Citizendia

Dutch Water Line
Central Netherlands
One of the Inundation Sluices (near Utrecht).
One of the Inundation Sluices (near Utrecht). The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands

Type Defensive line
Built 1629–1940
Construction
materials		 Flooded plains, sluices, earth walls, brick, concrete, steel
In use 1629–1940
Controlled by Netherlands
Battles/wars Third Anglo-Dutch War

Contents

History

The Dutch Water Line was a series of water based defences conceived by Maurice of Nassau and realised by his half brother Frederick Henry. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands The Third Anglo-Dutch War or Third Dutch War ( Dutch: Derde Engelse Oorlog or Derde Engelse Zeeoorlog) was a military conflict between Maurice of Nassau (Maurits van Nassau ( 14 November 1567 &ndash 23 April 1625) Prince of Orange (1618&ndash1625 Frederick Henry, or Frederik Hendrik in Dutch ( 29 January 1584 – 14 March 1647) was the Prince of Orange

Early in the Eighty Years' War of Independence against Spain the Dutch had realized that flooding low lying areas formed an excellent defence against enemy troops, as was demonstrated, for example, during the siege of Leiden, 1574. The Dutch Revolt, Eighty Years' War or the Revolt of the Netherlands (1568—1648 was the revolt of the Seventeen Provinces in the Low Countries The Siege of Leiden occurred during the Eighty Years' War in 1573 and 1574, when the Spanish attempted to capture the rebellious city but ultimately In the latter half of the war when the economic heartland of the Dutch Republic (i. "United Netherlands" redirects here For the "Kingdom of the United Netherlands" see United Kingdom of the Netherlands. e. the province of Holland) had been freed of Spanish troops. Holland is a region in the western part of the Netherlands. A maritime and economic power in the 17th century Holland today consists of the Dutch provinces of Maurice of Orange Nassau planned to protect it with a line of flooded land protected by fortresses that ran from the Zuiderzee (present IJsselmeer) down to the river Waal. The Zuiderzee (ˌzaɪdɚ ˈzeɪ] Dutch: Zuiderzee, ˈzœydərzeː was a shallow Inlet of the North Sea in the northwest of the Netherlands IJsselmeer (sometimes translated as Lake IJssel, alternative international spelling Lake Yssel) is a shallow lake of 1100 km² in the central Netherlands WAAL ("The Whale" is a Classic rock radio station broadcasting at 99

In 1629 prince Fredrick Henry of Orange Nassau started the execution of the plan. Sluices were constructed in dikes and forts and fortified towns were created at strategic points along the line with guns covering especially the dikes that traversed the water line. The water level in the flooded areas was carefully maintained to a level deep enough to make an advance on foot precarious and shallow enough to rule out effective use of boats (other than the flat bottomed gun barges used by the Dutch defenders). Under the water level additional obstacles like ditches, trous de loup and later barbed wire and mines were hidden. In mediaeval fortification, a trou de loup ( French for " wolf hole " plural trous de loup, also commonly referred to as a Barbed wire, also known as barb wire (and frequently in dialect form spelled bob or bobbed) is a type of fencing Wire constructed A land mine is an Explosive device designed to be placed on or in the ground to explode when triggered by an operator or the Proximity of a vehicle person The trees lining the dikes that formed the only roads through the line, could be turned into abatis in time of war. Abatis, abattis, or abbattis (a French word meaning a heap of material thrown is a term in field Fortification for an obstacle formed of the In wintertime the water level could be manipulated to weaken ice covering, while the ice itself could be used when broken up, to form further obstacles that would expose advancing troops longer to fire from the defenders.

Aerial view of the fortified town of Naarden; with a good view of the star-shaped layout of the earth bastions, designed in the early gunpowder age to place outward guns to force an enemy to keep distance and thus to protect the town proper against shelling
Aerial view of the fortified town of Naarden; with a good view of the star-shaped layout of the earth bastions, designed in the early gunpowder age to place outward guns to force an enemy to keep distance and thus to protect the town proper against shelling

The Dutch Water Line proved its value less than forty years after its construction during the Dutch War (or Third Anglo-Dutch War) (1672) when it stopped the armies of Louis XIV from conquering the Dutch Republic. Naarden is a municipality and a town in the Gooi region in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the main enclosure of a Fortification, situated in both corners of a straight wall (termed curtain with the shape The Third Anglo-Dutch War or Third Dutch War ( Dutch: Derde Engelse Oorlog or Derde Engelse Zeeoorlog) was a military conflict between Early years Birth and ancestry Louis XIV was born in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye on September 5 1638 and bore the Heir apparent And in 1794-1795 the revolutionary French armies only overcame the obstacle posed by the Dutch Water Line due to the heavy frost that had frozen solid the flooded areas. Year 1794 ( MDCCXCIV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Year 1795 ( MDCCXCV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a

The New Dutch Waterline

Map of the New Waterline
Map of the New Waterline
Concrete shelters at Fort Ruigenhoek
Concrete shelters at Fort Ruigenhoek

After the final defeat of Napoleon in 1815 at the Battle of Waterloo, the United Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed. Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. Year 1815 ( MDCCCXV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year In the Battle of Waterloo (Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo Belgium United Kingdom of the Netherlands (or Kingdom of the United Netherlands) (1815 - 1830 (1839 (Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden Royaume-Uni des Pays-Bas was the unofficial Soon after king William I decided to modernise the waterline. William Frederick (William I, born Willem Frederik Prins van Oranje-Nassau ( The Hague, 24 August 1772 - Berlin, 12 December 1843 was a Prince of The Water Line was partly shifted east of Utrecht. Utrecht ( city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. In the next 100 years the main Dutch defence line would be the new water line which was further extended and modernised in the 19th century with forts containing round gun towers reminiscent of Martello towers. Martello towers (or simply Martellos) are small defensive forts built in several countries of the British Empire during the 19th century from the time The line was mobilised but never attacked during the Franco-Prussian war in 1870 and WW I. At the advent of the Second World War most of the earth and brick fortifications in the Water Line were too vulnerable to modern artillery and bombs to withstand a protracted siege. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including To remedy this a large number of pillboxes were added. However, the Dutch had decided to use a more eastern main defence line, the Grebbe line, and reserved a secondary role for the Water line. The Grebbe Line (Dutch Grebbelinie) was a forward defense line of the Dutch Water Line, based on inundation When the Grebbe line was broken on May 13th, the field army was withdrawn to the Water Line. However, modern warfare could circumvent fixed defense lines (cf. the French Maginot line). The Maginot Line (IPA, Ligne Maginot named after French Minister of Defense André Maginot, was a line of concrete Fortifications tank obstacles artillery While the Dutch army was fighting a fixed battle at the Grebbe line, German airborne troops had captured the southern approaches into the heart of "Fortress Holland" by surprise — the key points being the bridges at Moerdijk, Dordrecht and Rotterdam. Moerdijk ( is a Municipality and a Town in the South of the Netherlands, in the province of North Brabant. Dordrecht (population 119649 in 2004 or in English (and locally colloquially Dordt, is a city and municipality in the Dutch province of South Rotterdam (pronounced) is the 2nd-largest City by population in the Netherlands, located in the province of When resistance did not cease, the Germans forced the Dutch into surrender by aerial bombing of Rotterdam, and threatening the same for Utrecht and Amsterdam. Therefore, during the Battle of the Netherlands in May 1940 there was no fighting at the line itself. The Battle of the Netherlands (Slag om Nederland was part of Case Yellow (Fall Gelb the German invasion of the Low Countries ( Belgium Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

After the Second World War, the Dutch government redesigned the idea of a waterline to counter a possible Soviet invasion. A soviet (сове́т, "council" originally was a workers' local council in late Imperial Russia. This third version of the waterline was erected more to the east, at the IJssel in Gelderland. River IJssel (ˈɛi̯səl sometimes called Gelderse IJssel (" Gelderland IJssel" to avoid confusion with its Hollandse IJssel namesake Gelderland ( English also Guelders) is a province of the Netherlands, located in the central eastern part of the country In case of an invasion, the water of the Rhine and the Waal were set to divert into the IJssel, flooding the river and bordering lands. The Rhine (Rhein Rijn Rhin Reno Rain Rhenus is one of the longest and most important Rivers in Europe at 1320 kilometres (820 mi with an average discharge WAAL ("The Whale" is a Classic rock radio station broadcasting at 99 The plan was never tested, and dismantled by the Dutch government in 1963. Year 1963 ( MCMLXIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

Today

Inundation area near fort Ruigenhoek
Inundation area near fort Ruigenhoek
Fort Rhijnauwen view from the Vossegatsedijk
Fort Rhijnauwen view from the Vossegatsedijk

Today many of the forts are still more or less intact. There is renewed interest in the waterline for its natural beauty. Bike tours and hiking paths are organised with the line as theme. Some of the forts are open for bikers/hikers to stay the night. Others have a variety of uses, for example Utrecht University houses its botanical garden in Fort Hoofddijk. Utrecht University ( Universiteit Utrecht in Dutch) is a University in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Botanical gardens grow a wide variety of Plants primarily to categorize and document for scientific purposes Due to the unique nature of the line, the Dutch government is considering to nominate the whole defensive line as a UNESCO world heritage site, as they did with the ring of fortresses around Amsterdam. United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization ( UNESCO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established on November 16 A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site (such as a Forest, Mountain, Lake, Desert, Monument, Building, complex The UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Defense line of Amsterdam (in Dutch named Stelling van Amsterdam) is a 135 km long ring

Forts and Fortified towns on the New Waterline

To protect weaknesses in the waterline a series of forts and fortified towns have been constructed.

:

Order of forts following the line from north to south.

Forts explicitly build to defend a town are mentioned with the relevant town between brackets

  • Lunet I (Utrecht)
  • Lunet II (Utrecht)
  • Lunet III (Utrecht)
  • Lunet IV (Utrecht)

References

General

See also

External links

The Crossing the lines project brings the communities of Utrecht (the Netherlands and Mortsel (Belgium and the County of Essex (Great Britain together This is a list of fortifications past and present a Fortification being a major physical defensive structure often composed of a more or less Wall -connected series
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