A defense line or fortification line is a geographically recognizable line of troops and armament, fortified and set up to protect a high-value location or defend territory. A

defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

line may be based on natural difficult

terrain Terrain (), alternatively relief or topographical relief, is the dimension and shape of a given surface of land. In physical geography, terrain is the lay of the land. This is usually expressed in terms of the elevation, slope, and orientati ...

features, such as rivers or marshes, mountain ranges, or coastlines; temporary field fortification works such as

trench A trench is a type of digging, excavation or depression in the ground that is generally deeper than it is wide (as opposed to a swale (landform), swale or a bar ditch), and narrow compared with its length (as opposed to a simple hole or trapping ...

es; and/or more permanent

fortifications A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from La ...

such as

fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

es and

bunker A bunker is a defensive military fortification designed to protect people and valued materials from falling bombs, artillery, or other attacks. Bunkers are almost always underground, in contrast to blockhouses which are mostly above ground. T ...

List of defense lines

Some notable defense lines include:

Historical

Great Wall of China The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' long wall") is a series of fortifications in China. They were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against vario ...

, China * Sassanian defense lines ** Great Wall of Gorgan, Persia ** Derbent Walls * Defense lines of the Netherlands * Median Wall (before 401 BC) *

Limes Germanicus The (Latin for ''Germanic frontier''), or 'Germanic Limes', is the name given in modern times to a line of frontier () fortifications that bounded the ancient Roman provinces of Germania Inferior, Germania Superior and Raetia, dividing the Roman ...

, Germany *

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall (, also known as the ''Roman Wall'', Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Aelium'' in Latin) is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Roman Britain, Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...

, United Kingdom (122) * Antonine Wall, United Kingdom (142) * Offa's Dyke, Wales (early 5th century) * The Pale, Ireland (late 12th century) * Serpent's Wall, Ukraine * The ()) on the southern and eastern borders of the Tsardom of Russia * Western Russian fortresses, Russia * Civil War Defenses of Washington, United States * Victoria Lines, Malta (1875) * Hindenburg Line, France (1916) *

Maginot Line The Maginot Line (; ), named after the Minister of War (France), French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by French Third Republic, France in the 1930s to deter invas ...

, France (1929) * Schuster Line, Luxembourg * Metaxas Line, Greece (1936-1941) * Siegfried Line, Germany * Mannerheim Line, Finland (1939–1940) * K-W Line, Belgium (1939) * Salpa Line, Finland (1940) * Gothic Line, Italy * Winter Line ( Gustav, Bernhardt and Hitler Lines), Italy (1943-1944) * Panther–Wotan line, Russia (1943) * Pusan Perimeter, South Korea (1950) * McNamara Line, South Vietnam (1966) * Bar Lev Line, Sinai Peninsula (1973)

Modern

* Russia–Ukraine barrier, Ukraine * Wagner Line, Ukraine * Muhamalai FDL, Sri Lanka * Nagarcoil FDL, Sri Lanka * Baltic Defence Line, Baltic states

Notes

References

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