Evening star., 1927-05-22
BY FRANK II. SIMONDS.

- uRIuSILdhS d very EAdbOA
system of frontier defenses |
serves to emphasize once more the |
very clear limits to the Locarno
agreement which exists for the French |
people. 1t also recalls Vividly the
conditions Of 1914 which very nearly
led to the ruin Of France.
| At the moment when the World
| War broke out the FrancoGerman
| frontier on both sides was intensively
| fortified. The French had since 1871
constructed four entrenched camps,
| Ner(lun, Toul and Epinal at the north,
| facing Strasbourg, and Metz and Bel
| fort, covering the gap between the
/ Vosges and the Jura. Between Bel
| fort and Epinal stretched the mass
| OF the Vosges which were an impreg-
nable natural barrier. Between
| Epinal and Toul was an unfortified
gap left deliberately, while from Toul
to the northern forts of Verdun all
ways of communication were barred
| by forts. North of Verdun was an
other gap.
But while the French had thus
expended millions on covering their
common frontier with Germany. they
| had increasingly relied upon the
neutrality of Belgium and only one
Of the old system of barrier fortresses
| extending from Mezieres to Dunkirk
| on the sea-namely Maubeuge-had
been even measurably kept up. More
| over, the forts Of Maubeuge, like those
of Liege and Namur had not been
rebuilt to meet the latest conditions.
~. German Invasion Came.
As a consequence. the German in
vasion swept over the whole frontier
| of France between Verdun and Lille
and pushed onward down to the
Marne. The fall of the forts of Liege
| and Maubeuge, too, created an exag-
| gerated notion of the weakness of
| Notifications, and at a later time the
forts about Verdun, which had been
| reconstructed, were held far too
lightly. Thus Douaumont was taken
practically without resistance in 1916,
during the great German drive on
Verdun, although it's walls resisted
almost completely all the greater
bombardments of the Verdun period.
After Verdun the military view was
again revised, and it was recognized
that the great underground forts were
extremely useful as depots alike for
| material ard for troops. When the
| French retook DOua umont and Vaux
they reconstructed them, except, of
course, on the surface, and today the
thousands of visitors who go annually
to the Verdun battlefields are per-
mitted to wander through the under
ground labyrinths, which are for the
most part intact or restored.
Employed ID; 'erent Methods.
The Germans. on their side of the
frontier before 1914 in Alsace- Lorraine
while initiating the French to a de-
gree employed two methods of fortifi-
cation. Thus Metz and Strasbourg
were covered by circles of forts like
| Verdun, although the Strasbourg
forts were not kept up In addition,
at Molsheim the Germans built two
| enormous forts on a foothill of the
| Nosges, covering the Bruche Valley,
! which leads from the Moselle to the
Rhine watershed. These two forts
were and probably remain the strong
| est in the world.
But, in addition, the Germans con-
| structed large number of far less
| considerable positions extending from
| the Vosges to Strasbourg right across
| the Alsatian plain. These concrete
! works were in the main of the sort
| which became very familiar during the
later war of positions. The travellers
along the roads leading out of Stras-
| bourg can still identify these field
works, done in heavy cement, almost
| below the level of the ground, not con-
| nected, but constituting a series of
| strong points and battery positions
which might easily be connected by
| trenches, and probably were at the
| outbreak of the war.
Broke French Invasion.
1t wa against just such positions
that the first French invasion of Lor
| raine was broken in the disastrous
| battle of e-Sarrebourg, which
was followed by the precipitate retreat
| of the first and second French armies
upon Nancy. This was the first and
| the greatest French defeat in the Sc
ries Of battle of the frontiers. The
Germans were later stopped before
Nancy in front of French lines con-
structed hastily, but planned before
| the war.
All these German lines are, however,
of no present Importance. Alsace-
Lorraine with the fortresSes of Metz
and Strasbourg have passed to France,
but since all German Notifications
were designed to cover German soil
against French invasion they are
therefore at the old French frontier
and thus very far from the new bound.
aries drawn at Paris, when Alsace.
Lorraine was finally returned to
France. And the first objective of
France fortification must be to cover
the new French frontiers.
Neutrality No Protection.
Thus it is patent that the French
will have now to create system of
Notifications extending from the
Rhine. at the point where the Lauter
enters it, that is at the new frontier,
straight west to the sea at DunkirlS.
For it is certain that the French will
never again rely upon the neutrality
of Belgium. which has, in fact, been
abolished by the peace treaties. Also
there will have to be some sort of de. |
tense line on the left bank of the |
Rhine from the Swiss boundary north |
to the Lauter.
The new system will doubtless con- |
sist of an infinite number of detached |
concrete works, not impoSsibly rein |
forced by pill boxes in concrete also, |
such as every one became familiar |
with in the last days of the war. not |
ably at the Hindenburg line. French |
mobilization will take place behind this |
screen. which will be actually at the |
frontier, and covering troops will be |
maintained to occupy them the mo-
ment war seems threatened. Rail-
ways, roads or bridges will thus be
protected.
Belgian System FOreseen.
I In all human proba bility a similar
system will also be constructed by the
Belgians extending from the French !
to the Dutch frontier and resting upon
the Meuse River. France and Belgium |
are now allied and it is not to be
doubted that their general staffs have
planned concerted operations in case
of German attack which would en-.
visage the defense of the Meuse, which
is natural line only less formidable
than the Rhine itself
One of the most unfortunate phases
of the opening campaign Of the World
War was that the Belgians were not