Henri-Alexis Brialmont (

Venlo Venlo () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in southeastern Netherlands, close to the border with Germany. It is situated in the province of Limburg (Netherlands), ...

, 25 May 1821 –

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

, 21 July 1903), nicknamed The Belgian Vauban after the French military architect, was a Belgian army officer, politician and writer of the 19th century, best known as a military architect and designer of fortifications. Brialmont qualified as an officer in the Belgian army engineers in 1843 and quickly rose up the ranks. He served as a staff officer, and later was given command of the district of the key port of

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

. He finished his careers as Inspector-General of the Army. Brialmont was also an active pamphleteer and political campaigner and lobbied through his career for reform and expansion of the Belgian military and was also involved in the foundation of the

Congo Free State The Congo Free State, also known as the Independent State of the Congo (), was a large Sovereign state, state and absolute monarchy in Central Africa from 1885 to 1908. It was privately owned by Leopold II of Belgium, King Leopold II, the const ...

. Today, Brialmont is best known for the fortifications which he designed in Belgium and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and would influence another in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. The fortifications he designed in Belgium at the end of the 1880s around the towns of

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

Namur Namur (; ; ) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is the capital both of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Namur stands at the confl ...

and Antwerp would play an important role during the early stages of the German invasion of Belgium during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

Early life

Henri-Alexis Brialmont was born in

in Dutch Limburg in 1821. His father, Mathieu Brialmont, had served in the French ''

Grande Armée The (; ) was the primary field army of the French Imperial Army (1804–1815), French Imperial Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Commanded by Napoleon, from 1804 to 1808 it won a series of military victories that allowed the First French Empi ...

'' during the Napoleonic Wars and had reached the rank of captain. During Dutch rule in Belgium, Mathieu served in the Dutch army and, after Belgian independence in 1830, joined the Belgian army. In 1849 he was made General, and was appointed Minister of War in 1850. Although Venlo is not situated in Belgium today, the whole of Limburg was a disputed territory over which the Belgian government claimed control after the

Belgian Revolution The Belgian Revolution (, ) was a conflict which led to the secession of the southern provinces (mainly the former Southern Netherlands) from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands and the establishment of an independent Kingdom of Belgium. The ...

. Belgium was forced to relinquish its claims at the Treaty of London in 1839 and today Limburg is divided in a Dutch and a Belgian part. Henri-Alexis performed poorly at school but succeeded in getting into a military academy. In 1859, during his military career, he married the daughter of the journalist and leading figure of the Belgian Revolution, Louis de Potter.

Military career

Brialmont graduated from military school in 1843 as a ''Sous-lieutenant'' of the Engineers. He quickly rose up the ranks, being promoted to lieutenant in 1847. From 1847 to 1850 he was private secretary to the war minister, General Baron Félix Chazal. In 1855 he entered the staff corps, was promoted to the rank of

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in 1861, lieutenant-colonel in 1864,

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

in 1868. In 1874 he was promoted to major-general and was appointed to oversee the fortifications of Belgium's major port,

, the same year. In 1877 he was promoted to

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

and later to Inspector-General of the Army; a post which he held until his retirement in 1892. During the Belgian response to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, Brialmont, then a colonel, served as chief-of-staff of the Army of Antwerp, assigned to defending the National Redoubt at Antwerp. However, during his whole military career, Brialmont never once served in a war, even though some Belgian soldiers served as volunteers during the Mexican Adventure (1861–67) and during fighting for the

Unification of Italy The unification of Italy ( ), also known as the Risorgimento (; ), was the 19th century Political movement, political and social movement that in 1861 ended in the Proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, annexation of List of historic states of ...

Political activities

From his early career, Brialmont advocated expanding the importance of the Belgian army. In 1850, he convinced his father to resign his ministerial post rather than consent to a lowering of defence spending. His stance put him into conflict with Walthère Frère-Orban and the Liberals. From 1855, he began campaigning for restructuring of the defenses of the crucial port city of

in north-east Belgium. Despite being officially warned off the politically unpopular project, he continued. In the mid 1850s, he published a series of pamphlets arguing for the reorganization and expansion of the tiny Belgian navy, which he believed could be used for imperialist purposes projecting Belgian influence abroad. Although King Leopold I was deeply opposed to Brialmont's plans, his son Leopold, Duke of Brabant (the future King Leopold II) was impressed by his ideas and the two corresponded frequently. Brialmont felt that colonial expansion was essential to make Belgium a world power, and was an energetic supporter of Leopold II's

, which he even helped to found, from the 1880s. Nevertheless, Brialmont refused the offer of becoming Leopold II's aide-de-camp. In the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War, Brialmont became an advocate for the abolition of the '' Remplacement'' system of conscription and the adoption of a form of universal military service.

Political and historical writings

Brialmont was an energetic writer on military and political subjects. In 1851, he published his first major work, entitled ''Considérations politiques et militaires sur la Belgique'', which was well received. He wrote a number of books on fortifications including ''La Fortification du temps présent'' (1885), ''Influence du tir plongeant et des obus-torpilles sur la fortification'' (1888), ''Les Régions fortifiées'' (1890), ''La Défense des états et la fortification à la fin du XIX^e siècle'' (1895) and ''Progrès de la défense des états et de la fortification permanente depuis Vauban'' (1898). In 1872, he created the newspaper ''La Belgique Militaire''. He also wrote a number of historical works, including an account of the campaigns of the Duke of Wellington.

Fortress design

As a result of Brialmont's lobbying, Belgium undertook an ambitious programme of fortress design between 1887 and 1892. In addition to forts built at Antwerp after 1859 on Brialmont's instructions, twelve new forts were built at

and nine in

. Brialmont believed that, in order to protect cities from long-range artillery, it was important to move fortifications several miles outside the city itself. On average the forts he constructed were situated outside the settlement they were intended to defend. In order to guarantee effective protection, a number of forts distributed around the city's perimeter were required. Using new materials, many of these newer fortifications were built of

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

and incorporated retractable gun cupolas, often based along triangular or trapezoid plans. Because of the need to use specialist workers, the construction process was slow and expensive. He was also an early supporter of using wire entanglements for defensive purposes. In an 1879 pamphlet, he advocated the use of wire barricades against infantry assaults. The Brialmont forts would be used for the first time after Brialmont's death during the German invasion of Belgium in 1914. The system of fortifications established by Brialmont was at the heart of the ultimately unsuccessful Belgian defensive strategy and led to decisive battles at major fortified regions, including the Battles of Liège,

and

between August and October 1914. Ultimately the fortifications proved ineffective against new, large caliber German siege artillery such as the "Big Bertha" and Austrian Model 1911 howitzers. After the end of the First World War, some of the forts were upgraded and also saw service in the

Battle of Belgium The invasion of Belgium or Belgian campaign (10–28 May 1940), often referred to within Belgium as the 18 Days' Campaign (; ), formed part of the larger Battle of France, an Military offensive, offensive campaign by Nazi Germany, Germany during ...

in May 1940.

Romania

In 1882, Brialmont was commissioned by King Carol I of Romania to design a series of fortifications to protect the new

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania () was a constitutional monarchy that existed from with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family), until 1947 wit ...

(which received its independence from the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

in 1877) against invasion and to enhance the status of its new capital,

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

. Brialmont was refused permission by the Belgian government to visit Romania in his official capacity and instead went to Romania as a private citizen. Work on the ring of 18 forts around Bucharest began in 1883 and lasted until 1900. On his return he was accused by Frère-Orban of having endangered Belgian neutrality. While the Bucharest fortifications never served their intended defensive purpose, they were a major influence on the subsequent development and urban planning of the city. The routes constructed to link the forts served as the basis for the modern Bucharest ring-road.

Influence

Captain-Commandant Émile Wangermée, one of Brialmont's pupils, was instrumental in the design of the Fort de Shinkakasa (built 1891–94) at Boma in the

. The fort, based on those designed by Brialmont at the Meuse, was designed to house coastal artillery to protect the

Congo River The Congo River, formerly also known as the Zaire River, is the second-longest river in Africa, shorter only than the Nile, as well as the third-largest river in the world list of rivers by discharge, by discharge volume, following the Amazon Ri ...

, the main artery in Leopold II's personal colony, against Portuguese encroachment. The fort was the site of a significant mutiny in 1900.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * , col. 267-70.

External links

Brialmont, Henri-Alexis
at

KU Leuven KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Founded in 1425, it is the oldest university in Belgium and the oldest university in the Low Countries. In addition to its mai ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brialmont, Henri Alexis 1821 births 1903 deaths Belgian soldiers Belgian military engineers People from Venlo Dutch military engineers Belgium–Romania relations President of the Royal Academy of Belgium 19th-century Dutch engineers 19th-century Belgian engineers 19th-century Dutch military personnel 19th-century Belgian military personnel