Ardennes (department)
[3] The department of Ardennes is bounded by Aisne to the west, Marne to the south, Meuse to the east and Belgium (Provinces of Namur, Luxembourg and Hainaut) to the north.From the north near Aisne and the border with Belgium, through the centre near the canton of Omont, to the south of the valley of the Meuse, the climate is considered "degraded continental" (heavy rainfall in autumn and frequent frosts in winter).This climatic difference is particularly pronounced in the presence of frost especially in the valleys of the Meuse, Semoy, the plateau of Rocroi, and around the Croix-Scaille where it can be very marked and persists longer in the year with great influence on vegetation.Across lands further west and south frontal zones (affecting air and precipitation) are tempered more by the English Channel, Bay of Biscay and North Sea; nearby seeing quite flat terrain – isolated small ranges or lower regions of hills, excluding the mountains across much of the south-eastern third of France.This is explained by the search for better living in the countryside which matches the desire of many people to build a small land-holding, typically a house with land to the detriment of their proximity to their workplace.On 12 May 1793, the department expanded itself with the Bailiwick of Liège, Couvin, and the countships from the Holy Roman Empire of Fagnolle and on 26 October 1795 a part of the Duchy of Bouillon.After the victory of the allies in the Battle of Waterloo on 18 June 1815, the second Treaty of Paris subtracted territory from Ardennes to attach to the Netherlands: Duchy of Bouillon, Couvin, Mariembourg, Fagnolle, and Philippeville.The King of Prussia Wilhelm I, the future emperor of the Imperial Germany, and Bismarck viewed the battle from the hills overlooking Sedan.During the two world wars, for strategic reasons, the region each time became the passage for the invading armies because of the narrow width of the Meuse and its deep valley.The French military believed that the region was defended by its terrain and thick forests present in the northern of the department and so neglected the defence of the territory.During the Second World War, the main effort of the German army was again focused on this area, especially on the right bank of the River Meuse, symbolized by the breakthrough at Sedan which would lead the French troops into the strategic trap the Yellow Plan designed by General von Manstein and approved by Hitler.It would have been transformed into Arduenna by the Romans to designate the ancient Ardennes forest and the mountains mentioned by Julius Caesar in the work attributed to him: Commentaries on the Gallic War.[8] This toponym is absent from the names of communes in the department of Ardennes while those of Argonne (Beaumont-en-Argonne), Porcien (Château-Porcien, Novion-Porcien, Chaumont-Porcien, and even Champagne (Vaux-Champagne) are sometimes fused and all have a connotation of regional belonging.The other two arrondissements, Rethel and Vouziers, occupy the southern part of the department with roughly comparable areas but are very sparsely populated.In addition to the four mentioned above, the fifth was that of Rocroi – a small historic city in the north-west of the department close to Belgium – which has been since annexed in its entirety to the district of Charleville-Mézières.The crisis in the 1970s precipitated the decline of metallurgical activity in the department (the blast furnace and small workshops closed one after the other: Blagny, Vireux-Molhain, Murtin-et-Bogny, etc.).[14] A "Y" road has also been set up with the A4 Reims-Paris, the A34 (freeway), and the links to Lille and Brussels which need to take the N5 to join the motorway ring of Charleroi.[14] Improved means of land communication (TGV and A34 motorway) provides the benefit of relative proximity to Paris, Reims, Metz and Belgian cities such as Liège, Charleroi and Brussels.The Ardennes serves as the backdrop to the novel by Julien Gracq, A Balcony in the Forest (Un balcon en forêt), published in 1958 and for which Michel Mitrani made a film in 1979 with Jacques Villeret.
Ardennes (disambiguation)DepartmentPrefectureRegionGrand EstCharleville-MézièresSubprefecturesRethelVouziersPresident of the Departmental CouncilDemonymTime zoneISO 3166 codeDepartment numberArrondissementsCantonsCommunesestuariesArdennesBelgiumLuxembourgHainautCourt of AppealstatisticalWalloniadepartment of MeuseChampagne-ArdenneCroix ScailleLes Hautes-RivièresGedinneNouzonvilleSemoisChiersbourgeoisieThiéracheArgonneRocroiEnglish ChannelNorth SeaBay of BiscayBogny-sur-MeuseFrench RevolutionChampagneSpanish NetherlandsBailiwick of LiègeCouvinHoly Roman EmpireDuchy of BouillonalliesBattle of Waterloosecond Treaty of ParisPhilippevilleNapoleon IIIBattle of SedanHelmut von MoltkeWilhelm IImperial GermanyBismarckSecond EmpireFrench Third RepublicBattle of the ArdennesGerman Crown PrinceCzechoslovak legionsRoland GarrosLorraineMoselleAlsaceYellow PlanGeneral von MansteinHitlerMaginot LineFort Villy la FerteCarignanBattle of the BulgetoponymRomansArdennes forestCommentaries on the Gallic WarBastogneBeaumont-en-ArgonneChâteau-PorcienNovion-PorcienChaumont-PorcienVaux-Champagnecommunes of the Ardennes departmentRumignySigny-le-PetitList of the 452 communes of the departmentList of cantons of ArdennesArrondissement of Charleville-MézièresArrondissement of RethelArrondissement of SedanArrondissement of VouziersDepartmental Council of ArdennesThe RepublicansArdennes's 1st constituencyBérengère PolettiArdennes's 2nd constituencyPierre CordierArdennes's 3rd constituencyJean-Luc WarsmannEmmanuel MacronMarine Le PenFrançois HollandeNicolas SarkozySégolène RoyalJacques ChiracJean-Marie Le PenLionel Jospincharcoalmetallurgical industryscrewsCompagnie de l'EstL'Usine nouvelleblast furnaceBlagnyVireux-MolhainMurtin-et-BognysubcontractorsPSA Peugeot CitroënMercedes-BenzHermèsLes AyvellesChooz Nuclear Power Plantpressurized water reactorsugar beet