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The Maginot Line: Triumph of Military Engineering

J.M. Syken

Course Outline

In this course, we will examine the history of the line of fortifications constructed throughout the 1930s along the eastern frontiers of France that came to be known, collectively, as: “The Maginot Line.” This will include the main-line fortifications in east-central France (along the German border) as well as the “Alpine Line” (a/k/a “Littlle Maginot Line) in southeastern France (facing Fascist Italy). As well, we will examine the fortifications built in the latter 1930s as part of the “New Fronts” (a/k/a “Maginot Line Extension”) in northeastern France in the late 1930s in a belated attempt to extend the line to the North Sea. The performance of these fortifications during the Battle of France (May/June 1940) will be reviewed carefully as will be strategies/tactics of both France and Germany before, during and after the conflict in relation to the Maginot Line.

Our review will examine the history of fortifications built along the French/Belgian-German border starting in the late 19th Century and their performance during two key battles of WWI: Liege (1914) and Verdun (1916). This will include their successes and/or failures as well as their influence on the decision to create sophisticated fortifications along the French frontier during the interwar years. The designs of both gros (large) and petit (small) ouvrages (forts), interval casemates, infantry shelters, obstacles etc. will be discussed in depth and detail as will be the armaments (infantry and artillery) used in the Maginot Line fortifications. Also, the “Westwall” (a/k/a “Siegfried Line”) built by Germany in the late 1930s (to counter the Maginot Line) will also be examined in like manner.

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student will:

• Understand/appreciate the arguments for and against the use of “fixed fortifications” among military planners/strategists;
• Understand/appreciate the history of fixed fortifications, extending back to the ancient world (i.e. Great Wall of China);
• Understand/appreciate the period of the interwar years and, despite the allied victory in WWI, the fear of a resurgent Germany and another invasion;
• Understand/appreciate the use of subterranean fortifications to minimize exposure to enemy attack;
• Understand/appreciate the various elements of the Maginot Line including its “strong” and “weak” points;
• Understand/appreciate the strategic decision to leave the defense sector facing the Belgian Ardennes essentially unfortified based on the belief that the terrain made it “impassable” for armored vehicles (i.e. tanks);
• Understand/appreciate the history of conflict between France and Germany in the 19th Century;
• Understand/appreciate the need to create extensive fortifications along France’s eastern frontier in the wake of the defeat suffered by France in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 and the loss of the natural border (i.e. Rhine River) and the French province/s of Alsace and Lorraine;
• Understand/appreciate the Belgian fortifications built along Germany’s “natural invasion route” to France and their underperformance (due to design deficiencies, i.e. un-reinforced concrete) in the Battle of Liege in August 1914;
• Understand/appreciate the decision made by the French High Command to strip their own forts of men and equipment in light of the fall of the Liege forts;
• Understand/appreciate the consequences of de-fortifying the Verdun forts and the important lessons learned by the French army in their attempts to retake their own forts (i.e. Fort Douamont) during the Battle of Verdun in 1916;
• Understand/appreciate the signficance of the Battle of Verdun to the French decision to use fixed fortifications and the application of lessons learned to the design of Maginot line fortifications (i.e. water wells, subterranean interconnectivity, interior defenses etc.);
• Understand/appreciate the rise of Hitler and the Nazis in the 1930s and the reoccupation of the Rhineland in 1936 as a prelude to the coming war and expedited efforts to extend and reinforce the Maginot Line;
• Understand/appreciate the design, construction, armament, purpose/need etc. of Germany’s counter to the Maginot Line along it’s entire western frontier which was known as the “Westwall” or “Siegfried Line;
• Understand/appreciate how American forces attacked and successfully overcame the Siegfried Line fortification in the fall/winter of 1944 (strategies, tactics, weapons etc.);
• Understand/appreciate the attack on the Belgian Fort Eben-Emael during the opening hours of the Battle of France (May 10th 1940) and how German airborne forces overcame in just a few hours “The Strongest Fortification in the World”;
• Understand/appreciate the development of shaped (a/k/a “hollow”) charges and their development by C.E. Munroe, father of the “Munroe Effect”;
• Understand/appreciate the use of shaped charges by German forces to overcome Eben-Emael’s fortifications and their application/development by both allied and axis forces as the war progressed for both artillery and infantry weaponry (i.e. Bazooka);
• Understand/appreciate the various armaments used in the Maginot Line including infantry (for close-in defense) and artillery (for long-distance defense and mutual support);
• Understand/appreciate the performance of the Maginot Line fortifications during the Battle of France, including the poor performance of smaller fortifications and excellent performance of the large fortifications;
• Understand/appreciate the various infrastructure needs of the Maginot Line fortifications (i.e. light, power, ventilation etc.);
• Understand/appreciate precautions used in the design of the fortifications to make them invulnerable to gas attack (i.e. pressurization);
• Understand/appreciate the types of armored turrets (fixed and/or retractable) used in the fortifications, their armament, vulnerabilities, performance etc.:
• Understand/appreciate the communication system/s of the Maginot Line fortifications;
• Understand/appreciate the similarities and difference between the main-line fortifications (NE France) and of the “Little Maginot Line” (a/k/a “Alpine Line”) in southeastern France;
• Understand/appreciate the design/construction/armament/performance etc. of the “Mareth Line” (a/k/a “Maginot Line of the Desert”) in French Tunisia;
• Understand/appreciate the significant design/construction/defense/armament etc. differences between the gros (large) and petit (small) Maginot Line ouvrages (forts):
• Understand/appreciate the use of reinforced ferroconcrete in the design of the fortifications and the four levels of concrete protection applied;
• Understand/appreciate German Army intelligence’s efforts to know the location/s, armament, vulnerabilities etc. of the Maginot Line fortifications;
• Understand/appreciate the period of the “Sitzkrieg” and the anticipation of Hitler’s various options including a frontal assault on the Maginot Line;
• Understand/appreciate the use of camouflage on both the Maginot and Siegfried Line/s;
• Understand/appreciate the use of a “Metro” (60cm railway) within and without the fortifications to expedite movement of men and munitions;
• Understand/appreciate the devastating effect of the German 88mm high-velocity anti-aircraft gun on exposed Maginot Line cupolas;
• Understand/appreciate the development/design of the three generations of “interval casemates” for support of the ouvrages;
• Understand/appreciate the use of captured French armaments in the Siegfried Line;
• Understand/appreciate the extensive use of land mines by Germany for their fixed defenses and the lack thereof in French fixed defenses;
• Understand/appreciate the development and use of airborne troops in modern warfare;
• Understand/appreciate the development of the flamethrower as a weapon used against fixed fortifications (i.e. pillboxes);
• Understand/appreciate the limited effectiveness of airpower against fixed fortifications;
• Understand/appreciate the background history of Andre Maginot, as a soldier in WWI and French Minister of War, and his motivations for constructing the fortifications named in his honor;
• Understand/appreciate the detrimental effects of the worldwide depression of the 1930s on the design/construction of the Maginot Line;
• Understand/appreciate the development of “Gustav” and “Dora” – 31-inch caliber railway-mounted siege guns designed to take-out Maginot Line fortifications;
• Understand/appreciate the development of armored warfare during the interwar years by both France and Germany:
• Understand/appreciate other nation’s steps to defend against German invasion (i.e. Romania’s “Moat of Fire”);
• Understand/appreciate British influences/contributions to the Maginot Line and the defense of France;
• Understand/appreciate the strategy applied in “Fall Gelb” (German invasion of France) and the use of Blitzkrieg tactics during the Battle of France;
• Understand/appreciate the misconceptions about both the performance of French forces and the Maginot Line during the six-week long Battle of France;
• Understand/appreciate the consequences of the fall of France including the division of France into two parts, stripping of weapons and equipment by the Germans of both the Maginot Line and their own Siegfried Line to reinforce their “Atlantic Wall” and subsequent allied efforts to overcome both lines;
• Understand/appreciate the evacuation of the BEF and other allied forces at Dunkirk;
• Understand/appreciate the life of Charles de Gaulle, French military and political leader;
• Understand/appreciate the largely unrecognized heroism and sacrifice of French and allied forces during the Battle of France, and;
• Understand/appreciate the lingering effect on the psyche of the French nation (and world-at-large) as it relates to the mention of “Maginot Line” as being synonymous with defeat and a false sense of security.

Intended Audience

This course is intended for architects, engineers and other design/construction professionals.

Benefit to Attendees

The attendee/s will gain an intimate knowledge and insight into the design, development, construction, performance etc. of the world’s greatest modern fortification system – the Maginot Line.

Course Introduction

The course includes an in-depth PowerPoint presentation and the viewing of videos.

Course Content

In this course, you are required to view/study the following slideshow and the materials contained in the web pages:

The Maginot Line: Triumph of Military Engineering (printable handout in PDF, 29 MB, see Note A below for downloading instruction)

The Maginot Line: Triumph of Military Engineering (non-printable slideshow for screen-viewing only, 126 MB, see Note A below for downloading instruction)

Archival/Documentary Film:

Note A: Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right-clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader from your computer.

Course Summary

Maginot Line - a defensive barrier or strategy that inspires a false sense of security.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary

It was said of the French “poilu” (soldiers) by the Germans who fought them for four bloody years in the trenches of western Europe during “The Great War” (a/k/a “First World War”) that they were: “Lions led by Donkeys.” In other words, the “elan” (fighting spirit) of the typical French soldier was exceptional, but their leadership was not. This would be the case in 1940 as well. Fear of a resurgent Germany motivated the creation of France’s magnificent Maginot Line – a wonder of the world in the 1930s. Ironically, when a Frenchman (especially those who had experienced the trenches of WWI) heard those two words: “Maginot Line,” during the interwar years it instilled in them a sense of both pride and security. Even during the “Sitzkrieg” period (a/k/a “Phony War”), the Maginot Line, with its massive reinforced concrete walls/roofs, armored turrets, formidable weaponry and invulnerable subterranean chambers was “the place to be” when the German attack came. Come it did (on May 10th 1940) and indeed, the Maginot fortifications did exactly what they were intended to do. The failure came in the lesser fortifications (i.e. “petit ouvrages”), for the most part unable and unsuited to stop the German Blitzkrieg in the northeast. However, the older, larger fortifications (i.e. “gros ouvrages”), even when outflanked and attacked from both front and rear were formidable, so much so that not one fell to the attacking enemy. The flaw lay in watering down (to save cost) those fortifications that sought to extend the line to the North Sea and, more importantly, the failure of French generals to recognize the unfortified Ardennes as the gapping hole through which a mighty host would one day pour. Despite its shortcomings, the Maginot Line remains a triumph of military engineering.

Related Links

For additional technical information related to this subject, please visit the following websites:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maginot_Line

FILMS:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD_rX71O78I
(The Fall of Fort Eben Emael - Part 1/5 – 09:01)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIPawSa4o3Q
(The Fall of Fort Eben Emael - Part 2/5 – 09:01)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P729E4wap-Y
(The Fall of Fort Eben Emael - Part 3/5 – 09:02)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWfqJxSRn48
(The Fall of Fort Eben Emael - Part 4/5 – 09:01)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4giMGaPMJM
(The Fall of Fort Eben Emael - Part 5/5 – 08;01)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As3NzDQknVc
(video - Gustav Heavy Railway Gun - 06:43)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbofWRDiVOY
(Film - History of Military Engineering - 1:18:00)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHmxmUfekdQ
(Film: The World at War - France Falls - 54:45)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbKYbLUkIpk
(Film: The Battle of France - 1:55:19)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XVHYg6gvWU
(The Maginot Line: Actually a Good Idea - 10:49)
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHPVkohe-EU)
(Heavy Gustav - The World's Biggest Artillery Gun - 07:34)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bU61G6la8o8
(German WWII Fortifications on Jersey - 10:14)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtRhkTNihlE
(Film: German Artillery Targets England - 06:36)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrnzmSlJb2g
(“Construction of the Siegfied Line” – 18:40)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjMfFEib8xg
(“Dragon’s Teeth (Westwall) – Siegfried Line” – 28:35)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZvUSLaHnbo
(Military Engineering - 52:07)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yfgbm_0QGbU
(Heavy Gustav - The Largest Weapon Ever Built - 12:56)

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.