TOULON, a seaport and first-class fortress and naval station of France, department of Var, capital of the arrondissement of Toulon, on the Mediterranean, 42 m. E.S.E. of Marseilles. Pop. (1931) 98,318. The Roman Telo Martius is supposed to have stood near the lazaretto. The town was successively sacked by Goths, Burgundians, Franks and Saracens. Until conquered by Charles of Anjou in 1259, it was under lords of its own, and entered into alliance with the republics of Marseilles and Arles. St. Louis, and especially Louis XII. and Francis I. strengthened its fortifications. It was seized by the emperor Charles V. in 1524 and 1536. Henry IV. founded there a naval arsenal which vas further strengthened by Richelieu, and Vauban made the new dock, a new enceinte, and several forts and batteries. In 1792 the royalists of the town sought the support of the English and Spanish fleets cruising in the neighbourhood. The Convention having replied by putting the town hors la loi, the inhabitants opened their harbour to the English. The army of the republic now (1793) laid siege to the town, and on this occasion Napoleon Bonaparte first made his name as a soldier. The forts command ing the town having been taken, the English ships retired after setting fire to the arsenal. Under the Directory Toulon became the most important French military fort on the Mediterranean; here Napoleon organized the Egyptian campaign.
The bay, which opens to the east, has two divisions, the Grande Rade and the Petite Rade; it is sheltered on the north and west by high hills, closed on the south by the peninsula of capes Sicie and Cepet, and protected on the east by a huge breakwater. The forts of St. Marguerite, of Cap Brun, of Lamalgue and of St. Louis to the north, and the battery of the signal station to the south, the battery of Le Salut to the east, and the forts of Bala guier and L'Aiguillette to the west protect the entrance. The bay of La Seyne lies west of the Petite Rade, and is defended by the forts of Six-Fours, Napoleon (formerly Ft. Caire), and Malbous quet, and the batteries of Les Arenes and Les Gaus. To the north of Toulon rise the defensive works of Mt. Faron and Ft. Rouge, to the east the forts of Artigues and St. Catherine, to the north east the formidable fort of Coudon, and to the south-east that of Colle Noire, respectively dominating the highway into Italy and the valley of Hyeres with the Bay of Carqueiranne. The modern quarter lies to the north of the old town. The chief buildings are the former cathedral of St. Marie Majeure (from the 5th century Toulon was a bishop's see till 18oi, when it was annexed to that of Frejus), the church of St. Louis, the naval and military hospital, a naval school of medicine, a school of hydrography, and large barracks. The imports are corn, wood, coal, hemp and salt provisions; the exports are salt, figs, raisins, almonds, oranges, cloth, bauxite ore, cork, soap and oils. The principal industries,
apart from the arsenal, are shipbuilding, fishing and wine-growing. The interesting buildings and gardens of the hospital of St. Mandrier stand on the peninsula of Cape Cepet, and near them is the lazaretto. Toulon is the seat of a sub-prefect, of a chamber of commerce, a board of trade-arbitrators and of a permanent maritime tribunal.
Toulon is the most important of the French dockyards, and is the headquarters of the Mediterranean fleet. The arsenal, which was created by Louis XIV.—Vauban being the engineer of the works—lies on the north side of the Petite Rade. This is ap proached from the Grande Rade by passages at the north and south ends of a long breakwater which extends from the direction of Le Mourillon towards the Cepet peninsula. Outside in the Petite Rade is a splendid protected anchorage for a great fleet, the whole being commanded by many forts and batteries. There are four great basins (darses) approached from the Petite Rade the Vieille Darse, to the east, on the side of Le Mourillon; the Darse Vauban, next to it ; and the Darse de Castigneau and the Darse Missiessy, farther to the west. Shipbuilding and its acces sory trades are carried on at Toulon. (H. J. F.) The Battle of Toulon.—This battle was fought off the port from which it takes its name on February i 1, 1744. An allied Franco-Spanish fleet of 28 ships was in harbour, commanded by M. de Court, and was being watched by a British fleet of similar size under Admiral Mathews. England and Spain had been at war since 1739, but England and France, though on opposite sides, had not yet actually declared war on one another. Spain was employed at this time in sending troops to North Italy for an attack on Austria's Italian possessions, and France was helping her by placing Toulon at her disposal as a base from which to operate, and also by providing about two-thirds of this fleet which was to convoy them. In these circumstances, as it was his busi ness to prevent the despatch of these troops, Mathews felt he would be justified in attacking the French as well as the Spaniards, should the former's proffered assistance with their Mediterranean fleet materialize. The combined fleet put out of Toulon on February 9, and to Mathews' surprise, made off on a southerly course. If he were to follow them, he would uncover Toulon and the transports would slip out ; on the other hand, if he waited for the transports, the enemy's fleet would not be brought to action. The English admiral decided in these circumstances to go after the fleet and bring it to action quickly, at any cost, and by any means, and then to double back and intercept the escaping trans ports. Consequently he dashed after the enemy. He himself was commanding the centre. Lestock, the second-in-command, the rear, and Rowley the van.