Talk:Maginot Line
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You sure about the Germans punching through the line, Tim? If I recall correctly, the second prong of the German attack was through the Ardennes forest, and I think the rough terrain was considered to be its own defense. I remember reading a very detailed article about the construction of the line and it said that it did not fall but rather surrendered after the rest of France did, and it mentioned nothing about the Germans breaking through.
What I wrote is what I recall from reading General Bradley's memoirs and Liddell Hart's history. The attack was through the Ardennes, and researching it just now, apparently the Maginot Line was to the south of the Ardennes. So I will restore the old version of this page - Tim
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[edit] Error in the opening
I know nothing about the maginot line, so not confident to edit it myself. However, the opening reads: "which France constructed along its borders with Germany and with Italy in the wake of World War II."
Now, "wake of World War II" means AFTER WWII, right? Isn't it meant to say wake of WWI? It seems to have been built between WWI and WWII best I can tell.
[edit] Cost of construction
The current text says: "The main construction was largely completed by 1935 at a cost of around 3 billion francs."
Where does this figure come from?
In The Second World War John Keegan writes (p.61): "The original vote for the Maginot Line was for 3000 million francs; by 1935, 7000 million had been spent, one-fifth of the year-on-year military budget, but only 87 miles of fortification had been completed."
Alistair Horne in "To Lose a Battle" quotes those figures as well, i suspect the person who originally wrote 3 billion was using the amount approved, and not the final cost (3000 million is the same as 3 billion) Nyenyec 18:38, 16 Oct 2004 (UTC)
[edit] Magniot Line metaphor...
I'm not sure the description of the Magniot Line metaphor in the article is appropriate. In most cases, the context where it is used is for something like missile defence, where it might defend against the specific threat it was intended for but is easily evaded by a more flexible attacker. --Robert Merkel 07:21, 16 Jun 2005 (UTC)
Are you sure that the Line was constructed in the wake of WW I?
[edit] Name
Perhaps I'm missing something obvious, but why was it called the Maginot Line? -- Finlay McWalter | Talk 21:20, September 6, 2005 (UTC)
...named after French minister of defense André Maginot)... It was Andre Maginot who finally convinced the government to invest in the scheme. Maginot was another veteran of WW I who became France's Minister of Veteran Affairs and then Minister of War (1928–1931).--216.174.135.50 15:28, 15 March 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Error on the Map
The Maginot Line was essentially from the Swiss border ot the Luxembourg border. It is described as such in the article. However, the diagram provided shows in extending right to the English Channel.
- "When Belgium abrogated the treaty in 1936 and declared neutrality, the Maginot Line was quickly extended along the Franco-Belgian border, but not to the standard of the rest of the Line."Thmars10 00:21, 6 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Book reference
I vote to remove the section titled "Referenced in A Separate Peace". It should be in the article for that book, if anywhere. A5 17:23, 6 April 2006 (UTC)
[edit] French Version?
Anyone know what the WP process and/or policy is for adding cross-references within the text to another WP language version? A much more comprehensive entry for Ligne Maginot is being developed in the French version of WP, with additional illustrations, etc. It seems silly to just copy all their images here. JXM 02:04, 29 November 2006 (UTC) (PS Yes, I know it's already linked in the sidebar!]
