Emperor Hadrian raised a wall in 122 CE to keep Roman Britain safe from the tribes in the north, and posted sentries to guard it. But when the Picts came in hordes, as a story goes, there was no sentry around, and they scaled the wall.
Fast forward to modern times. In the 1930s, the French cut back on making warplanes and tanks, and spent 6 per cent of their military budget on building the Maginot Line, a fortification on their border with Germany. Complete with underground rail tracks, recreation rooms and even air-conditioned sleeping cells for off-duty sentries, the line was declared the world’s most formidable border that couldn’t be breached with bombs from airplanes or shells from battle tanks. And the French proudly declared: “They shall not pass.”
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 22, 2023-Ausgabe von THE WEEK India.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der October 22, 2023-Ausgabe von THE WEEK India.
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