No man's land
Note: No man's land may also be understood as Terra nullius.
No man's land is a term for a land that is not occupied or more specifically land that is under dispute between parties that won't occupy it because of fear or uncertainty.
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History
World War I
In World War I and other later wars which involved trench warfare, the term no man's land indicated the land between the trenches of the opposing armies. This land belonged to neither side; it was a neutral place on the battlefield.
No man's land was a very dangerous area because it usually provided none of the cover that trenches are designed to. However, soldiers were forced to venture into it when advancing, and stretcher bearers would need to traverse it if they were to bring in the wounded.
No man's land was often a hellish experience for soldiers, ranging from several hundred yards to in some cases as short as 15 metres. Heavily defended by machine guns and riflemen on both sides, they also were often riddled with land mines and barbed wire. Intense bombing and artillery often blanketed the no man's land in a sea of explosions and fire. The area was usually devastated by the warfare, leaving little to no foliage left to cover in and providing an excellent way for enemies in the other trench to shower death upon charging infantry.
The hell of the no man's land remained largely inpenetrable until near the end of World War 1, when tanks were able to cross the field with little opposition and roll directly into the enemies' trenches.
Cold War
During the Cold War 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 in length, containing watch towers, minefields and such.
See also: List of disputed or occupied territories
Art and entertainment
- No Man's Land (play)
- No Man's Land (film)
- "No Man's Land (comics)" was a major crossover in Batman comic books
- No Man's Land is a song by Syd Barrett on the album The Madcap Laughs.
- No Man's Land is an EP released by Denver punk band TKO in 2005.