This country is at war with Germany.

We shall go on to the end.

I remember the sheets of flame which came up and almost blinded us from our guns.

Hello and welcome to the World War II podcast. I'm Angus Wallace.

The Maginot Line was a marvel of 1930s engineering. The huge forts buried up to 80 metres underground,

contained hospitals, modern kitchens, telephone exchanges and even electric trains.

Kilometers of underground galleries led to casements hidden in the landscape and turrets that could rise from the ground to fight on the enemy.

These fortifications were designed to withstand the heaviest artillery and even chemical attack.

Yet, despite this extraordinary effort,

France fell to Germany in a little under six weeks in 1940. Ever since, the Maginot Line

has been remembered as a costly mistake, a grand defence system that failed to stop the invasion.

But was it really so misguided? To explore the

history of the Maginot Line, I'm joined by Professor Kevin Passmore, author of the Maginot Line,

A New History. Thanks for joining me, Kevin. As ever thinking about the Second World War,

so much goes back to the First World War, when did the French

actually start thinking about a new defensive system? Because after 1918, we have the Versailles Treaty,

which limited the size of the German army. But of course, France had been invaded in 1870 and again in

1914. So when did they really begin to think about planning new defences?

I would say that they always considered that Germany would rise again, but not in the

immediate future. They discussed defensive strategy, even whilst the wartime general

headquarters was still in operation early in 19th, in fact, I think January, February 1919.

But they did it along with a kind of broad discussion of the lessons of the war.

...