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The Nieuwe Hollandse Waterlinie of 1870 was the final iteration of a system engineered and regulated to flood a military zone across the country in the event of war. Its purpose was to establish a national refuge, isolating the densely-populated western provinces from the greater Continent.
A sophisticated arrangement of dikes, canals and apparati stood ready to flood an 85-kilometer line too deep to charge, too shallow to navigate. In areas where flooding was impossible due to elevation or infrastructure, a series of forts would defend against intrusion.
This waterlinie was new relative to the Oude Hollandse Waterlinie of which it was a refinement, and it now encompassed the city of Utrecht which had been under Napoleon.
The system was deployed three or four times between 1870 and 1940. Air power made the prevention of ground movement inadequate. This kind of military flooding was obsolete in World War II. The Nazis were the last to use the Dutch waterlinie apparatus, deploying segments to defend against the Allied forces who liberated the country.
Many of the fort sites are now popular nature reserves harboring a unique assortment of animal, bird, and plant species.
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