Читать книгу The Moselle Cycle Route. From the source to the Rhine at Koblenz онлайн

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All these years of conflict have left the region peppered with military hardware, from Roman fortifications, through medieval castles and fortified military towns to integrated defensive lines and concrete anti-tank defences, each passing into history as the technological progress of warfare made them redundant. The great French fort builders Vauban (1633–1707), Séré de Rivières (1815–1895) and Maginot (1877–1932) all left their mark. Riverside settlements still show the scars of battle, particularly from the Second World War, where intensive bombing was followed by destructive land warfare and fierce fighting as Allied forces tried to cross the river. This is evident especially in the bridges, which were almost all destroyed during 1944–1945 and have been subsequently rebuilt.

Sentry duty outside Luxembourg Grand Ducal Palace (Stage 9A)

Luxembourg

Throughout this period, Luxembourg too has suffered at the hands of its French and German neighbours. Having been an important member of the HRE (three of its 14th and 15th-century dukes became Holy Roman Emperor) it lost its independence in 1437 when power passed to the Burgundians. Over the following centuries control alternated between Bourbon French, Austrian and Spanish Habsburgs, Napoleonic French, Prussia and the Netherlands, with Luxembourg losing over 75 per cent of its original territory in land grabs by France (1659), Prussia (1815) and Belgium (1839). Since 1815 the country has had a close relationship with the Netherlands, even sharing a joint monarchy until 1890. Despite a policy of neutrality, Luxembourg was invaded by Germany in both the First and Second World Wars.