Editing Fulda Gap (section)

==Strategic location during the Cold War==
The northern route through the Gap passes south of the [[Knüllgebirge]] and continues around the northern flank of the [[Vogelsberg Mountains]]. The narrower southern route passes through the Fliede and Kinzig Valleys, with the Vogelsberg to the north and the [[Rhön Mountains|Rhön mountains]] and [[Spessart]] mountains to the south.<ref name=fulda /> More importantly, on emerging from the western exit of the Gap, encounters flat terrain from there to the river [[Rhine]], which would have counted in favour of Soviet attempts to reach and cross the Rhine before NATO could prevent this. The intervening [[Main (river)|Main River]] would have been less of an obstacle.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

The Fulda Gap route was less suitable for mechanized troop movement than the [[North German Plain]], but offered an avenue of advance direct to [[Frankfurt am Main]]. Furthermore, the capital of the Federal Republic in [[Bonn]] was situated only 200 km to the west. A rapidly advancing Soviet or Warsaw Pact attack through the Fulda Gap, along the lines of [[Seven Days to the River Rhine]], could have also potentially cut the territory of West Germany in two parts, making the long-term existence of a West German state untenable.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}