"Long after the campaign, only the fortifications remain for the pigeons to defame"

 
The Maginot Line - Contributed by Clayton Donnell
 
Following the Great War, fully expecting the future resurgence of Germany, France began to plan for the defense of her frontier. Several schools of thought emerged, led by the likes of war heroes Joffre and Petain. They disagreed on a final concept, but all agreed that the frontier would be fortified, either in a line of permanent forts, or hardened field fortifications. The concept of permanent fortification won out and its design was left to the Commission for Defense of the Frontiers (CDF) and the details to its offshoot, the Commission for Organization of the Fortified Regions (CORF).
 
The CDF concluded that ultramodern, permanent forts would be built in fortified regions; two in the northeast, and one in the Alps. The two northern regions, Metz and Lauter (a third region, Belfort, was planned but later rescinded), would defend against an invasion through the traditional invasion routes from Germany into Alsace and Lorraine, and would protect the industrial region of Lorraine from capture (a huge problem for France in World War I). Forts in the alps would defend against an invasion by Mussolini.
 
Testing of the designs and some construction began in the late 1920's, but without money, the plans would never be carried out. Andre Maginot, a war hero and Minister of War (and resident of Lorraine), convinced the French Government of the dire need for a line of fortifications; to discourage the Germans from invading his homeland, Lorraine; to gain time for the army to mobilize and call up reserves; and to make up for a critical shortage of manpower which would begin in 1935. Through his efforts, on 14 January 1930, the Government passed a law allocating the necessary funds to build the line. Thus, it became known as "The Maginot Line."
 
The plans were phenomenal (over 100 individual artillery or infantry forts, 400+ interval casemates, shelters, thousands of pillboxes and blockhouses, fortified houses, depots, barracks, roads, and railway lines) but world events and cost overruns soon changed them. The loss of the Saarland and Belgium's declaration of neutrality forced the French to make a weaker extension along the "New Fronts." But the new forts, while technologically superior, had diminished firepower. Because of a lack of funds, artillery forts became infantry forts; infantry forts became casemates, and so forth. A line of weak pillboxes, many incomplete in May 1940, were built to make up for the lack of depth.
 
Hitler invaded in May 1940 and six weeks later France fell. Her army was quickly overrun and the Maginot Line outflanked. Yet, the forts fulfilled the role that were intended to play. Germany did not invade through Alsace/Lorraine and the army gained time to fully mobilize. It was the French army defensive strategy that failed and which allowed Hitler to exploit its every weakness. The small fort of Villy La Ferte, located at the end of the Maginot Extension, was neutralized by German sappers in May. In June a few other small forts flanking the Sarre Gap, left exposed and vulnerable, also fell, while the remainder of the forts heroically held out until the armistice.
 
 
Belgian Fortifications - Contributed by Jean Puelinckx
 
Belgium has had major fortifications since the time of the Crusades. The castles of Bouillon and Ghent (count Baldwin 918) where both built in the 10th century. Since, it was always necessary to secure more and more space, new defenses appeared. The most heavily fortified city of Belgium is Antwerp where there are at least 6 fortified rings dating from 6 different periods. On the banks of the river Meuse, there are several fortresses from the late 18th and early 19th century (citadels at Liege, Namur, Dinant, and Huy). Around Liege and Namur there are fortresses from the 18th, 19th and 20th century. On the coast there are Belgian forts dating from 1830 like fort "Napoleon" in Ostend and several German bunkers from the Atlantic Wall. A good number of them were made into museums in Raversijde.
 
Several forts were built in 1888 around Antwerp (9 forts), Namur (9 forts) and Liege (12 forts). They participated in World War I, defending Belgian territory against the German invaders. Between World War I and World War II most of them were repaired, refurbished, and readied for the next war. The last 4 forts were built around Liege in 1933 (Eben-Emael), 1934 (Battice and Tancrémont) and 1935 (Aubin-Neufchateau).
 
 
Coastal Forts - contributed by Andrew Bennett
 
The defense of the continental United States for a large portion of its history has focused on the Navy, and the defense of important harbors and waterways with fortifications. The development of these fortifications took place from the 1790's through the 1940's, and they have generally been classified by the era they were constructed and similarities in design.
 
The First System of defenses was constructed during the 1790's through the early 1800's. These defenses were generally temporary, consisting of earthworks in most cases, though a few were of permanent construction. They were armed with a wide range of cannon, with little uniformity. There are few examples of First System works in existence, the most notable of which is Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland, which has been considerably modified over the years.
 
The Second System, initiated in 1807 and continued through the War of 1812, was of a more permanent nature than the First System. It included open batteries, earthworks faced with masonry, and some all-masonry forts. Designs were primarily left to the engineers at each site, so there is a wide variation in what was built. Some examples include the all-masonry casemated Castle Williams on Governors Island in New York harbor, and the earth and masonry Fort Wood, which serves as the base of the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor.
 
The Third System was the first truly coordinated system of defenses constructed. The initiation the Bernard Board, the first board of engineers responsible for planning a system of defenses, in 1816 resulted in construction that with additions and modifications continued until shortly after the end of the U.S. Civil War. A range of designs was used based on the importance of the location, but many consider casemated fort, in many cases multi-tiered, to be typical of the Third System. Examples would include Fort Point, located below the Golden Gate Bridge of San Francisco Bay, Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, and Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas Islands (west of Key West, Florida).
 
The vulnerability of the casemated masonry fort to the rifled cannon lead to a change in the philosophy of harbor defenses. In 1870, a system of open batteries, protected by thick earthen traverses and magazines with earthen cover was initiated in many locations to mount new rifled weapons and the large caliber Rodman guns developed during the Civil War. However, funding was stopped in 1875, and few of the batteries were completed, and almost all were destroyed when the Endicott defenses were built around the turn of the century.
 
In 1885, a board was convened to study the defenses of the U.S., under the leadership of the Secretary of War, William Endicott. The Endicott Board recommended a new series of defenses be built. Although the plan was scaled back as construction of the defenses was carried out, it was still an extremely large and wide-ranging system of defense. It consisted of widely separated batteries of breach loading rifles, many mounted on "disappearing" carriages, allowing the gun to recoil behind the thick earthen and concrete parapet for reloading in relative safety. Mortars were also a key part of the defenses, located in deep "pits" providing good protection from the direct fire of the ships of the time. These characteristics also are found in the fortifications recommended by the Taft Board, which updated the Endicott system of defenses with modern developments such as searchlights, and improved fire control, and provided new defenses primarily for the Panama Canal, Hawaii, and Manila Bay in the Philippines.
 
Although a few guns built for the Endicott system, and a few new weapons were installed on barbette carriages in open mounts during and after World War I (an example is Fort Saulsbury near Slaughter Beach, Delaware), the era shortly before and during World War II was the next major (and the last) system of harbor defense for the U.S. A notable characteristic of the batteries of this era was their uniformity. They consisted primarily of 16 or 12-inch two gun batteries as the primary armament, mounted in earth covered concrete casemates. The casmates were typically separated by 500-600 feet, with a magazine space in between. The secondary weapons were 6-inch barbette mounted guns with heavy steel shields to protect the gunners, and with an earth-covered concrete magazine space between the guns. Construction of these batteries continued until the end of World War II, but the advent of the long-range bomber and nuclear weapons made these defenses obsolete. An example of these battery types is located at Fort Pickens in Pensacola, Florida, where two of the 6-inch guns from the World War II system are mounted, along with a 6-inch disappearing gun from the Endicott system.