The State of the Maginot Line

DATELINE: 7 April 2005 (Originally written Feb 99)

I wrote this article several years ago but never posted it. I found it stashed away on my website server and decided that it was interesting to read. I've updated it to 2005.

As we approach the end of the 20th Century, I felt that it would be appropriate to report on the state of the Maginot Line. Some of the news is good, some not so good.

At the beginning of the century, from Port Arthur to Boston, military strategy had shifted to the defense. From the 1870's onward, the European (and American) powers were building massive concrete forts all along their borders and coastlines. New advances in technology brought with it more powerful and accurate artillery. Firms like Krupp, St. Chamond, and Ateliers de la Meuse were turning out steel turrets by the dozens. France and Germany, who would clash in combat beginning in 1914, were modernizing their fortifications along the Moselle and Meuse Rivers.

In the 1880s, Brialmont built his magnificent fortress rings around Liege, Namur, and Antwerp (and Bucharest). The concret was built to withstand fire from 210mm guns. In August 1914, European arms manufacturers were building guns in the realm of 420mm. The most common German siege gun was the 280mm, used to pulverize the forts of Liege, now grossly obsolete. The same guns would be turned against Maubeuge and Namur, and with that, the glamour of fortifications became passé. However, in 1916, French forces at Verdun witnessed the valiant stand at Fort Vaux, and recognized the symbolism of Fort Douaumont. As the conflict wore on, Allied forces came up against the increasing advanced German defensives known as the "Hindenburg Line." As the war drew to a close, suddenly, for the French, fortifications began to have value again. The result was the Maginot Line, much vaunted and much castigated for its role (or lack thereof) in the Battle of France in May-June 1940.

Nuclear and supersonic technologies have once again made fortifications obsolete. Through examining the timeline of fortress construction, I think it can be said that the greatest fortification system ever built was the Maginot Line, rivalled only perhaps by Vauban in form, or by the Great Wall of China in length. Disturbingly, what we, the Bunker Archeologists, are seeing is that what Krupp's Big Bertha and all of the firepower of the Wehrmacht was unable to do, man and nature have succeeded in doing very slowly over the years. And that is, the destruction of the Maginot Line.

I took these photographs in April of 1998. The burying of the forts began in 1997. The purpose was to keep people out. (Supposedly some deaths have occurred in recent years. I heard that multiple deaths occurred at Ouvrage Anzeling, after some kids gained access to the gallleries, set a fire for light and warmth, and were asphyxiated. I also heard that someone was killed in one of the drainage tunnels because of lack of oxygen. True, or myths created to keep us away?). The ditches are filled in with debris and a huge mound of dirt is pushed up in front of the entrances. In many cases, embrasures are bricked up with white stucco. Metal salvagers began to systematically dismantle the cupolas, embrasure, and turrets, and anything that was made of metal, back in the early 1970's, after the French Army began to sell off the line. In some of the ouvrages, nearly all of the metal has been removed, leaving gaping holes in the concrete. Ouvrages like Aumetz are not even worth getting your shoes wet in the grass.

Nature has also done her part. While the ouvrages were under control of the army it seems that someone came in and kept the trees cut down. Today, in wooded areas, vegetation has taken over and buried the casemates. Only in a few areas do you get the same view that the observers had when the line was built, where the casemates and blocs were built in open fields. Many of the galleries are flooded and the staircases leading down to them are deterioriating from the moisture.

But the worst destruction has been caused by vandalism. Each year, people enter the abandoned forts and for no good reason, destroy what little is left inside. In this case, we can support the sealing of the forts to prevent this from happening.

Where's there bad news there is also good news. Many local associations have, over the years, purchased some of the ouvrages, casemates, and shelters, renovated them, and opened them to the public. One can visit the ouvrages of Schoenenbourg, Four-à-Chaux, Simserhof, Rohrbach, Bambesch, Michelsberg, Galgenberg, Hackenberg, Immerhof, Fermont, and the haunting Villy La Ferté to name a few. Also open is the Casemate of Markolsheim, Casemate Esch, Casemate Neunhoffen, Casemate Aschenheim, Abri Hatten, Abri Graserloch, Abri de Bockange, and Abri Zeiterholz. (Forgive me if I have left any off.) Other elements are also open with special arrangements, like Bois Karre and Bois du Four.

There are also numerous forts open in the Alps - St. Agnes, St. Roch, and Pont St. Louis. In other words, there is enough to keep a fortification enthusiast busy for a long time. In fact, there is too much to see for someone like myself who spends two weeks every couple of years in Europe.

Those who run the associations remain our only hope for preserving what remains. I have been in many of the museums and they are improved every year. We can only give them our most ardent support. You can join even if you don't live in Europe.

The Associations are doing some great things, yet it appears that they go it alone in most cases, and compete with each other. If they could somehow band together, they could accomplish much more, especially in the areas of education, and preservation. Perhaps someday there will be a conference where all of the groups can assemble and map out a plan for the future or where the Maginot Line will be declared a historical site that must be preserved. I would hope to attend that one.

The state of the Maginot Line is both precarious and promising. I understand that it is a thing of the past and perhaps it is something that people want to forget. But to allow that to happen is to forget also why it was built. We must strive to preserve the Maginot Line for what it is - a historical monument and great work of military art. We must also do what is necessary to educate the public and to destroy the myths that still prevail 60 years later.

I solicit your ideas and comments, whether you agree or disagree.

COPYRIGHT 1999 and 2005

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