EXHIBITION "THE FORTS OF MALI LOŠINJ"
Military construction appears already in prehistoric times in simple forms; however, along with technological development and the strengthening of state power, it gradually acquired more complex features. The period when the forts that this exhibition deals with were built, i.e. the second half of the 19 th and early 20 th century, represents one of the largest historic turning point in the perception of the military construction which stands at the core of today's military sector.
Rapid developments in artillery technology in the 19 th century resulted in the so-called Prussian system of defence. It is the concept of defensive rings or a series of separate forts positioned in several concentric circles. Such planned defence enters into a broader spatial belt with the aim of contributing to national defence, in contrast to previous periods when the construction of fortifications was concentrated in urban areas. Therefore, national authorities began to invest in fortifications along the borders and in strategically important locations such as naval ports.
One of the aforementioned strategic points was the city of Pula, the main naval port of the Austro-Hungarian Empire that became a major naval force in the Adriatic after the decline of the Venetian Republic and the fall of Napoleon. During the period from the second half of the 19 th century until the First World War, Austria-Hungary incorporated new technologies when building a naval port, thus creating three fortified and continuous linear battlefields, the part of which were the forts in Mali Lošinj that protected the outer limits of the fortress in Pula.