Editing Ardennes (section)

==History==
[[File:RocherBayardDinant.JPG|thumb|upright|Bayard Rock, Dinant, on the right bank of the [[Meuse]]. According to a legend, a magic horse jumped from the top of this rock to the left bank of the river, carrying the [[Four Sons of Aymon]] fleeing [[Charlemagne]].]]

The modern Ardennes region covers a greatly diminished area from the forest recorded in Roman times.

A song about Charlemagne, the [[Old French]] 12th-century [[chanson de geste]] ''[[The Four Sons of Aymon|Quatre Fils Aymon]]'', mentions many of Wallonia's rivers, villages and other places. In [[Dinant]] the rock named ''Bayard'' takes its name from [[Bayard (legend)|Bayard]], the magic bay horse which, according to legend, jumped from the top of the rock to the other bank of the Meuse.

On their [[Viking raids into the Rhineland#Raids in the winter of 881/882|pillaging raids in the years 881 and 882]], the [[Vikings]] used the old Roman roads in the Ardennes, attacking the abbeys of Malmedy and Stavelot and destroying [[Prüm Abbey]] in the [[Eifel]].<ref name="Eifel">[[Regino of Prüm]], ''Chronik'', ad a. 882.</ref>

The strategic position of the Ardennes has made it a battleground for European powers for many centuries. Much of the Ardennes formed part of the Duchy (since 1815, the Grand Duchy) of Luxembourg, a member state of the Holy Roman Empire, which changed hands numerous times between the powerful dynasties of Europe. In 1793 revolutionary France annexed the entire area, together with all other territories west of the [[Rhine river]]. In 1815, the [[Congress of Vienna]], which dealt with the political aftermath of the [[Napoleonic Wars]], restored the previous geographical situation, with most of the Ardennes becoming part of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. After the [[Belgian Revolution|revolution of 1830]], which resulted in the establishment of the Kingdom of Belgium, the political future of the Ardennes became a matter of much dispute between Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, as well as involving the contemporary [[great power]]s of [[July Monarchy|France]], [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussia]], and [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Great Britain]]. As a result, in 1839, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg ceded the westernmost 63% of its territory (being also the main part of the Ardennes) to the new [[Kingdom of Belgium]], which is now its [[Luxembourg (Belgium)|Luxembourg Province]].<ref>Gilbert Trausch, Le Luxembourg à l'époque contemporaine, p 15 to 25, publ. Bourg-Bourger, Luxembourg 1981</ref>

In the 20th century, leading military strategists generally considered the Ardennes to be unsuitable for large-scale military operations, due to its difficult terrain and narrow communication lines. However, in [[World War I]] as well as [[World War II]], Germany successfully gambled on making a rapid passage through the Ardennes to attack a relatively lightly defended part of France. The Ardennes became the site of three major battles during the world wars: the [[Battle of the Ardennes]] (August 1914) in World War I, and the [[Battle of France]] (1940) and the [[Battle of the Bulge]] (1944–1945) in World War II. Many of the towns of the region suffered severe damage during the two world wars.

{{multiple image
 | align     = center
 | direction = horizontal
 | header    = 1914
 | header_align = center
 | image1    = Bataille des Frontières.svg
 | width1    = 375
 | caption1  = The [[Battles of the Frontiers]] (1914) involved a series of skirmishes between the French and the German armies. The French forces carried out a counter-offensive ("[[Plan XVII]]"), attacking the flank of the westward-advancing German army executing its [[Schlieffen Plan]].
 | image2    = קרב הארדנים 1914.jpg
 | width2    = 400
 | caption2  = The [[Battle of the Ardennes]] (1914) was the second of the Battles of the Frontiers. After the advancing German left wing defeated French forces in Lorraine, France launched another attack just north of Lorraine, advancing temporarily into the Ardennes.
}}
Allied generals in [[World War II]] believed that the region was impenetrable to massed vehicular traffic and especially armoured tanks, so the area was effectively "all but undefended"{{citation needed|date=February 2018}} during the war. The German Army twice used this region to invade northern France and southern Belgium, via Luxembourg in the [[Battle of France]] and the later [[Battle of the Bulge]].

In 1939 and 1940, [[Nazi Germany]]'s military strategists selected the forest as the primary route of their [[mechanised forces]] in the [[Battle of France|Invasion of France]]. The forest's great size could conceal the [[armoured division]]s, and because the French did not suspect that the Germans would make such a risky move, they did not consider a breakthrough there, or imagine that it would take at least 15 days for an army to pass through the forest. German forces, primarily under the command of [[Erich von Manstein]], carried out the plan in two days, and managed to slip numerous divisions past the [[Maginot Line]] to attack France from the north, and rout the French forces. In May 1940 the German army crossed the [[Meuse]], despite the resistance of the [[French Army]]. Under the command of [[Heinz Guderian#Second World War|General Heinz Guderian]],<ref>{{cite book|last= Frieser|first= Karl|title= The Blitzkrieg Legend|year= 2005|publisher= Naval Institute Press|location= Annapolis, MD|pages= 100–197}}</ref> the German armoured divisions crossed the river at Dinant and at [[Sedan, France]]. This was a crucial step in the push towards Paris, and [[Battle of France|France fell on 25 June 1940]].

{{multiple image
 | align     = center
 | direction = horizontal
 | header    = 1940
 | header_align = center
 | image1    = 10May-16May1940-Fall Gelb.svg
 | width1    = 375
 | caption1  = [[Battle of France]] (1940) The Germans execute [[Erich Von Manstein]]'s plan for [[Manstein Plan|''Fall Gelb'']]. Armoured divisions cross the [[Meuse]] (16 May), (principally in [[Dinant]]), [[Sedan, France|Sedan]] and the Ardennes. The Ardennes are located just to the east of the red shading which marks the extent of the German advance. On 16 May General [[Maurice Gamelin]] said he could no longer protect [[Paris]] because he had lost the Ardennes.
 | image2    = 16May-21May1940-Fall Gelb.svg
 | width2    = 375
 | caption2  = [[Battle of France]] (1940) The Wehrmacht advances further, particularly accelerating through the [[Battle of Gembloux (1940)|Gembloux gap]] northwest of the Ardennes, in the week of 21 May (red shading), quickly reaching [[Abbeville]], near the English Channel. This cut off the Allied troops of the North (some French divisions, the [[Belgian Army]] and the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War II)|British Expeditionary Force]]). In this way, the German armies won the first stage of the Battle of France.
}}
At the other end of the war, the Ardennes area came to prominence again during the [[Battle of the Bulge]]. The German Army, which had been forced to retreat for some time, launched a surprise attack in December 1944 in an attempt to recapture [[Antwerp]] and to drive a wedge between the advancing British and American forces in northern France. After a fierce battle the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] forces blocked the German advance on the river Meuse at Dinant.

{{multiple image
 | align     = center
 | direction = horizontal
 | header    = 1944
 | header_align = center
 | image1    = Battle of the Bulge progress.svg
 | width1    = 475
 | caption1  = [[Battle of the Bulge]]. In 1944, the Germans counterattacked across the Ardennes and the [[Meuse]] valley but they were eventually thwarted after fierce battles. Their most advanced position was the "nose" of the salient, just in front of [[Dinant]] and the Meuse river. They had wanted to move northeast and reach [[Antwerp]] and the [[North Sea]].
 | image2    = Wacht am Rhein map (Opaque).svg
 | width2    = 267
 | caption2  = The salient was mainly in the Ardennes, its "nose" being just to the west of it, in the [[Condroz]]. Areas above {{convert|400|m}} (shown in the darkest shade of brown) form the heart of the Ardennes.
}}
In the postwar period, the Ardennes has become a weekend retreat that is popular among Belgians as well as people from neighbouring countries. The tourist industry offers an extensive and varied range of activities and types of accommodation.