Geography I.

This is coolbert:

Some aspects of military geography I was not so conversant with. From an entry by Robert Cowley as seen in the "Military History" compendium:

1. "Armies have always chosen the paths of least resistance, staked out by geological features."

Paths to include [but hardly limited to]:

* Bosporus.
* Northern Italy.
* Israel [Levant].
* Khyber Pass
* Flanders.
* Eurasian steppe land.

For clarification:

* Levant that area directly adjacent to the eastern most coast of the Mediterranean.
* Khyber Pass only one of several passes through the mountains acting as a barrier between Afghanistan and the Indian sub-continent.

2. "Certain areas are combat-intensive, it follows that military actions have converged repeatedly on a handful of places."

Areas to include [but hardly limited to]:

* Vimy Ridge.
* Panipat.
* Jerusalem.
* Adrianople.

WITH REGARD TO THE LATTER: "Adrianopole [now called Edirne] west of the Bosporus" that "most fought-over place" . . . "Adrianople has witnessed no fewer than fifteen major battles and sieges between 323 A.D. and 1913 A.D."

MOST fought over. Hardly a good thing I would think.

Give us this day your daily geography lesson and all devoted readers are more the better for it too. Your truly included!

More to follow!

coolbert.







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