Fortifying Europe's Soft Underbelly: The Rupnik Line, the Vallo Alpino and Other Fortifications of the Ljubljana Gap

Merriam Press Military Monograph 114. Third Edition (April 2012). This is the story of the Rupnik Line, the Vallo Alpino and other fortifications of the Ljubljana Gap in the former Yugoslavia before, during and after World War II. They are covered in detail by a Slovenian author who has visited, researched and recorded the existing remains. This book deals mainly with two fortification systems controlling the passage through the so-called Ljubljana Gap. These are the eastern part of the Vallo Alpino, built by Fascist Italy, and the Rupnik Line, built by the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in the first half of the twentieth century. While Vallo Alpino, thanks to its other parts, especially those along the border with France, was to some degree known, hardly anybody had ever heard about the Rupnik Line. Even within the borders of the former Yugoslavia these fortifications were either unheard of or forgotten. Contents: * Acknowledgments * Chapter 1: Introduction * Chapter 2: The Ljubljana Gap: The Geography * Chapter 3: The History of Military Developments and Fortifying of the Area * Chapter 4: The Eastern Part of ‘Vallo Alpino’: The Unknown Eastern Part * Chapter 5: The Rupnik Line * Chapter 6: The War * Chapter 7: The Ring of Wire * Chapter 8: Europe’s Soft Underbelly or the Ljubljana Gap Strategy * Chapter 9: Discovering the Rupnik Line * Chapter 10: Epilogue * Sources * Appendix: Plans of Individual Forts of the Eastern Part of Vallo Alpino * 167 maps, plans, sketches, and wartime as well as present day photos of the remains of the bunkers, turrets and other fortifications of the area.