The Maginot Line is a fortification system built by France in the northeast border area after the First World War to prevent the Invasion of the German Army, made of reinforced concrete, the defense line began to be built from 1928, basically completed in 1940, the whole 390 kilometers, costing 5 billion francs, because of the high cost, so only the defense of the Franco-German border.
Obviously, we can see from the map that this line of defense is not long, and if you want to attack France to bypass it, who will be stupid and hard, but the French at that time felt that fighting was hard. Even if it is not rigid, are the French not aware of this? And listen to us slowly.
It is said that during the First World War, the two European continental empires of France and Germany fought bloodily, and hundreds of thousands of troops were invested at every turn, and when it comes to the First World War, we have to mention the Battle of Verdun.
In this battle that sacrificed nearly one million people, the French laughed to the end with their tenacious defense, and this battle became a turning point in the entire first world war, and also became a national spiritual symbol for the French to sacrifice in the face of a strong enemy and persevere to the end to win victory.
Therefore, trench warfare, trench warfare, trench warfare and artillery in World War I, the idea of infantry charging was applied by French machinery to the preparation of World War II, and the aircraft tanks that later showed great magic in World War II were ridiculously defined by the French as support tools for infantry and artillery.
Some French generals stubbornly believed that the role of the aircraft was to indicate the target to the artillery, and the range of the tank's activity must be within the effective range of its own artillery, the attack could only be launched by the infantry after the artillery completely destroyed the enemy's defenses, and the tanks had to cover the attacking infantry.
As everyone knows, in just two decades from 1918 to 1938, military thought and technology have already taken a qualitative leap forward, and finally the French have paid the price for their rigid conservatism.
The second point is the industrial centers of Alsace and Lorraine in France. These two regions were the base of French heavy industry and were important production bases for steel, coal, electricity and machinery in the nineteenth century.
In 1870, France lost the Franco-Prussian War and was forced to cede these two regions to Germany, germany also stimulated domestic industrial development with these two regions, and in 1918 Germany was defeated, the region was retaken by France, and France was worried that Germany would once again infect here due to the expansion of military ambitions, so it strengthened the defense of the northeast.
After all, the war is to compete for resources, good resources everyone wants, so since the Franco-Prussian War, the French have attached great importance to these two regions, and there is no room for loss, and the Maginot Line can be effectively defended.
The above two reasons mentioned by the editor seem to understand the psychology of the French at that time, but the clear-eyed people can see that the detour is taking the back road, and the French cannot be unaware. So what do the French think?
If Germany takes a detour through the Netherlands and Belgium, at that time the Netherlands was a middle power in Europe, and britain across the sea was not without fear in the face of ambitious Germany, Britain and France had already reached a tacit understanding, Germany attacked the Netherlands, Britain would not sit idly by, and with the strength of the Netherlands at least for a while, when the British and French combined forces, the united Netherlands will inevitably be able to push the German army back, and France will have enough time to draw the army guarding the Maginot Line to the Western Front, which is one of them.
Second, if Germany chooses to attack Belgium, the French do not seem to be worried, because the Franco-Belgian border is a lush Ardennes forest, rugged terrain, not easy to move, complex terrain will drag the German army.
In France's view, there was plenty of time to draw troops to spare, and Belgium opposed the construction of a defensive line on the Franco-Belgian border, so the French army did not take much precautions.
All of this was the idea of the French, but it was all based on the tenacity of the Dutch, the swiftness of the British, and the assumptions of positional warfare in the barbed wire of infantry artillery and artillery during World War I.
Even after France declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939, the French troops on the front lines did not have the tension before the battle, and the French from the front to the rear agreed that the Germans were bound to crash their heads in front of the Maginot Line and that the war would be an "easy war".
They had nothing to do all day, neither fighting nor training, and the Daily Job of the French soldiers was to dig up useless field fortifications and enjoy the rich and comprehensive entertainment provided by the rear.
It is assumed that in May 1940, the Germans bypassed the Maginot Line and inserted themselves from the Western Front, inducing the British and French forces to support the Netherlands, and then sneaking into the Ardennes Heights, the French never expected the Dutch and Belgium to fall without a fight, and the Germans also besieged the Anglo-French forces in Dunkirk, and finally staged a Dunkirk evacuation, and the Maginot Line was also ineffective because the Germans attacked its back.
Until the Germans detoured belgium to attack France, the French were still immersed in the lights of Paris, confident that the Germans did not dare to offend, so they failed to effectively organize the army to carry out a blockade, resulting in the German army driving straight in, and the failure of the Maginot Line meant that the battle-like battle of the first place war was completely over.