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Louis 2 year s ago
#15 well, there goes the neighborhood. God pulled the plug and now we're just all circling the drain. :
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Deborah 2 year s ago
#1 The defensive line doesn't really work anymore since it was proven to be useless when The Netherlands was invaded in the second world war. It didn't work against modern ways of war like paratroopers and bombings when the plane was starting to be used more effectively.
But until then it was an ingenious way of protection that made the Netherlands very hard to invade and conquer for centuries.
It basically consisted of pieces of land that were marked as part of lines making multiple rings over areas half surrounding the provinces of North and South Holland which was where the country was ruled from and where the richest cities were in the west.
These parts of lands were basically low meadows and fields which were prepped to be able to be flooded til an average depth of a man's waist.
No permanent stone structures were allowed to be build there and most trees were removed. A farmer could use the fields normally for crop or cattle but knew they would lose the crops with an invasion.
In the event of an invasion, the fields in the farthest ring were flooded creating what was in effect a huge, shallow moat with a very muddy bottom to deep to charge over, too shallow for a boat, and almost impossible to get heavy war machines or cannons over since they would sink in the mud.
Archers, and later rifle men, would move in position to any place an invading army would try to cross and shoot anyone they could. If they managed to cross, the defenders would simply fall back to the next line, flood those fields, and do it all over again. And again.
It enabled The Netherlands to defend itself with a very small army.
But until then it was an ingenious way of protection that made the Netherlands very hard to invade and conquer for centuries.
It basically consisted of pieces of land that were marked as part of lines making multiple rings over areas half surrounding the provinces of North and South Holland which was where the country was ruled from and where the richest cities were in the west.
These parts of lands were basically low meadows and fields which were prepped to be able to be flooded til an average depth of a man's waist.
No permanent stone structures were allowed to be build there and most trees were removed. A farmer could use the fields normally for crop or cattle but knew they would lose the crops with an invasion.
In the event of an invasion, the fields in the farthest ring were flooded creating what was in effect a huge, shallow moat with a very muddy bottom to deep to charge over, too shallow for a boat, and almost impossible to get heavy war machines or cannons over since they would sink in the mud.
Archers, and later rifle men, would move in position to any place an invading army would try to cross and shoot anyone they could. If they managed to cross, the defenders would simply fall back to the next line, flood those fields, and do it all over again. And again.
It enabled The Netherlands to defend itself with a very small army.
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Celia 2 year s ago
Deborah,
Best comment of the day.
Best comment of the day.
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Sandy 2 year s ago
#15
It's contained withing a galaxy (or quasar if you want to nitpick) as water vapor, and not beyond the event horizon of the central black hole as the caption suggests.
It's contained withing a galaxy (or quasar if you want to nitpick) as water vapor, and not beyond the event horizon of the central black hole as the caption suggests.
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Natius 2 year s ago
#14
It's not the only perfect sphere. How about a water droplet in zero gravity (like on the International Space Station)?
It's not the only perfect sphere. How about a water droplet in zero gravity (like on the International Space Station)?
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Sylvester 2 year s ago
Natius, read it again: "...ever observed in nature."
The ISS is not a natural-occurring construct, and a water droplet in space is also not a natural condition.
Your example does not meet the criteria stated in the post.
The ISS is not a natural-occurring construct, and a water droplet in space is also not a natural condition.
Your example does not meet the criteria stated in the post.
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Christy 2 year s ago
Sylvester,
Well. damn.
Well. damn.
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Wilma 2 year s ago
#11 This is Georges Perec's "la disparition". Cf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Perec
But until then it was an ingenious way of protection that made the Netherlands very hard to invade and conquer for centuries.
It basically consisted of pieces of land that were marked as part of lines making multiple rings over areas half surrounding the provinces of North and South Holland which was where the country was ruled from and where the richest cities were in the west.
These parts of lands were basically low meadows and fields which were prepped to be able to be flooded til an average depth of a man's waist.
No permanent stone structures were allowed to be build there and most trees were removed. A farmer could use the fields normally for crop or cattle but knew they would lose the crops with an invasion.
In the event of an invasion, the fields in the farthest ring were flooded creating what was in effect a huge, shallow moat with a very muddy bottom to deep to charge over, too shallow for a boat, and almost impossible to get heavy war machines or cannons over since they would sink in the mud.
Archers, and later rifle men, would move in position to any place an invading army would try to cross and shoot anyone they could. If they managed to cross, the defenders would simply fall back to the next line, flood those fields, and do it all over again. And again.
It enabled The Netherlands to defend itself with a very small army.
Best comment of the day.
It's contained withing a galaxy (or quasar if you want to nitpick) as water vapor, and not beyond the event horizon of the central black hole as the caption suggests.
It's not the only perfect sphere. How about a water droplet in zero gravity (like on the International Space Station)?
The ISS is not a natural-occurring construct, and a water droplet in space is also not a natural condition.
Your example does not meet the criteria stated in the post.
Well. damn.