What happened at the Rhine river?

In March 1945 the allies crossed the River Rhine and began their final assault on Germany. It was the last major barrier to the allies' advance from the West, and was both a physical and psychological line. To the allies it had to be crossed, and to the Germans it had to be held.



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The Allied crossings of the Rhine River allowed US and British troops to advance rapidly into the interior of Germany, helping to bring about the defeat of the Third Reich. The spectacular capture of the Ludendorff Bridge spanning the Rhine at Remagen in early March 1945 was pivotal in the conquest of Germany.

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The Rhine crisis of 1840 was a diplomatic crisis between the Kingdom of France and the German Confederation, caused by the demand by French minister Adolphe Thiers that the river Rhine be reinstated as France's border in the east, at a loss of some 32,000 km2 (12,000 sq mi) of German territory.

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Operation Plunder was a military operation to cross the Rhine on the night of 23 March 1945, launched by the 21st Army Group under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.

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Europe's hot, dry summer means that the water level on the Rhine, Western Europe's most important waterway, is at a record low, making it too shallow for many ships to pass — a problem for a country that depends on the river for 80% of its water freight.

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765 miles long and flowing through 6 countries, the Rhine River has acted as a link between southern and northern Europe since Roman times. Starting in the Swiss Alps, the Rhine River travels through Switzerland, Austria, Germany, France, the Netherlands and the Principality of Liechtenstein.

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Drought has sent a Rhine River chokepoint to a historic low for this time of year and threatens shipping of critical fuel supplies. Water levels at a key Rhine chokepoint are at a historic low.

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The Rhine was used from Roman times to transport trade and goods deep into inland Europe, with the many castles and fortifications built up around the Middle Rhine attesting to its importance.

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On the flipside, droughts and extreme heat waves -- which have both become more common in Western Europe over the last three decades -- causes the water level of the Rhine river to drop. When Rhine water levels are extremely low, ships can't sail because they could run aground.

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In the Netherlands, about 5 million people get their drinking water from the Rhine. Gerards Stroomberg, of RIWA, the association that represents the interests of drinking water companies that use the Rhine as a source of water, said “What we see is that the substances we encounter are increasingly difficult to remove.

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