A Great Big Hole in Defense
Werk IV, Pašino Brdo, Sarajevo
When the Austro-Hungarians occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878, they began a vast construction project of forts around the country, in particular around the city of Sarajevo. The forts, constructed in the typically solid Austrian style, were meant to protect from the most likely invasion – a Serb army sweeping through tiny Bosnia in the style of Eugene of Savoy’s 1697 sacking of the entire nation.
Inside Werk IV, looking out
An invasion of sorts did come, but it completely bypassed the system of fortresses the Austro-Hungarians had planted permanently in Bosnian soil. It came in the guise of a group of angry young men with every right to be in their own country.
“What is the good of your speeches? I come to Sarajevo on a visit, and I get bombs thrown at me. It is outrageous!”
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, interrupting the Mayor’s Speech, Sarajevo City Hall, June 28, 1914
It seems that the adage that generals are always prepared to fight the last war held true in 1914. All those forts didn’t prevent the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sofie, and they didn’t stop the seemingly inevitable and inexorable advance of World War I.
Werk IV
But those forts still stand today – having made it through two massive world wars, the era of communism, and the horrors of the nineties. They’ve been manned, used as defensive positions, hosted rifle practice for Tito’s Youth, and abandoned. But you can still visit them today, a little worse for wear and missing their metal components, still standing vigil on the mountains of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Werk IV
- April 13, 2020
- Culture , History , Interesting , Outdoor