The Maginot Line

In France, whether you visit Paris, the Normandy beaches, the Ardennes, or Alsace, it is impossible to miss reminders of the two World Wars everywhere.  There are little cenotaphs in even the smallest villages listing the names of fallen soldiers, military cemeteries scattered almost randomly in plains and fields, huge memorials like Vimy Ridge, and other locations noteworthy because of their direct involvement in the wars (the village of Oradour-sur-Glan and Verdun, for example).  I know battles have been fought practically everywhere on this continent; however, I feel that somehow France seems to have been disproportionately a victim more than other countries. 

[Much of the following information was taken from a history learning website based in the UK.]

That was especially true in WWI when France had suffered such appalling damage both to its population and its buildings.  After Versailles in 1919, senior figures in the French military, such as Marshall Foch, believed that the German anger over Versailles all but guaranteed that Germany would seek revenge.  Therefore, they wanted to adopt a strategy to ensure that didn't happen.   Three approaches were considered:

1. The first was that France adopt a policy of offence as opposed to defence. One of the main supporters of this was Charles de Gaulle who wanted France to develop an army based on speed, mobility and mechanised vehicles.  This did not garner a lot of support as it was seen as aggressive.
2. The second was for France to base its military in a line of small heavily defended areas from which a counter-attack could be launched if required.  Marshall Joffre favoured this idea.
3. That last was that France should build a long line of fortifications along the whole French/German border which would be both long and deep into France. Marshall Petain favoured this idea.  Previously a war hero, the Minister of War, Andre Maginot, proposed such a plan to ensure that Germany could never invade France again and, over the next decade (1930 to 1940) such a line was built.  It was named after Maginot, although he died in 1932.  

The third strategy was adopted as it was thought was that such a line would hinder any German attack for so long that the bulk of the large French army would be fully mobilised to counter the attack.  Also, 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.  Further, all the fighting would take place near to the French/German border so that there would be minimal damage to property. 

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 between 200 to 500 men depending on their size.  Because it was thought the Ardennes in the north were considered impenetrable, the Line was not built all the way to the Channel.

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 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.  So, In theory, the Maginot Line was capable of creating a massive continuous line of fire that should have devastated any attack. However, the Maginot Line had two major failings – it was obviously not mobile and it assumed that the Ardennes was impenetrable.  Any attack that could get around it would leave it floundering like a beached whale. 

Blitzkrieg was the means by which Germany simply went around the whole Line.  The speed with which Germany attacked France and Belgium in May, 1940, completely isolated all the forts.  The German attack was code-named “cut-of-the-sickle" (Sichlschnitt) – an appropriate name for the attack.  By doing this, the Maginot Line was isolated and the plan that soldiers in the Line could assist the mobilised French troops was a non-starter.  France was, once again, invaded by Germany.

Yesterday, we visited the Maginot Line Museum in Markolsheim, about 1/2 hour south of here.  In fact, there are at least 2 smaller bunkers in the village of Rhinau and we spotted one more on our way there.  Here are some photos from that visit.