Berecz Mátyás - Bujdosné Pap Györgyi - Petercsák Tivadar (szerk.): Végvár és mentalitás a kora újkori Európában - Studia Agriensia 31. (Eger, 2015)
CIESIELSKI, TOMASZ: Fortresses on the south-eastern borders of Poland in the 18th century
STUDIA AGRIENSIA 31, 2015 Ciesielski, Tornász FORTRESSES ON THE SOUTH-EASTERN BORDERS OF POLAND IN THE 18™ CENTURY The art of fortification in the 18th century Europe developed under the enormous influence of the doctrine developed and implemented by a French engineer Sebastian La Prestre de Vauban. Elis doctrine of defence advocated protecting the national boundaries with an appropriate number of strongholds taking advantage of the natural obstacles, including mountain ranges, rivers and large lakes. They aimed to form a uniform defence system making it hard for the enemy to penetrate the interior of the defended territory, at the same time providing one’s own troops with an operational basis for offensive military operations. Each of the strongholds was envisaged to have a sophisticated system of defending the approaches, and protecting proper fortifications and their weak points in the face of enemy artillery fire. That was to be achieved through two or three moats, embankments, ravelins and redoubts, as well as gun batteries so designed that it was possible to be armed with guns and mortars while protecting the approaches with direct and indirect fire1. The Vauban doctrine soon found ardent advocates in numerous European countries, including Savoy, Russia, Austria, Prussia and even Turkey. The rulers of Savoy erected a number of fortresses whose aim was to defend the passage through the Alps1 2. In the early 18th century, the Russians erected 1 Duffy, C.: Fire and Stone: The Science of Fortress Warfare 1660-1860. London, 1975, p. 54 and next; idem: The Fortress in the Age of Vauban and Frederick the Great, 1660-1789. Siege Warfare Volume II. London, Boston Melbourne and Henley, 1985. pp. 71-97.; Lynn, J. A.: Giant of the Grand Siècle. The French Army 1610-1715. Cambridge, 1997. pp. 553-565.; Dybas, B.: Fortece Rzeczypospolitej. Studium z dziejów budowy fortyfikacji stalych w paristwie polsko-litewskim w XVII wieku. Tomii, 1998. pp. 17-25. 2 Duffy, C.: The Fortress in the Age of Vauban, pp. 150. 309
