Editing Menen (section)

==History==
Menen's position near the French border led to many sieges in the history of the city. There were as many as 22 sieges between 1579 and 1830.

The city was part of [[France]] between 1668 and 1713. [[Vauban]] turned Menen into a model-fortification (1679–1689).

The city was [[Siege of Menin (1706)|besieged]] and taken by the [[John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough|Duke of Marlborough]]'s allied Army in August 1706. Between 1744 and 1748, it was again under French rule after the [[Siege of Menin (1744)]]. There was a devastating fire in 1750, that almost completely destroyed the city. During the [[Low Countries theatre of the War of the First Coalition|Flanders Campaign]] of the [[Wars of the French Revolution]] the city changed hands several times. It was also the scene of a [[Battle of Menin (1793)|battle]] in September 1793.

Menen was a [[barrier town]] for the [[Dutch Republic]] against France from 1715 to 1781.

In 2013, the city drew international attention by forbidding its civil servants to speak [[French language|French]] with [[francophone]]s. The [[mayor]], {{Interlanguage link|Martine Fournier|nl}}, ordered that, if necessary, the communication should be in [[sign language]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/franais-interdit-belgian-town-of-menen-bans-the-use-of-french-8800788.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220512/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/franais-interdit-belgian-town-of-menen-bans-the-use-of-french-8800788.html |archive-date=2022-05-12 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title = Français interdit: Belgian town of Menen bans the use of French|website = [[Independent.co.uk]]|date = 5 September 2013}}</ref>