Editing Brest (France) (section)

==<FONT COLOR="#3333CC">'''HISTORY OF BREST'''</FONT>==
Nothing definite is known of Brest before about 1240, when a count of Léon ceded it to John I, duke of Brittany. In 1342 John de Montfort surrendered it to the English, in whose hands it was to remain until 1397. '''The importance of Brest in medieval times was great enough to give rise to the saying''', "He is not duke of Brittany who is not lord of Brest". With the marriage of Francis I to Claude, daughter of Anne of Brittany, the definitive overlordship of Brest – together with the rest of the duchy – passed to the French crown.

The advantages of Brest's situation as a seaport town were first recognized by Richelieu, who in 1631 constructed a wooden-wharved harbour, which soon became a base for the French navy. Colbert rebuilt the wharves in masonry and otherwise improved the base, and fortifications by Vauban (1633–1707) followed in 1680-1688. '''These fortifications, and with them the naval importance of the town''', were to continue to develop throughout the 18th century.

In 1694 an English squadron under John Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley of Stratton, was miserably defeated in the Attack on Brest; but in 1794, during the revolutionary war, the French fleet, under Villaret de Joyeuse, was equally thoroughly beaten in the same place by the English admiral Howe.

In World War II, the Germans maintained a large submarine base in Brest. Almost totally destroyed during the Battle for Brest (barely more than three buildings were left standing), '''the city has since been rebuilt'''. After the war, the West German government paid several billion dollars' worth of reparations to the homeless and destitute civilians of Brest in compensation for the destruction of, or damage to, their homes and property during the course of the war. Large parts of today's rebuilt city consist of the utilitarian granite and concrete buildings erected in the war's aftermath. The naval base now also houses the Brest Naval Training Centre.

In 1972, France opened its submarine nuclear deterrence base at Île Longue in the Rade de Brest (Brest roadstead).

'''''More informations about the History of Brest on the [[wikipedia:Brest]] !'''''