Morava-Vardar furrow

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The Morava-Vardar-furrow ( Serb Моравско-Вардарска-Удолина Moravsko-Vardarska Udolina ) is a large tectonic trench of the central Balkan peninsula defined by the rivers Large Morava and Vardar a connection between the mitteleuropäisch- pannonian Danube Plain and the Aegean manufactures.

geography

The Morava-Vardar furrow runs in a north-south direction from the confluence of the Great Morava into the Danube over 480 km as the crow flies to the confluence of the Vardar into the Aegean Sea. The northern part of the Morava-Vardar furrow is completely occupied by the course of the Great and Southern Morava . Here the trench reaches a width of 12 to 20 km. On this section, the rift is bounded by the foothills of the Balkan and Carpathian arches on the eastern side and the foothills of the Dinaric Mountains on the western side. These roof gently from the ditch and are partly cut through by short tributaries of the Morava. The central area of ​​the trench is determined by the Southern Morava. Here the ditch is structured by various narrow stretches and divided into numerous valley expansions of the southern Morava. The Stalaćka Gorge between Stalać and Ðunis narrows the trench over a length of 20 km to the actual river bed. To the south of it, the rift spreads into the Niš basin .

The southern area of ​​the trench is shaped by the Vardar. Here, too, there are numerous valley widenings with gorge sections.

history

The Morava-Vardar furrow is the central natural communication link of the Balkan Peninsula and strategically the most important guideline for the entire Southeast European peninsula. It connects the Pannonian Lowlands with the Aegean Sea and, via the branch of the Nišava, with Asia Minor . The strategic importance had been given since ancient times and one of the most important Roman roads, the Via Militaris , connected Constantinople with Sirmium . During the Byzantine era , the Morava-Vardar-furrow remained until the end of the reign of Komnenen the central connecting route in Rhomäer -Reich on the Balkan Peninsula. With the conquest of the remains of the Byzantine Empire as well as Serbia and Bulgaria in the 15th century, the Ottomans, following the Morava-Vardar furrow, advanced to Central Europe. Only with the Great Turkish War at the end of the 17th century was it possible to reverse the conquest of the Pannonian Plain, but the Ottomans held the strategic points of the Morava-Vardar furrow until the First Balkan War into the 20th century. In the First and especially in the Second World War, the Axis powers advanced to the Mediterranean via the Morava-Vardar line.

literature

  • Vojna Enciklopedija. 2nd Edition. Part 5, Lafos-Naukrat, Beograd 1973.