Brest
Naval base and industrial port in the département of Finistère, situated on two hills separated by the River Penfeld at Rade de Brest (Brest Roads), a large bay whose only entrance is a narrow channel, at the western extremity of Brittany in northwest France; population (2004 est) 298,300. The town has a naval academy, several schools of nautical science, a university and an oceanographic research centre; it is also the headquarters of the French naval and oceanographic service. Industries include electronics, shipbuilding and naval supplies, and the manufacture of clothing, chemicals, and paper. Occupied as a U-boat base by the Germans from 1940 to 1944, part of the old city was destroyed by Allied bombing and the retreating Germans.
History
The town of Brest is built on a Roman site on the slopes of two hills intersected by the river. It has two harbours, one for naval and one for mercantile shipping, and is one of the three major naval headquarters of France. It grew and prospered after Cardinal Richelieu founded a naval base in 1631 and developed the harbour. The town was fortified by the military engineer Sébastien le Prestre de Vauban in the 1680s. Historically Brest was often a point of dispute between France and England, with several naval engagements between the two countries taking place off Brest during the 17th and 18th centuries. It was under English rule twice before the incorporation of Brittany with France in 1532.
In World War I Brest was a supply base for US forces. During World War II the Germans established one of their Atlantic submarine bases here and used it as a harbour for the battleships Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Prinz Eugen, as well as U-boats.
| After the Allied landing in France in 1944, the city was under siege for a period of six weeks (August–September), and when the German garrison finally capitulated no building in the old city had escaped damage, and most had been destroyed. A massive urban restoration scheme was launched to rebuild the city after the war. |
Brest
City and river port in Belarus, capital and economic and cultural centre of Brest oblast, at the junction of the Western Bug and Mukhavets rivers and near the Polish frontier; population (1990) 268,800. Situated 346 km/215 mi southwest of Minsk, it is a busy centre of rail and road communications, and its industries include engineering and textile manufature. Brest was a Polish town until 1795 when it was acquired by Russia, and reverted to Poland (1919–39). In World War I, the Russian truce with the Central Powers, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk (an older Russian name for the city), was signed here in March 1918.
Brest was an important fortress town from medieval times. In 1596 Brest was the meeting-place of the council which established the United Catholic (or Uniate) Church. The city saw heavy fighting in both world wars. After German occupation in World War II, it was taken by the USSR in 1944.
| Prior to World War II, Brest had a thriving Jewish community, and was the birthplace of Israeli premier Menachem Begin (1913–92). |
Brest
| Oblast (region; Belorussian voblasts) in southwestern Belarus; area 32,300 sq km/12,471 sq mi; population (1995) 1,508,000. The main cities are Brest (capital), Pinsk, and Baranovichi. It is situated mainly in the Poleseye, a region of mixed forests and marshland; the area has large salt deposits. Chief industries are lumbering, grain growing, and pig raising. |
