built around the city, with distances calculated to place enemy artillery out of range of the city, while allowing for mutual support between forts. At the end of the 19th century the fortified camp of Belfort included the original fortified belt built between 1793 and 1870 and the Séré de Rivières forts built between 1874 and 1886, with numerous smaller batteries.
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