[OT] French was:

Ryan Gill schrieb:
> >Of course, the Poles had fighting spirit and that

Actually, you could argue that the Maginot line fulfilled its purpose -
to defend the frontier - quite well. The Germans did not seriously
attack it, except in mopping-up actions, coming from the rear.

The problem were the areas which had not been fortified - for financial
and political reasons (most were in neutral Belgium).

"No safer place than that which is not attacked, no easier conquest
than what is not defended" - Sun Tzu

After the takeover of the Sudetenland, the Germans got to inspect the powerful
Czech border fortifications and found they had few weapons that could crack
them (the 8.8 Flak was among them). See the third link on page:
http://www.remotepoint.com/~jims/czech/czechlegion.html

And you can argue, as Dupuy does, that the Maginot line was overstaffed and
substantial forces could have been used to defend its flank.

Another interesting twist on the story is the thought of an allied offensive
against Germany in 1939, to support Poland, as argued by Jon Kimche in "The
unfought Battle". The allied would have had a massive
superiority against the thinned-out German forces in the West. Even
with outdated doctrine, they may well have made significant inroads. And
Allied morale hadn't yet suffered from months of phony war.

It was the poor courage of French (and British!) politicians and high command
that stopped this from happening

Greetings

> KH.Ranitzsch@t-online.de wrote:

> [quoted text omitted]