2-364-951 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Andre Maginot, French civil servant, 1929. Maginot (1877-1932) proposed the construction of a vast linked set of fortifications, tank traps and other obstacles on France's eastern frontier. The fortifications, which became known as the Maginot Line, were mostly built between 1930 and 1935. Intended to be an impegnable wall, the line proved completely ineffective in World War II, as the invading Germans simply bypassed the fortifications to the north, passing through the supposedly impenetrable Ardennes forest and neutral Belgium. A photograph from Album de Photographies, Dans L'Intimite de Personnages Illustres, 1850-1950, Editions MD, 22 Rue de L'Arcade, Paris 8, 1850-1950.