115-530: Stielhandgranate is the German term for " stick hand grenade " and generally refers to a prominent series of World War I and World War II –era German stick grenade designs, distinguished by their long wooden handles, pull cord arming and cylindrical warheads. The first models were introduced by the Imperial German Army during World War I and the final design was introduced during World War II by
230-407: A contested territory or a dumping ground for refuse between fiefdoms . It is commonly associated with World War I to describe the area of land between two enemy trench systems , not controlled by either side. The term is also used metaphorically, to refer to an ambiguous, anomalous, or indefinite area, regarding an application, situation, or jurisdiction. It has sometimes been used to name
345-460: A de facto official language of Namibia after the end of German colonial rule alongside English and Afrikaans , and had de jure co-official status from 1984 until its independence from South Africa in 1990. However, the Namibian government perceived Afrikaans and German as symbols of apartheid and colonialism, and decided English would be the sole official language upon independence, stating that it
460-402: A second language , and 75–100 million as a foreign language . This would imply the existence of approximately 175–220 million German speakers worldwide. German sociolinguist Ulrich Ammon estimated a number of 289 million German foreign language speakers without clarifying the criteria by which he classified a speaker. As of 2012 , about 90 million people, or 16% of
575-587: A "commonly used" language and the Pan South African Language Board is obligated to promote and ensure respect for it. Cameroon was also a colony of the German Empire from the same period (1884 to 1916). However, German was replaced by French and English, the languages of the two successor colonial powers, after its loss in World War I . Nevertheless, since the 21st century, German has become
690-408: A complete grenade, usually with simple rope, cloth, or metal wire, a solution initially invented during World War I using M15, M16 and M17 grenades. These "bundle charges" could be crafted with up to six additional heads around the complete grenade, the most common styles being the addition of four or six M24 heads. As a result of this cost-effective and reliable solution, the standard infantryman of
805-504: A flame to light, setting the fuse burning. This fuse took approximately four and a half seconds to reach the detonator before exploding. The British War Office reported average thrown distance of a Mills bomb as 27 m (30 yd) when standing, 23 m (25 yd) when crouched and 22 m (24 yd) lying prone. One issue that hand grenades of the time had was unpredictable rolling after landing. The Stielhandgranate did not suffer nearly as much. Instead of rolling straight down
920-590: A friction igniter system. This had been used in other German grenades, but was uncommon internationally. During World War I, the Stielhandgranate , under the name M1915 (Model 1915), competed technologically with the British standard-issue Mills bomb series. The first Mills bomb – the grenade No. 5 Mk. 1 – was introduced the same year as the German Model 1915, but due to manufacturing delays it
1035-406: A fuse with a pull cord that made a bang and puff of smoke to indicate explosion when used. The M24 lacked effectiveness against hard targets such as tanks and buildings. A common solution was an improvised "bundle charge", officially known as Geballte Ladung (English: "concentrated charge"). The heads of a number of M24 grenades – their handles and fuses removed – would be strapped around
1150-556: A greater need for regularity in written conventions. While the major changes of the MHG period were socio-cultural, High German was still undergoing significant linguistic changes in syntax, phonetics, and morphology as well (e.g. diphthongization of certain vowel sounds: hus (OHG & MHG "house") → haus (regionally in later MHG)→ Haus (NHG), and weakening of unstressed short vowels to schwa [ə]: taga (OHG "days")→ tage (MHG)). A great wealth of texts survives from
1265-469: A hill or across rough terrain, it would instead roll from side to side. However, the larger size and the irregular overall shape meant that fewer grenades could be carried. It also took longer to prime the grenade than Allied counterparts such as the Mills bomb. The Stielhandgranate primarily relied on a concussion blast effect, its thin metal container creating little fragmentation compared with many grenades of
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#17328528661411380-460: A limited distance before dying out, while pieces from an equivalent fragmentation grenade could fly hundreds of metres (it was not unrealistic to expect that metal shrapnel could create friendly fire casualties, especially in open areas). The pull cord which activated the M15 grenade's fuse protruded from the base and could get caught in debris or clutter on the battlefields of World War I, causing
1495-453: A native tongue today, mostly descendants of German colonial settlers . The period of German colonialism in Namibia also led to the evolution of a Standard German-based pidgin language called " Namibian Black German ", which became a second language for parts of the indigenous population. Although it is nearly extinct today, some older Namibians still have some knowledge of it. German remained
1610-679: A popular foreign language among pupils and students, with 300,000 people learning or speaking German in Cameroon in 2010 and over 230,000 in 2020. Today Cameroon is one of the African countries outside Namibia with the highest number of people learning German. In the United States, German is the fifth most spoken language in terms of native and second language speakers after English, Spanish , French , and Chinese (with figures for Cantonese and Mandarin combined), with over 1 million total speakers. In
1725-570: A remodeled fuse mechanism and a smoke charge instead of explosive; the smoke emitted from small vents in the underside of the charge head. To make it readily distinguishable from an M4, it had large markings on the head and a white band on the handle. Later, the handle was textured so that they could be told apart by touch. Like most of the forces that took part in World War ;II, the Wehrmacht produced inert (not able to explode) practice versions of
1840-772: A researcher at Royal Holloway University of London, who compared the zone to the nuclear disaster site at Chernobyl , similarly encased in a " concrete sarcophagus ". During the Cold War , one example of "no man's land" was the territory close to the Iron Curtain . Officially the territory belonged to the Eastern Bloc countries, but over the entire Iron Curtain, there were several wide tracts of uninhabited land, several hundred meters (yards) in width, containing watch towers, minefields, unexploded bombs, and other such debris. Would-be escapees from Eastern Bloc countries who successfully scaled
1955-475: A result, the surviving texts are written in highly disparate regional dialects and exhibit significant Latin influence, particularly in vocabulary. At this point monasteries, where most written works were produced, were dominated by Latin, and German saw only occasional use in official and ecclesiastical writing. While there is no complete agreement over the dates of the Middle High German (MHG) period, it
2070-509: A specific place . According to Alasdair Pinkerton, an expert in human geography at Royal Holloway , University of London , the term is first mentioned in Domesday Book (1086), to describe parcels of land that were just beyond the London city walls . The Oxford English Dictionary contains a reference to the term dating back to 1320, spelled nonesmanneslond , to describe a territory that
2185-432: A type of bangalore torpedo made out of a number of M24 grenades – their handles and fuses removed and replaced with detonators – mounted to a long stick or plank behind one another with a complete grenade at one end to initiate the explosion. Separate from Nazi Germany , the Stielhandgranate 24 was used globally during World War II. A number of nations either directly acquired or purchased stockpiles of
2300-688: Is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family , mainly spoken in Western and Central Europe . It is the most spoken native language within the European Union . It is the most widely spoken and official (or co-official) language in Germany , Austria , Switzerland , Liechtenstein , and the Italian autonomous province of South Tyrol . It is also an official language of Luxembourg , Belgium and
2415-580: Is a recognized minority language in the following countries: In France, the High German varieties of Alsatian and Moselle Franconian are identified as " regional languages ", but the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of 1998 has not yet been ratified by the government. Namibia also was a colony of the German Empire, from 1884 to 1915. About 30,000 people still speak German as
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#17328528661412530-596: Is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects , with many varieties existing in Europe and other parts of the world. Some of these non-standard varieties have become recognized and protected by regional or national governments. Since 2004, heads of state of the German-speaking countries have met every year, and the Council for German Orthography has been the main international body regulating German orthography . German
2645-546: Is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Germanic group of the Germanic languages . The Germanic languages are traditionally subdivided into three branches: North Germanic , East Germanic , and West Germanic . The first of these branches survives in modern Danish , Swedish , Norwegian , Faroese , and Icelandic , all of which are descended from Old Norse . The East Germanic languages are now extinct, and Gothic
2760-472: Is called the "German Sprachraum ". German is the official language of the following countries: German is a co-official language of the following countries: Although expulsions and (forced) assimilation after the two World wars greatly diminished them, minority communities of mostly bilingual German native speakers exist in areas both adjacent to and detached from the Sprachraum. Within Europe, German
2875-430: Is complicated by the existence of several varieties whose status as separate "languages" or "dialects" is disputed for political and linguistic reasons, including quantitatively strong varieties like certain forms of Alemannic and Low German . With the inclusion or exclusion of certain varieties, it is estimated that approximately 90–95 million people speak German as a first language , 10–25 million speak it as
2990-520: Is generally seen as ending when the 1346–53 Black Death decimated Europe's population. Modern High German begins with the Early New High German (ENHG) period, which Wilhelm Scherer dates 1350–1650, terminating with the end of the Thirty Years' War . This period saw the further displacement of Latin by German as the primary language of courtly proceedings and, increasingly, of literature in
3105-595: Is generally seen as lasting from 1050 to 1350. This was a period of significant expansion of the geographical territory occupied by Germanic tribes, and consequently of the number of German speakers. Whereas during the Old High German period the Germanic tribes extended only as far east as the Elbe and Saale rivers, the MHG period saw a number of these tribes expanding beyond this eastern boundary into Slavic territory (known as
3220-559: Is less closely related to languages based on Low Franconian dialects (e.g., Dutch and Afrikaans), Low German or Low Saxon dialects (spoken in northern Germany and southern Denmark ), neither of which underwent the High German consonant shift. As has been noted, the former of these dialect types is Istvaeonic and the latter Ingvaeonic, whereas the High German dialects are all Irminonic; the differences between these languages and standard German are therefore considerable. Also related to German are
3335-435: Is one of the major languages of the world . German is the second-most widely spoken Germanic language , after English, both as a first and as a second language . German is also widely taught as a foreign language , especially in continental Europe (where it is the third most taught foreign language after English and French), and in the United States. Overall, German is the fourth most commonly learned second language, and
3450-587: Is one of the three biggest newspapers in Namibia and the only German-language daily in Africa. An estimated 12,000 people speak German or a German variety as a first language in South Africa, mostly originating from different waves of immigration during the 19th and 20th centuries. One of the largest communities consists of the speakers of "Nataler Deutsch", a variety of Low German concentrated in and around Wartburg . The South African constitution identifies German as
3565-401: Is partly derived from Latin and Greek , along with fewer words borrowed from French and Modern English . English, however, is the main source of more recent loanwords . German is a pluricentric language ; the three standardized variants are German , Austrian , and Swiss Standard German . Standard German is sometimes called High German , which refers to its regional origin. German
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3680-510: Is the Sachsenspiegel , the first book of laws written in Middle Low German ( c. 1220 ). The abundance and especially the secular character of the literature of the MHG period demonstrate the beginnings of a standardized written form of German, as well as the desire of poets and authors to be understood by individuals on supra-dialectal terms. The Middle High German period
3795-566: Is the only language in this branch which survives in written texts. The West Germanic languages, however, have undergone extensive dialectal subdivision and are now represented in modern languages such as English, German, Dutch , Yiddish , Afrikaans , and others. Within the West Germanic language dialect continuum, the Benrath and Uerdingen lines (running through Düsseldorf - Benrath and Krefeld - Uerdingen , respectively) serve to distinguish
3910-433: Is understood in all areas where German is spoken. Approximate distribution of native German speakers (assuming a rounded total of 95 million) worldwide: As a result of the German diaspora , as well as the popularity of German taught as a foreign language , the geographical distribution of German speakers (or "Germanophones") spans all inhabited continents. However, an exact, global number of native German speakers
4025-673: The Ostsiedlung ). With the increasing wealth and geographic spread of the Germanic groups came greater use of German in the courts of nobles as the standard language of official proceedings and literature. A clear example of this is the mittelhochdeutsche Dichtersprache employed in the Hohenstaufen court in Swabia as a standardized supra-dialectal written language. While these efforts were still regionally bound, German began to be used in place of Latin for certain official purposes, leading to
4140-516: The Maschinengewehr 42 , were more than a success on the level of resources, but many were only simpler and less-expensive versions of an existing item. The Model 1924 grenade was technically "succeeded" by the Model 1943 (M43). This was a copy with a few expensive parts removed or replaced for easier production – and because of this, the original remained in service with Wehrmacht infantry right to
4255-512: The Zone Rouge (Red Zone) contains unexploded ordnance , and is poisoned beyond habitation by arsenic , chlorine , and phosgene gas. The zone is sealed off completely and still deemed too dangerous for civilians to return: "The area is still considered to be very poisoned, so the French government planted an enormous forest of black pines , like a living sarcophagus ", comments Alasdair Pinkerton,
4370-627: The Alamanni , Bavarian, and Thuringian groups, all belonging to the Elbe Germanic group ( Irminones ), which had settled in what is now southern-central Germany and Austria between the second and sixth centuries, during the great migration. In general, the surviving texts of Old High German (OHG) show a wide range of dialectal diversity with very little written uniformity. The early written tradition of OHG survived mostly through monasteries and scriptoria as local translations of Latin originals; as
4485-527: The Cold War . Along the M24s, the exercise "Übungs-Stielhandgranate 24" variant was also purchased, being adopted as the övningshandgranat m/39 (abbr. övnhgr m/39 ), meaning: "practice hand grenade m/39". They were painted according to Swedish color code with a blue stripe to indicate exercise charge. German ones were painted red. Later on the övnhgr m/39s were modified to use more modern exercise charges, receiving suffix letters per upgrade, eventually resulting in
4600-522: The Early Middle Ages . German is an inflected language , with four cases for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative); three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) and two numbers (singular, plural). It has strong and weak verbs . The majority of its vocabulary derives from the ancient Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, while a smaller share
4715-417: The European Union 's population, spoke German as their mother tongue, making it the second most widely spoken language on the continent after Russian and the second biggest language in terms of overall speakers (after English), as well as the most spoken native language. The area in central Europe where the majority of the population speaks German as a first language and has German as a (co-)official language
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4830-514: The German states . While these states were still part of the Holy Roman Empire , and far from any form of unification, the desire for a cohesive written language that would be understandable across the many German-speaking principalities and kingdoms was stronger than ever. As a spoken language German remained highly fractured throughout this period, with a vast number of often mutually incomprehensible regional dialects being spoken throughout
4945-724: The Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I , and the other being Meißner Deutsch , used in the Electorate of Saxony in the Duchy of Saxe-Wittenberg . Alongside these courtly written standards, the invention of the printing press led to the development of a number of printers' languages ( Druckersprachen ) aimed at making printed material readable and understandable across as many diverse dialects of German as possible. The greater ease of production and increased availability of written texts brought about increased standardisation in
5060-644: The Old High German language in several Elder Futhark inscriptions from as early as the sixth century AD (such as the Pforzen buckle ), the Old High German period is generally seen as beginning with the Abrogans (written c. 765–775 ), a Latin-German glossary supplying over 3,000 Old High German words with their Latin equivalents. After the Abrogans , the first coherent works written in Old High German appear in
5175-658: The Six day war . The battle of Bakhmut , during the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine has been labeled as one of the bloodiest battles of the 21st century, with the battlefield being described as a "meat grinder" and a "vortex" for both the Ukrainian and Russian militaries. With extremely high casualties, costly ground assaults with very little ground gained, and shell-pocked landscapes, volunteers, media, and government officials alike compared fighting in Bakhmut to battlefield conditions on
5290-640: The Sprachraum in Europe. German is used in a wide variety of spheres throughout the country, especially in business, tourism, and public signage, as well as in education, churches (most notably the German-speaking Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (GELK) ), other cultural spheres such as music, and media (such as German language radio programs by the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation ). The Allgemeine Zeitung
5405-536: The Standard German language in its written form, and the Duden Handbook was declared its standard definition. Punctuation and compound spelling (joined or isolated compounds) were not standardized in the process. The Deutsche Bühnensprache ( lit. ' German stage language ' ) by Theodor Siebs had established conventions for German pronunciation in theatres , three years earlier; however, this
5520-503: The Upper German dialects spoken in the southern German-speaking countries , such as Swiss German ( Alemannic dialects ) and the various Germanic dialects spoken in the French region of Grand Est , such as Alsatian (mainly Alemannic, but also Central–and Upper Franconian dialects) and Lorraine Franconian (Central Franconian). After these High German dialects, standard German
5635-453: The Wehrmacht could quickly improvise a grenade with up to seven times the explosive power. However, the added weight made it more difficult to throw, and the increased size meant that it was not practical to carry with one hand and that far fewer could be carried. These factors meant that infantry squads, if faced with an armored enemy, would have to close to a reduced range if they wanted to use
5750-462: The pagan Germanic tradition. Of particular interest to scholars, however, has been the Hildebrandslied , a secular epic poem telling the tale of an estranged father and son unknowingly meeting each other in battle. Linguistically, this text is highly interesting due to the mixed use of Old Saxon and Old High German dialects in its composition. The written works of this period stem mainly from
5865-562: The western front of World War I . Retired U.S. Marine Corps Colonel Andrew Milburn , the leader of a foreign volunteer group in Ukraine called the Mozart Group and an eyewitness to the battle, compared conditions in the Bakhmut countryside to Passchendaele and the city itself to Dresden in World War II . On 11 January 2023, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak described
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#17328528661415980-451: The övnhgr m/39C . Sweden also produced an indigenous design similar to the M24, featuring a pull cord through the handle for arming the time-fuze, but also differing in a great number of areas, such as having a full metal tube for the handle, a more rounded warhead, and other quality of life additions to the overall design. It was designated spränghandgranat m/43 . As the war progressed and
6095-624: The Chinese designed and produced a grenade based on the Model 1924 which was used by the National Revolutionary Army . Such grenades were the main type of grenade used by Chinese forces during the whole war. The M24 inspired clone was a simple design and was mass-produced in large numbers, not only in arsenals (primarily in the 1st, 11th, 21st, 24th, 25th and 30th), but also by hand with the help of civilians. Hundreds of thousands of grenades were produced each month. There were some variations in
6210-714: The Empire. Its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Prague (German: Prag ) and Budapest ( Buda , German: Ofen ), to name two examples, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain; others, like Pressburg ( Pozsony , now Bratislava), were originally settled during the Habsburg period and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest, Bratislava, and cities like Zagreb (German: Agram ) or Ljubljana (German: Laibach ), contained significant German minorities. In
6325-718: The Frisian languages— North Frisian (spoken in Nordfriesland ), Saterland Frisian (spoken in Saterland ), and West Frisian (spoken in Friesland )—as well as the Anglic languages of English and Scots. These Anglo-Frisian dialects did not take part in the High German consonant shift, and the Anglic languages also adopted much vocabulary from both Old Norse and the Norman language . The history of
6440-572: The German Wehrmacht . The distinctive appearance of the Stielhandgranate family has led to them being called " potato mashers " in British Army slang , and they remain one of the most easily recognized infantry weapons of the 20th century. Germany entered World War I with a single grenade type: a heavy 750-gram (26 oz) ball-shaped fragmentation grenade ( Kugelhandgranate ) for use only by pioneers in attacking fortifications. It
6555-429: The German Empire designed and began production of the original Stielhandgranate , the "Model 1915" (M15). It used a priming system, unlike the percussion cap pin used in most grenades of the period. The easily recognizable "potato masher" shape is a result of a number of different styles and choices of the design. The grenade mounted a charge head within a sheet-steel cylinder atop a long hollow wooden handle. Internally,
6670-524: The German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the Migration Period , which separated Old High German dialects from Old Saxon . This sound shift involved a drastic change in the pronunciation of both voiced and voiceless stop consonants ( b , d , g , and p , t , k , respectively). The primary effects of the shift were the following below. While there is written evidence of
6785-399: The German states; the invention of the printing press c. 1440 and the publication of Luther's vernacular translation of the Bible in 1534, however, had an immense effect on standardizing German as a supra-dialectal written language. The ENHG period saw the rise of several important cross-regional forms of chancery German, one being gemeine tiutsch , used in the court of
6900-623: The Germanic dialects that were affected by the High German consonant shift (south of Benrath) from those that were not (north of Uerdingen). The various regional dialects spoken south of these lines are grouped as High German dialects, while those spoken to the north comprise the Low German and Low Franconian dialects. As members of the West Germanic language family, High German, Low German, and Low Franconian have been proposed to be further distinguished historically as Irminonic , Ingvaeonic , and Istvaeonic , respectively. This classification indicates their historical descent from dialects spoken by
7015-547: The Irminones (also known as the Elbe group), Ingvaeones (or North Sea Germanic group), and Istvaeones (or Weser–Rhine group). Standard German is based on a combination of Thuringian - Upper Saxon and Upper Franconian dialects, which are Central German and Upper German dialects belonging to the High German dialect group. German is therefore closely related to the other languages based on High German dialects, such as Luxembourgish (based on Central Franconian dialects ) and Yiddish . Also closely related to Standard German are
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#17328528661417130-644: The Italian autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia , as well as a recognized national language in Namibia . There are also notable German-speaking communities in France ( Alsace ), the Czech Republic ( North Bohemia ), Poland ( Upper Silesia ), Slovakia ( Košice Region , Spiš , and Hauerland ), Denmark ( North Schleswig ), Romania and Hungary ( Sopron ). Overseas, sizeable communities of German-speakers are found in Brazil ( Blumenau and Pomerode ), South Africa ( Kroondal ), Namibia , among others, some communities have decidedly Austrian German or Swiss German characters (e.g. Pozuzo , Peru). German
7245-558: The M24, minimizing the amount of woodworking required to manufacture each grenade, it also made the stick optional so it could replace the Model 39 as the thrower could choose in which configuration to use the grenade. Whether it was intended to merge the production of two types into a single line, or if that was a beneficial side-effect is unknown. The German Stielhandgranate -series has been used in many conflicts, including both world wars. German language German (German: Deutsch , pronounced [dɔʏtʃ] )
7360-408: The MHG period. Significantly, these texts include a number of impressive secular works, such as the Nibelungenlied , an epic poem telling the story of the dragon -slayer Siegfried ( c. thirteenth century ), and the Iwein , an Arthurian verse poem by Hartmann von Aue ( c. 1203 ), lyric poems , and courtly romances such as Parzival and Tristan . Also noteworthy
7475-491: The Sea in late 1914. The Anglo-German Christmas truce of 1914 brought the term into common use, and thereafter it appeared frequently in official communiqués, newspaper reports, and personnel correspondences of the members of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF). In World War I, no man's land often ranged from several hundred yards to less than 10 metres (33 ft), in some cases. Heavily defended by machine guns , mortars , artillery , and riflemen on both sides, it
7590-431: The Type 98 was a fragmentation grenade. The charge, however, was weak and only contained 85 g (3 oz) of picric acid (more powerful but less safe than TNT). The weapon had a pull ring attached to the igniting cord, and the fuse delay was 4 to 5 seconds (varying from grenade to grenade). Like the Chinese grenades, it was a crude copy of the Model 1924 and a number of issues plagued its effectiveness. To catch up in
7705-448: The U.S. land mines to be removed and replaced with motion and sound sensors to detect intruders. The Cuban government has not removed the corresponding minefield on its side of the border. From 1949 to 1967 the border between Israel and Jordan contained a few small regions that were considered "no man's land" because neither side had jurisdiction. The 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and Jordan were signed in Rhodes with
7820-450: The United Kingdom, several places called No Man's Land denoted "extra-parochial spaces that were beyond the rule of the church, beyond the rule of different fiefdoms that were handed out by the king … ribbons of land between these different regimes of power". The British Army did not widely employ the term when the Regular Army arrived in France in August 1914, soon after the outbreak of World War I . The terms used most frequently at
7935-501: The Wehrmacht began to lose strength and momentum against the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany began implementing measures to ensure the safety and reliability of its weapons. The Wehrmacht needed to minimize the risk of injury or death caused by faults of its military equipment, munitions, and weapons. Germany's industrial capabilities decreased as the war progressed. As a result, the production of munitions, equipment, and weaponry had to become easier and more cost-efficient. Some of these, like
8050-468: The arms race leading to WWII, Sweden managed to purchase a large amount of German produced M24s in 1939, adopting it as the spränghandgranat m/39 (abbr. shgr m/39 ), meaning: "explosive hand grenade m/39". Later shipments included wartime changes to the grenades, such as a metal pull cord and cheaper explosives such as nitrolite , leading to four designs in use eventually: m/39 , m/39A , m/39B and m/39C . These would remain in use until expended during
8165-431: The base to prevent economic migrants fleeing from Cuba from resettling in the United States. This was dubbed the "Cactus Curtain", an allusion to Europe 's Iron Curtain and the Bamboo Curtain in East Asia . U.S. and Cuban troops placed some 55,000 land mines across the no man's land, creating the second-largest minefield in the world, and the largest in the Americas . On 16 May 1996, President Bill Clinton ordered
8280-423: The blast of their explosive charge, thereby reducing resistance for the immediately following-up infantry assault closing with its target with rifles and bayonets. The Stielhandgranate was extremely effective and reliable in clearing enclosed areas, such as buildings, fortifications, and the fighting compartments of enemy tanks, although performance in wide open areas was less satisfactory. The blast effect went only
8395-513: The border fortifications could still be apprehended or shot by border guards in the zone. The U.S. Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay , Cuba is separated from Cuba proper by an area called the Cactus Curtain . In late 1961, the Cuban Army had its troops plant a 13-kilometre (8.1 mi) barrier of Opuntia cactus along the northeastern section of the 28-kilometre (17 mi) fence surrounding
8510-489: The bundle charges. During the early years of World War II, there was little in terms of truly effective German handheld weaponry designed to fight hard targets such as armored vehicles and structures, and even later in the war this style of bundle grenade remained useful to the common Heer infantryman. A different version of improvised weapon using M24 grenades was the Gestreckte Ladung (English: Elongated Charge),
8625-461: The case might be when retreating, but after an attack the stretcher-bearers had to enter it to bring in the wounded. No man's land remained a regular feature of the battlefield until near the end of World War I when mechanised weapons (i.e., tanks and airplanes ) made entrenched lines less of an obstacle. Effects from World War I no man's lands persist today, for example at Verdun in France, where
8740-412: The design, but most followed the same basic pattern: A wooden handle with a round or cylindrical warhead and a slow burning fuse. The charge was a mixture of TNT and potassium nitrate , and they were generally somewhat weaker than their German counterpart. In 1939, a new design with a smaller handle and much more compressed explosive load began trials. The resulting model was lighter and more powerful and
8855-478: The development of non-local forms of language and exposed all speakers to forms of German from outside their own area. With Luther's rendering of the Bible in the vernacular, German asserted itself against the dominance of Latin as a legitimate language for courtly, literary, and now ecclesiastical subject-matter. His Bible was ubiquitous in the German states: nearly every household possessed a copy. Nevertheless, even with
8970-452: The dialect so as to make the work as natural and accessible to German speakers as possible. Copies of Luther's Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region, translating words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Luther said the following concerning his translation method: One who would talk German does not ask the Latin how he shall do it; he must ask the mother in
9085-464: The eastern front (especially into present-day Russia). During production, the metal charge head was marked with a letter K , for the German word Kalt (English: cold). The Wehrmacht lacked a proper smoke grenade to allow infantry to cover advances or retreats, or for assaulting a position. A smoke version of the M24, the Nebelhandgranate 39 (English: Fog hand grenade 39), was produced. It had
9200-507: The eastern provinces of Banat , Bukovina , and Transylvania (German: Banat, Buchenland, Siebenbürgen ), German was the predominant language not only in the larger towns—like Temeschburg ( Timișoara ), Hermannstadt ( Sibiu ), and Kronstadt ( Brașov )—but also in many smaller localities in the surrounding areas. In 1901, the Second Orthographic Conference ended with a (nearly) complete standardization of
9315-507: The end of the war. The only significant alterations in the M43's design was the inclusion of a self-contained detonator, meaning that the fuse and the explosive were directly linked. The M43 also utilized an entirely different fuse assembly, very similar to that of the Model 39 grenade , another German hand grenade of the time. Not only was the stick no longer needed to be hollowed out for a pull cord as in
9430-426: The explosive – initially ammonal but later approximately 170 g (6.0 oz) of trinitrotoluene filling – was connected to a detonator, and a pull cord ran from the detonator down the length of the hollow handle, emerging from the base. To use it, a soldier would pull the string downwards, dragging a rough steel rod through the igniter within the fuse. The rod's abrasive contact would cause sparks and
9545-600: The fierceness seen in the Soviet Red Army in the east and the progressive advance of the Allies on the Western Front . A reminder was stenciled on each explosive charge: Vor Gebrauch Sprengkapsel einsetzen ("Before use insert detonator"). The Model 1924 was rather ineffective by itself at damaging or disabling an enemy armored vehicle or destroying fortifications. It also lacked the shrapnel effect of most other grenades of
9660-455: The fuse from the grenade on the belt, resulting in unnecessary casualties. The Model 24 Stielhandgranate was stored in specially designed crates during transport, which could carry up to 15 individual grenades. As a safety precaution, units of the Wehrmacht were advised to only insert the actual fuse assemblies when about to go into combat. Later in the war, however, many soldiers of the Wehrmacht would always have their weapons ready, due to
9775-466: The fuse to be ignited, and the grenade to explode on the belt of an unaware infantryman. This resulted in the introduction of the Model 1916 (M16). Functionally identical to the M15, the M16 changed the pull cord to improve safety. A small porcelain ball was placed at the base of the grenade, attached directly to the pull cord. This prevented the string from being exposed. The small bead was partially enveloped in
9890-653: The grenade, or created similar versions with very slight adjustments. China started using the M24 Stielhandgranate as a result of the German involvement in the modernization of the Chinese Army during the Sino-German cooperation 1926–1941 . During this period the Chinese army would adopt German uniforms and equipment, such as the Stielhandgranate 24. During the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945),
10005-681: The help of UN mediation on 3 April 1949. Armistice lines were determined in November 1948. Between the lines territory was left that was defined as no man's land. Such areas existed in Jerusalem in the area between the western and southern parts of the Walls of Jerusalem and Musrara . A strip of land north and south of Latrun was also known as "no man's land" because it was not controlled by either Israel or Jordan between 1948 and 1967. The no man's land regions were eliminated when Israel conquered them during
10120-435: The home, the children on the streets, the common man in the market-place and note carefully how they talk, then translate accordingly. They will then understand what is said to them because it is German. When Christ says ' ex abundantia cordis os loquitur ,' I would translate, if I followed the papists, aus dem Überflusz des Herzens redet der Mund . But tell me is this talking German? What German understands such stuff? No,
10235-474: The influence of Luther's Bible as an unofficial written standard, a widely accepted standard for written German did not appear until the middle of the eighteenth century. German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire , which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe . Until the mid-nineteenth century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of
10350-413: The largest concentrations of German speakers are in the states of Rio Grande do Sul (where Riograndenser Hunsrückisch developed), Santa Catarina , and Espírito Santo . No man%27s land No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define
10465-402: The mother in the home and the plain man would say, Wesz das Herz voll ist, des gehet der Mund über . Luther's translation of the Bible into High German was also decisive for the German language and its evolution from Early New High German to modern Standard German. The publication of Luther's Bible was a decisive moment in the spread of literacy in early modern Germany , and promoted
10580-401: The newly created Weimar Republic progressively began to repair both the physical and economic devastation, a slow rebuilding of the armed forces was allowed under the limitations set by the allies . The Weimar Republic revived the Stielhandgranate , and created a new version in 1924, the "Model 1924" (M24). While retaining the same explosive and fuse, the main distinction between the M24 and
10695-630: The ninth century, chief among them being the Muspilli , Merseburg charms , and Hildebrandslied , and other religious texts (the Georgslied , Ludwigslied , Evangelienbuch , and translated hymns and prayers). The Muspilli is a Christian poem written in a Bavarian dialect offering an account of the soul after the Last Judgment , and the Merseburg charms are transcriptions of spells and charms from
10810-490: The ordnance office decreed it to be the new standard type in all arsenals. Just like German troops, Chinese soldiers often bundled grenades together to blast open fortifications, vehicles and the like. Another tactic was to tie a grenade to a long bamboo stick, for example to stick up over a wall or into a window. After World War II, the People's Liberation Army standardized a variant of the grenade, designated "Type 67". It became
10925-431: The original M15 is a slightly shorter charge head and the removal of a belt carry clip. At the same time the wooden handle was lengthened. The intent of these design alterations was simply for mobility; German soldiers could easily (and often did) tuck the grenade in behind their uniform's belt, held tight and secure. Being slightly lighter, and smaller in thickness, this improved overall use. The M24 (75.5 million produced)
11040-462: The pronunciation of the ending -ig as [ɪk] instead of [ɪç]. In Northern Germany, High German was a foreign language to most inhabitants, whose native dialects were subsets of Low German. It was usually encountered only in writing or formal speech; in fact, most of High German was a written language, not identical to any spoken dialect, throughout the German-speaking area until well into the 19th century. However, wider standardization of pronunciation
11155-749: The standard grenade for the PLA and was also supplied in huge numbers to the Viet Cong and the People's Army of Vietnam during the Vietnam War . In 1938, the Imperial Japanese Army copied the Chinese Stielhandgranate 24 and produced them at a Japanese factory in Manchuria (then Japanese Manchukuo ). These were designated the "Type 98". Unlike both the original German M24 and its Chinese counterpart,
11270-405: The standard-issue grenade, designed to aid recruits on how to properly throw and operate the weapon during training. An exercise version called Übungs-Stielhandgranate 24 (English: Exercise-stick hand grenade 24) was introduced that was characterized by its bright-red warhead with big perforated holes going throughout. The Übungs-Stielhandgranate 24 could be outfitted with an exercise charge and
11385-446: The start of the war to describe the area between the trench lines included 'between the trenches' or 'between the lines'. The term 'no man's land' was first used in a military context by soldier and historian Ernest Swinton in his short story "The Point of View". Swinton used the term in war correspondence on the Western Front , with specific mention of the terms concerning to the Race to
11500-541: The states of North Dakota and South Dakota , German is the most common language spoken at home after English. As a legacy of significant German immigration to the country , German geographical names can be found throughout the Midwest region , such as New Ulm and Bismarck (North Dakota's state capital), plus many other regions. A number of German varieties have developed in the country and are still spoken today, such as Pennsylvania Dutch and Texas German . In Brazil,
11615-496: The third most commonly learned second language in the United States in K-12 education. The language has been influential in the fields of philosophy, theology, science, and technology. It is the second most commonly used language in science and the third most widely used language on websites . The German-speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of annual publication of new books, with one-tenth of all books (including e-books) in
11730-619: The time, such as the Mills bomb and the French F1 ;grenade , the later World War II American Mk 2 grenade , and the Russian (later Soviet) F1 grenade . Fragmentation grenades produced shrapnel which could wound enemy infantry over a large area, which made these types very useful in open areas such as fields, the blasted expanse of no man's land , beaches, spacious trenches, and wide city streets. Concussion grenades were primarily designed to stun opponents at close quarters with
11845-534: The time. To overcome these faults, various German industries during World War II produced a number of variants that widened the utility and capability of the M24. During numerous operations of the invasion of the Soviet Union , the Heer found that under freezing conditions the M24's fuse could fail to ignite. In response, a variant with a cold-resistant explosive was developed and supplied to most units deployed on
11960-407: The wooden handle, meaning that some force was needed to pluck it out. Operation was nearly identical, except that a soldier no longer needed to pull the string itself. Another development of the Stielhandgranate was implemented during the later stages of World War I, affecting the priming system. The base of the Stielhandgranate ' s handle was slightly redesigned, and a metal cover cap
12075-543: The world being published in German. German is most closely related to other West Germanic languages, namely Afrikaans , Dutch , English , the Frisian languages , and Scots . It also contains close similarities in vocabulary to some languages in the North Germanic group , such as Danish , Norwegian , and Swedish . Modern German gradually developed from Old High German , which in turn developed from Proto-Germanic during
12190-579: The written form of German. One of the central events in the development of ENHG was the publication of Luther's translation of the Bible into High German (the New Testament was published in 1522; the Old Testament was published in parts and completed in 1534). Luther based his translation primarily on the Meißner Deutsch of Saxony , spending much time among the population of Saxony researching
12305-429: Was a "neutral" language as there were virtually no English native speakers in Namibia at that time. German, Afrikaans, and several indigenous languages thus became "national languages" by law, identifying them as elements of the cultural heritage of the nation and ensuring that the state acknowledged and supported their presence in the country. Today, Namibia is considered to be the only German-speaking country outside of
12420-530: Was an artificial standard that did not correspond to any traditional spoken dialect. Rather, it was based on the pronunciation of German in Northern Germany, although it was subsequently regarded often as a general prescriptive norm, despite differing pronunciation traditions especially in the Upper-German-speaking regions that still characterise the dialect of the area today – especially
12535-515: Was beside the more common Model 39 grenade (84.2 million produced) the standard hand grenade of the German Wehrmacht during World War II. Adapting to the rapidly changing field of modern warfare, German soldiers would carry the M24 directly in front, allowing quick and easy access. However, in the later years of the war it was often advised to carry them in a different manner, as it was very likely any sort of explosion or heat could light
12650-408: Was disputed or involved in a legal disagreement. The same term was later used as the name for the piece of land outside the north wall of London that was assigned as the place of execution. The term is also applied in nautical use to a space amidships, originally between the forecastle and the booms in a square-rigged vessel where various ropes, tackle, block, and other supplies were stored. In
12765-485: Was established on the basis of public speaking in theatres and the media during the 20th century and documented in pronouncing dictionaries. Official revisions of some of the rules from 1901 were not issued until the controversial German orthography reform of 1996 was made the official standard by governments of all German-speaking countries. Media and written works are now almost all produced in Standard German which
12880-400: Was introduced. This cap concealed the porcelain bead and pull cord, allowing it to simply rest freely inside of the handle. The operator pulled the cap off and then pulled the cord as with the M16. With the German Empire's defeat at the conclusion of World War I, the collapse of industrial capability and military strength of Germany left many projects and ideas forgotten for years. When
12995-426: Was not widely distributed into general service until 1916. Thus, there was a small period of time where German troops had large supplies of new Model 1915 grenades, while their British opponents only had a small number. As World War I progressed, the Model 1915 Stielhandgranate was improved with various changes. These variants received designations such as the Model 1916 and the Model 1917. In 1915, industries of
13110-503: Was often extensively cratered by exploded shells , riddled with barbed wire , and littered with rudimentary land mines ; as well as the corpses and wounded soldiers who were unable to make it through the hailstorm of projectiles, explosions, and flames. The area was sometimes contaminated by chemical weapons . It was open to fire from the opposing trenches and hard going generally slowed any attempted advance. Not only were soldiers forced to cross no man's land when advancing, and as
13225-403: Was too heavy for regular battlefield use by untrained troops and not suitable for mass production. This left Germany without a standard-issue grenade and improvised designs similar to those of the British were used until a proper grenade could be supplied. Germany introduced the "stick grenade" in 1915, the second year of the conflict. Aside from its unusual appearance, the Stielhandgranate used
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