Fulda Gap

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Topography of the Fulda Gap
Possible routes of incursion by the Soviet Army near Fulda through the Fulda Gap
Sketch of combat patrols of the 5th US Corps with guidance lines CONCORD - FARGO
Area around Fulda
Terrain of the Rhön
Terrain of the Rhön in winter
Terrain of the Rhön in the fog
Panorama of the Hessian skittles game
Surroundings of Hattenbach
GDR border tower near Rasdorf
Museum Point Alpha , former observation tower of the US armed forces on the inner-German border
US roll call at Point ALPHA
Blackhorse tank reconnaissance
Memorial stone of the 11th ACR

Fulda Gap (German Fulda-Lücke or Lücke von Fulda ) is a term used by the US armed forces during the Cold War to describe the area near Fulda near the inner-German border .

Strategic location

The term Fulda Gap first emerged in the 1970s in a tactic textbook on Conventional-Nuclear Operations (conventional-atomic operations) for general staff officers at Fort Leavenworth on. In addition, this term was also used for the Würzburg Gap and Hof Gap .

The Fulda Gap was characterized by the forest areas of the German low mountain range, as well as by rapidly urbanized areas that grew strongly in the 1970s and 1980s and thus possibly also required local combat .

The Fulda Gap stretched from Herleshausen to Bad Neustadt an der Saale . At the fragile and "strategically vulnerable" gap in Fulda, NATO feared an advance by Warsaw Pact troops between two of its army groups and further into the hinterland of the Federal Republic of Germany. Paul Kohl describes in Fulda Gap. A report on militarization in Germany from a civilian perspective, the advance of American troops near the border and the effects of a battle according to the Air-Land Battle doctrine (Air-Land Battle. Field Manual 100-5, Master Restationing Plan), including the Use of chemical weapons such as VX (NATO) and Soman (Warsaw Pact).

In the East Hessian area around the so-called "NATO Park" around Rhön (today Rhön Biosphere Reserve ), Vogelsberg , Spessart and Kinzigtal , the territory of the Warsaw Pact protruded the furthest to the west and was therefore often referred to as the "hottest part of the Cold War" Acts of war in the form of a large tank battle ("In the Fulda Gap, these two armies would have clashed in one of the largest tank battles ever recorded, with the fate of 70 million West German civilians and their government at stake") were particularly likely there. On a few hundred square kilometers, more than 150,000 soldiers and around 4,000 battle tanks and other armored combat vehicles faced each other. With a depth of only 150 kilometers from Geisa in Thuringia to Frankfurt and few natural obstacles for tanks, the Fulda Gap represented the "wasp waist" and thus a special strategic gate situation in western Germany. The terrain was generally considered to be difficult to defend. The loss of this space would have separated the two army groups NORTHAG and CENTAG from one another and shook the overall defense of Western Europe. It was assumed that in the zone between Bad Hersfeld and Fulda it would have been decided whether a conventional Third World War would have escalated into a nuclear war. Under President Ronald Reagan , NATO developed general defense plans for the Federal Republic and Western Europe in the event of an invasion by Warsaw Pact forces under the designation General Defense Plan 31001 . The area east of Fulda was assumed to be the most likely attack point for the enemy. Particular attention was paid to the 8th Guard Army of the Soviet Armed Forces group in Germany, which was stationed in the south of the GDR . To the south and north are the Thuringian Forest and the Harz Mountains, which are difficult to negotiate for tanks, as natural obstacles. According to the area, the attack would initially have been carried out from the east into the Fulda depression , starting from there two courses would have developed, one north and the other south of the Vogelsberg towards Frankfurt with side thrusts via Meiningen and Würzburg to Mannheim and via Hof - Bayreuth - Bamberg on Karlsruhe offered.

Possible attack corridors of the Warsaw Pact in the Fulda Gap between Fulda, Rhön, Spessart, Gelnhausen and Hanau were as follows:

  • Hessian Wetterau corridor: border between III. Corps and V Corps . The widest corridor in the northern sector of the Fulda Gap, which, due to its geographical location, would have been very likely for a flank attack by an OMG of the Warsaw Pact. In the middle is the Vogelsberg as a basalt massif and the highest terrain formation in the operational area. This limits and channels tank advances. The upper forest of the Vogelsberg is difficult terrain (densely forested, heavy fog and deep snow in winter) and can therefore only be held by infantry (hunters' troops). It could be a possible target for a Soviet air landing .
  • Kinzigtal in the Fulda depression: natural corridor between Vogelsberg and Rhön-Spessart.
  • Bundesstrasse 84 from Geisa , Vacha through Rasdorf to Alsfeld. The zone is in the US tank reconnaissance sector. There and around the border towns of Rasdorf and Eiterfeld one expected the heaviest fighting. The easternmost point was in the so-called "Tann Pocket".

Fulda Gap during the Cold War

It was assumed that the armies of the Warsaw Pact would  march in west Thuringia - the so-called Thuringian balcony -, break through the border towards Fulda and advance to the Rhine-Main area within two days . This would have divided the Federal Republic in two halves and eliminated the Rhein-Main Air Base , the most important NATO air force base in Europe. Central Thuringia was a focus of the group of Soviet armed forces in Germany.

As part of the General Defense Plan , massive US troops would have been concentrated around Fulda in order to slow down such an attack until supplies had arrived. For this purpose, the use of tactical nuclear weapons was also considered; in the area around Fulda, for example, 141 tactical nuclear weapons would have been used as part of the so-called “ Zebra Package ”. In addition, in many streets - increasingly within a 50 kilometer wide belt along the border - blast shafts were built, which, when detonated, were intended to slow down the movements of the enemy armies. The SACEUR Bernard W. Rogers affirmed in 1984 that conventional defenses could only have been for a few days. After that, the use of nuclear weapons would have become inevitable. Nevertheless, in the 1980s the anti-tank capability of the NATO army was increased by the combined use of the air force ( Fairchild-Republic A-10 ground attack aircraft and General Dynamics F-16 fighter-bombers), modern anti-tank mines (AT-2 anti-tank drop mines), anti-tank helicopters and anti-tank guided missiles ( MILAN , HOT and TOW ) massively increased. These defense plans at the Fulda Gap remained valid until the end of the Cold War and German reunification in 1990, on paper until 1994.

There was a similar strategic situation north of the Harz along the border between today's Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony (in the North German Plain , the four mechanized corps of the NATO Army Group North ( NORTHAG ) faced a well-armored and highly mobile opponent (the concept since 1981 of the operational maneuver groups, fully mechanized armored units, in order to seek a decision in a fast and mobile encounter battle in the initial phase, even before the enemy has the opportunity to set up defense), which are also massive there on both sides of the border Troop concentrations led ( Lüneburger Heide , Colbitz-Letzlinger Heide ). Further north, the Lower Elbe formed a certain natural obstacle and separated the army groups NORTHAG and LANDJUT .

In 1976, Lieutenant General Donn A. Starry took command of V Corps and introduced the following changes:

  • Conversion of the cover forces into combat forces (eight battalions or combat groups in battalion strength as heavy cover forces under the control of the corps), which lead the battle in the security zone 10 to 15 kilometers behind the border. Task: 1st season of the Warsaw Pact is forced to unfold and take position. This enables further combat by artillery.
  • more active defense of the divisions that continue the battle after the cover forces have taken up
  • Fight at depth to raise NATO's defense nuclear threshold

In the NATO autumn maneuver " Reforger 83 FTX - Confident Enterprise " ( Confident Enterprise 83 ), the combined use of conventional and NBC weapons was practiced. 61,000 soldiers of the 3rd US-Armored Division, 3rd US-Amored Cavalry Regiment , 8th US-Mech took part in this maneuver . Infantry Division, 4th US Infantry Division , Panzerbrigade 34 and others in the area between Frankfurt am Main and Bad Hersfeld. Part of this field maneuver included the digging of mass graves (mass burial procedures / dealing with mass losses), the “Campo Pond”, which led to severe criticism.

After a complete change in the threat situation (armored divisions and self-propelled howitzers were no longer needed for the great battle in a symmetrical war), several military sites such as B. the tank reconnaissance in Sontra , artillery in Hessisch Lichtenau and air defense in Fuldatal closed.

Defense planning of NATO at the Fulda Gap

The plans of NATO, according to the General Defense Plan, aimed to defend as close to the border as possible and to maintain the integrity of NATO territory. In Phase I, the Warsaw Pact's First Squadron, with four corps in the north and four in the south, was to be broken up. After that, the fighting with CINCENT reserves should focus on the second season . A timely alert and mobilization of our own combat units was decisive for the success of the defense operations at the Fulda Gap . This also included bringing in reserves from overseas through REFORGER measures, which, despite the motto “Ten Divisions in Ten Days”, would probably have taken longer in reality.

The V. US Corps (CENTAG defended with a total of four corps) had been assigned the responsibility of defending the Fulda Gap in their combat patrol. The III. DE Corps was deployed on the left flank north of US V Corps and US VII Corps south of it. Since 1958, CENTAG has operated with four advanced lines of defense. One of them ran from Vogelsberg, west of Fulda, via Schweinfurt and Nuremberg to Landshut and Rosenheim . The leading lines in the sector of the V Corps, which are mentioned in GDP 31001, were called ALPHA, CONCORD, BRADFORD, CHICAGO, DENVER, ENFIELD, FARGO, GULFPORT and HARTFORD running from east to west.

In order to ensure the deployment of the main forces, cover forces (mostly armored scouts) would have to conduct the delay battle for a certain period of time . The planning provided for 24 hours, but in view of the high numerical superiority and firepower of the Warsaw Pact, in practice, due to the heavy wear and tear and losses of combat troops lying in the fire, probably only eight hours. All NATO corps were “in line” close to the border, so there was hardly any option to use operational reserves. Neither the III. US Corps and the 1st French Army were immediately operational and available for battles at the VRV.

"Operational reserves will only be available in sufficient numbers after the arrival of American reinforcements and after the intervention of French land forces."

- Lieutenant General Hans-Henning von Sandrart , Inspector of the Army , 1987

In a crisis situation the corps, which was not the focus, would have had to hand over a division to the neighboring corps, which was in distress. According to GDP 31001 the 12th Panzer Division is in this case from the subordination of the III. Corps relieved and transferred to the V Corps. Several corps of different nationalities should have ensured a coherent battle management. At the VRV (front edge of the defense) there was a particular threat of open flanks, if defending would have been carried out in part rigidly at the VRV and partly in depth due to a lack of agreements between them. This was newly regulated in the "Operational Guideline for Land Forces in Central Europe" or in the CINCENT's Operational Principles in 1988.

CENTAG, with the V. US Corps in the center of gravity of the Fulda Gap, was to take up combat close to the border in its assigned combat section with delay forces. The task was to maintain the key areas of the Kaufunger Wald and Knüllgebirge mountains and to prevent the Warsaw Pact from breaking through to the Rhine.

The V US Corps had a tank division and an armored infantry division with a total of 800 main battle tanks and armored personnel carriers ( M1 main battle tanks since the 1980s - the M1 main battle tank first appeared on the REFORGER 82 maneuver - and Bradley armored personnel carriers). The divisional artillery was able to bring a total of 72 heavy 155mm howitzers and nine rocket launchers into use. There were also combat support troops, Cobra attack helicopters and army aviators. The plan of operations of the V. US Corps provided for the 3rd US Armored Division with the Knüllgebirge in the northern section and the 8th Mechanized Infantry Division in the south. The 11th US Armored Reconnaissance Regiment served as a delay unit . For this task, the tank scouts were also five reinforced combat battalions (task force). On the German side, the PzBtl 354 / PzGrenBrig 35 Hammelburg would have been one of the first units to come into contact with the enemy as a delay unit in an attack by the Warsaw Pact from the Meiningen Gap.

The 3rd Panzer Division was reinforced with attack helicopter forces and one of the first units to be equipped with the Boeing AH-64 Apache in 1987 .

The 1st Battalion of the 68th US Armor Regiment (1-68), stationed in Wildflecken , had the order to create a locking position between Lauterbach and Ottrau in the southern section of the Fulda Gap , which had to be maintained in any case in the critical initial phase of the battle. In 1984 the 68th Armor Regiment was reclassified into the US Army Regimental System .

The 108th Military Intelligence (MI) Battalion was also under the 8th Infantry Division. This in turn was affiliated with the Delta Company of Rangers , which had to carry out special missions such as strikes against the supply and command structure of the enemy. Another unit was the 144th Ordnance Company, which could also provide nuclear and chemical weapons after approval . Pioneering tasks such as blowing up critical bridges and channeling the Soviet tank advance would have been carried out by the 547th Combat Engineer Battalion.

In September 1980 the 533th Military Intelligence (MI) Battalion in Frankfurt, which was subordinate to the 3rd Panzer Division, was reactivated. On the orders of the division commander, the 533th MI Btn was able to use ELOKA measures to identify targets for air and artillery strikes or to interfere with the enemy using jammers. In cooperation with the Defense Language Institute (DAI), targeted false reports should be sent in German or Russian .

The following options from the overall concept of the GDP were discussed:

  • NATO cover forces of three cavalry battalions fight from the zone boundary to the FEBA / VRV
  • Two brigades, each with three combat battalions, defend the southern 3/4 of the division zone of the 8th Infantry Division. The mission is to hold the key site. They are supported with artillery, tactical air forces and combat helicopters
  • The leftmost section remains undefended to persuade the Warsaw Pact to undertake an armored advance on the motorway in the direction of Alsfeld - Giessen
  • The command of the V Corps expects that the breakthrough success of the top divisions would induce the Warsaw Pact to bring a second division into the breakthrough area in order to further open the gap
  • A reinforced NATO brigade with 5 battalions takes up position north of Lauterbach to attack the flank of the Soviet troops and destroy them along the motorway
  • As soon as the Soviet advance passed Alsfeld, the V Corps made a counterattack into the rear area of ​​the top division

The deployment plans for the 3rd Panzer and 8th Infantry Divisions remained largely unchanged until the end of the Cold War.

Use of US tank reconnaissance

One of the tasks of the US tank scouts in peacetime was, as a so-called "screening force", to observe troop deployments and signs of mobilization on the territory of the GDR. This meant to keep "in touch with the enemy" and to clarify his battle structure and presumed intention. When war broke out, they should then be regrouped as cover forces to lead the delay battle. The 11th US Armored Cavalry Regiment (11th ACR) was responsible for the cover forces on the inner-German border. Your mission as an "airmobile cavalry unit" was to reconnaissance and secure the area near the border (area corridor Rasdorf , Eiterfeld - Hünfeld - Fulda ). For this purpose they had set up several observation points (OP - observation point), which were manned by 40 to 200 men ( platoon or reinforced company ). These included OP Alpha near Rasdorf / District of Fulda as the most well-known Border Observation Point (BOP), OP Romeo near Bosserode / District Hersfeld-Rotenburg , OP India near Lüderbach / Werra-Meißner-Kreis and OP Oscar near Eichenberg / Werra-Meißner -Circle.

The 11th ACR thus formed the vanguard of the V Corps and was equipped and trained to be the first unit to take up, defend, delay or carry out limited counter-attacks in the "Central Battle of the Fulda Gap". The association consisted of 1st Squadron, 2nd Squadron, 3rd Squadron (all three in battalion strength) and an air cavalry platoon equipped with helicopters ("Air Cavalry Troop"). During their deployment on the inner-German border, they were equipped with the most modern equipment of the US Army in order to defeat a numerically far superior enemy who was attacked by T-62 / T-64 main battle tanks, BMP armored personnel carriers, ZSU-57 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns and Mil Mi 24 attack helicopters) in large numbers.

Their defensive section had a total length of 385 kilometers. The regiment's peace headquarters was in the Downs Barracks in Fulda, that of the 3rd Battalion in Bad Hersfeld and that of the 2nd Battalion in Bad Kissingen . The combat vehicles of the 11th ACR consisted of M551 "Sheridan" reconnaissance and airborne tanks , M113 transport tanks , M106 mortar carriers and M60A1 main battle tanks . Each battalion received support from six M109 self-propelled howitzers , further M113 transport and command radio tanks (FüFu) or command post vehicles and further M106 mortar carriers. Airborne operations were carried out with AH-1G Huey “Cobra” attack helicopters , UH-1 “Huey” transport helicopters and Bell-OH-58 “Kiowa” reconnaissance helicopters . The 11th ACR had a high combat and firepower and, thanks to its special equipment and training, was able to conduct combined arms combat at tactical platoon level . The issuing of orders was based strongly on the mission tactics . in the form of mission orders. Thus, the US tank reconnaissance should be enabled to carry out their mission at high speed on a rapidly changing modern battlefield with changing situation pictures under high physical and psychological stress and not to lose the initiative. For this operational scenario, the 11th ACR was kept in an increased combat readiness and regularly trained for emergencies. After alerting under the code name LARIAT ADVANCE, the sharp GDP positions were to be taken immediately.

According to GDP 31001, the US tank reconnaissance mission was divided into four phases:

  • Phase 1: alertness and reference to GDP positions
  • Phase 2: Clarification and securing of the operational area. Enemy motorized riflemen or tanks approaching by sight or ground-based reconnaissance . Use of battlefield radar and reconnaissance flights by observation helicopters. Prepare ambushes for enemy attack spikes. Fire support from corps artillery
  • Phase 3: Defense of the bottleneck in the enemy's attack axis from Geisa - Rasdorf - Hünfeld - Alsfeld
  • Phase 4: Admission by the main staff and follow-up assignments

Use of nuclear weapons

The Fulda Gap was particularly exposed to the use of nuclear weapons from both sides. In addition to short-range missiles ( Lance , " Sergeant ", " Honest John "), nuclear battlefield weapons with low KT values ​​( explosive force in kilotons) played a major role in the planning . Similar weapon systems were the nuclear grenade launcher "Davy Crockett" from the 1950s, later nuclear projectiles for the heavy field and rocket artillery and nuclear mines ( ADM ). Neutron weapons were considered another option to keep the nuclear contamination with radioactive fallout as low as possible for the planned march through of the Soviet tanks. About 30 tactical atomic free-fall bombs were stored at the Altenburg-Nobitz Air Base for use in the battlefield. Nuclear weapons should be used in the Fulda Gap on the Soviet invasion routes in order to create a barrier from radioactive radiation.

The East Hessian community of Hattenbach (30 kilometers from the inner-German border) was mentioned in the US TV documentary The Nuclear Battlefield from 1981 as Ground Zero for the use of tactical nuclear weapons. Hattenbach is marked with the zero coordinate on the maps of the US Army. The Hattenbach triangle of the A5 autobahns is located near Hattenbach as an extended connection between the Rhine-Main and Rhine-Neckar conurbations and the A7 from Flensburg to Füssen . A nuclear strike on this traffic junction would have severely hampered the advance of the 8th Guard Army. Later it turned out that Hattenbach was one of the first named nuclear targets of NATO in the FRG.

Warsaw Pact attack planning

On the part of the Warsaw Pact, NATO assumed several scenarios that ranged from a surprise attack with strong air superiority , a prepared massive attack or an attack after a very short warning period (time between warning and the outbreak of war).

On the other side of CENTAG was the 8th Guard Army, which had 80,000 to 90,000 men under arms (three Mot rifle divisions (MSD): in Halle , 39th MSD from Ohrdruf and 57th MSD Naumburg with 12,600 men each). The 2nd squadron consisted of the 79th Panzer Division from Jena and the 27th Guards MotSchützendivision from Halle. In order to undermine NATO's air defense and battlefield closure and to continue the tank advance unhindered on the ground, the 8th Guard Army was equipped with particularly strong anti-aircraft weapons. These included anti-aircraft missile brigades from Weißenfels and Arnstadt with SA-2 Dwina Guideline , S-125 Newa / SA-3 GOA, SA-3 and SA-8 / SA-8 Gecko anti-aircraft missiles. It was believed that these surface-to-air missiles would have eliminated 15 to 20 percent of NATO warplanes. Similar to the combat of the combined arms would be the attack of the Warsaw Pact with front-line aviation forces, attack helicopters, air assault troops as advance formations, which are deployed in the depths of the enemy territory and other types of weapons. The Soviet combat helicopter regiments (especially Mil Mi-24 Hind as "flying armored personnel carriers " ) had the task of destroying 40 to 60 enemy tanks from the air, or of smashing a complete tank or tank grenadier battalion .

The balance of forces in the attack strip (attack width Panzer- / Mot-Schützendivision: 8 to 10 kilometers) should be 40 to 50 own tanks and 120 artillery pieces per front kilometer. The attack axis of the 8th Guard Army lay along the lines Hof - Coburg - Schweinfurt - Bad Kissingen - Fulda - Bad Hersfeld in the direction of Frankfurt. In the 1980s, the 8th Guard Army reached its greatest strength with 90,000 men, 1,235 T-80 main battle tanks, 1,892 armored personnel carriers, 414 self-propelled guns ( tank artillery ), 144 guns and 137 combat helicopters. The end of 1982 could Ministry of State Security by spying the GDP 31001 bring in possessions and disclose the operational plans of CENTAG and use their strengths and weaknesses for their own planning Durchbruchungsoperationen.

The attack of the Warsaw Pact was expected as an "attack in depth" according to the Soviet doctrine of attack . The Operational Maneuver Groups (OMG) would have been used for this purpose in the 1980s. An OMG ( The main task of these OMGs was to penetrate deep into West Germany to disrupt the command and control of NATO forces and to seize the remaining nuclear stores, airfields, and key logistic points . The OMGs first appeared in the Sapad 81 major maneuver of the Appeared in 1981) consisted of a tank unit (reinforced tank division or more), which on the 2nd or 3rd day of the operation had the task of encircling enemy troops at high speed and advancing into the depths. A large penetration depth of up to 100 kilometers should be achieved within a few days. This would have happened at a time when the 1st season had forced the first breakthroughs and destroyed the reserves of the enemy close to the front. The tactical advantage of the OMG would have been the speed with which the deep penetration would have taken place without NATO being given the opportunity to respond appropriately to the penetration into the defense system with the use of reserves or regroupings. The break-in of an OMG would have been accompanied by massive air strikes by fighter bomber , fighter pilot and combat helicopter units, as well as air storm and airborne units.

Peace movement

For decades, the Fulda Gap was the focus of the peace movement and was the cause of civil resistance. During the nights between December 9th and 12th, 1983, 200 military blasting shafts, which were intended for the use of ADMs, were concreted over by a group of unknown activists. This action was directed against the tactical NATO concept "Barrier and Denial Plan" ("Sperr- und Verwehr-Plan"). The large demonstration on September 29, 1984 was accompanied by 30,000 supporters of the peace movement.

Trivia

  • In 1977 a board game called "Fulda Gap" appeared in the USA , with which the strategic considerations could be simulated.
  • The German Bundesbank cited the Fulda gap as an argument for storing German gold reserves abroad. Frankfurt's proximity to this danger zone is said to have led to the gold acquired abroad by German foreign trade surpluses being left there too, so as not to let it fall into the hands of the enemy.
  • In the GDR, the Fulda Gap was called the Thuringian Balcony .
  • In autumn 1984 the peace movement (“Arbeitsgruppe Herbst 84 Fulda Gap”) tried to disrupt massive maneuvering movements in East Hesse, in the Fulda area between Rhön and Vogelsberg, and planned to create a 120-kilometer “network of people in the Fulda Gap”. Further actions were directed against the ADM's blasting shafts.
  • The children 's book The Last Children of Schewenborn by Gudrun Pausewang , which depicts a nuclear war, is set in the region of the Fulda Gaps, where the author lived at the time and was involved in the peace movement. Among other things, it describes the destruction of Fulda by an atom bomb.
  • Kill 'em all - let God sort' em out - Kill them all - let God sort them out Slogan on a T-shirt of a peace activist around Peter Krahulec, who alluded to the danger of a nuclear overkill.

See also

  • Suwalki gap - estimated as a possible hotspot between Russia and NATO in 2016

literature

in order of appearance

  • Helmut Kopetzky: A battlefield is being visited. Encounters and discussions in the German-German border area . Deutschlandfunk, Cologne 1983 (manuscript of a report broadcast on October 16, 1984, 8:15 pm - 9:00 pm); published under the title Fulda Gap - a battlefield is visited in: Aesthetics & Communication , Bd. 15 (1984), H. 55, P. 146-169.
  • Paul Kohl: Fulda Gap. A report about militarization in Germany. Edition Herodot, Göttingen 1984, ISBN 3-88694-506-5 .
  • Hugh Faringdon: Confrontation. The Strategic Geography of NATO and the Warsaw Pact. Routledge and Kegan, London / New York 1986, ISBN 0-7102-0676-3 , pp. 249-315.
  • John L. Cook: Armor at Fulda Gap. A Visual Novel of the War of Tomorrow (= Graphic Novel ). Avon Books, New York 1990, ISBN 0-380-75843-1 .
  • Helmut R. Hammerich: Southern Germany as a cornerstone of the defense of Europe. On the NATO operational planning during the Cold War. In: Military Power Review of the Swiss Army. 2013.
  • Dieter Krüger (Ed.): Fulda Gap battlefield. Strategies and operational plans of the alliances in the Cold War (= Point Alpha series . Volume 2). Parzeller, Fulda 2014, ISBN 978-3-7900-0486-1 .
  • Michael Kiel: Fulda Gap and the Cold War . In: Susanne Bohl and others (ed.): Fulda. 50 treasures and specialties . Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2016, ISBN 978-3-7319-0425-0 , pp. 168-171.
  • Tim Boltz: Zone edge child . Luxembourg: Ink & Pen, 2019. ISBN / 978-2-919805-74-7

Footage

Web links

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ Marco Evers: Unknown Cold War episode: When the US Army mobilized against Strauss . In: one day , January 14, 2013, accessed on July 20, 2017.
  2. ↑ Nuclear Weapons AZ
  3. ↑ US Army Command and General Staff College: Reference Book Conventional Nuclear Operations, USAC GSC RB 100-30. Volume 1, Fort Leavenworth Kansas, Aug. 6, 1976.
  4. ↑ War game: On cardboard . In: Der Spiegel . No. 31 , 1985 ( online - 29 July 1985 ). "A board game made in USA simulates the conquest of West Berlin by Warsaw Pact troops".
  5. ↑ Dieter Krüger (Ed.): Fulda Gap battlefield. Strategies and operational plans of the alliances in the Cold War (= Point Alpha series. Volume 2). Parzeller, Fulda 2014, ISBN 978-3-7900-0486-1 , p. 141.
  6. ↑ Simulation games in the Fulda Gap. The Cold War also changed Hesse. FR Frankfurt, November 21, 2008.
  7. ↑ Defense. End of trust. 25 years after the Cold War, military spending is rising again in many European countries. NATO promises a “turnaround”, the years of contraction are over. But the member states find it difficult to meet the internal requirements. In: Spiegel-Online. May 21, 2016 ( spiegel.de ).
  8. ↑ Klaus Wiegrefe: Essay: "Learning to wage total war" . In: Der Spiegel . No. 28 , 2016 ( online - July 9, 2016 ). “Politicians and the military are drumming for a NATO armament in Eastern Europe. A counter-speech ".
  9. ↑ Zone boundary . In: Der Spiegel . No. 31 1959 ( online - 29 July 1959 ).
  10. ↑ If the deterrent fails ... everything would be destroyed within hours. The imploring appeals for peace from last year are already looking stale. In: Die Zeit 41/1984. Edition of October 5, 1984 ( zeit.de )
  11. ↑ Where the Red Army wanted to break through to the west. The “Fulda Gap” between Hesse and Thuringia was considered the “most dangerous point of the Cold War”. In: The world. September 24, 2013 ( welt.de ).
  12. ↑ a b The Lovely Little Town That Would Have Been Absolutely Screwed by World War III. his small German city was ground zero for a Cold War turned hot. Point Alpha Foundation. ( pointalpha.com ).
  13. ↑ a b c The Rhön as a corridor to the west
  14. ↑ Dieter Krüger (Ed.): Fulda Gap battlefield. Strategies and operational plans of the alliances in the Cold War (= Point Alpha series. Volume 2). Parzeller, Fulda 2014, ISBN 978-3-7900-0486-1 , pp. 14-15.
  15. ↑ Dieter Krüger (Ed.): Fulda Gap battlefield. Strategies and operational plans of the alliances in the Cold War (= Point Alpha series. Volume 2). Parzeller, Fulda 2014, ISBN 978-3-7900-0486-1 , p. 28.
  16. ↑ a b c d e Helmut R. Hammerich: Southern Germany as a cornerstone of the defense of Europe. On the NATO operational planning during the Cold War. In: Military Power Review of the Swiss Army. 2013 ( vorharz.net PDF).
  17. ↑ Dieter Krüger (Ed.): Fulda Gap battlefield. Strategies and operational plans of the alliances in the Cold War (= Point Alpha series. Volume 2). Parzeller, Fulda 2014, ISBN 978-3-7900-0486-1 , pp. 139-141.
  18. ^ NATO Commander in Chief Europe
  19. ↑ Dieter Krüger (Ed.): Fulda Gap battlefield. Strategies and operational plans of the alliances in the Cold War (= Point Alpha series. Volume 2). Parzeller, Fulda 2014, ISBN 978-3-7900-0486-1 , p. 15.
  20. ↑ Anti-tank mine DM-21 AT (Germany)
  21. ↑ Konstantin von Hammerstein, Alexander Szandar: Defense: The shadow warriors . In: Der Spiegel . No. 36 , 2006 ( online - 4 November 2006 ). “The Balkans, Afghanistan, Africa and now the Middle East - the Bundeswehr is becoming a global service provider for German foreign policy. But the troops are not prepared for the new tasks. Underfunded, wrongly and inadequately equipped, she goes on her next assignment abroad ”.
  22. ↑ a b Strategy: Blitzing Nato . In: Der Spiegel . No. 48 , 1984 ( online - Nov. 26, 1984 ). "NATO is developing new methods to defend against a conventional attack by the Warsaw Pact - and thus possibly aiming tomorrow's weapons at yesterday's targets".
  23. ↑ Dieter Krüger (Ed.): Fulda Gap battlefield. Strategies and operational plans of the alliances in the Cold War (= Point Alpha series. Volume 2). Parzeller, Fulda 2014, ISBN 978-3-7900-0486-1 , pp. 137-139.
  24. ^ Susanne Schregel: The nuclear war in front of the apartment door: A political history of the new peace movement in the Federal Republic 1970–1985 (historical political research). Campus Verlag, 2011, ISBN 978-3-593-39478-7 .
  25. ↑ REFORGER '83 - Confident Enterprise on M136
  26. ↑ US Army: As needed . In: Der Spiegel . No. 40 , 1983 ( online - October 3, 1983 ). “During the autumn maneuver, American soldiers practiced digging mass graves for the first time”.
  27. ↑ Nikolaus Blome, Matthias Gebauer, Ralf Neukirch, Gordon Repinski, Fidelius Schmid, Christoph Schult, Gerald Traufetter: Defense: Leopards live longer . In: Der Spiegel . No. 15 , 2014 ( online - April 7, 2014 ). “NATO wants to derive a new military strategy from the Crimean crisis. The Bundeswehr is not prepared for this, the government is taking cover. But the debate cannot be stopped, and the arms industry is smelling big business ”.
  28. ↑ Zapfenstreich in the Fulda Gap. Struck's Bundeswehr reform has almost disappeared from the headlines - but not from the lives of the soldiers affected: In northern Hesse alone, three large garrisons are being closed along the former German-German border. A visit to the ex-bulwark against communism. In: Der Spiegel Online. November 11, 2004 ( spiegel.de ).
  29. ^ Robert H. Gregory: Clean Bombs and Dirty Wars: Air Power in Kosovo and Libya. U of Nebraska Press, 2015, p. 134.
  30. ↑ Dieter Krüger (Ed.): Fulda Gap battlefield. Strategies and operational plans of the alliances in the Cold War (= Point Alpha series. Volume 2). Parzeller, Fulda 2014. ISBN 978-3-7900-0486-1 , p. 18.
  31. ↑ a b Dieter Krüger (Ed.): Fulda Gap battlefield. Strategies and operational plans of the alliances in the Cold War (= Point Alpha series. Volume 2). Parzeller, Fulda 2014, ISBN 978-3-7900-0486-1 , p. 19.
  32. ↑ Dieter Krüger (Ed.): Fulda Gap battlefield. Strategies and operational plans of the alliances in the Cold War (= Point Alpha series. Volume 2). Parzeller, Fulda 2014, ISBN 978-3-7900-0486-1 , p. 20.
  33. ↑ Conception of the operational cooperation of allied land forces in the Federal Republic of Germany. Guideline for the operational management of land forces in Central Europe (German / English), Aug. 20, 1987; Standardization Convention No. 2868 “Operational Principles of Land Forces” (ATP-35 Change 2), Oct. 13, 1980; Interoperability - Guide to Protocol Issues. BArch, BH 7-3 / 935 ( deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de ).
  34. ^ Commander-in-Chief Central Europe
  35. ↑ Dieter Krüger (Ed.): Fulda Gap battlefield. Strategies and operational plans of the alliances in the Cold War (= Point Alpha series. Volume 2). Parzeller, Fulda 2014, ISBN 978-3-7900-0486-1 , pp. 22-28.
  36. ↑ General Franks in dialogue with Tom Clancy about the operational principles of the US tank reconnaissance in the Fulda Gap In: Tom Clancy: Armored Cavalry. The associated American armored units. Heyne Taschenbuch, 2000, ISBN 3-453-15541-6 ( books.google.de ).
  37. ↑ Dieter Krüger (Ed.): Fulda Gap battlefield. Strategies and operational plans of the alliances in the Cold War (= Point Alpha series. Volume 2). Parzeller, Fulda 2014, ISBN 978-3-7900-0486-1 , p. 24.
  38. ↑ Dieter Krüger (Ed.): Fulda Gap battlefield. Strategies and operational plans of the alliances in the Cold War (= Point Alpha series. Volume 2). Parzeller, Fulda 2014, ISBN 978-3-7900-0486-1 , p. 13.
  39. ^ Fulda Gap from a Thuringian / GDR perspective.
  40. ↑ A realistic description of US concepts for the defense of the gap is contained in Bundeswehr Bundeswehr University of Munich. ( web.archive.org PDF) General Hermann Balck and Friedrich Wilhelm von Mellenthin on Tactics: Implications for NATO Military Doctrine. General William DePuy (US Army Ret.) BDM Corporation, December 1980 reproduced and published by Reiner K. Huber at the Universität der Bundeswehr Munich, December 2004.
  41. ↑ Dieter Krüger (Ed.): Fulda Gap battlefield. Strategies and operational plans of the alliances in the Cold War (= Point Alpha series. Volume 2). Parzeller, Fulda 2014, ISBN 978-3-7900-0486-1 , p. 126.
  42. ↑ Journey into history. Germany's dark places. In: Der Spiegel Online. October 6, 2009 ( spiegel.de ).
  43. ^ Hessenschau report at Point India from February 24, 2019.
  44. ↑ Dieter Krüger (Ed.): Fulda Gap battlefield. Strategies and operational plans of the alliances in the Cold War (= Point Alpha series. Volume 2). Parzeller, Fulda 2014, ISBN 978-3-7900-0486-1 , p. 129.
  45. ↑ Dieter Krüger (Ed.): Fulda Gap battlefield. Strategies and operational plans of the alliances in the Cold War (= Point Alpha series. Volume 2). Parzeller, Fulda 2014, ISBN 978-3-7900-0486-1 , p. 130.
  46. ↑ Dieter Krüger (Ed.): Fulda Gap battlefield. Strategies and operational plans of the alliances in the Cold War (= Point Alpha series. Volume 2). Parzeller, Fulda 2014, ISBN 978-3-7900-0486-1 , p. 132.
  47. ^ Enabling Mission Command through Cavalry Squadron Operations. By Maj. Perry White, Ft. Benning. US Army ( benning.army.mil PDF).
  48. ↑ The Fulda Gap on MilitaryHistoryOnline.com (English).
  49. ↑ Positions according to the General Defense Plan.
  50. ↑ Dieter Krüger (Ed.): Fulda Gap battlefield. Strategies and operational plans of the alliances in the Cold War (= Point Alpha series. Volume 2). Parzeller, Fulda 2014, ISBN 978-3-7900-0486-1 , pp. 142-146.
  51. ↑ Dieter Krüger (Ed.): Fulda Gap battlefield. Strategies and operational plans of the alliances in the Cold War (= Point Alpha series. Volume 2). Parzeller, Fulda 2014, ISBN 978-3-7900-0486-1 , p. 80.
  52. ↑ A kiloton, abbreviated kT, is the energy that is released when 1,000 tons (1 Gg) of TNT detonate.
  53. ↑ Unknown Cold War episode. When the US Army mobilized against Strauss. The USA sensed a "serious threat situation": with roadblocks, heavy machine guns and hundreds of military police, the US military secured a nuclear weapons depot near Frankfurt am Main against hostile takeover in 1962 - by the German Defense Minister. In: Der Spiegel Online. January 14, 2013 ( spiegel.de )
  54. ↑ Dieter Krüger (Ed.): Fulda Gap battlefield. Strategies and operational plans of the alliances in the Cold War (= Point Alpha series. Volume 2). Parzeller, Fulda 2014, ISBN 978-3-7900-0486-1 , p. 32.
  55. ↑ : "I don't tell the pig when it dies" . In: Der Spiegel . No. 9 , 1982 ( online - Mar. 1, 1982 ). (Spiegel reporter Wilhelm Bittorf on the "nuclear target" Hattenbach and its residents).
  56. ↑ Dieter Krüger (Ed.): Fulda Gap battlefield. Strategies and operational plans of the alliances in the Cold War (= Point Alpha series. Volume 2). Parzeller, Fulda 2014, ISBN 978-3-7900-0486-1 , p. 25.
  57. ↑ Dieter Krüger (Ed.): Fulda Gap battlefield. Strategies and operational plans of the alliances in the Cold War (= Point Alpha series. Volume 2). Parzeller, Fulda 2014, ISBN 978-3-7900-0486-1 , p. 63.
  58. ↑ Dieter Krüger (Ed.): Fulda Gap battlefield. Strategies and operational plans of the alliances in the Cold War (= Point Alpha series. Volume 2). Parzeller, Fulda 2014, ISBN 978-3-7900-0486-1 , p. 66.
  59. ↑ Dieter Krüger (Ed.): Fulda Gap battlefield. Strategies and operational plans of the alliances in the Cold War (= Point Alpha series. Volume 2). Parzeller, Fulda 2014, ISBN 978-3-7900-0486-1 , p. 70.
  60. ↑ Dieter Krüger (Ed.): Fulda Gap battlefield. Strategies and operational plans of the alliances in the Cold War (= Point Alpha series. Volume 2). Parzeller, Fulda 2014, ISBN 978-3-7900-0486-1 , p. 96.
  61. ^ Military Review. The Professional Journal of the US Army. US Army's Combined Arms Center, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Pp. 104-105. Issue Jan / Feb 2010.
  62. ^ The Soiel Operational Maneuver Group. (PDF) CIA Document. 1999. (English).
  63. ↑ Contemporary history in Hessen - data • facts • background Fulda Gap
  64. ↑ photos of blasting chambers for ADMs in the district of Fulda
  65. ^ Similar inquiries to the Bundestag regarding Barrier and Denial Plan / Sperrplan ( dipbt.bundestag.de PDF).
  66. ↑ Fulda Gap. Spiele-Check.de, accessed on July 21, 2017.
  67. ↑ Volker Mester: Gold is in the safe in New York. In: Hamburger Abendblatt . November 9, 2011, accessed July 20, 2017.
  68. ↑ Peace Movement: Establishing a Network . In: Der Spiegel . No. 33 , 1984 ( online - Aug. 11, 1984 ). "West German peace groups want to disrupt NATO's autumn maneuvers".
  69. ↑ Peace movement: Ragofix and done . In: Der Spiegel . No. 52 , 1983 ( online - Dec. 26, 1983 ). "Hessian pacifists filled 200 atomic blasting shafts in East Hesse, a region that was more militarized than any other in Europe, with concrete and thus made them unusable".
  70. ↑ Christoph Dieckmann: My Occident: Stories of German Origin. Ch. Links Verlag, 2017, ISBN 978-3-86153-938-4 , p. 234.