The Maginot Line dominated French military thinking in the
inter-war years. The Maginot Line was a vast fortification that
spread along the French/German border but became a military
liability when the Germans attacked France in the spring of 1940
using blitzkrieg – a tactic that completely emasculated the
Maginot Line’s purpose. France had suffered appalling damage to
both men and buildings in World War One. After Versailles in
1919, there was a clear intention on the part of the French that
France should never have to suffer such a catastrophe again.
After 1920, those men in both political positions and the
military favoured adopting a military strategy that would simply
stop any form of German invasion again. Senior figures in the
French military, such as Marshall Foch, believed that the German
anger over Versailles all but guaranteed that Germany would seek
revenge. The main thrust of French military policy, as a result,
was to embrace the power of the defence. As head of the armed
forces, Marshall Petain