Belfort

BELFORT, town of France, capital of the territory of Bel fort, 275m. E.S.E. of Paris on the main line of the Eastern rail way. Pop. (1931) 38,493. The town commands an important structural gap known as the Trou de Belfort between the Vosges and the Jura and is one of the main ways from the Rhine country into France. Gallo-Roman remains are found in the vicinity though the place is first heard of in the 13th century as the possession of the counts of Montbeliard. It passed by marriage to the counts of Ferrette and afterwards to the archdukes of Austria. By the treaty of Westphalia (1648) the town was ceded to Louis XIV. who gave it to Cardinal Mazarin.

In the Thirty Years War Belfort was twice besieged. The fortifications of Vauban were begun in 1686. Belfort was be sieged in 1814 by the troops of the Allies and in 1815 by the Austrians. The most famous episode of the town's history is its successful defence in the war of 1870-1871. The town is divided by the river Savoureuse into a new quarter on the right bank, and the old fortified quarter, with the castle and public buildings, on the left bank. The church of St. Denis, in the classical style (17 27-1750) and the hotel de vale (1721-24) stand opposite the castle. "The Lion of Belfort," a colossal figure 78ft. long and 52ft. high, the work of Bartholdi, is carved on the rock in front of the castle.

The construction of locomotives and machinery, carried on by the Societe Alsacienne, wire-drawing, and the spinning and weav ing of cotton are included among its industries. Its trade is in the wines of Alsace, brandy and cereals. Belfort is the seat of a pre fect. It has tribunals of first instance and of commerce and a chamber of commerce.

Siege of Belfort.

The events before the siege are de scribed under FRANCO-GERMAN WAR. Even before the investment Belfort was cut off from the interior of France, and the German corps of Werder was, throughout the siege, between the fortress and the forces which might attempt its relief. The siege corps was commanded by General von Tresckow and numbered at first 10,000 men with 24 field guns—a force which appeared ade quate for the reduction of the antiquated works of Vauban. Colonel Denfert-Rochereau was, however, a scientific engineer of advanced ideas as well as a veteran soldier of the Crimea and Algeria, and he had been stationed at Belfort for six years. He had as a nucleus but few regular troops, but the energy of the military and civil authorities enabled his force to be aug mented by national guards, etc., to 17,600 men. The artillery was numerous, but skilled gunners were not available in any great strength and ammunition was scarce. Perhaps the most favourable circumstance from a technical point of view was the bomb-proof accommodation of the enceinte.

The old fortress consisted of the town enceinte, the castle and the entrenched camp, a hollow enclosed by continuous lines, the salients of which were the castle, Fort La Justice and Fort La Miotte. These were planned in the days of short-range guns, but Denfert-Rochereau understood better than other engineers of the day the power of modern artillery, and his plan was to utilize the old works as a keep and an artillery position. The Perches ridge, whence the town and suburbs could be bombarded, he fortified with all possible speed. On the right bank of the Savoureuse he constructed two new forts, Bellevue and Des Barres. His general plan was to maintain as advanced a line as possible, to manoeuvre against the investing troops, and to support his own by the long range fire of his rifled guns. With this object he fortified the outlying villages, and when the Germans (chiefly Landwehr) be gan the investment on Nov. 3, 187o, they met sturdy resistance. The first attack of the siege artillery opened, Dec. 3, on the west bank between Essert and Bavillers. As more guns ar rived, it was extended from left to right, and on Dec. 13 the Bosmont was captured. The formal siege of the Perches redoubts was then decided upon, and as an essential preliminary, Dan joutin, now isolated was stormed by the Landwehr on the night of Jan. 7-8. In the meanwhile typhus and smallpox had broken out amongst the French, many of the national guards were im patient of control, and the German trenches made steady progress towards the Perches. A week after the fall of Danjoutin the vic tory of Werder at the Lisaine put an end to the attempt to relieve Belfort, and the siege corps was promptly increased to a strength of 1 7 , 60o infantry, 4, 70o artillery and I , i oo engineers, with 34 field-guns, besides the guns and howitzers of the siege train. The investment was now more strictly maintained and on the night of Jan. 20 the French lines about Perouse were carried by assault, and, the early morning of the 27th a determined but premature attempt was made to storm the Perches redoubts, which cost the besiegers nearly Soo men. After this failure Tresckow once more resorted to the regular method of siege approaches, and hence forward the besiegers fired i,5oo shells a day into the works of the French. But the besiegers were still weak in numbers and their labours were very exhausting. Still, the guns of the attack were now steadily gaining the upper hand, and at last, on Feb. 8, the Germans entered the two Perches redoubts. This success, and the arrival of German reinforcements, decided the siege. The attack on the castle now opened, but operations were soon sus pended by the news that Belfort was now included in the general armistice (Feb. i5). A little later Denfert-Rochereau received a direct order from his own government to surrender the fortress, and the garrison, being granted free withdrawal, marched out with its arms and trains. Moltke says "The town had suffered terribly . . . nearly all the buildings were damaged. The garrison . . . had lost 4,75o, besides 336 citizens." Nevertheless, "the defence was by no means at its last stage" at the time of the formal sur render (British Text-Book of Fortifications, 1893). The total loss of the besiegers was about 2,000 men.

See J. Liblin, Belfort et son territoire (Mulhausen, 1887) .