A map of the Maginot Line in France
The Maginot Line (French: Ligne Maginot) was a long line of walls, forts, and armed defenses that the French built after the First World War. It is named after André Maginot, who was the French Minister of war when it was built. The Maginot Line was made of a number of fortifications and bunkers, close to the French border to Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and Italy. Today, the fortifications towards Italy are commonly called Alpin Line. The Maginot Line was built between 1930 and 1940.
During the First World War, the German Army had built the Hindenburg Line, which is similar.
The plan was that the French army would have time to get ready and go north to Belgium and win any battle with the German army there. In the Second World War the German army and French army met in Belgium, but the French army lost.
Images for kids
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Side view diagram of the operation of a retractable turret: 75 mm gun of block 3 in Ouvrage Schoenenbourg
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Casemate of Dambach Nord, Fortified Sector of the Vosges, Subsector of Philippsbourg
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Blockhaus MOM (Main d'Oeuvre Militaire) de Richtolsheim – Secteur Fortifié de Colmar – Sous secteur de Hilsenheim
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Anti-tank rails around casemate 9 of the Hochwald ditch
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The principal fortified section of the Maginot Line
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Corridor inside the Fort Saint-Gobain near Modane in the Alps. The Decauville
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Combat block 1 at the fortress Limeiln (ouvrage Four-à-Chaux, Alsace), showing signs of German testing of explosives inside some fortresses between 1942 and 1944
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The view from a battery at Ouvrage Schoenenbourg in Alsace. A retractable turret is in the left foreground.
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View of the village of Lembach in Alsace (north-east), taken from combat unit number 5 of the fortress ouvrage Four-à-Chaux
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Tunnel, Ouvrage Schoenenbourg, the decauville
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75 mm (3.0 in) Turret model 1932
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AM (Mixed-Weapons) Turret