Beuvrages

Anzin (French pronunciation: [ɑ̃zɛ̃]; older Dutch: Ansingen; West Flemish: Ansingn) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt, 2.4 kilometres (1+1⁄2 mi) northwest of Valenciennes, of which it is a suburb.

The Compagnie des mines d'Anzin (Anzin Mining Company) was a large French mining company in the coal basin of Nord-Pas-de-Calais in northern France. It was established in 1756 and operated for almost 200 years. The company used innovative pumping technology to support deep mining operations in the rich bituminous coalfield. At its peak in the mid-19th century it was one of the largest industrial enterprises in France, with about 12,000 miners. Émile Zola visited the region during a strike in 1884 which he used as the basis for his novel Germinal. The work was dangerous and unhealthy, but the company paid the miners well compared to other industries, provided housing, welfare and pensions, and sponsored social activities. The mines reached their peak of prosperity before World War I (1914–18), but were badly damaged during the war. They struggled to regain profitability in period leading up to World War II (1939–45). The mines were nationalized in 1946. Many were closed in the 1970s and 1980s. The last ceased operation in 1990. The landscape has been partly restored but traces of mining such as slag heaps, ponds and railway cuttings remain, and a few heritage sites have been preserved.

The canton of Anzin is an administrative division of the Nord department, northern France. Its borders were modified at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Anzin.It consists of the following communes: Anzin Beuvrages Bruay-sur-l'Escaut Escautpont Fresnes-sur-Escaut Onnaing

Raismes (French pronunciation: [ʁɛm]) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. The flutist Gaston Blanquart (1877–1962) was born in Raismes. Raismes is known for hosting the annual rock music festival Raismes Fest.

Communauté d'agglomération Valenciennes Métropole is the communauté d'agglomération, an intercommunal structure, centred on the city of Valenciennes. It is located in the Nord department, in the Hauts-de-France region, northern France. It was created in December 2000. Its area is 263.5 km2. Its population was 192,787 in 2018, of which 43,405 in Valenciennes proper.

Valenciennes station (French: Gare de Valenciennes) is a French railway station serving the town of Valenciennes, Nord, France.

The Rhonelle is a river of northern France. It is 32 km (20 mi) long. It is a right tributary of the Scheldt. Its source is near Locquignol. It flows generally northwest along Le Quesnoy, Villers-Pol and Famars. It flows into the Scheldt in Valenciennes.

The canton of Valenciennes is an administrative division of the Nord department, northern France. It was created at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Valenciennes.It consists of the following communes: Saint-Saulve Valenciennes

The Société Franco-Belge was a Franco-Belgian engineering firm that specialised in the construction of railway vehicles and their components and accessories. The company originated in 1859 as the Belgian firm Compagnie Belge pour la Construction de Machines et de Matériels de Chemins de Fer, founded by Charles Evrard. The company expanded its share capital in 1881 forming a new firm Société Anonyme Franco-Belge pour la Construction de Machines et de Matériel de Chemins de Fer and constructed a factory in Raismes (Valenciennes) in the Département Nord in France. In 1927, the company split into a Belgian (Société Anglo-Franco-Belge, SAFB) and a French company (Société Franco-Belge). The company's factories were occupied during World War I, during which period it was used as a sawmill, and during World War II, during which period it manufactured Kriegslokomotives. SAFB merged with the Ateliers Germain in 1964; the company closed in 1968 due to lack of work. The Franco-Belge (based in Raismes) was acquired by Alstom in 1982, as of 2012 the factory Alstom Petite-Forêt, Valenciennes operates as an Alstom subsidiary, specialising in metros, trams, and double deck trains, A test track Centre d'Essais Ferroviaire is located west of the Raismes factory.

The siege of Valenciennes took place between 13 June and 28 July 1793, during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition. The French garrison under Jean Henri Becays Ferrand was blockaded by part of the army of Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, commanded by the Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany. Valenciennes fell on 28 July, resulting in an Allied victory.

The Battle of Valenciennes was fought on 16 July 1656 between the Spanish troops commanded by John Joseph of Austria and the French troops under Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne, in the outskirts of the city of Valenciennes in the Spanish Netherlands during the Franco-Spanish War. After a period of Spanish recovery following the Peace of Münster in 1648, France went again on the offensive in 1654, having succeeded in suppressing internal rebellions, and took several towns in the province of Hainaut over the course of two years. On early 1656, Turenne was instructed by the French court to continue the offensive. He intended at first to besiege Tournai, but realising that it had been strongly reinforced by the Army of Flanders under the newly appointed John Joseph of Austria, illegitimate son of Philip IV of Spain, he went instead to besiege Valenciennes, in the course of the Scheldt River. The defenders of the city opened locks and breached dikes to flood the surroundings and hamper the siege. Their strong resistance gave time the Spanish army to prepare a relief which took place one month after the beginning of the siege. The early hours of 16 July, the forces led by John Joseph of Austria and the Prince of Condé, the victor of the Battle of Rocroi, now in Spanish service, stormed the French circumvallation lines west of Valenciennes, defended by the forces of Field Marshal Henri de La Ferté-Senneterre. The Spanish were victorious and destroyed Le Ferté's army, whom Turenne was unable to help because of the floods that separated their respective armies. The Battle of Valenciennes was the worst of only a few defeats that Turenne suffered in his long career campaigning, and is regarded as Spain's last great victory of the 17th century, as well as one of France's worst defeats of the century. Coupled with another Spanish victory over the French at Pavia in 1655, that of Valenciennes seriously damaged France's military capabilities and fueled the hopes in the Spanish court for a favourable peace with France after more than twenty years of conflict. Peace talks took place at Madrid during the summer of that year, but ultimately failed to produce any result, and the war continued for three more years, until the Peace of the Pyrenees in 1659.

The siege of Valenciennes took place from 28 February to 17 March 1677, during the Franco-Dutch War, when Valenciennes, then in the English Netherlands, was attacked by a French army under the duc de Luxembourg. Over the winter of 1676 to 1677, Valenciennes and Cambrai were subjected to a tight blockade, which prevented reinforcements or supplies reaching them from the outside. French armies also benefitted from superior logistics, which allowed them to begin campaigns far earlier than their opponents. Siege operations began on 28 February, supervised by French military engineer Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban, and the town surrendered on 17 March; Spain formally ceded it to France under the August 1678 Treaty of Nijmegen.