Militarne i terrorystyczne zagorzenia miast i portów Pomorza Zachodniego. Aspekty historyczne i współczesne
Military and Terrorist Threat to the Towns and Ports of West Pomerania. Historical and Modern Aspects

Summary/Abstract: The article presents an outline of the history of the harbour towns that for centuries had been the target of military attacks of regular naval forces and pirates. In antiquity the attacks were launched, inter alia on the ports of Phoenicia, Greece and Egypt, and in the first century BC the fluvial transport of corn was almost paralysed in the countries of the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. The ports and harbour towns of the Baltic Sea were under threat, too. The author provides examples that illustrate the development of seaside settlements in the West Pomerania since the 11th century, which after being included into the territory of the Polish state gained access to the Polish economic resources and started developing rapidly and transformed themselves into towns, such as Wolin/Wollin, Szczecin/Stettin, Stargard or Świnoujście/Swinemünde. A special attention was paid to the fact that the seaside towns under threat in most cases were situated in the ‘heated’ borderland and a busy trade route; therefore, for defensive reasons they had to be turned into fortified towns or create an organised defensive structure in alliance with other towns. The seaside towns, together with their naval ports, were an important element of naval conflicts, which was presented in the article from the angle of WW1 and WW2. The article also deals with the present-day seaside towns, which are important strategic and tourist points, and might become centres of organised crime engaged in smuggling and robbing and targets of terrorist attacks. The centres of gravity, i.e. the elements essential for the functioning of the town, which are to be found in all big urbanised areas, have to be properly protected against natural threats and the ones posed by people.

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