User:Acroterion/Fortress Saint-Gotthard
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Fortress Saint Gotthard is one of the three fortification complexes comprising the Swiss National Redoubt. The central position in the National Redoubt, Fortress Saint Gotthard complements Fortress Saint-Maurice and Fortress Sargans to secure the central alpine region of Switzerland against an invading force. The National Redoubt was first conceived in the 1880s as an easily-defensible area to secure the survival of the Swiss Confederation. In the late 1930s and 1940s when neutral Switzerland was threatened with invasion from Germany, the National Redoubt and its components were modernized and expanded on a massive scale. The fortification system was maintained and upgraded during the Cold War. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the possibility of a Warsaw Pact invasion disappeared, and by 1995 many positions were abandoned by the military.