Early History and First Decommissioning
The Grebbe Line was first established in 1745 as a defensive line to protect the Netherlands from invading armies. If an invasion was imminent, parts of the area between Spakenburg and the Grebbeberg were to be flooded. Until World War II it was never actually used in this purpose; an attempt was made in 1794 to establish a defensive line against the invading French army under General Charles Pichegru, but the joint English-Dutch army abandoned the line when the French troops approached.
Throughout the 19th century the Grebbe line was maintained as a defensive line. However as no attacks seemed forthcoming it was deemed less necessary to maintain the costly fortifications, and in 1926 a large part of the fortifications was decommissioned.
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