Defense line



A defense line or fortification line is a geographically recognizable line of troops and armament, fortified and set up to protect a high-value location or defend territory.

A defense line may be based on natural difficult terrain features, such as rivers or marshes, mountain ranges, or coastlines; temporary field fortification works such as trenches; and/or more permanent fortifications such as fortresses and bunkers.

List of defense lines


Some notable defense lines include:

Historical

 * Great Wall of China, China
 * Sassanian defense lines
 * Great Wall of Gorgan, Persia
 * Derbent Walls
 * Defense lines of the Netherlands
 * Median Wall (before 401 BC)
 * Limes Germanicus, Germany
 * Hadrian's Wall, United Kingdom (122)
 * Antonine Wall, United Kingdom (142)
 * Offa's Dyke, Wales (early 5th century)
 * The Pale, Ireland (late 12th century)
 * Serpent's Wall, Ukraine
 * The Zasechnaya cherta (Засечная черта)) on the southern and eastern borders of the Tsardom of Russia
 * Western Russian fortresses, Russia
 * Civil War Defenses of Washington, United States
 * Victoria Lines, Malta (1875)
 * Hindenburg Line, France (1916)
 * Maginot Line, France (1929)
 * Schuster Line, Luxembourg
 * Metaxas Line, Greece (1936-1941)
 * Mannerheim Line, Finland (1939–1940)
 * K-W Line, Belgium (1939)
 * Siegfried Line, Germany
 * Gothic Line, Italy
 * Winter Line (Gustav, Bernhardt and Hitler Lines), Italy (1943-1944)
 * Panther–Wotan line, Russia (1943)
 * Pusan Perimeter, South Korea (1950)
 * McNamara Line, South Vietnam (1966)
 * Bar Lev Line, Sinai Peninsula (1973)

Modern

 * Russia–Ukraine barrier, Ukraine
 * Wagner Line, Ukraine
 * Muhamalai FDL, Sri Lanka
 * Nagarcoil FDL, Sri Lanka
 * Baltic Defence Line, Baltic states