Our eastern border, as defined by the end of the Second World War with the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty, is unique in the landscape of European borders. It is a continuous fortified landscape that arches from Timau in the north, with the Monte Croce Carnico Pass towards Austria, to Timavo in the south, with the route of the State Road n.14 of Venezia Giulia towards the then Yugoslavia. It is characterised by a permanent fortification system, very widespread in the territory, based on larger structures, such as barracks, training centers and shooting ranges, and small underground “works” to guard the significant points for the control of the road network, road and rail, the major passes and bridges on the main rivers. The works consisted of individual reinforced concrete structures called stations, some of which contained an antitank gun station and others a machine gun station, coordinated by the command and observation station. They were given the task of engaging the enemy at the most advanced point of a possible attack, and for this purpose were supported by a platoon for the preparation of minefields, field stations and the guard near the gates for armoured vehicles. The works add up to a hundred stations instead reach the thousand, works and stations that in the eighties were still operational and therefore carefully maintained, camouflaged and consequently secret, and it is precisely the failure of this condition that makes it necessary to intervene. In order to recognise the fortified landscape I studied the territory, considering the historical events that determined the variation of the borders; in this area the war strategy implemented in the First World Conflict was that of the Position War, followed by the Movement War and the Total War in the Second World Conflict. More recently, in the Cold War, the network of fortifications was adapted to the current armoured vehicles and armaments that also provided for the use of logistical nuclear weapons, to arrive at its decommissioning in the nineties with the new scenarios of the Hybrid War. Research on the permanent fortification of the eastern border is still underway. Partial results have provided indepth topics for numerous degree theses, educational communications and conferences. In my essay I give an example of the work of Sablici, which located on the Cima Sablici, dominates the Lisert gate in the direction of Trieste at the barrier of the Timavo and, because of its characteristics, is significant for understanding the complexity of the fortified landscape. The objective is to obtain an “atlas” of that fortified landscape of the eastern border that for fifty years has affected the territory, depicting it both in the years of construction and in those of disposal.
From Timau to Timavo: The fortified landscape of the eastern border
Petruzzi R.
2019-01-01
Abstract
Our eastern border, as defined by the end of the Second World War with the 1947 Paris Peace Treaty, is unique in the landscape of European borders. It is a continuous fortified landscape that arches from Timau in the north, with the Monte Croce Carnico Pass towards Austria, to Timavo in the south, with the route of the State Road n.14 of Venezia Giulia towards the then Yugoslavia. It is characterised by a permanent fortification system, very widespread in the territory, based on larger structures, such as barracks, training centers and shooting ranges, and small underground “works” to guard the significant points for the control of the road network, road and rail, the major passes and bridges on the main rivers. The works consisted of individual reinforced concrete structures called stations, some of which contained an antitank gun station and others a machine gun station, coordinated by the command and observation station. They were given the task of engaging the enemy at the most advanced point of a possible attack, and for this purpose were supported by a platoon for the preparation of minefields, field stations and the guard near the gates for armoured vehicles. The works add up to a hundred stations instead reach the thousand, works and stations that in the eighties were still operational and therefore carefully maintained, camouflaged and consequently secret, and it is precisely the failure of this condition that makes it necessary to intervene. In order to recognise the fortified landscape I studied the territory, considering the historical events that determined the variation of the borders; in this area the war strategy implemented in the First World Conflict was that of the Position War, followed by the Movement War and the Total War in the Second World Conflict. More recently, in the Cold War, the network of fortifications was adapted to the current armoured vehicles and armaments that also provided for the use of logistical nuclear weapons, to arrive at its decommissioning in the nineties with the new scenarios of the Hybrid War. Research on the permanent fortification of the eastern border is still underway. Partial results have provided indepth topics for numerous degree theses, educational communications and conferences. In my essay I give an example of the work of Sablici, which located on the Cima Sablici, dominates the Lisert gate in the direction of Trieste at the barrier of the Timavo and, because of its characteristics, is significant for understanding the complexity of the fortified landscape. The objective is to obtain an “atlas” of that fortified landscape of the eastern border that for fifty years has affected the territory, depicting it both in the years of construction and in those of disposal.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
