Fortress #77 covers the defensive structures that were built by the Soviet Union between 1928 and 1941. Initially, the Soviets saw that they needed to build up defensive positions along its western borders to prevent incursions from the many unfriendly nations that were next to it. However, the new nation was woefully short of funds to build what had to be a massive undertaking due to the huge area that needed defended.

Rather than a continuous line of defenses, they started building defensive positions in what were known as fortified regions. Initially, there was little motivation to start construction, but by the late 1920's there was a real war scare and building began in earnest. Once the major fortified regions were nearing completion, other regions in between were started and so on. By the time of the late 1930s, all of the major areas were fortified, and to some extent the minor ones as well. Of course, there were the usual problems with substandard building materials, lack of weapons to install in the various bunkers and lack of soldiers to operate these weapons. All of this was known as the Stalin Line.

When Poland was partitioned and the Baltic states overtaken in 1939/1940, a new border was formed and that needed to be defended. Many of the older Stalin line facilities were stripped of their weapons and a new round of construction began. This was the Molotov line. Same old problems of construction, equipment and manning. When the Germans invaded in 1941, the Soviets were, for the most part, unable to man the new defensive positions and with few exceptions, these were quickly over run. The older Stalin line positions, however, were put to more use and several held out for quite some time. As they were facing west, they were of little use to the Germans during their long retreat.

Author Neil Short covers the design and development of these positions, some of which were simply machine gun, some of which had artillery and some that used old tank turrets. Each of these various types are given a detailed look in regards to how they were set up and their use. A look at those who built and manned these sites is included as well as their operational use. Interestingly, many of these are still extant and in fairly good condition. Aside from Belarus, few have been restored, though the Russians are working towards saving some.

All of this is additionally enhanced by period photos, images of the extant sites and the superb art work of Adam Hook. The book will be especially useful to the modeler who likes to do dioramas as there are a nearly unlimited number of possibilities shown in these pages.

Overall, another fine book in this series and one that should be on the shelves of anyone interested in this particular time and place in history.

September 2008

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