War Gazetteer

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXX, Issue 13, 2 September 1914, Page 6

War Gazetteer

The Oder is one of the chief rivers of Germany. It rises in the Odergebirge, near Olmutz, in Moravia, and flows north and afterwards north-west through Prussian Silesia, Brandenburg, and Pomerania, traverses the Stettiner-Haff, and enters the Baltic by three branches. The principal cities on the Oder, proceeding downward, are Oppeln, Breslau, Frank-fort-on-thc-Odor, and Stettin,

Namaqualand,—A district on the west coast of Africa, North of the Orange River is Great Namaqualand, which is German territory. South of the river is Little Namaqualand, a part of Capo Colony. The district is a vast expanse of barren and rugged country, perfectly waterless, with an almost rainless climate, and chiefly valuable for its immense mineral wealth. A railway across the desert convoys the copper ores of the mountains to the port of shipment.

Aix-la-Chapello (German, Aachen). —An ancient city, the capital of a district in Rhenish Prussia, 44 miles from Cologne. It is situated close to where the German, Dutch and Belgian frontiers meet, ft is an important manufacturing and trading town. In the townhouse is the famous coronation hall, in which 37 German emperors and 11 empresses have been crowned. Some of the more notable events in the city’s history are as follow Several ecclesiastical councils held, 799—1165 ; Charlemagne born 742, died 814;

Blamont Town, France, department of Meurthe, on river Yezouse, Population about 3000.

is an industrial town in the province of Eastern Prussia (Ger-i many) on the River Pissa; population 14,500 1 .

Louvain— Town, Belgium. On river Dyle, 16 miles N.E. of Brussels. Population about 40,000. Formerly capital of Duchy of Brabant, and had six times as many inhabitants as now.

treaty of peace between France and Spain signed 1688; treaty of peace between Great Britain, Fiance, Holland, Germany, Spain and Genoa, 1748; taken by French, 1792; re-taken by Austrians, 1793; again taken by French, 1794; ceded to Prussia 1814. Population 135,235.

j Tlrlom!>nt.— Town in Brabant, Belgium, eleven miles south-east of Louvain, with a population of 20,000. It still preserves its enceinte, six miles in circumference. Its principal church, Notre* Dame du Lac, begun in the twelfth century, is still unfinished.

Neu-breisach.—A town and fortress of Germany in the Imperial province Alsace-Lorraine, situated on the RhineRhone canal, 12 miles east of Colmar by the railway to Freiburg-im-Breis-gau. The population, including a garrison of 1200 men, is about 3520. It is built in the form of a hectagon, and, together 'with Fort Mortier, which lies on an arm of the Rhine opposite, forms a place of great strategic strength. In the Franco-German war it was bombarded from November 2 to 10, 1870, when it capitulated.

Pola.—The great naval base and arsenal of Austria. It is situated almost at the south-west extremity of the peninsula of Istria, which juts out into the Adriatic between Trieste, on the north, and Fiume on the south. The harbor of Pola communicates with the sea by a channel in some parts less than 2300 feet in width. In the centre of the harbour basin are- two islets, Santa Caterina and Santa Andrea, covered with heavy fortifications. An aviation station has been established on the former. There is a large shipbuilding slip in Pola harbor, two large Government dry docks, a floating dock 584 feet in length, capable of lifting a vessel of tons, and a smaller

floating dock for light cruisers and destroyers. Large sums of money have, been expended during the ( last , t,wo on uaVal dockyard works ( and, fortifications at Pola.,- ( : j

i 1 ' ■ > , ( ! ;) ■ !',)•( , \ Posen -is the impcipal fortress town lon-the j frontier! between German Poland and Russian. Poland. It is 150 miles east of Berlin and 103 miles from Breslau, 'situated at the confluence of the Cybina and the Ansthe rivers, on a wide, sandy plain. It is one of the oldest towns in Poland, and: was formerly the ,resicbuce of some; of the .early Polish princes.' li is a great depot of; trade. dormany and Russia. With the province of P6sen it was annexed by Prussia at the second‘partition of -Pqland in 1793. Its present i population is about 140,000, of whom nearly are Gormans and one-tenth Jeyvsn It lies in the centre of a network of railways connecting .it with Berlin, Breslau, Thorn, Krenzburg, and Solmcidemuhl. It commands the nearest road from Russia to Berlin, and as such has beefi 3 , , ( I heavily fortified with the latest equipment.

Lille.—Fortified town, France, department of Nord, in the north-east corner of France close to the Belgian frontier. The town originated in a strong castle, built probably by the Romans, and named, from its position, Isola, from which its modern name is derived. Louis XIV. took it from the Spaniards in 16G7 and it became the capital of French Flanders. It surrendered in 1708 to the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene, and at the peace of Utrecht it was restored to France. Population 230,800. Lille lies on the right bank of the Deule in a rich agricultural and industrial region and is the headquarters of a Frdnch Army corps. For some centuries Lille has been well defended, but the modern fortifications comprise over twenty detached forts and batteries, the perimeter of the defences being about twenty miles. Its history discloses many sieges and bombardments,among them one by the Austrians who, after bombarding the fortress for nine days and nights without intermission without effect, raised the siege and went away. From Lille to Paris is 151 miles.

Kiao-chau. —Germany’s centre of operations in the Far East is Kiaochau. This colony, which is held by Germany on a ninety-nine years’ lease, is on the south side of the promontory of Shantung. In 1897 a Gorman fleet seized it, nominally to secure reparation for the murder of two missionaries, and in the negotiations which followed it was arranged that Germany should have a lease of Kiaochau Bay and a certain area of land, in all about 200 square iles, for ninety-nine years. A month after the lease was agreed to Germany declared the colony a protectorate of the German Empire. Provision was made in the lease for the defence of the colony, and Germany has exercised her right, so that should the Japanese attack Kiao-chau a fight may follow. • The garris'bn is not laige, and consists mostly of marines. Inded, the colony is hold by the naval authorities, and a naval officer is the Governor. The total strength of the garrison is about 3125 men. As a port, Kiao-chau is of some importance. In 1911, 614 vessels, aggregating 1,070,000 tons, entered the bay. The loss of the colony jvould seriously damage German prestige l in the Far East, besides ruining her trade in Shantung.

Jodoigno.—A small Belgian town a little over thirty miles west of Liege.

Ramillies—Village Belgium, 28 miles S.E. of Brussels. In 1700 the Duke of Marlborough here defeated a French army.

Gembloux.—Town Belgium, on an affluent of the river Sambre, 10 miles north-west of Namur and 25 S.E. of Brussels. In 1794 the French hero had a victory over the Austrians. Population about 3000. Brussels, Gembloux and Namur lie about in a direct line.

Antwerp.— I The decision of the Belgian Government to remove Ihe seat of Government from Brussels to Antwerp is easily understandable, for besides being the chief commercial port of Belgium the latter city is the great est fortress in the country. Ancient fortifications have to a great extent disappeared, but Antwerp to-day is defended, not only by an enceinte (or inner continuous line of fortification A, but by an outer line of fifteen forts and batteries, large and small, at a distance varying from six to nine mile--from the enceinte. Antwerp is -egarded as one of the best fortified positions in Europe, and it is considered practically impregnable, so long as its communications by sea are preserved intact. Situated on ’the right bank of the i Scheldt, Antwerp is a finely laid out city, with a succession of broad avenues and long streets and terraces of fine houses. The population numbers about 400,000. Antwerp has been a' grfeat centre of commerce since the end :of the fifteenth century, and today is one of the leading commercial cities of the world. The place has had a chequered diistory. In 157 Git was plundered in “the Spanish Fury,” and Pomerania is a province in North Prussia, with an area of 11,028 square miles and a population of 1,800,000, and divided into governments of Stettin, Stralsund, and Koslin.