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The Ardennes ( ; ; ; ; ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, extending into Germany and France.
Geologically, the range is a western extension of the Eifel; both were raised during the Givetian age of the Devonian (382.7 to 387.7 million years ago), as were several other named ranges of the same greater range.The defining stratotype for the geological period is an outcropping in Givet in the Ardennes.
The Ardennes proper stretches well into Germany and France (lending its name to the Ardennes department and the former Champagne-Ardenne region) and geologically into the Eifel (the eastern extension of the Ardennes Forest into Bitburg-Prüm, Germany); most of it is in the southeast of Wallonia, the southern and more rural part of Belgium (away from the coastal plain but encompassing more than half of the country's total area). The eastern part of the Ardennes forms the northernmost third of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, also called "Éislek" (). On the southeast the Eifel region continues into the German state of the Rhineland-Palatinate.
The trees and rivers of the Ardennes provided the charcoal industry assets that enabled the great industrial period of Wallonia in the 18th and 19th centuries, when it was arguably the second great industrial region of the world. The greater region maintained an industrial eminence into the 20th century, after coal replaced charcoal in metallurgy. The strategic position of the Ardennes has made it a battleground for European powers for centuries; it was the site of major battles during both World Wars.
The Eifel range in Germany adjoins the Ardennes and is part of the same geological formation, although they are conventionally regarded as being two distinct areas.
The region the Ardennes are part of has been uplifted further in the last few hundred thousand years by a mantle plume, as measured from the present elevation of old river terraces, with the largest amount of uplift concentrated in the east, where the Ardennes connect with the Eifel, where the same mantle plume is also responsible for volcanic activity.
This geological region is important in the history of Wallonia because this former mountain is at the origin of the economy, the history, and the geography of Wallonia. "Wallonia presents a wide range of rocks of various ages. Some geological stages internationally recognized were defined from rock sites located in Wallonia: e.g., Frasnian (Couvin), Famennian (Famenne), Tournaisian (Tournai), Visean (Visé), Dinantian (Dinant), and Namurian (Namur)". Except for the Tournaisian, all these rocks are within the Ardennes geological area.
Before the 19th century industrialization, the first furnaces in these four Belgian provinces (all in the Wallonia region) and in the French Ardennes used charcoal for fuel, made from harvesting the Ardennes forest. This industry was also in the extreme south of present-day Luxembourg Province (which until 1839 was part of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg), in the region called Gaume. The most important part of the Walloon steel industry, using coal, was built around the coal mines, mainly in the region around the cities of Liège, Charleroi, La Louvière, the Borinage, and further in the Walloon Brabant (in Tubize). Wallonia became the second industrial power area of the world (after Great Britain) in proportion to its territory and to its population (see further).
The rugged terrain and the harsh climate of the Ardennes limits the scope for agriculture; arable and dairy farming in cleared areas form the mainstay of the agricultural economy. The region is rich in timber and minerals, and Liège and the city of Namur are both major industrial centres. The extensive forests have an abundant population of wild game. The scenic beauty of the region and its wide variety of outdoor activities, including hunting, cycling, walking and canoeing, make it a popular tourist destination.
The Ardennes probably shares this derivation with the numerous Arden place names in Britain, including the Forest of Arden.
A song about Charlemagne, the Old French 12th-century chanson de geste Quatre Fils Aymon, mentions many of Wallonia's rivers, villages and other places. In Dinant the rock named Bayard takes its name from Bayard, the magic bay horse which, according to legend, jumped from the top of the rock to the other bank of the Meuse.
On their pillaging raids in the years 881 and 882, the Vikings used the old Roman roads in the Ardennes, attacking the abbeys of Malmedy and Stavelot and destroying Prüm Abbey in the Eifel.Regino of Prüm, Chronik, ad a. 882.
The strategic position of the Ardennes has made it a battleground for European powers for many centuries. Much of the Ardennes formed part of the Duchy (since 1815, the Grand Duchy) of Luxembourg, a member state of the Holy Roman Empire, which changed hands numerous times between the powerful dynasties of Europe. In 1793 revolutionary France annexed the entire area, together with all other territories west of the Rhine river. In 1815, the Congress of Vienna, which dealt with the political aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, restored the previous geographical situation, with most of the Ardennes becoming part of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. After the revolution of 1830, which resulted in the establishment of the Kingdom of Belgium, the political future of the Ardennes became a matter of much dispute between Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, as well as involving the contemporary of July Monarchy, Prussia, and Great Britain. As a result, in 1839, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg ceded the westernmost 63% of its territory (being also the main part of the Ardennes) to the new Kingdom of Belgium, which is now its Luxembourg Province.Gilbert Trausch, Le Luxembourg à l'époque contemporaine, p 15 to 25, publ. Bourg-Bourger, Luxembourg 1981
In the 20th century, leading military strategists generally considered the Ardennes to be unsuitable for large-scale military operations, due to its difficult terrain and narrow communication lines. However, in World War I as well as World War II, Germany successfully gambled on making a rapid passage through the Ardennes to attack a relatively lightly defended part of France. The Ardennes became the site of three major battles during the world wars: the Battle of the Ardennes (August 1914) in World War I, and the Battle of France (1940) and the Battle of the Bulge (1944–1945) in World War II. Many of the towns of the region suffered severe damage during the two world wars and its various battles.
Allied generals in World War II believed that the region was impenetrable to massed vehicular traffic and especially armoured tanks, so the area was effectively "all but undefended" during the war. The German Army twice used this region to invade northern France and southern Belgium, via Luxembourg in the Battle of France and the later Battle of the Bulge.
In 1939 and 1940, Nazi Germany's military strategists selected the forest as the primary route of their mechanised forces in the Invasion of France. The forest's great size could conceal the armoured divisions, and because the French did not suspect that the Germans would make such a risky move, they did not consider a breakthrough there, or imagine that it would take at least 15 days for an army to pass through the forest. German forces, primarily under the command of Erich von Manstein, carried out the plan in two days, and managed to slip numerous divisions past the Maginot Line to attack France from the north, and rout the French forces. In May 1940 the German army crossed the Meuse, despite the resistance of the French Army. Under the command of General Heinz Guderian, the German armoured divisions crossed the river at Dinant and at Sedan, France. This was a crucial step in the push towards Paris, and France fell on 25 June 1940.
At the other end of the war, the Ardennes area came to prominence again during the Battle of the Bulge. The German Army, which had been forced to retreat for some time, launched a surprise attack in December 1944 in an attempt to recapture Antwerp and to drive a wedge between the advancing British and American forces in northern France. After a fierce battle the Allied forces blocked the German advance on the river Meuse at Dinant.
In the postwar period, the Ardennes has become a weekend retreat that is popular among Belgians as well as people from neighbouring countries. The tourist industry offers an extensive and varied range of activities and types of accommodation.
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