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23 | Meaning of life: Shinto wants life to live, not to die.Shinto sees death as pollution and regards life as the realm where the divine spirit seeks to purify itself by rightful self-development.Shinto wants individual human life to be prolonged forever on earth as a victory of the divine spirit in preserving its objective personality in its highest forms. | 63,020 |
23 | Meaning of life: The presence of evil in the world, as conceived by Shinto, does not stultify the divine nature by imposing on divinity responsibility for being able to relieve human suffering while refusing to do so.The sufferings of life are the sufferings of the divine spirit in search of progress in the objective world.There are many [[new religious movements]] in East Asia, and some with millions of followers: [[Chondogyo]], [[Tenrikyo]], [[Cao Đài]], and [[Seicho-No-Ie]]. | 63,523 |
23 | Meaning of life: New religions typically have unique explanations for the meaning of life.For example, in Tenrikyo, one is expected to live a [[Joyous Life]] by participating in practices that create happiness for oneself and others.Zoroastrians believe in a universe created by a transcendental God, [[Ahura Mazda]], to whom all worship is ultimately directed. | 63,865 |
23 | Meaning of life: Ahura Mazda's creation is "[[asha]]", truth and order, and it is in conflict with its [[antithesis]], "druj", falsehood and disorder.(See also [[Zoroastrian eschatology]]).Since humanity possesses [[free will]], people must be responsible for their moral choices. | 64,273 |
23 | Meaning of life: By using free will, people must take an active role in the universal conflict, with good thoughts, good words and good deeds to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay."What is the meaning of life?"is a question many people ask themselves at some point during their lives, most in the context "What is the purpose of life?". | 69 |
23 | Meaning of life: Some popular answers include:
[[File:Paradiso Canto 31.jpg|thumb|Dante and Beatrice see God as a point of light surrounded by angels; from [[Gustave Doré]]'s illustrations for the "[[Divine Comedy]]"]]
()
[[File:Allisvanity.jpg|thumb|[[Charles Allan Gilbert]]'s "All is Vanity," an example of "[[vanitas]]," depicts a young [[woman]] amidst her makeup and perfumes, preoccupied with her own beauty at the [[mirror]] of her [[lowboy|vanity]].But all is positioned in such a way as to make the image of a [[human skull|skull]] appear, expressing "[[memento mori]]", that no matter how good she looks, it won't last, as death is inevitable.]]The mystery of life and its true meaning is an often recurring subject in [[popular culture]], featured in [[mass media|entertainment media]] and [[the arts|various forms]] of [[art]]. | 65,189 |
23 | Meaning of life: In "[[Monty Python's The Meaning of Life]]", there are several allusions to the meaning of life.At the end of the film, a character played by [[Michael Palin]] is handed an envelope containing "the meaning of life", which she opens and reads out to the audience: "Well, it's nothing very special.Uh, try to be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try to live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations." | 65,672 |
23 | Meaning of life: Many other [[Monty Python]] sketches and songs are also existential in nature, questioning the importance we place on life ("[[Always Look on the Bright Side of Life]]") and other meaning-of-life related questioning.[[John Cleese]] also had his sit-com character [[Basil Fawlty]] contemplating the futility of his own existence in "[[Fawlty Towers]]".In [[Douglas Adams]]' popular comedy book, movie, television, and radio series "[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]", the [[Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything]] is given the numeric solution "[[42 (number)|42]]", after seven and a half million years of calculation by a giant [[supercomputer]] called [[Minor characters from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy#Deep Thought|Deep Thought]]. | 66,283 |
23 | Meaning of life: When this answer is met with confusion and anger from its constructors, Deep Thought explains that "I think the problem such as it was, was too broadly based.You never actually stated what the question was."Deep Thought then constructs another computer—the Earth—to calculate what the Ultimate Question actually is. | 67,010 |
23 | Meaning of life: Later Ford and Arthur manage to extract the question as the Earth computer would have rendered it.That question turns out to be "what do you get if you multiply six by nine", and it is realised that [[Garbage in, garbage out|the program was ruined by the unexpected arrival of the Golgafrinchans]] on Earth, and so the actual Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, And Everything remains unknown.While 6 × 9 would be written as 42 in the [[List of numeral systems#Standard positional numeral systems|tridecimal numeral system]], author Douglas Adams claimed that this was mere coincidence and completely serendipitous. | 67,268 |
23 | Meaning of life: [[File:HamletSkullHCSealous.jpg|thumb|left|[[Hamlet]] meditating upon [[Yorick]]'s skull has become the most lasting embodiment of the imagery of [[vanitas]], conveying the theme "[[memento mori]]" ('Remember you shall die').Whatever the meaning of life, it (life) is fleeting.]]In "[[The Simpsons]]" episode "[[Homer the Heretic]]", a representation of God agrees to tell Homer what the meaning of life is, but the show's credits begin to roll just as he starts to say what it is. | 68,019 |
23 | Meaning of life: In "[[Red vs. Blue]]" season 1 episode 1 the character Simmons asks Grif the question "Why are we here?"and is a major line in the series.In "[[Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure]]", the characters are asked how we should live our lives, and reply with a version of the [[golden rule]] 'be excellent to each other' followed by 'party on, dudes!'. | 68,384 |
23 | Meaning of life: In [[Person of Interest (TV series)|" Person of Interest"]] season 5 episode 13, an artificial intelligence referred to as The Machine tells [[Harold Finch (Person of Interest)|Harold Finch]] that the secret of life is "Everyone dies alone.But if you mean something to someone, if you help someone, or love someone.If even a single person remembers you then maybe you never really die at all." | 68,871 |
24 | Margaret River, Western Australia: Margaret River, Western Australia
Margaret River is a town in the South West of Western Australia, located in the valley of the eponymous Margaret River, south of Perth, the state capital.Its Local Government Area is the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River. | 0 |
24 | Margaret River, Western Australia: Margaret River's coast to the west of the town is a renowned surfing location, with worldwide fame for its surf breaks including, but not limited to, Main Break, The Box, and "Rivadog".Colloquially, the area is referred to as "Margs".The surrounding area is the Margaret River Wine Region and is known for its wine production and tourism, attracting an estimated 500,000 visitors annually. | 443 |
24 | Margaret River, Western Australia: In earlier days the area was better known for hardwood timber and agricultural production.The town is named after the river, which is presumed to be named after Margaret Whicher, cousin of John Garrett Bussell (founder of Busselton) in 1831.The name is first shown on a map of the region published in 1839. | 742 |
24 | Margaret River, Western Australia: Before British settlement the area was inhabited by the Noongar people.The first British settlers arrived as early as 1850, with timber logging commencing in around 1870.By 1910, the town had a hotel which also operated as a post office. | 1,032 |
24 | Margaret River, Western Australia: After World War I, an attempt by the Government of Western Australia to attract migrants to Western Australia (known as the Group Settlement Scheme) and establish farms in the region attracted new settlers to the town.In 1922 over 100 settlers moved into the district.In the early 1920s the Busselton to Margaret River Railway was built and in 1925 the Margaret River to Flinders Bay line opened. | 1,420 |
24 | Margaret River, Western Australia: The Margaret River Perimeter Road, a bypass to take traffic, including heavy vehicles, from Bussell Highway, to the east of the town, and also connect to a new access road to the nearby airport, was opened in December 2018 and completed in February 2019.Margaret River is located inland from the Indian Ocean at a point about halfway between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin in Western Australia's South West region.The climate is warm-summer Mediterranean ("Csb" in the Köppen climate classification), with an average annual rainfall of around . | 1,859 |
24 | Margaret River, Western Australia: Most rain falls between May and August, when around two days in three record measurable rainfall and around one in ten over .On occasions, as in August 1955, the town has had measurable rain on every day of a month in this period.During the summer, the weather is warm, though there are usually sea breezes, and frequently sunny. | 2,281 |
24 | Margaret River, Western Australia: The dry summers, coupled with strong winds, creates an environment where there is always a high risk of bush fires.Margaret River is the foremost Geographical Indication wine region in the South West Australia Zone, with nearly under vine and over 138 wineries as at 2008.The region is made up predominantly of boutique-size wine producers, although winery operations range from the smallest, crushing per year, to the largest at around . | 2,604 |
24 | Margaret River, Western Australia: The region produces just three percent of total Australian grape production, but commands over 20 percent of the Australian premium wine market.Stretching some from north to south and about wide in parts, the region is bounded to the east by the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Ridge, between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin, and to the west by the Indian Ocean.A Mediterranean-style climate, lacking extreme summer and winter temperatures, provides ideal growing conditions. | 3,075 |
24 | Margaret River, Western Australia: The climate is described as similar to that of Bordeaux in a dry vintage.Humidity levels are ideal during the growing period and the combination of climate, soil and viticulture practices leads to consistently high quality fruit of intense flavour.Consequently, annual vintage results continue to exceed expectations and reinforce Margaret River's reputation as one of the premium wine-producing regions of the world. | 3,473 |
24 | Margaret River, Western Australia: The principal grape varieties in the region are fairly evenly split between red and white; Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon blanc, Shiraz, Merlot, Chenin blanc and Verdelho.Several hundred caves are located near Margaret River, all of them within Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park.Six of these are open to the public. | 4,004 |
24 | Margaret River, Western Australia: One of which being the multi-chambered Mammoth Cave, which lies south of the town and contains fossils dating back over 35,000 years.The cave was first discovered by European settlers in 1850 and has been open to the public since 1904.The cave can be explored by a self-guided audio tour, and is one of the few caves in Australia offering partial disabled access. | 4,285 |
24 | Margaret River, Western Australia: The other five caves open to the public in the area are Jewel Cave, Lake Cave, Ngilgi Cave, Calgardup Cave and Giants Cave.Many other caves can be accessed with a permit by experienced cavers.The Margaret River area has acquired a range of synonyms for the collection of surf breaks nearby, with some 75 breaks along 130 km of coastline. | 4,642 |
24 | Margaret River, Western Australia: Usually significant surfing competitions concentrate their locale to "Margarets Main Break" (aka Surfers Point) which breaks in the vicinity of Prevelly at the mouth of Margaret River.The actual range of surf breaks range from the eastern side of Cape Naturaliste down to just south of Cape Hamelin, and despite web sites and online sources calling the whole Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin region the "Margaret River" surfing area, conditions and break types vary along the coast.The Cowaramup Bombora ("Cow Bombie") big wave surf break 2 kilometers offshore produces one of the biggest waves in Australia. | 5,045 |
24 | Margaret River, Western Australia: Arte-TV produced an episode of "Nouveaux paradis" about Margaret River.The 2008 documentary shows interviews with (amongst others) tourist officials, surfers, and dolphin watchers.Margaret River was also visited in the 1966 documentary film "The Endless Summer". | 5,545 |
24 | Margaret River, Western Australia: On 25 April 2009, on Sky television's "Soccer AM", Hugh Jackman called Margaret River the best place he's ever been to, citing the surf, the beaches, the food, the wine, the people and the air as his reasons for thinking so.In 2013, many locals featured in the film "Drift", starring Sam Worthington, as well as many surfing scenes being shot on location at local surf breaks.Surfing locations included popular breaks such as Grunters and Main Break. | 5,963 |
25 | Maginot Line: Maginot Line
The Maginot Line (, ), named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles, and weapon installations built by France in the 1930s to deter invasion by Germany and force them to move around the fortifications.The Maginot Line was impervious to most forms of attack. | 0 |
25 | Maginot Line: However, the Germans invaded through the Low Countries in 1940, bypassing the Line to the north.The line has since become a metaphor for expensive efforts that offer a false sense of security.Constructed on the French side of its borders with Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and Luxembourg, the line did not extend to the English Channel due to French strategy that envisioned a move into Belgium to counter a German assault. | 428 |
25 | Maginot Line: Based on France's experience with trench warfare during World War I, the massive Maginot Line was built in the run-up to World War II, after the Locarno Conference gave rise to a fanciful and optimistic "Locarno spirit".French military experts extolled the Line as a work of genius that would deter German aggression, because it would slow an invasion force long enough for French forces to mobilise and counterattack.The Maginot Line was invulnerable to aerial bombings and tank fire and had underground railways as a backup; it also had state-of-the-art living conditions for garrisoned troops, supplying air conditioning and eating areas for their comfort. | 978 |
25 | Maginot Line: French and British officers had anticipated this: when Germany invaded the Netherlands and Belgium, they carried out plans to form an aggressive front that cut across Belgium and connected to the Maginot Line.However, the French line was weak near the Ardennes forest.Marshal Maurice Gamelin, when drafting the Dyle Plan, believed this region, with its rough terrain, would be an unlikely invasion route of German forces; if it were traversed, it would be done at a slow rate that would allow the French time to bring up reserves and counterattack. | 1,631 |
25 | Maginot Line: The German Army, having reformulated their plans from a repeat of the First World War-era plan, became aware of and exploited this weak point in the French defensive front.A rapid advance through the forest and across the River Meuse encircled much of the Allied forces, resulting in a sizeable force being evacuated at Dunkirk leaving the forces to the south unable to mount an effective resistance to the German invasion of France.The Maginot Line was built to fulfill several purposes:
The defences were first proposed by Marshal Joseph Joffre. | 2,145 |
25 | Maginot Line: He was opposed by modernists such as Paul Reynaud and Charles de Gaulle, who favored investment in armor and aircraft.Joffre had support from Marshal Henri Philippe Pétain, and there were a number of reports and commissions organised by the government.It was André Maginot who finally convinced the government to invest in the scheme. | 2,643 |
25 | Maginot Line: Maginot was another veteran of World War I; he became the French Minister of Veteran Affairs and then Minister of War (1928–1932).In January 1923, after Weimar Germany defaulted on reparations, the French Premier Raymond Poincaré responded by sending French troops to occupy Germany's Ruhr region.During the ensuing "Ruhrkampf" ("Ruhr struggle") between the Germans and the French that lasted until September 1923, Britain condemned the French occupation of the Ruhr, and a period of sustained Francophobia broke out in Britain, with Poincaré being vilified in Britain as a cruel bully punishing Germany with unreasonable reparations demands. | 2,993 |
25 | Maginot Line: The British—who openly championed the German position on reparations—applied intense economic pressure on France to change its policies towards Germany.At a conference in London in 1924 to settle the Franco-German crisis caused by the "Ruhrkampf", the British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald successfully pressed the French Premier Édouard Herriot to make concessions to Germany.The British diplomat Sir Eric Phipps who attended the conference commented afterwards that: The London Conference was for the French 'man in the street' one long Calvary as he saw M. Herriot abandoning one by one the cherished possessions of French preponderance on the Reparations Commission, the right of sanctions in the event of German default, the economic occupation of the Ruhr, the French-Belgian railroad "Régie", and finally, the military occupation of the Ruhr within a year. | 3,660 |
25 | Maginot Line: The great conclusion that was drawn in Paris after the "Ruhrkampf" and the 1924 London conference was that France could not make unilateral military moves to uphold Versailles as the resulting British hostility to such moves was too dangerous to the republic.Beyond that, the French were well aware of the contribution of Britain and its Dominions to the victory of 1918, and French decision-makers believed that they needed Britain's help to win another war; the French could only go so far with alienating the British.From 1871 onward, French elites had concluded that France had no hope of defeating Germany on its own, and France would need an alliance with another great power to defeat the "Reich". | 4,635 |
25 | Maginot Line: In 1926, "The Manchester Guardian" ran an exposé showing the "Reichswehr" had been developing military technology forbidden by the Treaty of Versailles in the Soviet Union, and the secret German-Soviet co-operation had started in 1921.The German statement following "The Manchester Guardian"s article that Germany did not feel bound by the terms of Versailles and would violate them as much as possible gave much offence in France.Nonetheless, in 1927, the Inter-Allied Commission, which was responsible for ensuring that Germany complied with Part V of the Treaty of Versailles, was abolished as a goodwill gesture reflecting the "Spirit of Locarno". | 5,319 |
25 | Maginot Line: When the Control Commission was dissolved, the commissioners in their final report issued a blistering statement, stating that Germany had never sought to abide by Part V and the "Reichswehr" had been engaging in covert rearmament all through the 1920s.Under the Treaty of Versailles France was to occupy the Rhineland region of Germany until 1935, but in fact the last French troops left the Rhineland in June 1930 in exchange for Germany accepting the Young Plan.As long as the Rhineland was occupied by the French, the Rhineland served as a type of collateral under which the French would annex the Rhineland in the event of Germany breaching any of the articles of the treaty, such as rearming in violation of Part V; this threat was powerful enough to deter successive German governments all through the 1920s from attempting any overt violation of Part V. French plans as developed by Marshal Ferdinand Foch in 1919 were based on the assumption that in the event of a war with the "Reich", the French forces in the Rhineland were to embark upon an offensive to seize the Ruhr. | 5,991 |
25 | Maginot Line: A variant of the Foch plan had been used by Poincaré in 1923 when he ordered the French occupation of the Ruhr.French plans for an offensive in the 1920s were realistic, as Versailles had forbidden German conscription, and the "Reichswehr" was limited to 100,000 men.Once the French forces left the Rhineland in 1930, this form of leverage with the Rhineland as collateral was no longer available to Paris, which from then on had to depend on Berlin's word that it would continue to abide by the terms of the Versailles and Locarno treaties, which stated that the Rhineland was to stay demilitarised forever. | 6,935 |
25 | Maginot Line: Given that Germany had engaged in covert rearmament with the co-operation of the Soviet Union starting in 1921 (a fact that had become public knowledge in 1926) and that every German government had gone out of its way to insist on the moral invalidity of Versailles, claiming it was based upon the so-called "Kriegsschuldlüge" ("War guilt lie") that Germany started the war in 1914, the French had little faith that the Germans would willingly allow the Rhineland's demilitarised status to continue forever, and believed that at some time in the future Germany would rearm in violation of Versailles, reintroduce conscription and remilitarise the Rhineland.The decision to build the Maginot Line in 1929 was a tacit French admission that without the Rhineland as collateral Germany was soon going to rearm, and that the terms of Part V had a limited lifespan.After 1918, the German economy was twice as large as that of France; Germany had a population of 70 million compared to France's 40 million and the French economy was hobbled by the need to reconstruct the enormous damage of World War I, while German territory had seen little fighting. | 8,092 |
25 | Maginot Line: French military chiefs were dubious about their ability to win another war against Germany on its own, especially an offensive war.French decision-makers knew that the victory of 1918 had been achieved because the British Empire and the United States were allies in the war and that the French would have been defeated on their own.With the United States isolationist and Britain stoutly refusing to make the "continental commitment" to defend France on the same scale as in World War I, the prospects of Anglo-American assistance in another war with Germany appeared to be doubtful at best. | 8,715 |
25 | Maginot Line: Versailles did not call for military sanctions in the event of the German military reoccupying the Rhineland or breaking Part V; while Locarno committed Britain and Italy to come to French aid in the event of a "flagrant violation" of the Rhineland's demilitarised status, without defining what a "flagrant violation" would be.The British and Italian governments refused in subsequent diplomatic talks to define "flagrant violation", which led the French to place little hope in Anglo-Italian help if German military forces should reoccupy the Rhineland.Given the diplomatic situation in the late 1920s, the Quai d'Orsay informed the government that French military planning should be based on a worst-case scenario that France would fight the next war against Germany without the help of Britain or the United States. | 9,505 |
25 | Maginot Line: France had an alliance with Belgium and with the states of the "Cordon sanitaire", as the French alliance system in Eastern Europe was known.Although the alliances with Belgium, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia were appreciated in Paris, it was widely understood that this was no compensation for the absence of Britain and the United States.The French military was especially insistent that the population disparity made an offensive war of manoeuvre and swift advances suicidal as there would always be far more German divisions; a defensive strategy was needed to counter Germany. | 10,141 |
25 | Maginot Line: The French assumption was always that Germany would not go to war without conscription, which would allow the German Army to take advantage of the "Reich"s numerical superiority.Without the natural defensive barrier provided by the Rhine River, French generals argued that France needed a new defensive barrier made of concrete and steel to replace it.The power of properly dug-in defensive trenches had been amply demonstrated during World War I, when a few soldiers manning a single machine gun post could kill hundreds of the enemy in the open and therefore building a massive defensive line with subterranean concrete shelters was the most rational use of French manpower. | 10,778 |
25 | Maginot Line: The American historian William Keylor wrote that given the diplomatic conditions of 1929 and likely trends – with the United States isolationist and Britain unwilling to make the "continental commitment" – the decision to build the Maginot Line was not irrational and stupid, as building the Maginot Line was a sensible response to the problems that would be created by the coming French withdrawal from the Rhineland in 1930.Part of the rationale for the Maginot Line stemmed from the severe French losses during the First World War, and their effect on the French population.The drop in the birth rate during and after the war, resulting in a national shortage of young men, created an "echo" effect in the generation that provided the French conscript army in the mid-1930s. | 11,706 |
25 | Maginot Line: Faced with a manpower shortage, French planners had to rely more on older and less fit reservists, who would take longer to mobilise and would diminish French industry because they would leave their jobs.Static defensive positions were therefore intended not only to buy time but to economise on men by defending an area with fewer and less mobile forces.In 1940, France deployed about twice as many men, 36 divisions (roughly one third of its force), for the defence of the Maginot Line in Alsace and Lorraine, whereas the opposing German Army Group C only contained 19 divisions, fewer than a seventh of the force committed in the Manstein Plan for the invasion of France. | 12,264 |
25 | Maginot Line: Reflecting memories of World War I, the French General Staff had developed the concept of "la puissance du feu" ("the power of fire"), the power of artillery dug in and sheltered by concrete and steel, to inflict devastating losses on an attacking force.French planning for war with Germany was always based on the assumption that the war would be "la guerre de longue durée" (the war of the long duration), in which the superior economic resources of the Allies would gradually grind the Germans down.The fact that the "Wehrmacht" embraced the strategy of Blitzkrieg (Lightning War) with the vision of swift wars in which Germany would win quickly via a knock-out blow, was a testament to the fundamental soundness of the concept of "la guerre de longue durée". | 12,992 |
25 | Maginot Line: Germany had the largest economy in Europe but lacked many of the raw materials necessary for a modern industrial economy (making the "Reich" vulnerable to a blockade) and the ability to feed its population.The "guerre de longue durée" strategy called for the French to halt the expected German offensive meant to give the "Reich" a swift victory; afterwards, there would be an attrition struggle; once the Germans were exhausted France would begin an offensive to win the war.The Maginot Line was intended to block the main German blow, if it should come via eastern France, and to divert the main blow through Belgium, where French forces would meet and stop the Germans. | 13,709 |
25 | Maginot Line: The Germans were expected to fight costly offensives, whose failures would sap the strength of the "Reich", while the French waged a total war with the resources of France, its empire and allies mobilised for the war.Besides the demographic reasons, a defensive strategy served the needs of French diplomacy towards Great Britain.The French imported a third of their coal from Britain and 32 percent of all imports through French ports were carried by British ships. | 14,396 |
25 | Maginot Line: Of French trade, 35 percent was with the British Empire and the majority of the tin, rubber, jute, wool and manganese used by France came from the British Empire.About 55 percent of overseas imports arrived in France via the Channel ports of Calais, Le Havre, Cherbourg, Boulogne, Dieppe, Saint-Malo and Dunkirk.Germany had to import most of its iron, rubber, oil, bauxite, copper and nickel, making naval blockade a devastating weapon against the German economy. | 14,811 |
25 | Maginot Line: For economic reasons, the success of the strategy of "la guerre de longue durée" would at very least require Britain to maintain a benevolent neutrality, preferably to enter the war as an ally as British sea power could protect French imports while depriving Germany of hers.A defensive strategy based on the Maginot Line was an excellent way of demonstrating to Britain that France was not an aggressive power and would only go to war in the event of German aggression, a situation that would make it more likely that Britain would enter the war on France's side.The line was built in several phases from 1930 by the "Service Technique du Génie" (STG) overseen by "Commission d'Organisation des Régions Fortifiées" (CORF). | 15,390 |
25 | Maginot Line: The main construction was largely completed by 1939, at a cost of around 3 billion French francs.The line stretched from Switzerland to Luxembourg and a much lighter extension was extended to the Strait of Dover after 1934.The original construction did not cover the area ultimately chosen by the Germans for their first challenge, which was through the Ardennes in 1940, a plan known as "Fall Gelb" (Case Yellow), due to the neutrality of Belgium. | 15,939 |
25 | Maginot Line: The location of this attack, chosen because of the location of the Maginot Line, was through the Belgian Ardennes forest (sector 4), which is off the map to the left of Maginot Line sector 6 (as marked).Maginot Line fortifications were manned by specialist units of fortress infantry, artillery and engineers.The infantry manned the lighter weapons of the fortresses, and formed units with the mission of operating outside if necessary. | 16,497 |
25 | Maginot Line: Artillery troops operated the heavy guns and the engineers were responsible for maintaining and operating other specialist equipment, including all communications systems.All these troops wore distinctive uniform insignia and considered themselves among the elite of the French Army.During peacetime, fortresses were only partly manned by full-time troops. | 16,904 |
25 | Maginot Line: They would be supplemented by reservists who lived in the local area, and who could be quickly mobilised in an emergency.Full-time Maginot Line troops were accommodated in barracks built close by the fortresses.They were also accommodated in complexes of wooden housing adjacent to each fortresses, which were more comfortable than living inside, but which were not expected to survive wartime bombardment. | 17,214 |
25 | Maginot Line: Training was carried out at a fortress near the town of Bitche, built in a military training area and so capable of live fire exercises.This was impossible elsewhere as the other parts of the line were located in civilian areas.Although the name "Maginot Line" suggests a rather thin linear fortification, it was quite deep, varying (from the German border to the rear area) from . | 17,639 |
25 | Maginot Line: It was composed of an intricate system of strong points, fortifications and military facilities such as border guard posts, communications centres, infantry shelters, barricades, artillery, machine gun and anti-tank gun emplacements, supply depots, infrastructure facilities and observation posts.These various structures reinforced a "principal line of resistance" made up of the most heavily armed "ouvrages", which can be roughly translated as fortresses or big defensive works.From front to rear, (east to west) the line was composed of:
1. | 18,185 |
25 | Maginot Line: Border Post line: This consisted of blockhouses and strong houses, which were often camouflaged as inoffensive residential homes, built within a few metres of the border and manned by troops so as to give the alarm in the event of a surprise attack and to delay enemy tanks with prepared explosives and barricades.2.Outpost and Support Point line: Approximately behind the border, a line of anti-tank blockhouses that were intended to provide resistance to armoured assault, sufficient to delay the enemy so as to allow the crews of the "C.O.R.F. | 18,752 |
25 | Maginot Line: ouvrages" to be ready at their battle stations.These outposts covered the main passages within the principal line.3. | 19,034 |
25 | Maginot Line: Principal line of resistance: This line began behind the border.It was preceded by anti-tank obstacles made of metal rails planted vertically in six rows, with heights varying from and buried to a depth of .These anti-tank obstacles extended from end to end in front of the main works, over hundreds of kilometres, interrupted only by extremely dense forests, rivers, or other nearly impassable terrain. | 19,171 |
25 | Maginot Line: 4.Infantry Casemates: These bunkers were armed with twin machine-guns (abbreviated as "JM" — "Jumelage de mitrailleuses" — in French) and anti-tank guns of .They could be single (with a firing room in one direction) or double (two firing rooms, in opposite directions). | 19,516 |
25 | Maginot Line: These generally had two floors, with a firing level and a support/infrastructure level that provided the troops with rest and services (power generating units, reserves of water, fuel, food, ventilation equipment, etc.).The infantry casemates often had one or two "cloches" or turrets located on top of them.These GFM cloches were sometimes used to emplace machine guns or observation periscopes. | 20,006 |
25 | Maginot Line: They were manned by 20 to 30 men.5.Petits ouvrages: These small fortresses reinforced the line of infantry bunkers. | 20,219 |
25 | Maginot Line: The "petits ouvrages" were generally made up of several infantry bunkers, connected by a tunnel network with attached underground facilities, such as barracks, electric generators, ventilation systems, mess halls, infirmaries and supply caches.Their crew consisted of between 100 and 200 men.6. | 20,548 |
25 | Maginot Line: Gros Ouvrages: These fortresses were the most important fortifications on the Maginot Line, having the sturdiest construction and the heaviest artillery.These were composed of at least six "forward bunker systems" or "combat blocks", as well as two entrances, and were connected via a network of tunnels that often featured narrow gauge electric railways for transport between bunker systems.The blocks contained infrastructure such as power stations, independent ventilating systems, barracks and mess halls, kitchens, water storage and distribution systems, hoists, ammunition stores, workshops and stores of spare parts and food. | 20,755 |
25 | Maginot Line: Their crews ranged from 500 to more than 1,000 men.7.Observation Posts were located on hills that provided a good view of the surrounding area. | 21,288 |
25 | Maginot Line: Their purpose was to locate the enemy and direct and correct the indirect fire of artillery as well as to report on the progress and position of key enemy units.These are large reinforced buried concrete bunkers, equipped with armoured turrets containing high-precision optics, connected with the other fortifications by field telephone and wireless transmitters (known in French by the acronym T.S.F., "Télégraphie Sans Fil").8. | 21,544 |
25 | Maginot Line: Telephone Network: This system connected every fortification in the Maginot Line, including bunkers, infantry and artillery fortresses, observation posts and shelters.Two telephone wires were placed parallel to the line of fortifications, providing redundancy in the event of a wire getting cut.There were places along the cable where dismounted soldiers could connect to the network. | 21,983 |
25 | Maginot Line: 9.Infantry Reserve Shelters: These were found from behind the principal line of resistance.These were buried concrete bunkers designed to house and shelter up to a company of infantry (200 to 250 men) and had such features as electric generators, ventilation systems, water supplies, kitchens and heating, which allowed their occupants to hold out in the event of an attack. | 22,206 |
25 | Maginot Line: They could also be used as a local headquarters and as a base for counter-attacks.10.Flood Zones were natural basins or rivers that could be flooded on demand and thus constitute an additional obstacle in the event of an enemy offensive. | 22,663 |
25 | Maginot Line: 11.Safety Quarters were built near the major fortifications so fortress ("ouvrage") crews could reach their battle stations in the shortest possible time in the event of a surprise attack during peacetime.12. | 22,825 |
25 | Maginot Line: Supply depots.13.Ammunition dumps. | 23,049 |
25 | Maginot Line: 14.Narrow Gauge Railway System: A network of narrow gauge railways was built so as to rearm and resupply the main fortresses ("ouvrages") from supply depots up to away.Petrol-engined armoured locomotives pulled supply trains along these narrow-gauge lines. | 23,076 |
25 | Maginot Line: (A similar system was developed with armoured steam engines back in 1914–1918.)15.High-voltage Transmission Lines, initially above-ground but then buried, and connected to the civil power grid, provided electric power to the many fortifications and fortresses. | 23,412 |
25 | Maginot Line: 16.Heavy rail artillery was hauled in by locomotives to planned locations to support the emplaced artillery located in the fortresses, which was intentionally limited in range to .There are 142 "ouvrages", 352 casemates, 78 shelters, 17 observatories and around blockhouses in the Maginot Line. | 23,600 |
25 | Maginot Line: There are several kinds of armoured cloches.Cloches are non-retractable turrets.The word "cloche" is a French term meaning "bell" due to its shape. | 23,939 |
25 | Maginot Line: All cloches were made in an alloy steel.The line included the following retractable turrets.Both static and mobile artillery units were assigned to defend the Maginot Line. | 24,086 |
25 | Maginot Line: "Régiments d’ artillerie de position" (RAP) consisted of static artillery units."Régiments d’ artillerie mobile de forteresse" (RAMF) consisted of mobile artillery.The specification of the defences was very high, with extensive and interconnected bunker complexes for thousands of men; there were 45 main forts ("grands ouvrages") at intervals of , 97 smaller forts ("petits ouvrages") and 352 casemates between, with over of tunnels. | 24,306 |
25 | Maginot Line: Artillery was coordinated with protective measures to ensure that one fort could support the next in line by bombarding it directly without harm.The largest guns were therefore fortress guns; larger weapons were to be part of the mobile forces and were to be deployed behind the lines.The fortifications did not extend through the Ardennes Forest (which was believed to be impenetrable by Commander-in-Chief Maurice Gamelin) or along France's border with Belgium, because the two countries had signed an alliance in 1920, by which the French army would operate in Belgium if the German forces invaded. | 24,810 |
25 | Maginot Line: However, after France had failed to counter the German remilitarisation of the Rhineland, Belgium—thinking that France was not a reliable ally—abrogated the treaty in 1936 and declared neutrality.France quickly extended the Maginot Line along the Franco-Belgian border, but not to the standard of the rest of the line.As the water table in this region is high, there was the danger of underground passages getting flooded, which the designers of the line knew would be difficult and expensive to overcome. | 25,466 |
25 | Maginot Line: In 1939 U.S. Army officer Kenneth Nichols visited the Metz sector, where he was impressed by the formidable formations which he thought the Germans would have to outflank by driving through Belgium.In discussion with General Brousseau the commander of the Metz sector and other officers, the general outlined the French problem in extending the line to the sea in that placing the line along the Belgian-German border required the agreement of Belgium, but putting the line along the French-Belgian border relinquished Belgium to the Germans.Another complication was Holland, and the various governments never resolved their problems. | 25,977 |
25 | Maginot Line: When the British Expeditionary Force landed in France in September 1939, they and the French reinforced and extended the Maginot line to the sea in a flurry of construction from 1939–1940 accompanied by general improvements all along the line.The final line was strongest around the industrial regions of Metz, Lauter and Alsace, while other areas were in comparison only weakly guarded.In contrast, the propaganda about the line made it appear far greater a construction than it was; illustrations showed multiple storeys of interwoven passages and even underground railyards and cinemas. | 26,659 |
25 | Maginot Line: This reassured Allied civilians.Czechoslovakia was also in fear of Hitler and began building its own defences.As an ally of France, they were able to get advice on the Maginot design and apply it to Czechoslovak border fortifications. | 27,041 |
25 | Maginot Line: The design of the casemates is similar to the ones found in the southern part of the Maginot Line and photographs of them are often confused with Maginot forts.Following the Munich Agreement and the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, the Germans were able to use the Czech fortifications to plan attacks that proved successful against the western fortifications (the Belgian Fort Eben-Emael is the best known example).The World War II German invasion plan of 1940 ("Sichelschnitt") was designed to deal with the line. | 27,406 |
25 | Maginot Line: A decoy force sat opposite the line while a second Army Group cut through the Low Countries of Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as through the Ardennes Forest, which lay north of the main French defences.Thus the Germans were able to avoid a direct assault on the Maginot Line by violating the neutrality of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.Attacking on 10 May, German forces were well into France within five days and they continued to advance until 24 May, when they stopped near Dunkirk. | 27,977 |
25 | Maginot Line: During the advance to the English Channel, the Germans overran France's border defence with Belgium and several Maginot Forts in the Maubeuge area, whilst the Luftwaffe simply flew over it.On 19 May, the German 16th Army captured the isolated petit ouvrage La Ferté (southeast of Sedan) after conducting a deliberate assault by combat engineers backed up by heavy artillery, taking the fortifications in only four days.The entire French crew of 107 soldiers was killed during the action. | 28,463 |
25 | Maginot Line: On 14 June 1940, the day Paris fell, the German 1st Army went over to the offensive in "Operation Tiger" and attacked the Maginot Line between St. Avold and Saarbrücken.The Germans then broke through the fortification line as defending French forces retreated southward.In the following days, infantry divisions of the 1st Army attacked fortifications on each side of the penetration; capturing four petits ouvrages. | 28,933 |
25 | Maginot Line: The 1st Army also conducted two attacks against the Maginot Line further to the east in northern Alsace.One attack broke through a weak section of the line in the Vosges Mountains, but a second attack was stopped by the French defenders near Wissembourg.On 15 June, infantry divisions of the German 7th Army attacked across the Rhine River in Operation "Small Bear", penetrating the defences deep and capturing the cities of Colmar and Strasbourg. | 29,287 |
25 | Maginot Line: By early June the German forces had cut off the line from the rest of France and the French government was making overtures for an armistice, which was signed on 22 June in Compiègne.As the line was surrounded, the German Army attacked a few ouvrages from the rear, but were unsuccessful in capturing any significant fortifications.The main fortifications of the line were still mostly intact, a number of commanders were prepared to hold out, and the Italian advance had been contained. | 29,817 |
25 | Maginot Line: Nevertheless, Maxime Weygand signed the surrender instrument and the army was ordered out of their fortifications, to be taken to POW camps.When the Allied forces invaded in June 1944, the line, now held by German defenders, was again largely bypassed; fighting touched only portions of the fortifications near Metz and in northern Alsace towards the end of 1944.During the German offensive Operation Nordwind in January 1945, Maginot Line casemates and fortifications were utilised by Allied forces, especially in the Bas-Rhin département in Grand Est, and some German units had been supplemented with flamethrower tanks in anticipation of this possibility. | 30,265 |
25 | Maginot Line: Stephen Ambrose wrote that in January 1945 "a part of the line was used for the purpose it had been designed for and showed what a superb fortification it was."Here the Line ran east–west, around the villages of Rittershoffen and Hatten, south of Wissembourg.After the war the line was re-manned by the French and underwent some modifications. | 30,946 |
25 | Maginot Line: With the rise of the French independent nuclear weapons by 1960 the line became an expensive anachronism.Some of the larger "ouvrages" were converted to command centres.When France withdrew from NATO's military component (in 1966) much of the line was abandoned, with the NATO facilities turned back over to French forces and the rest of it auctioned-off to the public or left to decay. | 31,238 |
25 | Maginot Line: A number of old fortifications have now been turned into wine cellars, a mushroom farm and even a disco.Besides that, a few private houses are built atop some of the blockhouses.Ouvrage Rochonvillers was retained by the French Army as a command centre into the 1990s, but was deactivated following the disappearance of the Soviet threat. | 31,626 |
25 | Maginot Line: Ouvrage Hochwald is the only facility in the main line that remains in active service, as a hardened command facility for the French Air Force known as Drachenbronn Air Base.In 1968 when scouting locations for "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", producer Harry Saltzman used his French contacts to gain permission to use portions of the Maginot Line as SPECTRE headquarters in the film.Saltzman provided art director Syd Cain with a tour of the complex, but Cain said that not only would the location be difficult to light and film inside, but that artificial sets could be constructed at the studios for a fraction of the cost. | 32,037 |
25 | Maginot Line: The idea was shelved.In analysing the Maginot Line, Ariel Ilan Roth summarised its main purpose: it was not "as popular myth would later have it, to make France invulnerable", rather it was constructed "to make the appeal of flanking far outweigh the appeal of attacking them head on."J.E. | 32,515 |
25 | Maginot Line: Kaufmann and H.W.Kaufmann added to this, that prior to construction in October 1927, the Superior Council of War adopted the final design for the line and identified that one of the main missions would be to deter a German cross-border assault with only minimal force thus allowing "the army time to mobilize."In addition, the French envisioned that the Germans would conduct a repeat of their First World War battleplan in order to flank the defences and drew up their overall strategy with that in mind. | 32,803 |
25 | Maginot Line: Julian Jackson highlighted one of the line's roles was to facilitate this strategy by "free[ing] manpower for offensive operations elsewhere ... and to protect the forces of manoeuvre"; the latter included a more mechanised and modernised military, which would advance into Belgium and engage the German main thrust flanking the line.In support, Roth commented that French strategy envisioned one of two possibilities by advancing into Belgium: "either there would be a decisive battle in which France might win, or, more likely, a front would develop and stabilize".The latter meant the next war's destructive consequences would not take place on French soil. | 33,628 |
25 | Maginot Line: Post-war assessment of whether the Maginot Line served its purpose has been mixed.Due to its enormous cost, and its failure to prevent German forces from invading France, journalists and political commentators remain divided on whether the line was worthwhile.Historian Clayton Donnell commented "If one believes the Maginot Line was built for the primary purpose of stopping a German invasion of France, most will consider it a massive failure and a waste of money ... in reality, the line was not built to be the ultimate savior of France". | 34,039 |
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