gdf@mtuxn.UUCP (G.FERRAIOLO) (12/04/85)
Please excuse me if this is not posted correctly, this is my first attempt at a posting. This is in response to a posting in net.space called 'HIGH TECH MAGINOT LINE' The author claimed that the 'Germans smashed right through the line' in a comparison of the Maginot line with SDI. Whatever the value of defensive fortifications, the Germans did not, repeat NOT NOT NOT, smash trough the Maginot line. They did succeed in outflanking it, which may or may not be relevant to the issue of SDI, but they did not penetrate the line AT ALL. The reason the Gerrmans were able to outflank the line is that the French only built their defenses along the GERMAN border. The Germans entered France through Belgium and Luxemburg. Hopefully, similar error will be avoided with SDI. It is a very interesting question as to what the outcome of the Spring campaign in the West in 1940 would have been if the French had fortified all their borders. Most people who have studied the situation consider the Maginot line to have been impregnable frontal attack. Incidentally, if you want examples of successful use of fortifications, look at WWI. The French forts DID prevent the Germans from conquering France. In WWII the Germans managed to circumvent the forts. The problem of 'preparing for the last war' is common. If you want to assume that each successive war strictly alternates between dominance by offense and dominance by defense and you only consider WWII as the 'last war' then the time is ripe for a defense oriented strategy. Somehow I don't think it is that simple.
al@ames.UUCP (Al Globus) (12/31/85)
> > This is in response to a posting in net.space called 'HIGH TECH MAGINOT LINE' > The author claimed that the 'Germans smashed right through the line' > in a comparison of the Maginot line with SDI. Whatever the value of > defensive fortifications, the Germans did not, repeat NOT NOT NOT, > smash trough the Maginot line. > The reason the Gerrmans were able to outflank > the line is that the French only built their defenses along the GERMAN > border. The Germans entered France through Belgium and Luxemburg. > Hopefully, similar error will be avoided with SDI. The line was not completed because the French ran out of money, something that could easily happen to SDI. They extended the line somewhat after the war started and the Germans DID penetrate a portion of the extended line. > It is a very interesting > question as to what the outcome of the Spring campaign in the West in 1940 > would have been if the French had fortified all their borders. Most > people who have studied the situation consider the Maginot line to > have been impregnable frontal attack. > > Incidentally, if you want examples of successful use of fortifications, > look at WWI. The French forts DID prevent the Germans from conquering > France. Actually, in the final three German offensives of WWI new infantry tactics allowed the Germans to penetrate the massive defenses developed during three years of war. They were stopped by exhaustion and, in part, by the first American troops to arrive in France.