Fortifications of Paris in the 19th and 20th centuries

Fortifications were extended outwards after each invasion as the range of artillery continued to develop, in order to deny the use of the heights to the enemy.

1689 Vauban recommends the enclosure of Paris, with the construction of a second enclosure to include the then-villages of Chaillot, Montmartre and Belleville (located on heights overlooking the city), and two citadels flanking the city to the east and west to delay an enemy's approach.

1784 The king orders the construction of the Farmers General Wall, built not as a fortification, but as a means of taxation.

1818 Minister of War Laurent de Gouvion-Saint-Cyr creates a commission to "present its views on the best defense system" for Paris.

1840 The Convention of London and Near Eastern crisis raises the prospect of an anti-French alliance, and Adolphe Thiers seizes the occasion to commence the construction of the new fortifications.

On September 1 General Guillaume Dode de la Brunerie is named director of the fortification program.

January 1871 On the 28th the Treaty of Versailles is signed, stipulating that all of the forts forming the perimeter defense of Paris, together with their armaments, be handed over to the German forces.

1883 On June 11 the municipal council of Paris votes to request the removal of the Thiers Wall, the property's transfer to the city and the end of restrictions on building in its vicinity.

Armies were obligated to move along existing lines of communication in order to maintain their provisioning without resorting to dirt roads in unfavorable seasons.

For example the Fort de Charenton was placed to dominate Route nationale 6, the Paris-Geneva road, and Route nationale 19, the road to Belfort, as well as the fr:Pont de Charenton on the Marne and the Port à l'Anglais Bridge on the Seine.

This section includes those works completed between 1870 and 1890 as part of the Séré de Rivières fortifications, in the region of 20 kilometers from the capital.