sourced story
1929-1940Reputable source · 2 sourcesWell documented

France builds the Maginot Line in the interwar years

A vast fortress system prepares to refight the last war

On the timeline · around 1929-1940 · Republic and Modern FranceRepublic and Modern FranceFrance builds the Maginot Line in the interwar years18901900191019201930194019501960

Quick facts

Location
Eastern border of France
Named for
Andre Maginot
Length
Over 200 miles (322 km)

What happened

Through the 1930s, France built an extensive line of fortifications along its eastern border with Germany, named the Maginot Line after Andre Maginot, the defense minister between 1929 and 1932 who championed the project. Stretching over 200 miles with massive gun emplacements and extensive underground tunnels, it was a response to a rearming Germany and reflected French military planners' belief, shaped by the static trench warfare of the First World War, that any future war would look similar. When Germany invaded in 1940, its forces largely bypassed the Maginot Line by attacking through neutral Belgium, and mobile blitzkrieg tactics made the fixed defenses irrelevant within weeks.

Why it matters

The Maginot Line's failure to stop the German invasion in 1940 became a lasting symbol of France's interwar strategic miscalculation, planning for a static rerun of the previous war instead of anticipating the mobile warfare the Germans actually used.

How we know

The fortifications themselves survive and have been extensively studied and preserved, and French military planning documents from the period document the strategic thinking, centered on the trauma of 1914-18, that shaped the project.

Sources

See something wrong? . Corrections with a source get fixed fastest.

Part of a timelineHistory of France34 events · From Vercingetorix's last stand at Alesia to a Fifth Republic in the EU, the long story of one country rebuilding itself again and againView all →
France builds the Maginot Line in the interwar years · History of France · SourcedStory