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I read somewhere recently that the Maginot line has been unfairly maligned and that it actually did its job pretty well. Edit: this is the piece I was thinking

• PhasmaFelis 13y ago
  Yeah, my understanding is that the French knew very well that the Germans would go around; the Line was only meant to force them to detour through rough country and slow them down long enough for the French Army to mobilize. It failed because the Nazis used unprecedented tactics and technology to storm through Belgium and the Netherlands faster than anyone thought they could; the French Army still knew they were coming, but weren't able to mobilize fast enough to stop them.
  • rodgerd 13y ago
    Also, the British forces that were supposed to be guarding the Western route into France folded quickly and retreated. "Blood, Tears, and Folly" contains exceprts from contemporary sources noting that the British determination to retreat was such that they prevented French troops from redeploying to their Western flank so as to avoid the French defence impeding the British retreat.
    • vonmoltke 13y ago
      Additionally, the Belgian fortifications were not nearly up to the level of the Maginot Line, nor the level the Belgians boasted. They proved to be little more than a speedbump for the Wehrmacht.
      • pash 13y ago
        The Germans also devised novel tactics to overcome the Belgian fortifications. In the initial attack on Eben-Emael [0], for example, commandos descended on the fort in gliders in the black of night and used newly devised shaped charges to destroy the heavily bunkered Belgian guns. Blitzkrieg itself was a new tactic, but its success depended on surprise, which the Germans achieved by sending their main mechanized force through the rough, wooded terrain of the Ardennes while feinting an attack to the north, through the plain of Flanders, where the Belgians and French expected them. That was a hugely risky endeavor, and the offensive would probably have failed if the German movements had been discovered during the several days it took to cross the Ardennes Wood. 0. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Eben-Emael http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Eben-Emael
      • rodgerd 13y ago
        I should have mentioned the biggest problem, which is that the whole enterprise of the Vichy government was essentially a coup against the Republic, taking advantage of the German pressure to overthrow the government of the day - many members of the Vichy leadership had a history of involvement in anti-Republic groups (Monarchists, anto-secularists, and so on) and some were involved in planned coups in the 30s.
  • tsotha 13y ago
    >It failed because the Nazis used unprecedented tactics and technology to storm through Belgium and the Netherlands faster than anyone thought they could; The German war plans were captured by the Belgians in 1940's "Mechelen Incident". The Germans subsequently changed the plan, but the allies reacted to the German attack assuming the original plan. The final ("Manstein") plan was a big gamble on Germany's part, and the generals hated it because the German army would have be obliterated if the allies countered properly. Your basic point is correct, though. It's easy to blame France's collapse on the Maginot Line, but reality isn't so simple.