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The Maginot Line, or sometimes just called ¡¥The Line¡¦, is basically a line of defense that was built following World War I to make France invulnerable to future attacks by Germany. It was a 400-mile stretch of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, machine gun posts and other defenses. The French believed the fortification would provide time for their army to mobilize in the event of attack.
The Construction of the Maginot Line
The Decision to Build the Maginot Line
France had suffered appalling damage to both men and buildings in World War One. After the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, there was a clear intention on the part of the French that France should never have to suffer such a catastrophe again. After 1920, men in both political positions and the military favored adopting a military strategy that would simply stop any form of German invasion again.
Senior figures in the French military believed that the German anger over Versailles would motivate Germany to seek revenge. As a result, the main thrust of French military policy was to strengthen the country¡¦s defense. The idea of the Maginot Line was first proposed by Marshal Joffre and was supported by Marshal Petain. They were opposed by modernists such as Paul Reynaud and Charles de Gaulle who favored investment in armor, aircraft and a general policy of offence. It was Andre Maginot, Minister of War, who finally convinced the government to invest in the scheme.
Arguments Supporting the Maginot Line
There were a number of sound military arguments that Maginot used to justify the construction of the Maginot Line.
„« First, the Line would hinder any German attack for so long that the bulk of the large French army would be fully mobilized to counter the attack.
„« Second, the troops stationed in the Line would also be used to fight against the invading Germans should they get through any one part of the Line and attack them from the rear.
„« Third, all the fighting would take place near to the French-German border so that there would be minimal damage to property.
„« Fourth, The Ardennes Forest in the north would act as a natural continuation of the man-made Line as it was considered impenetrable, so the Line need not go all the way to the Channel.
What Exactly Was the Maginot Line?
The Maginot Line was not a continuous line of forts as some believe. In parts, especially in the south from Basle to Haguenau, it was nothing more than a series of outposts as the steep geography of the region and the River Rhine provided its own defense between France and Germany. The Line comprised of over 500 separate buildings but was dominated by large forts known as ¡¥ouvrages¡¦, which were built about nine miles from each other. Each ouvrage housed 1000 soldiers with artillery. Between each ouvrage were smaller forts which housed 200 to 500 men depending on their size.
There were 50 ouvrages in total along the German border. Each one had the necessary fire power to cover the two nearest ouvrages to the north and south. They were protected by reinforced steel that was inches deep and capable of taking a direct hit from most known artillery fire.
The smaller forts were obviously not as well armed or protected as the ouvrages but they were still well built. They were further protected by minefields and anti-tank ditches. Forward defense lines were designed to give the defenders a good warning of an impending attack. In theory, the Maginot Line was capable of creating a massive continuous line of fire that should have devastated any attack.
The Failure of the Maginot Line
German Invasion
The World War II German invasion plan of 1940 (Sichelschnitt) was designed to deal with the Line. A decoy force sat opposite the Line while a second Army Group cut through the Low Countries of Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as through the Ardennes Forest which lay north of the main French defences. Thus the Germans were able to avoid assaulting the Maginot Line directly. Attacking from May 10, the German forces were well into France within five days and they continued to advance until May 24, when they stopped near Dunkirk. By early June the German forces had cut the Line off from the rest of France and the French government was making overtures for an armistice, which was signed on June 22 in Compiegne. But the Line was still intact and manned with a number of commanders wanting to hold out; and the Italian advance had been successfully contained. Still, military commander Maxime Weygand signed the surrender and the army was ordered into captivity.
The Germans attacked through the Ardennes - such an attack was believed to be impossible by the French. One million men and 1,500 tanks crossed the seemingly impenetrable forests in the Ardennes. Once the Maginot Line had been isolated it had little military importance and the Germans only turned their attention to it in early June 1940. Many of the ouvrages surrendered after the government signed its surrender with Germany. Few had to be captured in battle, though some forts did fight the Germans. One in seven French divisions was a fortress division - so the Maginot Line can be thought to have taken out about 15% of the French Army.
Can the Maginot Line be Considered as Successful?
After the war ended, the Maginot Line received severe criticism, ultimately becoming an object of international derision. However, an argument was put forward that the Maginot Line was a success and that its failure was a failure of planning in that the Line ended at the Belgium border. This argument stated that if the Maginot Line had been built all along the French-Belgium border, the outcome in the spring of 1940 may have been very different as the Germans would have had to go through a major fortification as opposed to going round it. Nonetheless, this is a superfluous argument as the Maginot Line was not built around Belgium¡¦s border and the German military went through the Ardennes therefore neutralizing the Line.
Also, discussions of the Maginot Line have to cover more than just the defenses themselves, because the project had other drawbacks. It was costly and time-consuming, requiring billions of francs and a mass of raw materials; however, this expenditure was reinvested into the French economy, perhaps contributing as much as it removed. Equally, military spending and planning was focused around the Line, encouraging a defensive attitude that slowed the development of new weapons and tactics. Had the rest of Europe followed suit the Maginot Line may have been vindicated, but countries like Germany followed very different paths, investing in tanks and planes. Some people claim that this ¡¥Maginot mentality¡¦ spread across the French nation as a whole, encouraging defensive, non-progressive thinking in government and elsewhere. Like fortified lines since the Great Wall of China, the chief effect it had was to create a false sense of security; it could not eliminate the necessity for mobile warfare, and that particular lesson was thoroughly learned after the French collapse of 1940. Diplomacy also suffered - how can you ally with other nations if all you are planning to do is resist your own invasion? Ultimately, the Maginot Line probably did more to harm France than it ever did to aid it.
Conclusion: The Maginot Line After World War II
The term ¡§Maginot Line¡¨ has been used as a metaphor for something that is confidently relied upon despite being ineffectual. In fact, it did exactly what it was intended to do, sealing off a section of France, and forcing an aggressor around it (and the few forts of the Maginot line which were directly attacked by German armored troops held very well). As originally envisioned, the Maginot Line was part of a larger defense plan, in which the attackers would meet with resistance from the French Army, but planning in general failed, leading to the loss of effectiveness of the Line.
The defenses did not simply disappear after the Second World War; indeed the Line was returned to active service. Some forts were modernized, while others were adapted to resist nuclear attack. However, the Line had fallen out of favor by 1969, and the next decade saw many ouvrages and casements sold to private buyers. The rest fell into decay. Modern uses are many and varied, apparently including mushroom farms and discos, as well as many excellent museums. There is also a thriving community of explorers, people who like to visit these mammoth decaying structures with just their hand-held lights and a sense of adventure.
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