Northern Frontier

The Cadorna Line, officially the Northern Frontier, was the Italian defensive system on the northern border facing Switzerland, designed and built between 1899 and 1918. Its purpose was to protect the Po Valley and its main industrial centres from an attack by France, Germany or Austria-Hungary violating Swiss neutrality. Background In 1862, shortly after the birth of the Kingdom of Italy, the Army General Staff first considered the need to fortify its borders with Switzerland to prevent an invasion through the Alpine passes - the Great St Bernard, the Simplon, the Gotthard, the Spluga, the Maloja, the Bernina, the Stelvio and the Tonale. A plan was developed to build a series of forts and batteries linking the Ossola Valley, Lake Maggiore, Ceresio and Lake Como. Because of the costs involved, the plan was not implemented for a number of years. In 1871 a renewed effort was made to include the plan in Italy's defence budget. However, in 1882 the General Staff Committee declared its opposition to the idea, considering an Austrian violation of Swiss territory unlikely, and a German attack unrealistic. By this time the Triple Alliance had in any case neutralised these threats of invasion. Nonetheless, work on the projects resumed, and carried on haltingly until 1911, when the State Defense Office brought forward a scheme along the Bergamasque Alps and the Ticino salient.