106 years have passed since the end of the first world of wolves, which we associate with the date November 11, 1918. In some hundreds of France, this past is evident from the memories of our great-grandfathers and neekan iv.
Even the first world wolf jet did not end up in those regions that are marked with different colors on the maps of the Scurit Civile, Department of Public Security. The green, yellow and red islands depict the cities through which the front passed in the form of endless lines of trenches, half-fortifications, barbed wire and minefields. And finally, the area of heavy anti-aircraft bombardment destroyed the landscape and transformed it beyond recognition.
The barrage of artillery was so thorough that it wiped out entire villages, towns, bridges, roads, railways, forests. She created an unadulterated image of destruction, where nothing but an endless field of craters could be found. The earth is empty, full and lifeless, almost like on the surface of the Moon. These cities have remained relatively untouched to this day, as an unwanted reminder of the past.
Because they are full of deadly traps that can still kill. And of course kill.
Dla pestala to steel the positions near the village of Butte de Vaquois dvno. The explosion didn’t go off, the ammunition is here but call today.
Just to give an idea, during the ten-month offensive in 1916 at the city-fortress of Verdun, 60 million anti-aircraft projectiles of various years were fired. Of them, a quarter did not explode after impact and lay buried in the ground, due to their susceptibility to explosion.
Verdun, from which, after desperate battles and a somewhat desperate defense, became a huge mill for human flesh, 300,000 soldiers fell here, is nothing but the most cackling fall. Not the only one. The situation, as far as casualties and casualties were concerned, was similar along the entire front line, which led them through the northwest of France. During the years of the wolves, about seven percent of the French land was irrevocably destroyed in this way.
More than three thousand villages in various departments were destroyed, from Nord on the coast to Bas-Rhin on the border with France.
Three-color path to the right
When the wolf died, you had to react to it. The Ministry for Liberated Land was newly established under the authority of the law. It was primarily aimed at clearing large areas of human bodies and unexploded ordnance. Many prisoners, prisoners of war, foreign specialists and volunteers from all over the world took part in it.
The map showing green, yellow and red dates to 1921. A hundred years later, the area of red has decreased tenfold, but it still remains in the countryside.
Even with the best of intentions, it was not possible to save everything. Therefore, color signs were drawn on the maps, indicating the current priority of repair and the danger of various locations.
Zones vertes, distinguished by green, characterized the land, it suffered a minimal code. The front lines led through them, but the fighting on them took place with less intensity. After the human remains, iron rod and unexploded ammunition were collected here, the land could be dug up by the original owner and be enclosed, with certain exceptions, in the current way. Therefore, deep plowing was not allowed on them, for example, which could uncover traps for unexploded ammunition hidden underground.
lut women, zones jaunes, were damaged very heavily, especially with localized ink. A hypothetical example would be a hill above a French village that served as a command post for the wolves. The hill was completely unrecognizable, the concentration of unexploded ammunition on it was really striking. But the rest of the cadastre was not so devastated. And in cooperation with pyrotechnics, it was at least theoretically possible to prepare the city for the return of the inhabitants.
This is what remains of the church in Craonne and the village hall. The whole area became a red mess after the wolf.
The Nrtek era captures the front line before the Second Battle of the Marne. At that time, Vtina from the mentioned villages definitely disappeared from the map.
The limitation of life expectancy in many women was striking. People were not allowed to move outside the well-marked roads, every construction or reconstruction work here had to undergo a thorough inspection. There was also a problem with the security of the water source.
As of 2012, the consumption of water from local wells was prohibited in 544 municipalities that were located in the vicinity of the floodplain. Due to the high perchlorate content. This chemical substance was also used to make munitions, and it still seeps into the groundwater from contaminated soil.
Digging a line near Longueval on the Somme. Seven percent of the land of France looked like a wolf.
While the green women could be repaired relatively easily, that is why they had the priority of saving, and in the luches he did not have the energy to drill life, above the Zones rouges, the red women, they broke their heads.
The Ministry for the Liberation of these areas, which are usually the closest to the front lines, were supposed to be completely destroyed. Their description from 1919 also testifies to this: Completely devastated. building codes in 100%. codes for agriculture pd 100%. Can’t find out. Human life is not possible here.
The wolf remained in the crimson forest
The Zones rouges were fenced off and the entry of civilians into them was strictly prohibited. Aside from the sign with the inscription Danger de Mort, mortal danger, accompanied by a picture of a skull and crossbones, everyone was sure to understand.
These areas are full of unexploded ordnance, including many gas grants and caustic munitions. The soil on them was strongly poisoned by lead, mercury, chlorine, and acids. And decaying human and animal remains.
To clarify, one kilogram of mucus from the surface of any battle near Wovre contains 175.9 grams of arsenic on average. So don’t be afraid to poison or get rid of sludge at the old ore mines. And in a single hour of walking near Verdun, increase the concentration of lead in your blood as if you had walked around the exhaust pipe of a car on the highway for half a year.
In 1919, erven zny covered an area of 1,800 square kilometers. For safety and hygiene reasons, housing, agriculture and forestry were prohibited in these areas. However, the French government, not least because of the pressure of the peasants and foresters, had to approach the walls of this country as well. By 1927, 70% of the total area was covered by red wine, to 490 square kilometers. They could at least serve as pasture boundaries.
Today, the area of the rogue Zones has grown to over 100 kilometers. But don’t think that their life could change for a long time. The French Department of Public Safety, which is in charge of their removal, estimates that at the current rate it could take 700 years to fully repair them.
Nothing remains of the fortress of Douaumont. Only the undulating landscape is dotted with craters reminiscent of the events that took place here more than a hundred years ago.
Depreciation of those large areas is an abbreviation of gas. And it’s not just about the unexploded ammunition itself, which today is being dumped in a pile of 900 tons of ammunition. On every hectare of soil, there are on average around 100 unexploded explosives within 15 centimeters below the surface. yes, and seven hundred. And every piblin twenty is gas. With mustard gas, phosgene, chlorine.
Unexploded ammunition can theoretically be picked up and disposed of with maximum effort and resources, but chemically contaminated soil will take 10,000 years to recover, according to experts’ estimates.
Explosives and poisons, which killed more than a hundred years ago, continue to destroy and kill here. Dl poison the soil, water, fungi and life.
Because of them, a landscape was formed on the surface that has no parallels elsewhere. The undulating horizon, marked by the depressions of the buffalo craters, still bears only a little vegetation. The grasses here are tough because of humans, and the low trees here grow a little crooked.
It looks like a brick park or an old golf course that someone didn’t know how to maintain. Psob it fantastic, pitaliv. In reality, however, it is because the plants grow on hard soil.
At first glance, these places are tempting for walks, but it is not wise to avoid them. One hundred and fifty steps, and your name would be added to the long list of those who have paid with their lives to enter the Zones rogues.
Maps are provided by © SHOCart and the author of OpenStreetMap. The SHOCart company is a traditional publisher of tourist and cycling maps and atlases. Things on www.shocart.cz
