The Focșani Gate (; or ) is a militarily and strategically vulnerable area in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

and

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

. Located in the northeastern part of the

Wallachian Plain The Romanian Plain () is located in southern Romania and the easternmost tip of Serbia, where it is known as the Wallachian Plain (). It is part of the larger Eurasian Steppe. It is located in the historical region of Wallachia, and bordered by ...

, it spans an area of east to west and about north to south on the territory of

Galați Galați ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the river Danube. and the sixth-larges ...

, Vrancea,

Buzău Buzău (; formerly spelled ''Buzeu'' or ''Buzĕu'') is a city in the historical region of Muntenia, Romania, and the county seat of Buzău County. It lies near the right bank of the Buzău River, between the south-eastern curvature of the Carp ...

, and

Brăila Brăila (, also , ) is a city in Muntenia, eastern Romania, a port on the Danube and the capital of Brăila County. The Sud-Est (development region), ''Sud-Est'' Regional Development Agency is located in Brăila. According to the 2021 Romanian ...

counties. Control of the Focșani Gate allows entry into vast tracts of Romanian territory and several other regions of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

History

The area around the city of

Focșani Focșani (; ) is the capital city of Vrancea County in Romania on the banks the river Milcov, in the historical region of Moldavia. , it has a population of 66,719. Geography Focșani lies at the foot of the Curvature Carpathians, at a point of ...

was already recognized as a weak point in

back in 1882. In that year, the government of

carried out a study to identify all the areas of the country where the terrain was poorly suited for defense, and for engineering work to reinforce these areas. A few years before,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, a state then allied to

with which it had fought together in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878, had stripped away the region of

Southern Bessarabia Southern Bessarabia or South Bessarabia is a territory of Bessarabia which, as a result of the Crimean War, was returned to the Moldavian Principality in 1856. As a result of the unification of the latter with Wallachia, these lands became par ...

from Romania, causing tensions between the two countries. Concerns over Romania's defensive capabilities arose and studies were performed, starting from a plan drawn by Major from the Prussian Army. To defend the Focșani Gate, the was built between 1888 and 1893, using a large portion of the national military budget. The plan called for 676 artillery guns arranged in three fortified areas, Focșani, Nămoloasa, and

, with guns arrayed three lines deep. The artillery slated to be used represented almost half the army's artillery. 7,000 troops were to permanently man the fortifications. The Focșani Gate saw consideration in Hypothesis Z, Romania's

war plan A military operation plan (commonly called a war plan before World War II) is a formal plan for military armed forces, their military organizations and units to conduct operations, as drawn up by commanders within the combat operations process ...

for

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. As defeat to the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...

looked increasingly likely to Romania in late 1916, the

Romanian Army The Romanian Land Forces () is the army of Romania, and the main component of the Romanian Armed Forces. Since 2007, full professionalization and a major equipment overhaul have transformed the nature of the Land Forces. The Romanian Land Forc ...

retreated to the Focșani Gate. Romania faced a threat from the south, and not from the north and the east, as the original plan intended. In 1917, important battles for Romania were fought in this area, including the defensive

Battle of Mărășești The Battle of Mărășești (6 August 1917 – 3 September 1917) was the last major battle fought by the Central Powers against the Kingdom of Romania and Russian Empire, Russia on the Romania in World War I, Romanian front during World War I. ...

and the offensive

Battle of Mărăști The Battle of Mărăști () was one of the main battles to take place on Kingdom of Romania, Romanian soil in World War I. It was fought between 22 July and 1 August 1917, and was an offensive operation of the Romanian Land Forces, Romanian and Mi ...

. The important defensive Third Battle of Oituz was fought near the Focșani Gate. The Focșani Gate played an important role in the

Second Jassy–Kishinev offensive The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was heavily fortified by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

-allied Romania during the

Axis An axis (: axes) may refer to: Mathematics *A specific line (often a directed line) that plays an important role in some contexts. In particular: ** Coordinate axis of a coordinate system *** ''x''-axis, ''y''-axis, ''z''-axis, common names ...

invasion of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

(USSR). Despite this, on 27 August 1944, the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

passed through the Focșani Gate and occupied the cities of

Izmail Izmail (, ; ; , or ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality on the Danube river in Odesa Oblast in south-western Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Izmail Raion, one of seven distr ...

, Galați, and Focșani, allowing it to spread into the directions of

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...

, the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

, and the

Eastern Carpathians Divisions of the Carpathians are a categorization of the Carpathian mountains system. Below is a detailed overview of the major subdivisions and ranges of the Carpathian Mountains. The Carpathians are a "subsystem" of a bigger Alps-Himalaya Sy ...

. Romania had already withdrawn from the Axis a few days before as a result of a Royal coup d'état, subsequently being occupied by the Soviet Union and having a communist regime installed.

Present day

Today, the Focșani Gate is one of the most vulnerable strategic points in

, of which Romania is now a member. It stands as a somewhat disconnected zone because of poor infrastructure, which makes it vulnerable to a potential attack from

. In early 2022, serious worries existed over whether or not Russia would invade Ukraine. Such a scenario occurred on 24 February 2022. It has been theorised that a Russian incursion into

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

's region of

Budjak Budjak, also known as Budzhak, is a historical region that was part of Bessarabia from 1812 to 1940. Situated along the Black Sea, between the Danube and Dniester rivers, this #Ethnic groups and demographics, multi-ethnic region covers an area ...

would put Romania's Focșani Gate and the

Danube Delta The Danube Delta (, ; , ) is the second largest river delta in Europe, after the Volga Delta, and is the best preserved on the continent. Occurring where the Danube, Danube River empties into the Black Sea, most of the Danube Delta lies in Romania ...

at risk, which could force Romania to occupy the region. A possible Romanian invasion of Budjak for security purposes has been discussed by other analysts as well.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Focșani Romania and NATO Military of Romania Plains of Romania Geography of Brăila County Geography of Buzău County Geography of Galați County Geography of Vrancea County

History

Present day

See also

References