Aisne in the context of "Laon"

World War I was the first major conflict involving the use of aircraft. Tethered observation balloons had already been employed in several wars and would be used extensively for artillery spotting. Germany employed Zeppelins for reconnaissance over the North Sea and Baltic and also for strategic bombing raids over Britain and the Eastern Front.

Airplanes were just coming into military use at the outset of the war. Initially, they were used mostly for reconnaissance. Pilots and engineers learned from experience, leading to the development of many specialized types, including fighters, bombers, and trench strafers.

The Most Serene House of Bourbon-Condé (pronounced [buʁbɔ̃ kɔ̃de]), named after Condé-en-Brie (now in the Aisne département), was a French princely house and a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon. The name of the house was derived from the title of Prince of Condé (French: prince de Condé) that was originally assumed around 1557 by the French Protestant leader Louis de Bourbon (1530–1569), uncle of King Henry IV of France, and borne by his male-line descendants.

This line became extinct in 1830 when his eighth-generation descendant, Louis Henri Joseph de Bourbon, died without surviving male issue. The princely title was held for one last time by Louis d'Orléans, Prince of Condé, who died in 1866.

The Aisne (/eɪn/ ayn, US also /ɛn/ en, French: [ɛːn] ; Picard: Ainne) is a river in northeastern France. It is a left tributary of the Oise. It gave its name to the French department of Aisne. It was known in the Roman period as Axona.

The river rises in the forest of Argonne, at Rembercourt-Sommaisne, near Sainte-Menehould. It flows north and then west before joining the Oise near Compiègne. The Aisne is 356 kilometres (221 mi) long. Its main tributaries are the Vesle, the Aire and the Suippe. The Battle of the Axona was fought between the Romans and the Belgae near the Aisne in 57 BC. Three Battles of the Aisne were fought in the Aisne valley during the First World War.

Charly-sur-Marne (French pronunciation: [ʃaʁli syʁ maʁn], literally Charly on Marne) is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.

An old fortified city dating from the 9th-century Burgundy, it was renamed from Charly in 2006.

Sigebert II (601–613) or Sigisbert II, was the illegitimate son of Theuderic II, from whom he inherited the kingdoms of Burgundy and Austrasia in 613. However, he fell under the influence of his great-grandmother, Brunhilda.

Warnachar, mayor of the palace of Austrasia had Sigebert brought before a national assembly, where he was proclaimed king by the nobles over both his father's kingdoms. However, when the kingdom was invaded by Clotaire II of Neustria, Warnachar and Rado, mayor of the palace of Burgundy, betrayed Sigebert and Brunhilda and joined with Clotaire, recognising Clotaire as rightful regent and guardian of Sigebert and ordering the army not to oppose the Neustrians. Brunhilda and Sigebert met Clotaire's army on the Aisne, but the Patrician Aletheus, Duke Rocco, and Duke Sigvald deserted her host and Brunhilda and Sigebert were forced to flee, before being taken by Clotaire's men at Lake Neuchâtel.

Soissons (French pronunciation: [swasɔ̃] ) is a commune in the northern French department of Aisne, in the region of Hauts-de-France. Located on the river Aisne, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) northeast of Paris, it is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital of the Suessiones. Soissons is also the see of an ancient Roman Catholic diocese, whose establishment dates from about 300, and it was the location of a number of church synods called "Council of Soissons".

The Sambre (French: [sɑ̃bʁ]) is a river in northern France and in Wallonia, Belgium. It is a left-bank tributary of the Meuse, which it joins in the Wallonian capital Namur.

The source of the Sambre is near Le Nouvion-en-Thiérache, in the Aisne department. It passes through the Franco-Belgian coal basin, formerly an important industrial district. The navigable course begins in Landrecies at the junction with the Canal de la Sambre à l'Oise, which links with the central French waterway network (or did, until navigation was interrupted in 2006 following structural failures). It runs 54 km and 9 locks 38.50 m long and 5.20 m wide down to the Belgian border at Jeumont. From the border the river is canalised in two distinct sections over a distance of 88 km with 17 locks. The Haute-Sambre is 39 km long and includes 10 locks of the same dimensions as in France, down to the industrial town of Charleroi. The rest of the Belgian Sambre was upgraded to European Class IV dimensions (1350-tonne barges) in the immediate post-World War II period. It lies at the western end of the sillon industriel, which is still Wallonia's industrial backbone, despite the cessation of all the coal-mining and a decline in the steel industry. The river flows into the Meuse at Namur, Belgium.

Brie (/briː/; French pronunciation: [bʁi] ) is a historic region of northern France notable in modern times for Brie cheese. It was once divided into three sections ruled by different feudal lords: the western Brie française, corresponding roughly to the modern department of Seine-et-Marne in the Île-de-France region; the eastern Brie champenoise, forming a portion of the modern department of Marne in the historic region of Champagne (part of modern-day Grand Est); and the northern Brie pouilleuse, forming part of the modern department of Aisne in Picardy.

The Brie forms a plateau with few eminences, varying in altitude between roughly 100–150 metres (325–500 ft) in the west, and 150–200 metres (500–650 ft) in the east. Its scenery is varied by forests of some size—the chief being the Forest of Sénart, the Forêt de Crécy-la-Chapelle [fr], and the Forêt d'Armainvilliers [fr]. The surface soil is clay in which are embedded fragments of siliceous sandstone, used for millstones and constructional purposes; the subsoil is limestone. The Marne and its tributaries the Grand Morin and the Petit Morin are the chief rivers, but the region is not abundantly watered and the rainfall is only between 50–60 centimetres (20–24 in).