The Maginot Line in France prior to WWII seemed like a pretty good idea at the time. Its layered belts of fortifications and obstacles were an optimal mix to defeat a frontal assault by a modern force: mines, wire, and traps to fix enemy units; howitzers and machine guns to kill infantry; and rifled anti-tank guns to stop contemporary armor in its tracks. Hardened against aerial attack and artillery bombardment, the chain of interlocking positions with underground lines of communication, storage, and barracks facilities was the apex of the trench-warfare system. Too bad the Germans went around it.
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