[Illustration: GENERAL POST OFFICE AND RAILWAY STATION] The Fortifications From its position Metz was destined to become a stronghold of the first importance. The Romans fortified the town built by the Gauls, and erected the first citadel. The walls were preserved for a long time, and Bishop Robert, in the 10th century, utilised their remains. It was only in the 12th century that the new ramparts included the island formed by the two arms of the Moselle. They consisted of a high wall protected by sixty-eight towers. In 1552 the Duke of Guise commissioned an engineer, _Pierre Strozzi_, to restore these fortifications, which had withstood two sieges (1444 and 1552), and were in a dilapidated condition. Four years later (1556) Marshal de Vieilleville erected a citadel flanked by four bastions, on the site of the old convents. This citadel (which remained standing until 1802) stood on the site of the present Esplanade. About a century later _Vauban_, fully aware of the strategic value of Metz, conceived a great scheme, which was carried out in the 18th century by an engineer, _M. Cormontaigne_. Vauban, for his part, added eleven new bastions to those which already guarded the citadel, but it was _Cormontaigne_ who perfected the plans for inundating the valley of the Seille by utilising the waters of Lindre Pond. Metz became finally one of the most formidable fortresses of Europe. Under Louis-Philippe the fortifications were entirely restored, and in 1866 preparations were made to rebuild them on a new plan, better adapted to the exigencies of modern armaments and technique. Of the four detached forts of St. Quentin, Plappeville, Queuleu and St. Julien, only the first two were completed in 1870. The Germans considerably strengthened the fortifications by means of nineteen bastions surrounded by moats, the latter being protected by thirteen out-works. The length of the line of forts was increased to eighteen miles, and eleven new forts were added. [Illustration: METZ. ST. QUENTIN FORT (_seen from the Esplanade_)] [Illustration: METZ. AFTER THE ARMISTICE. ENTRY OF FRENCH TROOPS _November_ 19, 1918.] [Illustration: THE FIRST FRENCH NEWSPAPERS TO ARRIVE _November_ 19, 1918.] METZ AFTER THE SIGNING OF THE ARMISTICE When the Armistice was signed on November 11, the forts of Metz were within range of the American artillery, which had already bombarded them several times, while the troops had taken up the positions from which the offensive, arranged for the 16th, was to have been launched. The terms of [Illustration: METZ. FRENCH TROOPS DEFILING BEFORE MARSHAL PÉTAIN _November 19, 1918_] [Illustration: PLACE D’ARMES, NOVEMBER 19, 1918 _In the background_: Statue of Marshal Fabert.]