Marsala the area has been conquered by Norman, Angevin and Aragonese troops. During this time, Marsala became wealthy, primarily through trade. However the blocking up of the harbour of Punta Alga, decreed by Emperor Charles V so as to stop Saracen forays, brought an end to this period of prosperity. The development of Marsala wine at the end of the 18th century, headed by English merchants settled in Sicily, considerably improved local trade. This triggered an economic expansion in Marsala, including the funding of infrastructure projects such as the current harbour of Margitello. On 11 May 1860 Giuseppe Garibaldi landed at
Fortified Sector of the Jura Fortified Sector of the Jura The Fortified Sector of the Jura ("Secteur Fortifiée du Jura") was the French military organization that in 1940 controlled the French frontier with Switzerland in the general area of Besançon. The area was lightly fortified, since the Swiss border was regarded as a low-risk frontier, save for the possibility of an advance from Germany through Switzerland into France. The Jura Mountains and the Doubs River presented natural barriers to invasion, allowing defenses to concentrate on a few points of potential access. The SF Jura was bordered on the east by the Fortified Sector of Montbéliard.