The Maginot Line was a masterpiece of border defense. /s

[Copavir]

I think the Maginot Line, if it were extended to the English Channel, would undoubtedly be the greatest defensive structure in history, up to that point in time. It had anti-tank posts, outposts just meters from the border, pillboxes directly linked up via underground tunnels to behind the line itself, it then had a pop up anti tank and infantry guns, that had enormous bunkers underneath that had mess halls, ventilation, air conditioning, water supply, supply depots. This would go on for 2 layers, and then it would have telecommunication relays dotted behind the main line. Not to mention that every bunker was linked by an underground electric railway.
If you described this with no context, it would be something out of a futuristic war movie. This is why I think, if expanded upon, the Maginot Line of WW2 would have been the greatest defensive structure, ever built.

[The Black Forrest]

And yet it was conquered.

Is this homework? Not allowed here.

[Rusticus I Damianus]

I think the Maginot Line, if it were extended to the English Channel, would undoubtedly be the greatest defensive structure in history, up to that point in time. It had anti-tank posts, outposts just meters from the border, pillboxes directly linked up via underground tunnels to behind the line itself, it then had a pop up anti tank and infantry guns, that had enormous bunkers underneath that had mess halls, ventilation, air conditioning, water supply, supply depots. This would go on for 2 layers, and then it would have telecommunication relays dotted behind the main line. Not to mention that every bunker was linked by an underground electric railway.
If you described this with no context, it would be something out of a futuristic war movie. This is why I think, if expanded upon, the Maginot Line of WW2 would have been the greatest defensive structure, ever built.

Iirc I believe that Belgium was supposed to be apart of the defensive system, so the idea was the Maginot line would guard the French flank, while the bulk of their forces would be in Belgium reinforcing their forces and fortifications which would've been somewhat integrated into the French defenses.

However politics happened, Belgium decided to go pacifist and that suddenly left a giant opening/weakness in the French strategy. And tbh yeah, perhaps if either Belgium had stuck with the plan, or built up their defenses a bit more (and the British and French treated the war with Germany more seriously instead of the Phony War crap) then yeah it could've done a pretty good job at holding back the Germans for awhile. Though for how long is questionable.

[Copavir]

I think the Maginot Line, if it were extended to the English Channel, would undoubtedly be the greatest defensive structure in history, up to that point in time. It had anti-tank posts, outposts just meters from the border, pillboxes directly linked up via underground tunnels to behind the line itself, it then had a pop up anti tank and infantry guns, that had enormous bunkers underneath that had mess halls, ventilation, air conditioning, water supply, supply depots. This would go on for 2 layers, and then it would have telecommunication relays dotted behind the main line. Not to mention that every bunker was linked by an underground electric railway.
If you described this with no context, it would be something out of a futuristic war movie. This is why I think, if expanded upon, the Maginot Line of WW2 would have been the greatest defensive structure, ever built.

Iirc I believe that Belgium was supposed to be apart of the defensive system, so the idea was the Maginot line would guard the French flank, while the bulk of their forces would be in Belgium reinforcing their forces and fortifications which would've been somewhat integrated into the French defenses.

However politics happened, Belgium decided to go pacifist and that suddenly left a giant opening/weakness in the French strategy. And tbh yeah, perhaps if either Belgium had stuck with the plan, or built up their defenses a bit more (and the British and French treated the war with Germany more seriously instead of the Phony War crap) then yeah it could've done a pretty good job at holding back the Germans for awhile. Though for how long is questionable.

Exactly, I think they intended to use Belgium as a battleground, as you can get an elephant over the switzerland, but definitely not a tank. Belgium was familiar ground for the French, nice and flat for trenches, which is what they did, then tanks simply rolled over the top of them and then France fell. The only problem France had, imo is they were naive, and were too reliant on old warfare tech and strategy

[Rusticus I Damianus]

Iirc I believe that Belgium was supposed to be apart of the defensive system, so the idea was the Maginot line would guard the French flank, while the bulk of their forces would be in Belgium reinforcing their forces and fortifications which would've been somewhat integrated into the French defenses.

However politics happened, Belgium decided to go pacifist and that suddenly left a giant opening/weakness in the French strategy. And tbh yeah, perhaps if either Belgium had stuck with the plan, or built up their defenses a bit more (and the British and French treated the war with Germany more seriously instead of the Phony War crap) then yeah it could've done a pretty good job at holding back the Germans for awhile. Though for how long is questionable.

Exactly, I think they intended to use Belgium as a battleground, as you can get an elephant over the switzerland, but definitely not a tank. Belgium was familiar ground for the French, nice and flat for trenches, which is what they did, then tanks simply rolled over the top of them and then France fell. The only problem France had, imo is they were naive, and were too reliant on old warfare tech and strategy

Kinda makes me wonder if the Gustav guns would've been used, and what kind of effect they would've had, since they were designed to break through the maginot line.

Also I wonder if Germany would've completed it's Carrier, since in our time line they pretty much halted construction on the thing after they gained all the French airfields.

[Thermodolia]

The maginot line wasn’t supposed to be a total border fortification, it was intended to drive German troops into Belgium at which point the French and British forces would fight Germany there.

The original front line would have been well forward of the Ardennes forest (meaning that the forest would be behind the French troops) and the Germans would have been bogged down in Belgium.

Unfortunately Belgium decided, understandably so, that they didn’t want to have another war fought on their territory so they pulled out. However they wrongly assumed that Germany wouldn’t invade them.

When Germany did invade them they immediately asked for allied help. Unfortunately the allies where in a mess as they did not already have defensive positions set up in Belgium. This allowed the Germans to outflank the allied forces.

Basically the Maginot Line did it’s job in diverting the Germans, unfortunately Belgium couldn’t see that Germany didn’t care about how peaceful a nation was

[Cachard Calia]

Exactly, I think they intended to use Belgium as a battleground, as you can get an elephant over the switzerland, but definitely not a tank. Belgium was familiar ground for the French, nice and flat for trenches, which is what they did, then tanks simply rolled over the top of them and then France fell. The only problem France had, imo is they were naive, and were too reliant on old warfare tech and strategy

Kinda makes me wonder if the Gustav guns would've been used, and what kind of effect they would've had, since they were designed to break through the maginot line.

Also I wonder if Germany would've completed it's Carrier, since in our time line they pretty much halted construction on the thing after they gained all the French airfields.

They mostly didn't build it because they needed too much iron, and decided to first prioritize U-boats and the Luftwaffe.

[Rusticus I Damianus]

Kinda makes me wonder if the Gustav guns would've been used, and what kind of effect they would've had, since they were designed to break through the maginot line.

Also I wonder if Germany would've completed it's Carrier, since in our time line they pretty much halted construction on the thing after they gained all the French airfields.

They mostly didn't build it because they needed too much iron, and decided to first prioritize U-boats and the Luftwaffe.

Aye.

[Risottia]

Virgin Maginot Line vs Chad Beneš Wall.

[The Huskar Social Union]

I like forts.

[America Republican Edition]

The reason the Maginot Line failed is because they didn’t use more gun.

[Ethel mermania]

And yet it was conquered.

Is this homework? Not allowed here.

Well it was gone around. The Belgians would have been all offended if the line was built on their border.

[Rusticus I Damianus]

The reason the Maginot Line failed is because they didn’t use more gun.

Based.

[Haganham]

And yet it was conquered.

Is this homework? Not allowed here.

It wasn't.he Germans simply went around.

This possibility wasn't lost on the French, and they had made preparations for this. The French understood that the Germans would have an advantage earlier in a war, but as the war dragged on they would not be able to keep their forces supplied in the way that France, would be able to. Thus a long war of attrition would favor France.
So, the plan was to fortify the Belgian border and use the rivers of Belgium as a series of fallback defenses to slow down the offensive to a stalemate, allowing France to drag on the war long enough for material superiority to render Germans more modernized military ineffective.

However three things happened that undermined this strategy.
1. Belgium declared neutrality, meaning that France was less able to prepare defenses properly, and had to rely more on defenses on its own border with Belgium to bear the assault, when they were really only meant to be a fallback position after the German army supplies were mostly exhausted. This also means that the France had to rush into Belgium after the Germans had already invaded, instead of having a single defensive line that could move back ass needed, adding to disorganization.
2. Hitler and Stalin reached a nonaggression pact, which included Germany seizing large parts of eastern Europe, and the soviets supplying the Germans with oil, meaning the Germans could now commit more forces, and fight a longer war.
3. French intelligence overestimated the Arden's usefulness as a natural obstacle to armored vehicles, meaning that the soldiers stationed there were not well equipped to respond to the mechanized German assault. This necessitated diverting units from the north, but they were unable to respond in time, because by the time the order was given to redeploy they were already rushing to respond to the invasion in northern Belgium, where command had thought the armored units would need to be deployed.

[Kaskalma]

I think the Maginot Line would have significantly slowed down the Germans and made it easier for the French and British to respond to the German invasion had it been completed, but it certainly would not have been the best defensive structure ever built. Several factors including politics, Belgian hesitancy and neutrality, French incompetence, arrogance, indecisiveness and obsolescence doomed it to fail.

According to Heinz Guderian in his bookPanzer Leader, the Maginot Line fortifications gave his troops some trouble, but they were either able to destroy, go around them, or infiltrate them and take them over. He gave a couple of examples of incredibly fortified artillery positions being completely abandoned or so poorly manned that a platoon of infantry was able to capture it. The Maginot Line wasn’t built for modern warfare and was built for the style of warfare that existed in the 1890s-1910s. While the fortifications did cause considerable casualties and slowed to the German army, it didn’t stop them. The 88mm was particularly effective at knocking out the French positions. In WWI, Fort Vaux was under constant bombardment for weeks and had its main gun turrets were knocked out very early in the battle. The constant shelling even caused some of the tunnels to cave in. The Maginot Line simply wouldn’t have been able to withstand the firepower the Germans could throw at it.

The French general in charge of the Ardennes sector didn’t have enough troops to defend the sector and he knew that. He tried to get the army to give him more divisions but all he got were a few colonial divisions of questionable quality. The lack of cohesion and communication doomed the French. Had they been able to use the Maginot Line as a delaying measure that would allow them to make a rapid and strong counterattack into Germany, they could have won. But their incompetence and lack of modern equipment doomed them.

[El Lazaro]

France would have lasted longer if they expanded westward into the Atlantic Ocean. It would be like the Napoleonic Wars in reverse; the French could continue to retreat so deep into French territory that blitzkrieg slows and slows, eventually coming to a halt in the newly created land bridge marshland, and by the time the Nazis decide to withdraw, the polar bears and walruses will easily best them in subzero combat.

[Kaskalma]

France would have lasted longer if they expanded westward into the Atlantic Ocean. It would be like the Napoleonic Wars in reverse; the French could continue to retreat so deep into French territory that blitzkrieg slows and slows, eventually coming to a halt in the newly created land bridge marshland, and by the time the Nazis decide to withdraw, the polar bears and walruses will easily best them in subzero combat.

Don’t polar bear live up north? If the French expanded into the Atlantic Ocean they’d have to worry about a hairier, dumber, more dangerous animal: Londoners.

[Vrbo]

This is why I think, if expanded upon, the Maginot Line of WW2 would have been the greatest defensive structure, ever built.

Too late for that one buddy. By the time you thought about this and posted it, the Germans already went around it. How embarrassing!

[The Grand Fifth Imperium]

So what about the Siegfried Line?

[Pizza Friday Forever91]

So what about the Siegfried Line?

even worse the Maginot line.

[Diarcesia]

was

[Pizza Friday Forever91]

it was a masterpiece of border defense, if you want an ironic masterpiece of border defense you have the Atlantic wall, which failed horribly at it's job.