A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition and/or assault. War is an international relations Dispute, characterized by organized Violence between National Military units Military history is a Humanities discipline within the scope of general historical recording of armed conflict in the history of humanity Prehistoric warfare is War conducted in the era before Writing, and before the establishments of large social entities like States Historical warfare sets Ancient warfare is War as conducted from the beginnings of recorded History to the end of the ancient period Medieval Warfare is the warfare of the Middle Ages. In Europe technological cultural and social developments had forced a dramatic transformation in the character Early Modern warfare is associated with the start of the widespread use of Gunpowder and the development of suitable weapons to use the explosive Industrial warfare is a period in the History of warfare ranging roughly from the start of the Industrial Revolution to the beginning of the Information Age Modern warfare, although present in every Historical period of Military history, is generally used to refer to the concepts, methods and Battlespace is a unified strategy to integrate and combine Armed forces for the Military theatre of operations, including air, information Air power redirects here for electrical and mechanical energy supplied by air movement see Wind power Information warfare is the use and management of information in pursuit of a competitive advantage over an opponent Land warfare, sometimes also called ground combat is the term used to describe military operations eventuating in Combat that take place predominantly on the land surface of Naval warfare is Combat in and on Seas Oceans or any other major bodies of water such as large Lakes and wide Rivers History Space warfare is combat that takes place in Outer space, ie outside the Atmosphere. A weapon is a Tool used either in Hunting, or attack or defence in Combat for the purpose of subduing enemy personnel or to destroy enemy weapons Armoured warfare or tank warfare is the use of Armoured fighting vehicles in Modern warfare. Artillery (from French artillerie) is a military Combat Arm which employs any apparātus machine Biological warfare (BW — known as a germ warfare, biological weapons and bioweaponry — is the use of any Pathogen ( Bacterium The Cavalry (from French cavalerie) is the second oldest of the Combat Arms, and as Soldiers or Warriors who fought mounted on Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of Chemical substances to kill injure or incapacitate an enemy. Electronic warfare ( EW) is the use of the Electromagnetic spectrum to effectively deny the use of this medium by an adversary while optimizing its use by friendly The Infantry is the oldest and most numerous of the Combat Arms in the Armed forces, and consists A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from Nuclear reactions either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. The US Department of Defense defines psychological warfare ( PSYWAR) as" The planned use of Propaganda and other Psychological actions Military tactics ( Greek: Taktikē, the art of organizing an army are the techniques for using weapons or military units in combination for engaging and defeating This article is about the military strategy For the Israeli-Egyptian conflict see War of Attrition, for the game theoretical model see War of attrition (game Guerrilla warfare is the unconventional warfare and combat with which a small group of combatants use mobile tactics (ambushes raids etc Maneuver warfare, also spelled manoeuvre warfare, is the term used by military theorists for a concept of Warfare that advocates attempting to Total war is a conflict of unlimited scope in which a Belligerent engages in a total mobilization of all available resources at his disposal Trench warfare is a form of warfare where both combatants have fortified positions and fighting lines are static Military strategy is a National defence policy implemented by Military organisations to pursue desired strategic goals Derived from the Greek Economic warfare is the term for economic policies followed as a part of Military operations during Wartime The purpose of economic warfare is to capture Grand strategy is military Strategy at the level of movement and use of an entire Nation state or Empire 's resources A military organization is a way of structuring the armed forces of a State as a need to offer Military capability required by the National defence policy A military organization is a way of structuring the armed forces of a State as a need to offer Military capability required by the National defence policy Military rank is a system of hierarchical relationships in Armed forces or civil institutions organized along military lines A military organization is a way of structuring the armed forces of a State as a need to offer Military capability required by the National defence policy Military Logistics is the art and science of planning and carrying out the movement and maintenance of military forces This article lists military technology items devices and methods Materiel (from the French "matériel" for equipment or hardware related to the word Material) is a term used in English to refer to the Military supply chain management is a cross-functional approach to procuring, producing and delivering products and services The broad This is an index to articles listing Battles. List of battles (alphabetical gives a global list See also Military History Antiquity Albania Agron ( 250 BC - 230 BC) The first king to unite the Illyrian This is a list of missions operations and projects Missions in support of other missions are not listed independently A Siege is a prolonged Military Assault and Blockade on a City or Fortress with the intent of conquering by force or Attrition See also List of military writers. Friedrich von Bernhardi Ivan Bloch John Boyd, inventor of the OODA Loop This is a listing of lists of Wars, sorted by country date region and type of conflict This article lists and summarizes War crimes committed since the Hague Convention of 1907. There is a bewildering array of Weapons far more than would be useful in list form This is a list of military writers, alphabetical by last name A military is an Organization authorized by its Nation to use force usually including use of Weapons in defending its Country (or by attacking A blockade is any effort to prevent supplies Troops information or aid from reaching an opposing force A city is an Urban area with a large Population and a particular Administrative, Legal, or Historical status Fortifications are Military Constructions and Buildings designed for defense in Warfare Humans have constructed defensive works for This article is about the military strategy For the Israeli-Egyptian conflict see War of Attrition, for the game theoretical model see War of attrition (game The term derives from the Latin word for "seat" or "sitting. "^[1] A siege occurs when an attacker encounters a city or fortress that cannot be easily taken by a frontal assault and refuses to surrender. The Military tactic of frontal assault is a direct hostile movement of forces towards enemy forces in a large number in an attempt to overwhelm the enemy Surrender is when Soldiers, nations or other combatants stop fighting and become Prisoners of war, either as Sieges involve surrounding the target and blocking the reinforcement or escape of troops or provision of supplies (a tactic known as "investment"^[2]), typically coupled with attempts to reduce the fortifications by means of siege engines, artillery bombardment, mining (also known as sapping), or the use of deception or treachery to bypass defenses. Investment is the military tactic of surrounding an enemy Fort (or town with armed forces to prevent entry or escape A siege engine is a device that is designed to Break or circumvent City walls and other Fortifications in Siege warfare. Artillery (from French artillerie) is a military Combat Arm which employs any apparātus machine Mining, undermining, or sapping was a Siege method used since antiquity against a Walled city, Fortress or Castle Failing a military outcome, sieges can often be decided by starvation, thirst or disease, which can afflict both the attacker or defender.

Sieges probably predate the development of cities as large population centers. Ancient cities in the Middle East show archaeological evidence of having had fortified city walls. The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from Greek grc ἀρχαιολογία archaiologia – grc ἀρχαῖος archaīos See also List of cities with defensive walls A defensive wall is a Fortification used to defend a city or settlement from potential aggressors During the Warring States era of ancient China, there is both textual and archaeological evidence of prolonged sieges and siege machinery used against the defenders of city walls. The Warring States Period ( also known as the Era of Warring States covers the period from some time in the 5th century BC to the unification of China by the Chinese civilization originated in various city-states along the Yellow River ( valley in the Neolithic era Siege machinery was also a tradition of the ancient Greco-Roman world. In modern Olympic and amateur Wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling is a particular style and variation During the Renaissance and the Early Modern period, siege warfare dominated the conduct of war in Europe. The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere The early modern period is a term initially used by historians to refer mainly to the period roughly from 1500 to 1800 in Western Europe ( Early modern Europe) Leonardo da Vinci gained as much of his renown from the design of fortifications as from his artwork. Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci ( April 15 1452 – May 2 1519 was an Italian Polymath, having been a scientist Mathematician, Engineer

Medieval campaigns were generally designed around a succession of sieges. In the Napoleonic era, increasing use of ever more powerful cannon reduced the value of fortifications. Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. | NOTE Throughout this article "cannon" is used as BOTH the || singular and plural In modern times, trenches replaced walls, and bunkers replaced castles. Trench warfare is a form of warfare where both combatants have fortified positions and fighting lines are static A military bunker is a hardened shelter often buried partly or fully underground designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks In the 20th century, the significance of the classical siege declined. With the advent of mobile warfare, one single fortified stronghold is no longer as decisive as it once was. Maneuver warfare, also spelled manoeuvre warfare, is the term used by military theorists for a concept of Warfare that advocates attempting to While sieges do still occur, they are not as common as they once were due to changes in modes of battle, principally the ease by which huge volumes of destructive power can be directed onto a static target. Sieges in present day are more commonly either smaller hostage, militant, or extreme resisting-arrest situations such as the Waco Siege. The Waco Siege (also known as the Waco Massacre) took place on February 28

Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of low-intensity warfare (until an assault takes place) characterized in that at least one party holds a strong defense position, it is highly static situation, the element of attrition is typically strong and there are plenty of opportunities for negotiations.

Ancient siege warfare

The essential of city walls

The Assyrians deployed large labour forces to build new palaces, temples and defensive walls. The Assyrians are an Ethnic group whose origins lie in what is today Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria. ^[3]

Some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were also fortified. The Indus Valley Civilization (Mature period 2600&ndash1900 BCE abbreviated IVC, was an ancient Civilization that flourished in the Indus River basin By about 3500 B. C. , hundreds of small farming villages dotted the Indus floodplain. The Indus River { Sanskrit: सिन्धु Sindhu; Urdu: urd {{Nastaliq سندھ}} Sindh; Sindhi: snd Many of these settlements had fortifications and planned streets. The stone and mud brick houses of Kot Diji were clustered behind massive stone flood dikes and defensive walls, for neighboring communities quarreled constantly about the control of prime agricultural land. The ancient site at Kot Diji ( Urdu: کوٹ ڈیجی) was the forerunner of the Indus Civilization. ^[4] Mundigak (c. 2500 B. C. ) in present day south-east Afghanistan has defensive walls and square bastions of sun dried bricks. Afghanistan /æfˈgænɪstæn/ officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, ^[5]

City walls and fortifications were essential for the defense of the first cities in the ancient Near East. The Ancient Near East refers to early Civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia (modern Iraq The walls were built by mud bricks, stone, wood or a combination of these materials depending on local availability. City walls may also have served the dual purpose of showing presumptive enemies the might of the Kingdom. The great walls surrounding the Sumerian city of Uruk gained such a wide-spread reputation. Sumer ( Sumerian: sux-Latn [[Ki (earth ki]]-[[EN (cuneiform en]]-'''ĝir15''', Akkadian: Šumeru; possibly Biblical Shinar Uruk ( URU UNUG, Sumerian: unug Akkadian: uruk) from the Akkadian rendering of the Sumerian Toponym 'unug' is modern The walls were 9. 5 km / 6 miles in length, and raised up to 12 metres / 40 feet in height. Later the walls of Babylon, reinforced by towers and moats, gained a similar reputation. Babylon was a City-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq In Anatolia, the Hittites built massive stone walls around their cities, taking advantage of the hillsides. Anatolia (Anadolu Ανατολία Anatolía) or Asia minor, comprising most of modern Turkey, is the geographic region bounded by the Black The Hittites were an ancient Anatolian people who spoke a language of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family and established In Shang Dynasty China, at the site of Ao, large walls were erected in the 15th century BC that had dimensions of 20 meters / 65 feet in width at the base and enclosed an area of some 2,100 yards (1,900 m) squared. The Shang Dynasty ( Chinese: 商[[wiktionary 朝|朝]] or Yin Dynasty ( 殷[[wiktionary 代|代]] was according to traditional sources the China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National ^[6] In similar dimensions, the ancient Chinese capital for the State of Zhao, Handan (founded in 386 BC), had walls that were again 20 meters / 65 feet wide at the base, a height of 15 meters / 50 feet tall, with two separate sides of its rectangular enclosure measured at a length of 1,530 yards (1,400 m). China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Zhao ( Pinyin: zhào Traditional Chinese: 趙 Simplified Chinese: 赵 was a Chinese State during Handan ( is a Prefecture-level city located in the southwestern part of Hebei Province of China. ^[6] The cities of the Indus Valley civilization showed less effort in constructing defenses, and likewise the Minoan civilization on Crete. The Indus Valley Civilization (Mature period 2600&ndash1900 BCE abbreviated IVC, was an ancient Civilization that flourished in the Indus River basin The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization which arose on the island of Crete. Crete ( Greek: Κρήτη transliteration: Krētē, modern transliteration Kriti) is the largest of the Greek islands and the These civilizations probably relied more on the defense of their outer borders or sea shores. Unlike the ancient Minoan civilization, the Mycenaean Greeks emphasized need for fortifications alongside natural defenses of mountainous terrain, such as the massive 'Cyclopean' walls built at Mycenae during the last half of the 2nd millennium BC. Mycenaean Greece is a cultural period of ancient Greece taking its name from the archaeological site of Mycenae in northeastern Argolis, in the Peloponnese Cyclopean masonry is a type of stonework found in Mycenaean architecture built with huge Limestone Boulders, roughly fitted together with minimal "Lion Gate" redirects here For other uses see Lions' Gate (disambiguation.

The Egyptian siege of Dapur in the 13th century BC, from Ramesseum, Thebes. The Siege of Dapur occurred as part of Ramesses II 's campaign to suppress Galilee and conquer Syria in 1269 BC. The Ramesseum is the memorial temple (or mortuary temple of Pharaoh Ramesses II ("Ramesses the Great" also spelt "Ramses" and Thebes ( Thēbai) was a city in Ancient Egypt located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean on the east bank of the river Nile (

Siege warfare - archaeological evidence from the Ancient Near East

Although there are depictions of sieges from the ancient Near East in the historical sources and in ancient Near Eastern art, there are very few examples of siege systems that have been found archaeologically. Of the few examples, several are noteworthy:

1) The late 9th cent. BCE siege system surrounding Tell es-Safi/Gath, Israel. Tell es-Safi or Tel Zafit (تل الصافي ar-Latn Tall aṣ-Ṣāfī; תל צפית he-Latn Tel Tzafit) is an ancient mound usually identified For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. This system, which is comprised of a 2. 5 km long siege trench, towers and other elements, the earliest evidence of a circumvallation system known in the world, was apparently built by Hazael of Aram Damascus, as part of his siege and conquest of Philistine Gath in the late 9th cent. Investment is the military tactic of surrounding an enemy Fort (or town with armed forces to prevent entry or escape Hazael ( Hebrew Hazael meaning " God has seen" was a court official and later an Aramean king who appeared in the Bible Damascus ( دمشق,, also commonly known as الشام ash-Shām) is the capital and largest city of Syria. The Philistines ( Hebrew פלשתים plishtim) (see "other uses" below were a people who inhabited the southern coast of Canaan, BCE (mentioned in II Kings 12:18). The Books of Kings ( Sefer Melachim, ספר מלכים are a part of Judaism 's Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible.

2) The late 8th cent. BCE siege system surrounding the site of Lachish (Tell el-Duweir) in Israel. Lachish (לכיש was a town located in the Shephelah, or maritime plain of Philistia ( Joshua 103 5 1211 For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. This system, which was built by Sennacherib of Assyria in 701 BCE, is not only evident in the archaeological remains, but is described in the Assyrian and biblical sources and in the reliefs of Sennacherib's palace in Nineveh. Sennacherib ( Akkadian Sîn-ahhe-eriba "(moon god Sîn has replaced (lost brothers for me" was the son of Sargon II, whom he Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin Sennacherib ( Akkadian Sîn-ahhe-eriba "(moon god Sîn has replaced (lost brothers for me" was the son of Sargon II, whom he Nineveh ( Akkadian: Ninua; Aramaic: ܢܝܢܘܐ Hebrew נינוה Nīnewē; Arabic نينوى Naīnuwa)

3) The siege of Alt-Paphos, Cyprus by the Persian army in the 4th century BCE. Paphos (Paphos is usually written Paphos or Paphus in English, ( Ancient Greek:; Modern Greek Πάφος Páfos; Latin Cyprus (Κύπρος transliterated: Kýpros,; Kıbrıs officially the Republic of Cyprus (Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία Kypriakī́ Dīmokratía The Persian Empire was a series of Iranian empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland and beyond in Western Asia

Siege warfare in art

The earliest representations of siege warfare is dated to the Protodynastic Period of Egypt, c. The Protodynastic Period of Egypt (generally dated 3200 BC - 3000 BC) refers to the period of time at the very end of the Predynastic Period. 3000 BC. These show symbolic destruction of city walls by divine animals using hoes. The first siege equipment is known from Egyptian tomb reliefs of the 24th century BC, showing Egyptian soldiers storming Canaanite town walls on wheeled siege ladders. Canaanites redirects here For the 1940s social and political movement in Israel, see Canaanites (movement. Later Egyptian temple reliefs of the 13th century BC portrays the violent siege of Dapur, a Syrian city, with soldiers climbing scale ladders supported by archers. The Siege of Dapur occurred as part of Ramesses II 's campaign to suppress Galilee and conquer Syria in 1269 BC. Assyrian palace reliefs of the 9th to 7th centuries BC display sieges of several Near Eastern cities. Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture Though a simple battering ram had come into use in the previous millennium, the Assyrians improved siege warfare and built huge wooden tower shaped battering rams with archers positioned on top. In ancient China, sieges of city walls (along with naval battles) were portrayed on bronze 'hu' vessels dated to the Warring States (5th century BC to 3rd century BC), like those found in Chengdu, Sichuan, China in 1965. Bronze is any of a broad range of Copper alloys, usually with Tin as the main additive but sometimes with other elements such as Phosphorus The Warring States Period ( also known as the Era of Warring States covers the period from some time in the 5th century BC to the unification of China by the ( located in southwest People's Republic of China, is the capital of Sichuan province and a Sub-provincial city. ( Postal map spelling: Szechwan and Szechuan) is a province in western China with its capital in Chengdu. ^[7]

Tactics in siege warfare

The most common practice of siege warfare was however to lay siege and wait for the surrender of the enemies inside. The Egyptian siege of Megiddo in the 15th century BC lasted for 7 months before its inhabitants surrendered. Ancient Egypt was an Ancient Civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now The Battle of Megiddo ( 15th century BC) was fought between Egyptian forces under the command of Pharaoh Thutmose III and a large The Hittite siege of a rebellious Anatolian vassal in the 14th century BC ended when the queen mother came out of the city and begged for mercy on behalf of her people. The Hittites were an ancient Anatolian people who spoke a language of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family and established If the main objective of a campaign was not the conquest of a particular city, it could simply be passed by. The Hittite campaign against the kingdom of Mitanni in the 14th century BC bypassed the fortified city of Carchemish. Mitanni ( Hittite cuneiform, also Mittani) or Hanigalbat ( Assyrian Hanigalbat Khanigalbat cuneiform) Carchemish (called Europus by the Greco-Romans) was an important ancient city of the Mitanni and Hittite empires now on the frontier between When the main objective of the campaign had been fulfilled, the Hittite army returned to Carchemish and the city fell after an eight-day-siege. The well-known Assyrian Siege of Jerusalem in the 8th century BC came to an end when the Israelites bought them off with gifts and tribute, according to the Assyrian account, or when the Assyrian camp was struck by mass death, according to the Biblical account. In 721 BCE the Assyrian army captured the Israelite capital at Samaria and carried away the citizens of the northern kingdom into captivity See also History of ancient Israel and Judah According to the Bible, the Israelites were the dominant group living in the Land of Israel. Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin Due to the problem of logistics, long lasting sieges involving but a minor force could seldom be maintained.

During the Warring States (481–221 BC) era of China, warfare lost its honorable, gentlemen's duty that was found in the previous era of China (Spring and Autumn period), and became more practical, competitive, cut-throat, and efficient for gaining victory. The Warring States Period ( also known as the Era of Warring States covers the period from some time in the 5th century BC to the unification of China by the The Spring and Autumn Period ( was a period in Chinese history which roughly corresponds to the first half of the Eastern Zhou dynasty (from the second half of the 8th century BC ^[8] The Chinese invention of the hand-held, trigger-mechanism crossbow during this period revolutionized warfare, giving greater emphasis to infantry and cavalry and less to traditional chariot Chinese warfare. A crossbow is a Weapon consisting of a bow mounted on a stock that shoots projectiles often called bolts The chariot is the earliest and simplest type of Carriage, used in both peace and war as the chief vehicle of many ancient peoples The philosophically-pacifist Mohists (followers of the philosopher Mozi) of the 5th century BC believed in aiding the defensive warfare of smaller Chinese states against the hostile offensive warfare of larger domineering states. Mohism or Moism ( was a Chinese philosophy developed by the followers of Mozi (also referred to as Mo Di 470 &ndashc Mozi ( Lat as Micius, ca 470 BCE&ndashca 391 BCE was a Philosopher who lived in China during the Hundred Schools of Thought The Mohists were renowned in the smaller states (and the enemies of the larger states) for the inventions of siege machinery to scale or destroy walls. This included traction trebuchet catapults, eight foot high ballistas, a wheeled siege ramp with grappling hooks known as the Cloud Bridge (the protractable, folded ramp slinging forward by means of a counterweight with rope and pulley), and wheeled 'hook-carts' used to latch large iron hooks onto the tops of walls to pull and tear them down. A trebuchet or trebucket is a Siege engine that was employed in the Middle Ages either to smash Masonry Walls or to throw A catapult is any one of a number of non-handheld mechanical devices used to throw a Projectile a great distance without the aid of an explosive substance—particularly various The ballista ( Latin, from Greek βαλλίστρα - ballistra, from - βάλλω ballō, "to throw" plural ballistae ^[9] When enemies attempted to dig tunnels under walls for mining or entry into the city, the defenders used large bellows (the type the Chinese commonly used in heating up the blast furnace for smelting cast iron) to pump smoke into the tunnels in order to suffocate the intruders. Mining, undermining, or sapping was a Siege method used since antiquity against a Walled city, Fortress or Castle A bellows is a device for delivering pressurized Air in a controlled quantity to a controlled location A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical Furnace used for Smelting to produce metals generally Iron. Cast iron usually refers to grey cast iron, but identifies a large group of Ferrous Alloys which solidify with a Eutectic. ^[8]

The universal method for defending against siege is the use of fortifications, principally walls and ditches to supplement natural features. A ditch is usually defined as a small to moderate depression created to channel Water. A sufficient supply of food and water is also important to defeat the simplest method of siege warfare: starvation. Starvation (also called inanition) is a severe reduction in Vitamin, Nutrient, and Energy intake and is the most extreme form of During a siege, a surrounding army would build earthworks (a line of circumvallation) to completely encircle their target, preventing food and water supplies from reaching the besieged city. Earthworks are engineering works created through the moving of massive quantities of Soil or unformed rock. Investment is the military tactic of surrounding an enemy Fort (or town with armed forces to prevent entry or escape If sufficiently desperate as the siege progressed, defenders and civilians might have been reduced to eating anything vaguely edible—horses, family pets, the leather from shoes, and even each other. Cannibalism (from Spanish es ''caníbal'' in connection with cannibalism among the Antillean Caribs, also called anthropophagy (from Greek ἄνθρωπος On occasion, the defenders would drive 'surplus' civilians out to reduce the demands on stored food and water.

Disease was another effective siege weapon, although the attackers were often as vulnerable as the defenders. A disease is an abnormal condition of an organism that impairs bodily functions and can be deadly In some instances, catapults or like weapons would fling diseased animals over city walls in an early example of biological warfare. Biological warfare (BW — known as a germ warfare, biological weapons and bioweaponry — is the use of any Pathogen ( Bacterium

Medieval trebuchets could sling about two projectiles per hour at enemy positions. A trebuchet or trebucket is a Siege engine that was employed in the Middle Ages either to smash Masonry Walls or to throw The term enemy combatant has historically referred to members of the armed forces of the state with which another state is at war

To end a siege more rapidly various methods were developed in ancient and medieval times to counter fortifications, and a large variety of siege engines were developed for use by besieging armies. A siege engine is a device that is designed to Break or circumvent City walls and other Fortifications in Siege warfare. Ladders could be used to escalade over the defenses. A ladder is a vertical or inclined set of rungs or steps. There are two types rigid ladders that can be leaned against a vertical surface such as a Wall, and Escalade is the act of scaling Defensive walls or ramparts with the aid of Ladders and was a prominent feature of Siege warfare in medieval Battering rams and siege hooks could be used to force through gates or walls, while catapults, ballistae, trebuchets, mangonels, and onagers could be used to launch projectiles in order to break down a city's fortifications and kill its defenders. A battering ram is a Siege engine originating in ancient times to break open Fortification walls or doors A siege hook is a weapon used to pull stones from a wall during a Siege. A catapult is any one of a number of non-handheld mechanical devices used to throw a Projectile a great distance without the aid of an explosive substance—particularly various The ballista ( Latin, from Greek βαλλίστρα - ballistra, from - βάλλω ballō, "to throw" plural ballistae A trebuchet or trebucket is a Siege engine that was employed in the Middle Ages either to smash Masonry Walls or to throw A mangonel was a type of Catapult or Siege machine used in the medieval period to throw projectiles at a castle 's walls The onager was a post-classical Roman Siege engine, which derived its name from the kicking action of the machine similar to that of an Onager (wild ass A siege tower could also be used: a substantial structure built as high, or higher than the walls, it allowed the attackers to fire down upon the defenders and also advance troops to the wall with less danger than using ladders. A siege tower (or in the Middle Ages a Belfry) is a specialized Siege engine, constructed to protect assailants and ladders while approaching

In addition to launching projectiles at the fortifications or defenders, it was also quite common to attempt to undermine the fortifications, causing them to collapse. This could be accomplished by digging a tunnel beneath the foundations of the walls, and then deliberately collapsing or exploding the tunnel. A foundation is a Structure that transfers loads to the earth This process is known as mining. Mining, undermining, or sapping was a Siege method used since antiquity against a Walled city, Fortress or Castle The defenders could dig counter-tunnels to cut into the attackers' works and collapse them prematurely.

Fire was often used as a weapon when dealing with wooden fortifications. The Byzantine Empire used Greek fire, which contained additives that made it hard to put out. Greek fire was a burning-liquid weapon used by the Byzantine Empire. Combined with a primitive flamethrower, it proved an effective offensive and defensive weapon. A flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to project a long controllable stream of Fire.

If all else failed, a besieger could claim the booty of his conquest undamaged, and retain his men and equipment intact, for the price of a well-placed bribe to a disgruntled gate-keeper. Bribery, a form of pecuniary corruption is an act usually implying money or gift given that alters the behaviour of the recipient in ways not consistent with the duties of that person

Cahir Castle in Ireland was besieged and captured three times: in 1599 by the Earl of Essex, in 1647 by Lord Inchiquin, and in 1650 by Oliver Cromwell. Cahir Castle (Caisleán na Cathrach one of the largest Castles in Ireland, was built in County Tipperary in 1142 by Conor O'Brien, Prince of Robert Devereux 2nd Earl of Essex ( 10 November 1566 &ndash 25 February 1601) a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I of England Oliver Cromwell (25 April 1599 Old Style &ndash 3 September 1658 Old Style) was an English military and political leader best known

Advances in the prosecution of sieges in ancient and medieval times naturally encouraged the development of a variety of defensive counter-measures. In particular, medieval fortifications became progressively stronger—for example, the advent of the concentric castle from the period of the Crusades—and more dangerous to attackers—witness the increasing use of machicolations and murder-holes, as well the preparation of hot or incendiary substances. Medieval fortification is the military aspect of Medieval technology that covers the development of Fortification construction and use in Europe A concentric castle (or multiple castle) is a Castle within a castle with two or more concentric rings of Curtain walls and in cases no central The Crusades were a series of military campaigns of a religious character waged by much of Christian Europe against external and internal opponents A machicolation is a Floor opening between the supporting Corbels of a Battlement, through which stones and lethally hot liquids and substances A murder-hole is a hole in the Ceiling of a Gateway or passageway in a Fortification through which the defenders can fire throw or pour dangerous or noxious Early thermal weapons were devices or substances used in Warfare during the classical and medieval periods (approx 8th century BC until the mid-16th Arrow slits (also called arrow loops or loopholes), sally ports (airlock like doors) for sallies, and deep water wells were also integral means of resisting siege at this time. The primary modern meaning for sally port is a small controlled space with two doors Particular attention would be paid to defending entrances, with gates protected by drawbridges, portcullises and barbicans. A drawbridge is a type of Movable bridge typically associated with the entrance of a Castle. A portcullis is a latticed Grille or Gate made of wood metal or a combination of the two A barbican (from medieval Latin barbecana, "outer fortification of a city or castle" a general Romanic word perhaps from Arabic or Moats and other water defenses, whether natural or augmented, were also vital to defenders. A moat is deep broad Trench, usually filled with Water, that surrounds a structure installation or town normally to provide it with a preliminary line of

In the European Middle Ages, virtually all large cities had city walls—Dubrovnik in Dalmatia is an impressive and well-preserved example—and more important cities had citadels, forts or castles. ||-||-||-||-||-||-||} Dubrovnik (ˈdǔbro̞ːʋniːk Dalmatian: Ragusa; Latin: Ragusium, also Rhausium, Rhaugia; Dalmatia ( Croatian: Dalmacija, see names in other languages) is a region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea, situated mostly in modern A citadel is a fortress for protecting a Town, sometimes incorporating a Castle. Fortifications are Military Constructions and Buildings designed for defense in Warfare Humans have constructed defensive works for A castle is a defensive structure seen as one of the main symbols of the Middle Ages. Great effort was expended to ensure a good water supply inside the city in case of siege. In some cases, long tunnels were constructed to carry water into the city. Complex systems of underground tunnels were used for storage and communications in medieval cities like Tábor in Bohemia (similar to those used much later in Vietnam during the Vietnam War). This is an article on the city of Tábor in the Czech Republic. Bohemia (Čechy; Bohemia Czechy is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands, currently the Vietnam (ˌviːɛtˈnɑːm Việt Nam) officially The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia

Until the invention of gunpowder-based weapons (and the resulting higher-velocity projectiles), the balance of power and logistics definitely favored the defender. Gunpowder is a an explosive mixture of Sulfur, Charcoal and Potassium nitrate (also known as saltpetre/saltpeter that burns rapidly producing volumes With the invention of gunpowder, cannon and (in modern times) mortars and howitzers, the traditional methods of defense became less and less effective against a determined siege. | NOTE Throughout this article "cannon" is used as BOTH the || singular and plural A mortar is a muzzle-loading Indirect fire weapon that fires shells at low velocities short ranges and high-arcing ballistic trajectories A howitzer is a type of Artillery piece that is characterized by a relatively short barrel and the use of comparatively small explosive charges to propel projectiles

Siege accounts

Although there are numerous ancient accounts of cities being sacked, few contain any clues to how this was achieved. Some popular tales existed on how the cunning heroes succeeded in their sieges. The best-known is the Trojan Horse of the Trojan War, and a similar story tells how the Canaanite city of Joppa was conquered by the Egyptians in the 15th century BC. The Trojan Horse was part of the Trojan War, as told in Virgil 's Latin Epic poem The Aeneid. In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole Helen from her Canaanites redirects here For the 1940s social and political movement in Israel, see Canaanites (movement. Jaffa يَافَا;(יָפוֹ Yafo; also Japho, Joppa) is an ancient Port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world The Biblical Book of Joshua contains the story of the miraculous Battle of Jericho. The Book of Joshua ( Hebrew: Sefer Y'hoshua ספר יהושע is the sixth book in both the Hebrew Tanakh and the Old Testament of the Christian The Battle of Jericho also known as the Siege of Jericho is described by the Book of Joshua, and is prominent among cultural references to the Bible. A better detailed historical account from the 8th century BC, called the Piankhi stela, records how the Nubians laid siege to and conquered several Egyptian cities using battering rams, archers, slingers and building causeways across moats. Piye, (whose name was once transliterated as Piankhi) (d 721 BC was a Kushite king and founder of the Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt who ruled Egypt Kush civilization centered in the confluence of the Blue Nile and the White Nile, and the confluence of the River Atbara and Nile in what A battering ram is a Siege engine originating in ancient times to break open Fortification walls or doors Archery is the practice of using a bow or Crossbow to shoot Arrows Archery has historically been used in Hunting and Combat and has In modern usage a causeway is a road or railway elevated by a bank usually across a broad Body of water or Wetland. A moat is deep broad Trench, usually filled with Water, that surrounds a structure installation or town normally to provide it with a preliminary line of

Greco-Roman and medieval siege warfare

Roman siege machines.

Alexander the Great's Macedonian army successfully besieged many powerful cities during his astounding conquests. Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' Macedon or Macedonia ( Greek grc Μακεδονία grc-Latn Makedonía) was the name of a kingdom centered in the northern-most Two of his most impressive achievements in siegecraft took place at Siege_of_Tyre and the Sogdian Rock. In 332 BC, Alexander the Great set out to conquer Tyre, a strategic coastal base in the war between the Greeks and the Persians. Sogdian Rock or Rock of Ariamazes, a fortress located north of Bactria in Sogdiana (near Samarkand on the northern Silk Road) was Most conquerors before him had found Tyre, a Phoenician island-city about 1 km from the mainland, impregnable. Tyre ( Arabic صور Ṣūr, Phoenician Phoenician wawsvg|12px|ו]] Ṣur, Hebrew Phoenicia ( Phoenician: Phoenician nunsvg|12px|נ]]Phoenician nun The Macedonians built a mole, a raised spit of earth across the water, by piling stones up on a natural land bridge that extended underwater out to the island. A mole is a massive structure usually of stone, used as a Pier, breakwater, or junction between places separated by water Alexander's engineers built a causeway that was originally 60 m (200 ft) wide, that reached the range of his torsion-powered artillery. An engineer is a person professionally engaged in a field of Engineering. In modern usage a causeway is a road or railway elevated by a bank usually across a broad Body of water or Wetland. Alexander's soldiers pushed siege towers housing stone throwers and light catapults to bombard the city walls. A siege tower (or in the Middle Ages a Belfry) is a specialized Siege engine, constructed to protect assailants and ladders while approaching Though the Tyrians rallied by sending a fire-bombed ship to destroy the towers, and captured the mole in a swarming frenzy, the city eventually fell to the Macedonians after a seven month siege. In complete contrast to Tyre, Sogdian Rock was captured by stealthy attack. Alexander used commando-like tactics to scale the cliffs and capture the high ground. The demoralized defenders surrendered.

The importance of siege warfare in the ancient period should not be underestimated. One of the contributing causes of Hannibal's inability to defeat Rome was his lack of siege train; thus, while he was able to defeat Roman armies in the field, he was unable to capture Rome itself. Hannibal (Pronounced in Phoenician: Hanniba'al means " Ba'al is my grace " or " Ba'al has given me grace " 247 BC &ndash

The legionary armies of the Roman Republic and Empire are noted as being particularly skilled and determined in siege warfare. The Roman Republic was the phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a Republican form of government a period which began with the overthrow of the The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial An astonishing number and variety of sieges, for example, formed the core of Julius Caesar's mid-1st century BCE conquest of Gaul (modern France). Gaul (Gallia was the Roman name for the region of Western Europe comprising present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western In his Gallic Wars, Caesar describes how at the Battle of Alesia the Roman legions created two huge fortified walls around the city. The Gallic Wars were a series of Military campaigns waged by the Roman proconsul Julius Caesar against several Gallic tribes, lasting from The Battle of Alesia or Siege of Alesia took place in September 52 BC around the Gallic Oppidum of Alesia, a major town centre and For other uses see Legion The Roman Legion (from Latin legio "military levy Conscription," The inner circumvallation, 10 miles (16 km), held in Vercingetorix's forces, while the outer contravallation kept relief from reaching them. Investment is the military tactic of surrounding an enemy Fort (or town with armed forces to prevent entry or escape Vercingetorix (werkiŋˈɡetoriks in Latin) born around 82 BC died 46 BC was chieftain of the Arverni, originating from the Arvernian city of Investment is the military tactic of surrounding an enemy Fort (or town with armed forces to prevent entry or escape The Romans held the ground in between the two walls. The besieged Gauls, facing starvation, eventually surrendered after their relief force met defeat against Caesar's auxiliary cavalry. Gaul (Gallia was the Roman name for the region of Western Europe comprising present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western

The Sicarii Zealots who defended Masada in 73 CE were defeated by the Roman Legions who built a ramp 100 meters high up to the fortress's west wall. Sicarii (Latin plural of Sicarius 'dagger-' or later contract- killer is a term applied in the decades immediately preceding the destruction of Jerusalem in Masada ( Hebrew מצדה pronounced Metzada, from מצודה metzuda, "fortress" is the name for a site of ancient Palaces and

Chinese and Mongol siege warfare

In the Middle Ages, the Mongol Empire's campaign against China (then comprised of the Western Xia Dynasty, Jin Dynasty, and Southern Song Dynasty) by Genghis Khan until Kublai Khan with their armies was extremely effective, allowing the Mongols to sweep through large areas. The Mongol Empire ( Mongolyn Ezent Güren or mn Их Mонгол улс Ikh Mongol Uls; 1206–1368 was the largest contiguous Empire China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Xi Xia redirects here For a Chinese general whose name may be transliterated as Xi Xia see Xi Qia The Western Xia Dynasty ( or This is an article for the Jurchen Jin Dynasty (1115–1234 For other Chinese dynasties whose names are also rendered "Jin" in Pinyin, see Jin Dynasty The Song Dynasty ( Wade-Giles: Sung Ch'ao was a ruling dynasty in China between 960&ndash1279 CE it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Genghis Khan ( or;, Chinggis Khaan, ʧiŋgɪs χaːŋ Činggis Qaɣan; 1162–1227 born (meaning "ironworker" was the Mongol founder Early years Kublai Khan studied Chinese culture and became enamoured of it Even if they could not enter some of the more well-fortified cities, they used innovative battle tactics to grab hold of the land and the people:

"By concentrating on the field armies, the strongholds had to wait. Of course, smaller fortresses, or ones easily surprised, were taken as they came along. This had two effects. First, it cut off the principal city from communicating with other cities where they might expect aid. Secondly, refugees from these smaller cities would flee to the last stronghold. The reports from these cities and the streaming hordes of refugees not only reduced the morale of the inhabitants and garrison of the principal city, it also strained their resources. Food and water reserves were taxed by the sudden influx of refugees. Soon, what was once a formidable undertaking became easy. The Mongols were then free to lay siege without interference of the field army as it had been destroyed. . . At the siege of Aleppo, Hulegu used twenty catapults against the Bab al-Iraq (Gate of Iraq) alone. For other meanings see Aleppo (disambiguation. Halab redirects here for other meanings see Halab (disambiguation. This article is about the founder of the Ilkhanate For the head of the Chagatai khanate please see Qara Hülëgü Hulagu Khan, also known as In Jûzjânî, there are several episodes in which the Mongols constructed hundreds of siege machines in order to surpass the number which the defending city possessed. While Jûzjânî surely exaggerated, the improbably high numbers which he used for both the Mongols and the defenders do give one a sense of the large numbers of machines used at a single siege. " ¹

Chinese and Korean troops assault the Japanese forces of Hideyoshi in the Siege of Ulsan Castle during the Imjin War (1592–1598). China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Korea is a geographic area composed of two sovereign countries a civilization and a former state situated on the Korean Peninsula in East Asia. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Japan topics. The Siege of Ulsan ( Hangul: 울산성 전투 Hanja: 蔚山城戰鬪 was an unsuccessful Korean and Chinese attempt to capture Ulsan Castle Two Japanese invasions of Korea and subsequent battles on the Korean peninsula took place during the years 1592-1598

Another Mongol tactic was to use catapults to launch corpses of plague victims into besieged cities. Bubonic plague is the best-known manifestation of the bacterial disease plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis (formerly known as The disease-carrying fleas from the person's body would then infest the city, and the plague would spread allowing the city to be easily captured, although this transmission mechanism was not known at the time. Flea is the Common name for any of the small wingless Insects of the order Siphonaptera (some authorities use the name Aphaniptera In Epidemiology, a vector is an Organism that does not cause Disease itself but which transmits Infection by conveying Pathogens from

On the first night while laying siege to a city, the leader of the Mongol forces would lead from a white tent: if the city surrendered, all would be spared. A tent is a shelter consisting of sheets of fabric or other material draped over or attached to a frame of poles or attached to a supporting rope On the second day, he would use a red tent: if the city surrendered, the men would all be killed, but the rest would be spared. On the third day, he would use a black tent: no quarter would be given.

However, the Chinese weren't completely defenseless, and from 1234 until 1279 AD the Southern Song Chinese held out against the enormous barrage of Mongol attacks. Much of this success in defense lay in the world's first use of gunpowder (ie. Gunpowder is a an explosive mixture of Sulfur, Charcoal and Potassium nitrate (also known as saltpetre/saltpeter that burns rapidly producing volumes with early flamethrowers, grenades, firearms, cannons, and land mines) to fight back against the Khitans, the Tanguts, the Jurchens, and then the Mongols. A flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to project a long controllable stream of Fire. A firearm is a Tool that projects either single or multiple Projectiles at high velocity through a controlled explosion | NOTE Throughout this article "cannon" is used as BOTH the || singular and plural A land mine is an Explosive device designed to be placed on or in the ground to explode when triggered by an operator or the Proximity of a vehicle person The Khitan (or Khitai,) were a Nomadic people, located in Mongolia and modern Manchuria (Northeast China from the 4th century dominating much of it The Tangut ( identified with the state of Western Xia, were a Qiangic - Tibetan people who moved to northwestern China sometime before The Jurchens ( were a Tungus people who inhabited the region of Manchuria ( Northeast China) until the 17th century when they adopted the name Manchu The Chinese of the Song period also discovered the explosive potential of packing hollowed cannonball shells with gunpowder. Written later around 1350 in the Huo Long Jing, this manuscript of Jiao Yu recorded an earlier Song-era cast-iron cannon known as the 'flying-cloud thunderclap eruptor' (fei yun pi-li pao). Jiao Yu ( Traditional and Simplified Chinese: 焦玉 Wade-Giles: Chiao Yü, Hanyu Pinyin: Jiāo Yù) was a Chinese Jiao Yu ( Traditional and Simplified Chinese: 焦玉 Wade-Giles: Chiao Yü, Hanyu Pinyin: Jiāo Yù) was a Chinese The manuscript stated that (Wade-Giles spelling):

The shells (phao) are made of cast iron, as large as a bowl and shaped like a ball. Wade-Giles (ˌweɪdˈʤaɪlz) sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a Romanization system (phonetic notation and Transcription) for the Mandarin Inside they contain half a pound of 'magic' gunpowder (shen huo). They are sent flying towards the enemy camp from an eruptor (mu phao); and when they get there a sound like a thunder-clap is heard, and flashes of light appear. If ten of these shells are fired successfully into the enemy camp, the whole place will be set ablaze. . . ^[10]

During the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 AD), the Chinese were very concerned with city planning in regards to gunpowder warfare. The Ming Dynasty ( or Empire of the Great Ming ( was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol -led The site for constructing the walls and the thickness of the walls in Beijing's Forbidden City were favored by the Chinese Yongle Emperor (r. The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial Palace from the mid- Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. The Yongle Emperor ( Wade-Giles: Yung-lo May 2, 1360 &ndash August 12, 1424) born Zhu Di ( Chu Ti 1402–1424), because they were in pristine position to resist cannon volley and were built thick enough to withstand attacks from cannon fire.

For more see Technology of the Song Dynasty. The Song Dynasty (宋朝 960–1279 CE provided some of the most significant technological advances in Chinese history, many of which came from talented statesmen

Sieges in the age of gunpowder

The introduction of gunpowder and the use of cannons brought about a new age in siege warfare. Gunpowder is a an explosive mixture of Sulfur, Charcoal and Potassium nitrate (also known as saltpetre/saltpeter that burns rapidly producing volumes | NOTE Throughout this article "cannon" is used as BOTH the || singular and plural Cannons were first used in Song Dynasty China during the early 13th century, but did not become significant weapons for another 150 years or so. The Song Dynasty ( Wade-Giles: Sung Ch'ao was a ruling dynasty in China between 960&ndash1279 CE it succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms By the 16th century, they were an essential and regularized part of any campaigning army, or castle's defenses.

The greatest advantage of cannons over other siege weapons was the ability to fire a heavier projectile, further, faster and more often than previous weapons. They could also fire projectiles in a straight line, so that they could destroy the bases of high walls. Thus, 'old fashioned' walls—that is high and, relatively, thin—were excellent targets and, over time, easily demolished. In 1453, the great walls of Constantinople were broken through in just six weeks by the 62 cannon of Mehmet II's army. Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS

However, new fortifications, designed to withstand gunpowder weapons, were soon constructed throughout Europe. During the Renaissance and the Early Modern period, siege warfare continued to dominate the conduct of war in Europe. The Renaissance (from French Renaissance, meaning "rebirth" Italian: Rinascimento, from re- "again" and nascere The early modern period is a term initially used by historians to refer mainly to the period roughly from 1500 to 1800 in Western Europe ( Early modern Europe)

Once siege guns were developed the techniques for assaulting a town or a fortress became well known and ritualized. The attacking army would surround a town. Then the town would be asked to surrender. If they did not comply the besieging army would surround the town with temporary fortifications to stop sallies from the stronghold or relief getting in. The attackers would then build a length of trenches parallel to the defences and just out of range of the defending artillery. They would then dig a trench towards the town in a zigzag pattern so that it could not be enfiladed by defending fire. A zigzag is a Pattern made up of small corners at variable angles though constant within the zigzag tracing a path between two Parallel lines; it can be described Enfilade and defilade are concepts in Military tactics used to describe a military formation's exposure to enemy fire Once within artillery range another parallel trench would be dug with gun emplacements. If necessary using the first artillery fire for cover this process would be repeated until guns were close enough to be laid accurately to make a breach in the fortifications. In order to allow the forlorn hope and support troops to get close enough to exploit the breach, more zigzag trenches could be dug even closer to the walls with more parallel trenches to protect and conceal the attacking troops. Forlorn hope is a military term that comes from the Dutch verloren hoop, literally "lost heap" and adapted as "lost troop" After each step in the process the besiegers would ask the besieged to surrender. If the forlorn hope stormed the breach successfully the defenders could expect no mercy.

Emerging theories on improving fortifications

The castles that in earlier years had been formidable obstacles were easily breached by the new weapons. For example, in Spain, the newly equipped army of Ferdinand and Isabella was able to conquer Moorish strongholds in Granada in 1482–92 that had held out for centuries before the invention of cannons. The Catholic Monarchs (los Reyes Católicos is the collective title used in history for Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon The description Moors has referred to several historic and modern populations of Muslim (and earlier non-Muslim people of Berber and Arab descent Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous region of Andalusia, Spain.

Turks laid siege to Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, for nearly two months in 1453. Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches The Fall of Constantinople refers to the capture of the Byzantine Empire's capital by the Ottoman Empire on Tuesday May 29, 1453 (Julian Calendar Other sieges lasted much longer.

In the early 15th century, Italian architect Leon Battista Alberti wrote a treatise entitled De Re aedificatoria which theorized methods of building fortifications capable of withstanding the new guns. Leon Battista Alberti ( February 14, 1404 &ndash April 25, 1472) was an Italian author artist Architect, Poet He proposed that walls be "built in uneven lines, like the teeth of a saw. " He proposed star-shaped fortresses with low thick walls.

However, few rulers paid any attention to his theories. A few towns in Italy began building in the new style late in the 1480s, but it was only with the French invasion of the Italian peninsula in 1494–95 that the new fortifications were built on a large scale. Charles VIII invaded Italy with an army of 18,000 men and a horse-drawn siege-train. Charles VIII, called the Affable (l'Affable 30 June 1470 &ndash 7 April 1498 was King of France from 1483 to his death As a result he could defeat virtually any city or state, no matter how well defended. In a panic, military strategy was completely rethought throughout the Italian states of the time, with a strong emphasis on the new fortifications that could withstand a modern siege.

New styles of fortresses employed

The most effective way to protect walls against cannon fire proved to be depth (increasing the width of the defenses) and angles (ensuring that attackers could only fire on walls at an oblique angle, not square on). Initially walls were lowered and backed, in front and behind, with earth. Towers were reformed into triangular bastions.

This design matured into the trace italienne. A star fort or trace italienne is a Fortification in the style that evolved during the age of Black powder, when cannons came Star-shaped fortresses surrounding towns and even cities with outlying defenses proved very difficult to capture, even for a well equipped army. Fortresses built in this style throughout the 16th century did not become fully obsolete until the 19th century, and were still in use throughout World War I (though modified for 20th century warfare). World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All

However, the cost of building such vast modern fortifications was incredibly high, and was often too much for individual cities to undertake. Many were bankrupted in the process of building them; others, such as Siena, spent so much money on fortifications that they were unable to maintain their armies properly, and so lost their wars anyway. Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Siena. Nonetheless, innumerable large and impressive fortresses were built throughout northern Italy in the first decades of the 16th century to resist repeated French invasions that became known as the Italian Wars. Many stand to this day.

In the 1530s and 1540s, the new style of fortification began to spread out of Italy into the rest of Europe, particularly to France, the Netherlands, and Spain. The Netherlands ( Dutch:, ˈnedərlɑnt is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands the Netherlands Italian engineers were in enormous demand throughout Europe, especially in war-torn areas such as the Netherlands, which became dotted by towns encircled in modern fortifications. For many years, defensive and offensive tactics were well balanced leading to protracted and costly wars such as Europe had never known, involving more and more planning and government involvement.

The new fortresses ensured that war rarely extended beyond a series of sieges. Because the new fortresses could easily hold 10,000 men, an attacking army could not ignore a powerfully fortified position without serious risk of counterattack. As a result, virtually all towns had to be taken, and that was usually a long, drawn-out affair, potentially lasting from several months to years, while the members of the town were starved to death. Most battles in this period were between besieging armies and relief columns sent to rescue the besieged.

Marshal Vauban

Vauban refined siege warfare by designing fortresses to withstand attacks and planning attacks. Sébastien Le Prestre Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban ( May 15, 1633 – March 30, 1707) commonly referred to

At the end of the 17th century, Marshal Vauban, a French military engineer, developed modern fortification to its pinnacle, refining siege warfare without fundamentally altering it: ditches would be dug; walls would be protected by glacis; and bastions would enfilade an attacker. Sébastien Le Prestre Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban ( May 15, 1633 – March 30, 1707) commonly referred to This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. A glacis ( or) in Military Engineering is an artificial slope of earth used in late European fortresses so constructed as to keep any potential assailant A bastion is a structure projecting outward from the main enclosure of a Fortification, situated in both corners of a straight wall (termed curtain with the shape Enfilade and defilade are concepts in Military tactics used to describe a military formation's exposure to enemy fire He was also a master of planning sieges himself. Before Vauban, sieges had been somewhat slapdash operations. Vauban refined besieging to a science with a methodical process that, if uninterrupted, would break even the strongest fortifications.

Examples of Vauban-style fortresses in North America include Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, Fort Ticonderoga in New York State, and La Citadelle in Quebec City. Fort McHenry, in Baltimore Maryland, is a star shaped fort best known Fort Ticonderoga is a large Eighteenth-century Fort built at a strategically important narrows in Lake Champlain where a short traverse gives access New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous The Citadelle —the French name is used both in English and French—is a military installation and official residence located atop Cap Diamant, adjoining the Plains of Quebec City ( French: Ville de Québec, or simply Québec) (kwɨˈbɛk or /keˈbɛk/ is the Capital of the Canadian province

Planning and maintaining a siege is just as difficult as fending one off. A besieging army must be prepared to repel both sorties from the besieged area and also any attack that may try to relieve the defenders. Sortie is a term for deployment or dispatch of one military unit be it of Aircraft, Ship or in older times of columns of troops from a fort It was thus usual to construct lines of trenches and defenses facing in both directions. The outermost lines, known as the lines of contravallation, would surround the entire besieging army and protect it from attackers. Investment is the military tactic of surrounding an enemy Fort (or town with armed forces to prevent entry or escape This would be the first construction effort of a besieging army, built soon after a fortress or city had been invested. A line of circumvallation would also be constructed, facing in towards the besieged area, to protect against sorties by the defenders and to prevent the besieged from escaping. Investment is the military tactic of surrounding an enemy Fort (or town with armed forces to prevent entry or escape

The next line, which Vauban usually placed at about 600 meters from the target, would contain the main batteries of heavy cannons so that they could hit the target without being vulnerable themselves. Once this line was established, work crews would move forward creating another line at 250 meters. This line contained smaller guns. The final line would be constructed only 30 to 60 meters from the fortress. This line would contain the mortars and would act as a staging area for attack parties once the walls were breached. A mortar is a muzzle-loading Indirect fire weapon that fires shells at low velocities short ranges and high-arcing ballistic trajectories A staging area is a location where organisms people vehicles equipment or material are assembled prior to their use It would also be from there that miners working to undermine the fortress would operate.

The trenches connecting the various lines of the besiegers could not be built perpendicular to the walls of the fortress, as the defenders would have a clear line of fire along the whole trench. Thus, these lines (known as saps) needed to be sharply jagged. Sapping is a term used in siege operations Any trench excavated under defensive musket or artillery fire that was intended to advance a besieging army's position in relation to the works

Another element of a fortress was the citadel. A citadel is a fortress for protecting a Town, sometimes incorporating a Castle. Usually a citadel was a "mini fortress" within the larger fortress, sometimes designed as a last bastion of defense, but more often as a means of protecting the garrison from potential revolt in the city. The citadel was used in wartime and peacetime to keep the residents of the city in line.

As in ages past, most sieges were decided with very little fighting between the opposing armies. An attacker's army was poorly served incurring the high casualties that a direct assault on a fortress would entail. Usually they would wait until supplies inside the fortifications were exhausted or disease had weakened the defenders to the point that they were willing to surrender. At the same time, diseases, especially typhus were a constant danger to the encamped armies outside the fortress, and often forced a premature retreat. Typhus is any of several similar diseases caused by Louse -borne bacteria Sieges were often won by the army that lasted the longest.

An important element of strategy for the besieging army was whether or not to allow the encamped city to surrender. A Strategy is a long term plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal, most often "winning Usually it was preferable to graciously allow a surrender, both to save on casualties, and to set an example for future defending cities. Surrender is when Soldiers, nations or other combatants stop fighting and become Prisoners of war, either as A city that was allowed to surrender with minimal loss of life was much better off than a city that held out for a long time and was brutally butchered at the end. Moreover, if an attacking army had a reputation of killing and pillaging regardless of a surrender, then other cities' defensive efforts would be redoubled.

Advent of mobile warfare

Siege warfare dominated in Western Europe for most of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. As a means of recording the passage of Time, the 17th Century was that Century which lasted from 1601 - 1700 in the Gregorian calendar The 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini / Common Era numbering system An entire campaign, or longer, could be used in a single siege (for example, Ostend in 1601–04; La Rochelle in 1627–28). ||-||-||} Ostend  (  Oostende, French and German Ostende) is a Belgian City and municipality located in the Flemish La Rochelle is a city in western France, and a Seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. This resulted in extremely prolonged conflicts. The balance was that while siege warfare was extremely expensive and very slow, it was very successful—or, at least, more so than encounters in the field. Battles arose through clashes between besiegers and relieving armies, but the principle was a slow grinding victory by the greater economic power. The relatively rare attempts at forcing pitched battles (Gustavus Adolphus in 1630; the French against the Dutch in 1672 or 1688) were almost always expensive failures. For the other Swedish kings known as Gustavus Adolphus see Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden or Gustav VI Adolf of Sweden

The exception to this rule were the English. During the English Civil War anything which tended to prolong the struggle, or seemed like want of energy and avoidance of a decision, was bitterly resented by the men of both sides. The English Civil War (1642-1651 was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists. In France and Germany, the prolongation of a war meant continued employment for the soldiers, but in England:

"we never encamped or entrenched. . . or lay fenced with rivers or defiles. Defile is a geographic term for a narrow pass or gorge between mountains or hills Here were no leaguers in the field, as at the story of Nuremberg, 'neither had our soldiers any tents, or what they call heavy baggage. The Siege of Nuremberg or Siege of Nürnberg was a battle campaign that took place in 1632 about the Imperial Free City of Nürnberg (Nuremberg during ' Twas the general maxim of the war: Where is the enemy? Let us go and fight them. Or. . . if the enemy was coming. . . Why, what should be done! Draw out into the fields and fight them. "^[11]

This passage from the Memoirs of a Cavalier,^[12] ascribed to Daniel Defoe, though not contemporary evidence, is an admirable summary of the character of the Civil War. Daniel Defoe (1659/1661 — April 24, 1731 was an English Writer, Journalist, and Pamphleteer, who gained enduring fame for Even when in the end a regular professional army developed, the original decision-compelling spirit permeated the whole organisation as was seen when pitched against regular professional continental troops the Battle of the Dunes during the Interregnum. The Battle of the Dunes, fought on June 14 (Gregorian calendar 1658 is also known as the Battle of Dunkirk. The English Interregnum was the period of Parliamentary and Military rule in the land occupied by modern-day England and Wales after the ^[11]

Sixty year later during the War of the Spanish Succession the Duke of Marlborough preferred to engage the enemy in pitched battles rather than engage in siege warfare, although he was very proficient in both types of warfare. In the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714 several European powers combined to stop French succession to the Spanish throne and what would likely have been a resulting

In the early nineteenth century, two factors changed this method of warfare.

Strategic concepts

In the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, new techniques stressed the division of armies into all-arms corps that would march separately and only come together on the battlefield. The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts from 1792 until 1802 fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states The Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815 involved Napoleon's French Empire and a shifting set of European allies and opposing coalitions The less concentrated army could now live off the country and move more rapidly over a larger number of roads. Fortresses commanding lines of communication could be bypassed and would no longer stop an invasion. Since armies could not live off the land indefinitely, Napoleon Bonaparte always sought a quick end to any conflict by pitched battle. Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. This military revolution was described and codified by Clausewitz. Carl Philipp Gottlieb von Clausewitz (ˈklaʊzəvɪts ( July 1, 1780 – November 16, 1831) was a Prussian soldier military historian

Industrial advances

For ten months from 1864 to 1865, Union soldiers laid siege against Confederate positions in the siege at Petersburg, Virginia during the American Civil War. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The Confederate States of America (also called the Confederacy, the Confederate States, and CSA) formed as the government set up from 1861 The Richmond-Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865 Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South

Advances in artillery made previously impregnable defenses useless. For example, the walls of Vienna that had held off the Turks in the mid-seventeenth century were no obstacle to Napoleon in the late eighteenth. The Battle of Vienna ( German: Schlacht am Kahlenberg, Polish: Bitwa pod Wiedniem or Odsiecz Wiedeńska, Turkish: İkinci The Ottoman Empire (1299–1923 ( Old Ottoman Turkish: دولتْ علیّه عثمانیّه Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Late Ottoman and Modern Turkish Napoleon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821 was a French military and political leader who had a significant impact on the History of Europe. Where sieges occurred (such as the Siege of Delhi and the Siege of Cawnpore during the Indian Rebellion of 1857), the attackers were usually able to defeat the defenses within a matter of days or weeks, rather than weeks or months as previously. The Siege of Delhi was one of the decisive conflicts of the Indian rebellion of 1857, or First War of Indian Independence as it has since been termed in Indian The Siege of Cawnpore was a key episode in the Indian rebellion of 1857. The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of Sepoys of British East India Company 's army on the 10th of May 1857 in the town of Meerut, The great Swedish white-elephant fortress of Karlsborg was built in the tradition of Vauban and intended as a reserve capital for Sweden, but it was obsolete before it was completed in 1869. Karlsborg Fortress is situated on the Vannäs peninsula in Karlsborg by lake Vättern, the province of Västergötland, Sweden. (It was said that the Prussian General von Moltke, a great exponent of the art of mobile warfare, smiled only twice in his life; when he saw the fortress of Karlsborg, and when his wife's mother died. Helmuth Karl Bernhard Graf After the Franco-Prussian War Moltke superintended the preparation of its history which was published between 1874 and 1881 by the great general staff )

Railways, when they were introduced, made possible the movement and supply of larger armies than those that fought in the Napoleonic Wars. It also reintroduced siege warfare, as armies seeking to use railway lines in enemy territory were forced to capture fortresses which blocked these lines. During the Franco-Prussian War, the battlefield front-lines moved rapidly through France. The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War ( 19 July, 1870 — 10 May, 1871 However, the Prussian and other German armies were delayed for months at the Siege of Metz and the Siege of Paris, due to the greatly increased firepower of the defending infantry, and the principle of detached or semi-detached forts with heavy-caliber artillery. The Siege of Metz lasting from September 3 &ndash October 23 1870 was a crushing defeat for the French during the Franco-Prussian War. The Siege of Paris, lasting from September 19, 1870 &ndash January 28, 1871, brought about French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War Artillery (from French artillerie) is a military Combat Arm which employs any apparātus machine This resulted in the later construction of fortress works across Europe such as the massive fortifications at Verdun. Verdun (medieval Wirten official name before 1970 Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city and commune It also led to the introduction of tactics which sought to induce surrender by bombarding the civilian population within a fortress rather than the defending works themselves.

The Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) during the Crimean War and the Siege of Petersburg (1864–1865) during the American Civil War showed that modern citadels, when improved by improvised defences, could still resist an enemy for many months. The Crimean War, also known in Russia as the Eastern War (Восточная война Vostochnaya Vojna) (March 1854–February 1856 was fought The Richmond-Petersburg Campaign was a series of battles around Petersburg Virginia, fought from June 9, 1864, to March 25, 1865 Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South The Siege of Pleven during the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) proved that hastily-constructed field defences could resist attacks prepared without proper resources, and were a portent of the trench warfare of World War I. The Siege of Pleven (or Plevna) during the Russo-Turkish War 1877–78, saw a major struggle between the joint army of Romania and Russia The Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 had its origins in a rise in nationalism in the Balkans as well as in the Russian goal of recovering territorial losses it had suffered World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All

Advances in firearms technology without the necessary advances in battlefield communications gradually led to the defense again gaining the ascendancy. An example of siege during this time, prolonged during 337 days due to the isolation of the surrounded troops, was the Siege of Baler, in which a reduced group of Spanish soldiers, was besieged in a small church by the Philippine rebels, in the course of the Philippine Revolution and the Spanish-American War, until months after the Treaty of Paris, the end of the conflict. Los últimos de Filipinas ( Spanish: "The last ones of the Philippines " is the name given to the Spanish soldiers who fought at the Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The Philippines ( Filipino: Pilipinas, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (fil ''Republika ng Pilipinas'' RP This article is about a late 19th-century revolution For a late 20th-century event also referred to as Philippine Revolution see People Power Revolution. The Treaty of Paris of 1898, signed on December 10, 1898, ended the Spanish-American War.

Modern warfare

This sepoy POW shows the conditions of the garrison at Kut at the end of the siege

Mainly as a result of the increasing firepower (such as machine guns) available to defensive forces, First World War trench warfare briefly revived a form of siege warfare. For other uses of the phrase see Machine Gun (disambiguation. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Trench warfare is a form of warfare where both combatants have fortified positions and fighting lines are static Although siege warfare had moved out from an urban setting because city walls had become ineffective against modern weapons, trench warfare was nonetheless able to utilize many of the techniques of siege warfare in its prosecution (sapping, mining, barrage and, of course, attrition) but on a much larger scale and on a greatly extended front. Sapping is a term used in siege operations Any trench excavated under defensive musket or artillery fire that was intended to advance a besieging army's position in relation to the works Mining, undermining, or sapping was a Siege method used since antiquity against a Walled city, Fortress or Castle Artillery (from French artillerie) is a military Combat Arm which employs any apparātus machine This article is about the military strategy For the Israeli-Egyptian conflict see War of Attrition, for the game theoretical model see War of attrition (game

More traditional sieges of fortifications took place in addition to trench sieges. The Siege of Tsingtao was one of the first major sieges of the war, but the inability for significant resupply of the German garrison made it a relatively one sided battle. The Siege of Tsingtao was the attack on the German-controlled port of Tsingtao (now Qingdao) in China during World War I by Imperial Japan and the The Germans and the crew of an Austro-Hungarian protected cruiser put up a hopeless defense and after holding out for more than a week surrendered to the Japanese, forcing the German East Asia Squadron to steam towards South America for a new coal source. Protected cruisers were a type of naval Cruiser of the late 19th century so known because their deck armour offered protection for vital machine spaces from shrapnel caused The German East Asia Squadron was a German Kaiserliche Marine (naval Cruiser Squadron which operated mainly in the Pacific Ocean

The other major siege outside Europe during the First World War was in Mesopotamia, at the Siege of Kut. The Siege of Kut was a major battle of World War I. It was part of the Mesopotamian Campaign (in what is now Iraq) After a failed attempt to move on Baghdad, stopped by the Ottomans at the bloody Battle of Ctesiphon, the British and their large contingent of Indian sepoy soldiers were forced to retreat to Kut, where the Ottomans under German General Baron Colmar von der Goltz laid siege. A sepoy (ˈsipɔɪ (from Persian سپاهی Sipâhi meaning "soldier" was a native of India, a soldier allied to a European power usually the Wilhelm Leopold Colmar Freiherr von der Goltz ( August 12 1843 &ndash April 19 1916) also known as Goltz Pasha, was a Prussian The British attempts to resupply the force via the Tigris river failed, and rationing was complicated by the refusal of many Indian troops to eat cattle products. By the time the garrison fell on 29 April 1916, starvation was rampant. Conditions did not improve greatly under Turkish imprisonment. Along with the Battle of Tanga, the Battle of Sandfontein, the Battle of Gallipoli and the Battle of Namakura, it would be one of Britain's numerous embarrassing colonial defeats of the war. The Battle of Tanga (sometimes nicknamed the " Battle of the Bees " was the blundered attempt by the British Indian Army to capture German East

The largest sieges of the war, however, took place in Europe. The initial German advance into Belgium produced four major sieges, the Battle of Liege, the Battle of Namur, the Siege of Maubeuge and the Siege of Antwerp. The Battle of Liège was the opening battle of the German invasion into Belgium, and the first battle of World War I. The Siege of Maubeuge took place between August 24 and September 7, 1914 when the French garrison of the Maubeuge Fortress finally The Siege of Antwerp was an engagement of the Germans and the Belgians during World War I.

This Skoda gun was the best siege mortar of the war

All three would prove crushing German victories, at Liege and Namur against the Belgians, at Maubeuge against the French and at Antwerp against a combined Anglo-Belgian force. The weapon that made these victories possible were the German Big Berthas and the Skoda 305 mm Model 1911 siege mortars on loan from Austria-Hungary. The Škoda 305 cm Mörser M 11 was a siege Howitzer produced by Škoda Works and used by the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I. These huge guns were the decisive weapon of siege warfare in the 20th century, taking part at Przemysl, the Belgian sieges, on the Italian Front and Serbian Front, and even being reused in World War II.

At the second Siege of Przemysl the Austro-Hungarian garrison showed an excellent knowledge of siege warfare, not only waiting for relief, but sending sorties into Russian lines and employing an active defense that resulted in the capture of the Russian General Kornilov. The Siege of Przemyśl was one of the greatest sieges of the First World War, and a crushing defeat for Austria-Hungary. Despite its excellent performance, the garrison's food supply had been requisitioned for earlier offensives, a relief expedition was stalled by the weather, ethnic rivalries flared up between the defending soldiers and a breakout attempt failed. When the commander of the garrison Hermann Kusmanek finally surrendered, his troops were eating their horses and the first attempt of large scale air supply had failed. It was one of the few great victories obtained by either side during the war, 110,000 Austro-Hungarian prisoners were marched back to Russia.

The largest siege of the war, and the arguably the roughest, most gruesome battle in history, was the Battle of Verdun. The Battle of Verdun was one of the most critical battles in World War I on the Western Front, fought between the German and French Whether the battle can be considered true siege warfare is debatable. Under the theories of Erich von Falkenhayn it is more distinguishable as purely attrition with a coincidental presence of fortifications on the battlefield. Erich von Falkenhayn ( 11 September 1861 &ndash 8 April 1922) was a German Soldier and Chief of the General Staff When considering the plans of Crown Prince Wilhelm, purely concerned with taking the citadel and not with French casualty figures, it can be considered a true siege. This article is about the Crown Prince Wilhelm For German ships of the same name please see the Kronprinz Wilhelm or SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm. The main fortifications were Fort Douaumont, Fort Vaux and the fortified city of Verdun itself. Douaumont is a village and a commune in the Meuse département in France, near Verdun. Fort Vaux, located in Vaux-Devant-Damloup, Meuse, France, became the second Fort to fall in the Battle of Verdun. The Germans, through the use of a huge artillery bombardments, flamethrowers and infiltration tactics were able to capture both Vaux and Douaumont, but were never able to take the city, and eventually lost most of their gains. It was a battle that, despite the French ability to fend off the Germans, neither side won. The German losses were not worth the potential capture of the city and the French casualties were not worth holding the symbol of her defense.

One of the bunkers of the Verdun citadel

The development of the armoured tank and improved infantry tactics at the end of World War I swung the pendulum back in favour of maneuver, and with the advent of Blitzkrieg in 1939, the end of siege warfare was near its end. A tank is a tracked, Armoured fighting vehicle designed for Front-line combat which combines Operational mobility and tactical The Infantry is the oldest and most numerous of the Combat Arms in the Armed forces, and consists Military tactics ( Greek: Taktikē, the art of organizing an army are the techniques for using weapons or military units in combination for engaging and defeating The Maginot Line would be the prime example of the failure of immobile fortifications post World War One. The Maginot Line (IPA, Ligne Maginot named after French Minister of Defense André Maginot, was a line of concrete Fortifications tank obstacles artillery Although sieges would continue, it would be in a totally different style and on a reduced scale.

The Blitzkrieg of the Second World War truly showed that fixed fortifications are easily defeated by maneuver instead of frontal assault or long sieges. Blitzkrieg (German for "lightning war" is a popular name for an Offensive operational-level Military doctrine which involves an initial World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The great Maginot Line was bypassed and battles that would have taken weeks of siege could now be avoided with the careful application of air power (such as the German paratrooper capture of Fort Eben-Emael, Belgium, early in World War II). The Maginot Line (IPA, Ligne Maginot named after French Minister of Defense André Maginot, was a line of concrete Fortifications tank obstacles artillery Paratroopers are Soldiers trained in Parachuting and generally operate as part of an airborne force. Eben-Emael was a Belgian fortress between Liège and Maastricht, near the Albert Canal, defending the Belgian-German border

Approximately one million civilians died of starvation and exposure in the Siege of Leningrad

The most important siege was the Siege of Leningrad, that lasted over 29 months, about half of the duration of the entire Second World War. The Siege of Leningrad, also known as The Leningrad Blockade ( Russian: блокада Ленинграда ( transliteration: blokada Leningrada The Siege of Leningrad, also known as The Leningrad Blockade ( Russian: блокада Ленинграда ( transliteration: blokada Leningrada Along with the Battle of Stalingrad, the Siege of Leningrad on the Eastern Front was the deadliest siege of a city in history. The Battle of Stalingrad is a commonly used name in English sources for several large operations by Germany and its allies and Soviet forces conducted with the The Eastern Front of World War II (die Ostfront 1941-1945, der Rußlandfeldzug 1941-1945 (Russian campaign or der Ostfeldzug 1941-1945 (Eastern Campaign In the west apart from the Battle of the Atlantic the sieges were not on the same scale as those on the European Eastern front; however, there were several notable or critical sieges: the island of Malta for which the population won the George Cross, Tobruk and Monte Cassino. The Battle of the Atlantic was the longest continuous Military campaign of World War II, (though some say it was a series of naval Military campaigns Malta, officially the Republic of Malta (Repubblika ta' Malta is a European Microstate, comprising an Archipelago of three islands The George Cross ( GC) is the highest Civil decoration of the Commonwealth of Nations. The Siege of Tobruk was a lengthy confrontation between Axis and Allied forces in North Africa during the Western Desert Campaign of World War Monte Cassino has made it the repeated scene of battles and Sieges from antiquity. In the South-East Asian Theatre there was the siege of Singapore and in the Burma Campaign sieges of Myitkyina, the Admin Box and the Battle of the Tennis Court which was the high water mark for the Japanese advance into India. The South-East Asian Theatre of World War II was the name given to the campaigns of the Pacific War in India, Thailand, Singapore The Burma Campaign in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II was fought primarily between British Commonwealth, Chinese and United Myitkyina ( in English pronounced myiʔʧíná) is the Capital city of Kachin State in Myanmar (formerly Burma located 919 miles from The Battle of the Admin Box (sometimes referred to as the Battle of Ngakyedauk or the Battle of Sinzweya) took place on the Southern Front of the Burma Campaign The Battle of the Tennis Court was the turning point in the Battle of Kohima in North East India from April 4 – June 22 1944. For usage see British rule in India British Raj ( rāj, lit "reign" in Hindustani) primarily refers to the British

The air supply methods which were developed and used extensively in the Burma Campaign for supplying the Chindits and other units, including those in sieges such as Imphal, as well as flying the Hump into China, allowed the western powers to develop air lift expertise which would prove vital during the Cold War Berlin Blockade. The Chindits (Officially in 1942 77th Indian Infantry Brigade and in 1943 Indian 3rd Infantry Division) were a British Indian Army "Special Force" that served The Battle of Imphal took place in the region around the city of Imphal, the capital of the state of Manipur in North-East India from March until July The Hump was the name given by Allied pilots in the Second World War to the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains over which they flew from India Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 11 May 1949 was one of the first major international crises of the Cold war.

During the Vietnam War the battles of Dien Bien Phu (1954) and Khe Sanh (1968) possessed siege-like characteristics. The Vietnam War, also known as the Second Indochina War, or the Vietnam Conflict, occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia The Battle of Dien Bien Phu (Bataille de Diên Biên Phu Chiến dịch Điện Biên Phủ was the climactic battle of the First Indochina War between French Union The Battle of Khe Sanh, or Operation Scotland, Operation Pegasus, was conducted in northwestern Quang Tri Province, Republic of Vietnam In both cases, the Vietminh and NLF were able to cut off the opposing army by capturing the surrounding rugged terrain. The Việt Minh (abbreviated from Việt Nam Ðộc Lập Ðồng Minh Hội, English "League for the Independence of Vietnam" was a National liberation At Dien Bien Phu, the French were unable to use air power to overcome the siege and were defeated. However, at Khe Sanh a mere 14 years later, advances in air power allowed the United States to withstand the siege. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The resistance of US forces was assisted by the PAVN and PLAF forces' decision to use the Khe Sanh siege as strategic distraction to allow their mobile warfare offensive, the first Tet offensive to unfold securely. The Vietnam People's Army ( VPA) (Quân Đội Nhân Dân Việt Nam is the official name of the Armed forces of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The Tet Offensive was a military campaign conducted between 30 January and 23 September 1968, by forces of the Vietcong, or National Front for The Siege of Khe Sanh displays typical features of modern sieges, as the defender has greater capacity to withstand siege, the attacker's main aim is to bottle operational forces, or create a strategic distraction, rather than take a siege to conclusion.

Recent sieges

• From 1980 to 11 April 1991 During the Soviet war in Afghanistan, and subsequent Afghan Civil War, the city of Khost was under siege for more than 11 years. Events 491 - Flavius Anastasius becomes Byzantine Emperor, with the name of Anastasius I. Year 1991 ( MCMXCI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar. The Soviet war in Afghanistan, also known as the Soviet-Afghan War or just the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, was a nine-year conflict involving The Civil war in Afghanistan, also known as Afghan Civil War, began in 1978 and has continued Khost or Khowst ( خوست, Persian: خوست - Xowst) is a town in eastern Afghanistan. The Siege of Khost: during the nine-year Soviet war in Afghanistan in the 1980s the town of Khost was besieged for more than eleven years It is considered the longest siege in modern history.

• From 5 April 1992 to 29 February 1996 the Siege of Sarajevo took place, where Sarajevo, then controlled by the Bosnian government, was besieged by the Serb paramilitary. Events 456 - St Patrick returns to Ireland as a missionary bishop Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar) Leap years Although the modern calendar counts a year as 365 days a complete revolution around the sun takes approximately 365 days and 6 hours Year 1996 ( MCMXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display full 1996 Gregorian calendar) The Siege of Sarajevo was conducted by the Serb forces of self-proclaimed Republika Srpska and Yugoslav People's Army (later transformed to the TemplateInfobox City for more fields--> Sarajevo is the Capital city and largest urban center of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Latin script: Bosna i Hercegovina, Cyrillic script: Босна и Херцеговина is a country on the Balkan Serbs ( Serbian: Срби Srbi) are a South Slavic people living in the Balkans and Central Europe, mainly in Serbia,

• In 2004, United States forces laid siege to the Iraqi city of Fallujah. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the For other meanings see Fallujah (disambiguation. Fallujah (الفلوجة sometimes transliterated

• The Siege of Sangin, that lasted between June 2006 and April 2007, during which time Taliban insurgents attempted to besiege the district centre of Sangin District in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, occupied by British ISAF soldiers. The Siege of Sangin lasted between June 2006 and April 2007 during which time Taliban insurgents besieged the district centre of Sangin District in The Taliban insurgency took root shortly after the group's fall from power following the 2001 war in Afghanistan. Sangin is a district in the east of Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Helmand ( هلمند) is one of the 34 Provinces of Afghanistan. Afghanistan /æfˈgænɪstæn/ officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located International Security Assistance Force (10 ( ISAF) is a NATO -led security and development mission in Afghanistan established by the United Nations

Police actions

Despite the overwhelming might of the modern state, siege tactics continue to be employed in police conflicts. Police are agents or agencies usually of the executive, empowered to enforce the law and to effect public and social order through the legitimatized use of force This has been due to a number of factors, primarily risk to life, whether that of the police, the besieged, bystanders or hostages. A hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security Police make use of trained negotiators, psychologists and, if necessary, force, generally being able to rely on the support of their nation's armed forces if required. For Wikipedia's negotiation policy see WikipediaNegotiation. For other uses see Negotiation (disambiguation. Psychology (from Greek grc ψῡχή psȳkhē, "breath life soul" and grc -λογία -logia) is an Academic and For the military meaning see Armed forces. For the Soviet sports society see Armed Forces (sports society Armed Forces

One of the complications facing police in a siege involving hostages is the Stockholm syndrome where sometimes hostages can develop a sympathetic rapport with their captors. Stockholm syndrome is a psychological response sometimes seen in an abducted hostage in which the hostage shows signs of loyalty to the hostage-taker regardless of the danger If this helps keep them safe from harm this is considered to be a good thing, but there have been cases where hostages have tried to shield the captors during an assault or refused to co-operate with the authorities in bringing prosecutions.

The 1993 police siege on the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas, lasted 51 days, an atypically long police siege. The Waco Siege (also known as the Waco Massacre) took place on February 28 The Branch Davidians are a Sect that originated from a schism in 1955 from the Davidian Seventh Day Adventists, themselves former members of the Waco (ˈweɪkoʊ is a city in and the County seat of McLennan County, Texas. Texas ( is a state geographically located in the South Central United States and is also known as the Lone Star State. Unlike traditional military sieges, police sieges tend to last for hours or days rather than weeks, months or years.

In Britain if the siege involves perpetrators who are considered by the British Government to be terrorists, then if an assault is to take place, the civilian authorities hand command and control over to the military. The threat of such an action ended the Balcombe Street Siege in 1975 but the Iranian Embassy Siege in 1980 ended in a military assault and the death of all but one of the hostage takers. The Balcombe Street Siege was an incident involving members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA and London 's Metropolitan Police Service lasting The Iranian Embassy Siege of 1980 was a Siege of the Iranian embassy in London after it had been taken over by Iranian Arab Separatists

See also

• Biological warfare
• Infiltration
• List of established military terms
• List of sieges
• Siege of Sarajevo
• Mole
• Hostage crisis
• Siege engines
• Siege equipment

Notes

1. ^ Merriam-Webster: siege
2. ^ Merriam-Webster: invest
3. ^ Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture By Banister Fletcher, Sir, Dan (EDT) Cruickshank, Dan Cruickhank, Sir Banister Fletcher. Biological warfare (BW — known as a germ warfare, biological weapons and bioweaponry — is the use of any Pathogen ( Bacterium In Warfare infiltration tactics involve small lightly-equipped Infantry forces attacking enemy rear areas while bypassing enemy front-line strongpoints and isolating This is a list of established military terms which have been in use for at least 50 years A Siege is a prolonged Military Assault and Blockade on a City or Fortress with the intent of conquering by force or Attrition The Siege of Sarajevo was conducted by the Serb forces of self-proclaimed Republika Srpska and Yugoslav People's Army (later transformed to the A mole (also called a defector in place, an informant and in the Mafia a rat) is a Spy who works for an enemy Nation, but whose loyalty A hostage crisis develops when one or more Terrorists or Criminals hold people against their will and try to hold off the Authorities by force Published 1996 Architectural Press. Architecture. 1696 pages. ISBN 0750622679. pg no 20
4. ^ The Encyclopedia of World History: ancient, medieval, and modern, chronologically arranged By Peter N. Stearns, William Leonard Langer. Compiled by William L Langer. Published 2001 Houghton Mifflin Books. History / General History. ISBN 0395652375. pg 17
5. ^ Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture By Banister Fletcher, Sir, Dan (EDT) Cruickshank, Dan Cruickhank, Sir Banister Fletcher. Published 1996 Architectural Press. Architecture. 1696 pages. ISBN 0750622679. pg no 100
6. ^ ^{a b} Needham, Volume 4, Part 2, 43.
7. ^ Needham, Volume 5, Part 6, 446.
8. ^ ^{a b} Ebrey, 29.
9. ^ Turnbull, 40.
10. ^ Needham, Volume 5, Part 7, 264.
11. ^ ^{a b} Encyclopaedia Britannica Eleventh Edition article GREAT REBELLION: 2. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The Royalist and Parliamentarian Armies
12. ^ Memoirs of a Cavalier by Daniel Defoe at Project Gutenberg

References

• Duffy, Christopher. Daniel Defoe (1659/1661 — April 24, 1731 was an English Writer, Journalist, and Pamphleteer, who gained enduring fame for Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to Digitize, archive and distribute Cultural works Fire & Stone: The Science of Fortress Warfare (1660–1860). 1975. 2nd ed. New York: Stackpole Books, 1996.
• Duffy, Christopher. Siege Warfare: Fortress in the Early Modern World, 1494–1660. Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1996.
• Duffy, Christopher. Siege Warfare, Volume II: The Fortress in the Age of Vauban and Frederick the Great. Routledge and Kegan Paul: London, 1985.
• Lynn, John A. The Wars of Louis XIV.
• Ebrey, Walthall, Palais (2006). East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
• May, Timothy. "Mongol Arms. " Explorations in Empire, Pre-Modern Imperialism Tutorial: the Mongols. University of Wisconsin-Madison. 27 June 2004. Events 1358 - Republic of Dubrovnik is founded 1709 - Peter the Great defeats Charles XII of Sweden "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again "
• Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 4, Part 2. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd.
• Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 5, Part 6. Taiepi: Caves Books Ltd.
• Needham, Joseph (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 5, Part 7. Taipei: Caves Books Ltd.
• Saltini Antonio, L'assedio della Mirandola. Vita, guerra e amore al tempo di Pico e di papa Giulio, Diabasis, Reggio Emilia 2003
• Turnbull, Stephen R. (2002). Siege Weapons of the Far East. Oxford: Osprey Publishing Ltd.

External links

• Native American Siege Warfare.
• Siege Kits
• Scenes of Siege Warfare
• Secrets of Lost Empires: Medieval Siege (PBS) Informative and interactive webpages about medieval siege tactics.
• Three ancient Egyptian Sieges: Megiddo, Dapur, Hermopolis (archived version)
• The Siege Of The City Biblical perspectives.