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The Surprising Reason Why The Maginot Line Ultimately Failed
Despite modern beliefs, it was a good idea
In the aftermath of World War I, the war-weary French invested millions of dollars and thousands of hours of manpower into creating the Maginot Line. The Maginot Line was a snaking series of entrenchments, forts, tunnels, and gun emplacements that shadowed the border with Germany. The goal of the Maginot Line was to prevent a surprise German attack across the border. It was also specially designed to be impervious to tank attacks, air attacks, and artillery attacks. There was no way that Germany would be able to roll into France with such a magnificent military fortification along the border. At least, that was the idea. But was it a good idea?
Today, the Maginot Line is a joke. And that is unfortunate. The Maginot Line was extremely well-designed and well-engineered. It had underground railroads that could ferry troops and ammunition between strong points. It was encased in millions of square feet of concrete. It had long fields of interlocking fire. It was one of the greatest modern military fortifications ever constructed. There was no way that Germany could punch its way through the teeth of the line.
So why didn’t it work?
