1. Why was the wall or walls built in the first place?
The wall was built in the first place because the
France believed the fortification would provide time
for their army to mobilize in the event of attack. It
was built to protect France from her longtime enemy,
Germany, and to defend the traditional invasion
routes across her eastern frontier.
The line was built for more rezones:
1. To avoid a surprise attack and to give alarm.
2. To cover the mobilization of the France Army
(which took between 2 or 3 weeks).
3. To save the forces (France counted 39,000,000
inhabitants, Germany 70,000,000).
4. To protect Alsace and Lorraine and their industrial
basin.
5. To be used as a basis for a counter offensive.
6. To push the enemy to circumvent it while passing
by Switzerland or Belgium.
2. What purpose does or did the wall serve?
The walls serve in lights experience of World War I
and in the run to World War II. The success of static,
defensive combat in World War I was a key influence
on French thinking. The fortification system utterly
failed to contain the Germans in Word War II, and
the term is sometimes used today to describe any
comically ineffective protection.
3. Who or what” was it walling in or walling out”?
The line of the Maginot wall was walling out. It was
stretched from Switzerland to the Ardennes in the
North, and from the Alps to the Mediterranean in the
South. And was designed to keep out invaders,
Germans.
4. Is or was it successful in fulfilling its purpose?
Why or not?
In the end, the Maginot Line was considered by many
to be a failure. It was powerful and supposedly
impregnable, yet it failed to save France from a
humiliating defeat in 1940. The Maginot Line served
the exact purpose for which it was built. It dissuaded
the Germans from attacking across France's eastern
frontier; it gave the French Army time to fully
mobilize and deploy; and, if properly used, it could
have made up for France's anticipated manpower
shortage. The greatest defect of the line itself was
that it was too short. In May 1940 Hitler simply
chose to ignore it.
5. In your opinion, was the wall or walls necessary or
unnecessary? Why or why not?
In my opinion the idea of the wall was necessary
because it was a defense for France in the word war I
and II, but the execution of this idea failed miserably.
Because the planning was flawed and the Germans
could attack and break into France.
6. Does the wall (or walls) have a special connotation
or meaning that extends beyond its physical essence
and represents something symbolic, cultural,
figurative, or spiritual? Explain.
Yes, the symbol of a huge undertaking that failed a
farce that has come to be a symbol of a farce on a
grand scale.
7. Provide a map showing the location of the wall. Any
other visual aids, pictures, diagrams, etc, are highly
recommended.
The organization of the Maginot line