Fortress Europe

Fortress Europe

Fortress Europe is a Battle honour accorded to Royal Air Force and allied squadrons during the Second World War, but to qualify, operations had to be made by aircraft based in the British Isles against targets in Germany, Italy and enemy-occupied Europe, in the period from the fall of France to the Normandy invasion. Concurrently the term was being used in Germany with a very different sense which grew to have a broader usage from the German "Festung Europa (Fortress Europe)"— a term used by Hitler and his staff to refer to the Atlantic wall and other planning the German nation set in place to stymie any invasion attempt by the allied armies during the same war. The term was subsequently used by corespondents and historians in the English language.

Thus it also refers to the Axis attempts to fortify the whole of occupied Europe, including the building of the Atlantic Wall to prevent invasion from the British Isles.

Currently, it is the term given (usually pejoratively) to the concept of the European Union efforts to make it difficult for illegal immigrants to enter the Union.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • fortress europe —  Protectionist policies of European countries (World War II).  ► “U.S. companies worried about the barriers brought on by ‘Fortress Europe’ now face another barrier to trade extending credit without getting burned. Until recently, most business… …   American business jargon

  • Fortress (Osprey) — Fortress ... Pays  Royaume Uni Langue Anglais Genre Histoire militair …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Fortress North America — is a term used both during the Second World War and more often in the Cold War to refer to the option of defending Canada and the United States against their enemies if the rest of the world were lost to them. It was viewed only as a last ditch… …   Wikipedia

  • Fortress Investment Group — Infobox Company company name = Fortress Investment Group LLC company company type = Public (nyse|FIG) industry = Private Equity, hedge funds, Real Estate and railroad related assets foundation = 1998 location = New York, NY key people = Wesley R …   Wikipedia

  • Fortress of Louisbourg — Early history.The settlement at Ste AnneA French settlement at Ste Anne (now St. Anns) on the central east coast of Île Royale was established in 1629 and named Fort Ste Anne, lasting until 1641. A fur trading post was established on the site… …   Wikipedia

  • Fortress Besieged — infobox Book | name = Fortress Besieged title orig = translator = image caption = author = Qian Zhongshu illustrator = cover artist = country = China language = Chinese series = genre = Novel publisher = release date = 1947 english release date …   Wikipedia

  • Europe, history of — Introduction       history of European peoples and cultures from prehistoric times to the present. Europe is a more ambiguous term than most geographic expressions. Its etymology is doubtful, as is the physical extent of the area it designates.… …   Universalium

  • Immigration en Europe — Politique de l immigration de l Union européenne Introduction Droit des étrangers (France …   Wikipédia en Français

  • One Europe Magazine — is a European students magazine, written by AEGEE members, that acts an international forum for discussions about the variety of different opinions on political, historical and cultural themes within Europe. Its goal is to establish a platform… …   Wikipedia

  • Combat Flight Simulator 3: Battle for Europe — Combat Flight Simulator 3 Battle for Europe Developer(s) Microsoft Game Studios Publisher(s) …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”