Maginot+Line

__The Maginot Line__ The Maginot Line was a line that consisted of concrete and steel defenses that stretched between Luxembourg and Switzerland along France's border with Germany. It was originally proposed by Joseph Joffre and was built between 1930 and 1935. The line consisted of 142 ouvrages, 352 casemates, 78 shelters, 17 observatories, and about 5,000 blockhouses. Named after the French war minister at the time Andre Maginot, the Maginot Line cost 7,000 million francs to build and was claimed at the time to be a basically invincible defense against the German Army.

In 1940 the Germans came up with an invasion plan that was designed to deal with the line. A decoy force stood opposite the line while a second army cut through Belgium, Netherlands, and the Ardennes forest. This allowed the Germans to avoid assaulting the Maginot Line directly. On May 10th the German forces were well into France and continued advancing until May 24th. By June, the Germans had completely cut the line off from the rest of France. But the line itself was still well-armed and the French were able to obtain the line again.

After the war the French made the line into an expensive anachronsim and some of the ouvrages were turned into command centers. The line was abandoned when France withdrew from NATO's military component in 1966.

