Armored fortress Strač
Defensive line:
First line of defense Trebinje - Bileća
The second circle of the fortification ring of Trebinje

Tactical mission task
Control of Nikšić line of defense

Construction period
1910 - unfinished

Crew
1915. 1 officers and 75 soldiers
Projected for 4 officers and 179 soldiers

Weapons
Armored howitzer М 09 100 mm, range up to 7 km, 2 pcs.
Cannon M10 60mm, 2 pieces
Machine guns М07/12, 8 mm(projected 24 pcs.)
Infantry weapons
A MASTERPIECE OF MILITARY ENGINEERING
Srač, popularly called Strač, belongs to the last generation of concrete-armored fortresses built before the First World War. The change in construction was due to a new generation of artillery that demolished the thick stone walls of the fortresses. Expensive and huge, they were a strategic support in the war and could receive a large army. In some places, the reinforced concrete walls on Strač are several meters thick. Strač is surrounded by a throat (4) (trench) and barbed wire (6). Together with the Dvrsnik fortress in Montenegro, it is considered a masterpiece of military engineering of that time. 
  • Strač, aerial shot
  • Trebinje barracks²
FORTRESS ORGANIZATION
The life of the army took place in the barracks (1), while the combat part was in the extension of the building (2). Although local legends tell of hundreds of rooms, the barracks has between 50 and 60 rooms. What is most noticeable today on the combat part is the concrete roof (2), on which are four sliding steel domes, the outer part of artillery nest, weighing 25 tons. Two domes protected howitzer crews and two served as observation posts, to correct artillery fire. 
  • Howitzer 100 mm³
  • Sketch of an armored howitzer nest²
Blocks for close defense can be found on the four sides of the fortress (3): for short-range cannons with several machine gun nests. If Strač was finished, it would have 24 nests and 12 large searchlights, and it would cost the Viannese state coffers about 1.4 million Austrian guilders, calculated in today’s value, amounts to several hundred million euros. 
  • Machine gun М07/12³
  • Searchlight from Prevlaka, used as such in Strač³
INTEGRAL SYSTEM OF PROTECTION OF THE SOUTHERN BORDER OF THE EMPIRE 
More money from the Vienna state treasury was spent on the construction of a three-belt protection system in Herzegovina than was spent on the construction of public institutions. It relied on the system in Boka, which was built to protect the military port of the empire and to defend the sensitive mountain border with the Kingdom of Montenegro. At that time in Europe, it was one of the largest and most modern defensive systems. According to the detailed planning, precise use of the terrain, the way of connecting and covering the terrain with artillery fire, it was the fruit of a military-engineering genius. Is it superfluous to say that the integral system welcomed the capitulation of Austria-Hungary without being used during the war?
Artillery fire plan²
¹ Source: Radojica Pavićević
² Source: Volker Pachauer
³ Source: Österreichisches Staatsarchiv
4 Source: Österreichische Gesellschaft für Festungsforschung

Important Note: Explore the fortresses and use the trails at your own risk.
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This website is part of the FORT-NET project "From the Medieval Fortresses in Herzegovina to the Austro-Hungarian Fortresses in Montenegro" funded with the help of the European Union. The content of this website is the sole responsibility of the project partners and does not necessarily represent the views of the European Union.
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