The Maginot Line (; French: ligne Maginot [liɲ maʒino]) is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by France in the 1930s. Named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, it was constructed on the French side of its borders with Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium. The line was to deter invasion by Nazi Germany and force them to move around the fortifications through Belgium. It was impervious to most forms of attack, but in 1940 the Germans invaded through the Belgian Ardennes, immediately to the north, just beyond the end of the main line of fortifications. Based on France's experience with trench warfare during World War I, the massive Maginot Line was built before the Second World War, after the Locarno Conference in 1925 gave rise to a fanciful and optimistic "Locarno spirit". French military experts believed the line would deter German aggression because it would slow an invasion force long enough for French forces to mobilise and counter-attack. The line was supposed to be extended along the French frontier with Belgium, but was not built in response to demands from Belgium. Belgium feared it would be sacrificed in the event of another German invasion. The French planned to advance heavily into Belgium in response to a German invasion of Belgium, meeting German forces on Belgian territory, but in the event, the Ardennes invasion allowed the Germans to outflank the French forces that advanced into Belgium. The Maginot Line was invulnerable to aerial bombings and tank fire and used underground railways for movement. It had modern living conditions for the garrison, with air conditioning and eating areas for their comfort. French and British officers had anticipated the geographical limits of the Maginot Line; when Germany invaded the Netherlands and Belgium, they carried out the Dyle plan to form a front along the Dyle in Belgium to connect with the Maginot Line. The French line was weak near the Ardennes. General Maurice Gamelin, when drafting the Dyle Plan, believed this region, with its rough terrain, would be an unlikely invasion route by German forces; if it were traversed, it would be done at a slow rate that would allow the French time to bring up reserves and counter-attack. The German Army, having altered their plans when it became known to the Allies in the Mechelen incident on 10 January 1940, redirected the effort against this weak point in the French defensive front. The Manstein plan replaced the original plan with a gamble that the main German armoured force could cross the Ardennes and cross the Meuse before the Allies could react. The Germans crossed the Meuse and raced down the Somme river valley, encircled much of the Allied forces in the north, leading to the Dunkirk evacuation and leaving the troops to the south unable to mount an effective resistance to the Germans. The Maginot Line has since become a metaphor for expensive efforts that offer a false sense of security.
Purposes The Maginot Line was built to fulfill several purposes:
To prevent a German surprise attack. To deter a cross-border assault. To protect Alsace and Lorraine (returned to France in 1918) and their industrial basin. To save manpower (France counted 39 million inhabitants, Germany 70 million). To slow an attack to permit the mobilisation of the French Army (which took between two and three weeks). To push Germany into an effort to circumvent via Switzerland or Belgium, and allow France to fight the next war off French soil to avoid a repeat of 1914–1918. To be used as a basis for a counter-offensive.
Personnel
Maginot Line fortifications were manned by specialist units of fortress infantry, artillery and engineers. The infantry manned the lighter weapons of the fortresses and formed units with the mission of operating outside if necessary. Artillery troops operated the heavy guns, and the engineers were responsible for maintaining and operating other specialist equipment, including all communications systems. All these troops wore distinctive uniform insignia and considered themselves among the elite of the French Army. During peacetime, fortresses were only partly manned by full-time troops. They would be supplemented by reservists who lived in the local area and who could be quickly mobilised in an emergency. Full-time Maginot Line troops were accommodated in barracks built close to the fortresses. They were also accommodated in complexes of wooden housing adjacent to each fortress, which were more comfortable than living inside, but were not expected to survive wartime bombardment. The training was carried out at a fortress near the town of Bitche in Moselle in Lorraine, built in a military training area and so capable of live fire exercises. This was impossible elsewhere as the other parts of the line were located in civilian areas.
Organisation
Although the name "Maginot Line" suggests a relatively thin linear fortification, it was 20–25 kilometres (12–16 miles) deep from the German border to the rear area. It was composed of an intricate system of strong points, fortifications and military facilities such as border guard posts, communications centres, infantry shelters, barricades, artillery, machine-gun and anti-tank-gun emplacements, supply depots, infrastructure facilities and observation posts. These various structures reinforced a principal line of resistance made up of the most heavily armed ouvrages, which can be roughly translated as fortresses or big defensive works.
Border post line This consisted of blockhouses and strong-houses, which were often camouflaged as residential homes, built within a few metres of the border and manned by troops to give the alarm in the event of a surprise attack and to delay enemy tanks with prepared explosives and barricades.
Outpost and support point line Approximately 5 km (3 mi) behind the border there was a line of anti-tank blockhouses that were intended to provide resistance to armoured assault, sufficient to delay the enemy and allow time for the crews of the C.O.R.F. ouvrages to be ready at their battle stations. These outposts covered the main passages within the principal line.
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