What is the Maginot Line?

The Maginot Line was built between 1930 and 1940, and named after French minister of defence Andre Maginot. It was built to prevent attacks from Germany, after learning a hard lesson from World War I. The Maginot Line was a line of concrete fortification, consisting of tank obstacles, artillery casemates, machine gun posts and other defence establishments, like a complex of bunkers. It was constructed to cover its borders with Germany and Italy, although the line stretched from Switzerland to Luxembourg. It was extended further after 1934 to the Strait of Dover. However, it later proved to be strategically ineffective, as the Germans invaded France through Belgium.