Jacob (Jak) Oritt 3/4/13 HISTORY 1510 The Maginot Line in the International Relation Context of the Interwar

Period The Maginot Line served a historically distinct purpose in the time period between world wars, affecting not just France, but international relations as well. The line was named for Andre Maginot, a man who worked for the French Ministry of War, who at one point was the Minister of War himself. The Interwar Period is the time between 1919 and 1939, when World War I was over but World War II was just around the corner. The international relation context refers to how the Maginot Line affected everyone, not just France. But how did the Maginot Line affect the other countries? How did something that started off as one countrys fortification lines become something more? And how did the Maginot Line, a series of truly genius fortifications, fail? First I will present how the idea for the Maginot got started, and discuss the key players involved. Then I will get into the Maginot Line itself, where it was built, how it was built, and what it was built to do. Finally, I will end with a look at the international relation context of the Maginot Line.

First let me talk about how the Maginot Line came into being. As I mentioned before, it started with a man named Andre Maginot who worked for the Ministry of War in France. After
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World War I ended, and the various countries were putting themselves back together, it was Maginot who recognized that France needed to be better defended in case war ever broke out again. It was Maginot who began making political moves to try and push the Maginot Line through, who went and spoke personally to various politicians to win their support for his defense ideas.

One of the main inspirations for the Maginot Line came from a desire not to repeat the mistakes of the past. The trench fighting of World War I cost countless lives, not just in the fighting itself, but in the conditions that the soldiers were forced to fight in, and to live in. Fighting up and down lines of earthen trenches reinforced with wooden planks and topped with barbed wire was not only deadly, it was demoralizing. France, as well as other countries, set out to find a better solution in between World Wars.

Maginot also took his inspiration from an earlier design of French stronghold, called Douaumont, and planned to place these forts, or ouvrages, at nine mile intervals, with smaller ouvrages in between. But Maginot was just one of the men involved with this project, the one who gave it the political drive necessary to get construction started.

The military genius behind the Maginot Line came from a man named Marshal Petain, the head of the armed forces of France. It was Petain who saw the potential of a massive line of forts stretching all along Frances eastern line, ready to defend against another German invasion

at a moments notice. Petain was the one who recognized the possibilities of duplicating, with many modifications, the Douaumont ouvrage and turning it into defensive wall on not only the Franco-German line, but on the Franco-Italian line as well.

The Maginot Line would not, however, cover the northern border of France, as France and Belgium were allies at the time, and it was not thought that they would need to protect themselves from an invasion coming from that direction. Petain was also the one who was able to obtain the government funding for this project, which eventually surpassed over two billion francs.

The third key player in the construction of the Maginot Line was Paul Painleve. Painleve was a mathematician turned politician, who served as Minister of War at one point, as well as two different terms as Prime Minister of France. It was with his support as Prime Minister, as well as his mathematical engineering genius, that helped to bring about the construction of the Maginot Line. Painleve ended up designing much of the Line himself, though he died before he could ever find out whether it would live to win or fail in a war.

These three men each had their reasons for helping to bring about the Maginot Line, but their inspiration for this was all largely the same: not wanting to see a repeat of what happened to France in World War I. After the devastation that Germany wrought, the lives lost, the years of occupation by German forces, France needed new ideas, new plans to keep their country to

themselves. This plan came in the form of the Maginot Line, a brand new series of defenses to help safeguard France against future threat.

Now I will get into the Maginot Line itself. I will discuss where it was built, how it was built, the men it was built to hold, and the main purpose of the Line. I will get into the physical details of the construction of the line, as well as how much money it cost to bring this idea into reality.

As I briefly outline earlier, the Maginot Line was built along the Franco-German border to the east, and the Franco-Italian border to the west. However, as the Franco-Italian Line is often referred to as the Alpine Line, the term Maginot Line frequently is used in only describing the east side, along the border with Germany. That is the area I will focus on during this paper.

The line did not extend to cover the northern border with Belgium, because Belgium and France were allies. This decision would eventually prove to be Frances downfall, as Belgium broke its treaty with France when it claimed neutrality. Germany would take advantage of this in World War II and use the Ardennes forest on the northern border of France to invade, sweeping around the Maginot Line.

The main period of construction of the Maginot Line took place between 1930 and 1936. The largest of the forts were built at nine mile intervals, and could hold up to one thousand troops and all of the artillery they needed. These forts were made of steel reinforced concrete, capable of withstanding heavy firepower, and had outer walls that were over ten feet thick. The forts had turrets that could be retracted to avoid being destroyed. Fifty eight of these massive forts were built alongside the Franco-German border.

Smaller forts were built in between the large ones, forts capable of holding anywhere from two hundred to five hundred men. They were spaced in between the larger forts in order to provide warning to the larger forts, which had the larger guns, should any enemy troops be caught trying to sneak between forts. They could also provide fast aid to any of the larger forts should they find themselves in a firefight that they couldnt easily escape from.

Along with the forts, the Maginot Line boasted many other defenses that filled in the gaps. Hundreds of small casements were built in between all of the large and smaller forts and held handfuls of troops each, troops that could be deployed at a moments notice to any fort in danger of attack. Screening every casement and fort, the French also dug trenches, anti-tank works, and minefields. The Maginot Line was built to be impregnable.

The defenses went beyond casements and forts. Observation posts were built at key points in order to give as much advance warning as was possible on enemy troop movements. This became especially important once Germany began to re-militarize the Rhineland near the border.

Outposts and support points were built in order to ensure that the troops received fresh food and water, as well as any other supplies they might need, especially medical supplies. There were also infantry reserve stations built behind the Maginot line. These served two purposes: one, to supply fresh troops to the front line who could relieve the exhausted and the wounded, and two, to provide an option for retreat, should the fighting come down to that eventuality.

The Maginot Line was designed for every eventuality. If the minefields and soldiers werent enough to stop the enemy, there were other traps that were built. Flood zones, comprised of natural basins and rivers, were modified so that they could be redirected at a moments notice to create additional obstacles for enemy troops to have to work their way through, as they were being fired upon by French troops safely ensconced in their casements or forts behind the line.

Yet it wasnt just the sheer outward scope of the project that was meant to protect France. The true genius behind the Maginot Line lay in what was underneath the line. France employed

the best technology available and the best minds in the engineering field to give this defensive line every boost it could possibly have.

First and foremost, the forts werent just on the surface. The larger forts extended down as far as six stories underground. Some of the forts only seemed to peek up out of the ground far enough for artillery to launch attacks at approaching enemy troops. This helped ensure that the forts couldnt be knocked down.

The underground portion of the forts was a mini society in of itself. Hospitals were built to treat wounded soldiers. Train tunnels were constructed between the forts to carry troops to heavily concentrated areas of fighting. A telephone system was designed to go between forts, allowing instant communication between soldiers, from the observation posts and the casements to the largest of the forts. Even air conditioning was installed in order to provide comfort to the troops of France. These werent just military fortifications. They could just as easily be homes to the defenders of the nation. It was even believed by many that these underground fortifications could withstand a nuclear attack.

The original fort that the Maginot Line forts were designed from, the Douaumont and its outlying casements, had one major flaw: nothing was connected. When the German troops were advancing, all they had to do was march between the casements and forts, and they met no resistance. It was believed that with the underground train and tunnels connecting the forts, that

the French wouldnt be surprised again. And truth be told, the Maginot Line did live up to what it promised. No troops got through it. But that is skipping ahead to the end. For now, let me say that the Maginot Line did what it was intended to do for France, but it wasnt everything that France was doing to defend itself against outside threats like Germany.

For the final part of this paper, I will look at the international relation context. The French werent just trying to fortify their own borders during the period of relative peace between world wars. They fought to build alliances outside of their own walls to try and build themselves up internally and externally. They did this a multitude of different ways. They joined the League of Nations, which Germany was not allowed to join due to their actions in World War I. They signed treaties with the Little Entente, a small group of allied nations. They tried to surround themselves with allies. All of this ended up being for naught when World War II came around.

The League of Nations had one goal: to stop war for good. France joined the League of Nations with many others on November 11, 1918, at the same time that the Treaty of Versailles was signed. They did this partly for the support of the other nations involved in the League, and also partly because the League enforced their demand of Germany to return lands that had been stolen. Namely, Alsace and Lorraine. France also received the Rhineland, but Germany would

eventually take that back and re-militarize it in preparation for World War II. It was hoped that by joining the League of Nations, France would have a power base to call upon in case Germany, or any other country, brought hostile action to the borders of France. This, sadly, turned out not to be the case.

The power of the League of Nations was threefold. Firstly, should one country have a dispute with another, the League could be called upon to mediate an agreement. If this didnt work, the League could enforce economic sanctions upon the offending country, and cut off trade. And third, should neither of these two options work out, the League could bring military might down upon the offending country.

One of the reasons this didnt work out is because two of the most powerful countries in Europe at the time, Germany and Russia, were not allowed to join, at least at first, though Germany did end up joining later on, in 1926. Germany couldnt join at the time due to its actions in World War I, and Russia couldnt because they were a communist country that instilled fear in Europe. This meant that the League didnt have the power of Germany or Russia, and therefore couldnt easily use military might in an international conflict due to the fact that the two powerhouses that were in the League, Britain and France, were still recovering militarily and monetarily, from World War I. The League was somewhat crippled, power wise, right from the very beginning.

France also signed treaties with the Little Entente in an attempt to surround themselves with countries who, while they may not have been allies, were at least friendly towards France and could possibly serve as intimidation should Germany or Italy try to invade. This was a good move on Frances part but, just like with the League of Nations, turned out not to be helpful to them in the long run.

The Little Entente originally had nothing at all to do with France. It was a treaty signed by Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Romania, during the Interwar Period between world wars. It was signed with the intent of standing strong against any possible threats from Germany or Hungary towards the three signatories. These countries were not just worried about physical threats, but territorial and political as well.

France signed treaties with each of these three countries in the hopes that the added support would help safeguard themselves against further threats from Germany or from Italy. France believed that with the support of the Little Entente, as well as the immediate support of Belgium to their north, that they could stand against anything that came their way. These treaties, along with the Maginot Line and the Alpine Line, were believed to be enough to keep them safe, and keep France out of the hands of any hostile nation. The Little Entente, however, ended up dissolving before World War II began, denying France of its aid when aid was badly needed.

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As far as Belgium is concerned, I have already mentioned that France did not see the need to extend its defensive lines across that northern border due to the alliance between the two countries. It was believed that to extend their lines across that border may show Belgium that France didnt truly believe it was safe from an allied country. Even after Belgium broke its alliance with France to go neutral, France only put a cursory effort into putting up defenses on that northern border.

Some of the controversy of the Maginot Line in regards to international relations revolves around the question that how can France hope to win permanent allies if all they are doing, according to what people can see, is building up walls and hiding behind them? This isnt to say that other countries didnt make similar modifications to their own borders by building up walls and forts. Many European countries did. It was a sensible military tactic. In that regard, it was also sensible not to build up a wall on the northern border and risk ostracizing one of your current allies at the time. Everything that was done was done with very strong goals in mind, with an end result of a safe country.

The real end result was anything but. While the Maginot Line was impregnable, and stretched along the Franco-German border, Germany ended up not even attempting to go through it. Instead, they flanked it completely. One force of German troops went south around the southern tip of the Line, and one force went through Belgium, through the Ardennes forest on the northern border of France, the border that France had only put cursory defense up on, even after

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Belgium went neutral. The Maginot Line proved useless as Germany simply flanked around it to sweep into and through France, setting up occupation forces once more.

In conclusion, France did many things right during the Interwar Period that stretched between 1919 and 1939. They joined the League of Nations to add might as well as right to their country, and in doing so got back the land they had lost to Germany in World War I, and then some on top of it in the form of the Rhineland. They signed treaties with the Little Entente, which was a small group of countries, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Romania, who were dedicated to keeping their own borders safe, in an attempt to surround themselves with allies. They were allied as well with Belgium on their northern border, which should have provided a solid defense against any northern attack. They built the Maginot Line on their German border, and the Alpine Line on their Italian border, and used the best possible technology and resources at huge expense to ensure that they could defend themselves from any outside threat. They did all of this during the twenty-year Interwar Period in between German occupation in World War I, and German occupation in World War II. Despite everything, they lost it all. But despite everything, they built themselves back up better than before, and stand strong to this day.

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Bibliography Fuller, Richard. Inter-War Diplomacy. Rpfuller.com. 1999. http://www.rpfuller.com/gcse/history/4.html

League of Nations. History Learning Site. 2000-2013. http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/leagueofnations.htm

Little Entente (Balkan History). Encyclopedia Britannica. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/344056/Little-Entente

Wilde, Robert. The Maginot Line. About.com European History. 2001. http://europeanhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa070601a.htm

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