Railway checkpoints in Galicia's defense system

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As relations between Vienna and St Petersburg became extremely tense as a result of the Bulgarian crisis of 1885 the Austro-Hungarian General Staff decided to expand Galicia's defensive structures. The new plan included the construction of fortified checkpoints at strategic bridges and railway tunnels. Its implementation began in 1889 and by 1897 eighteen structures were completed. Seven more were added by 1905. The total cost amounted to at least 500,000 crowns. Most checkpoints were located along the main route Oiwifcim-Krakow-Przemyil-Lwow, at local crossings on the Vistula and the Dnester, and in the Beskidy Mountains at the entry to southward railway tunnels. They were modelled on fortified checkpoints built in 1878 in Bosnia and Herzegovina; each was to be manned by 25 soldiers. Officially the checkpoints were erected to protect railway installations in case of a sudden Russian attack. In fact Russia was not in a position to start an offensive that would move as far as the Carpathian passes. The checkpoints proved to be of little use during the 1914 mobilization. Nor did they play any role when the front froze into trench war along the rivers Dunajec, San, Dnester, and the Beskidy Mountains. As they were not sturdy enough to form part of any defense line, their construction must be seen in retrospect as an expensive mistake.