Evening star., 1933-09-10
BY FRANK H. SIMONDs.

ME SIlll IcCeilL NlSlL VI lie FTcIlCiI
prime minister to the newly con-
structed Notifications along the
i eastern frontier has served to call
attention at dramatic moment
to the most elaborate and extensive sys-
TEN Of frontier defenses Europe has
seen since the Roman era. Nearly 1000
years ago, when the Roman empire had
reached the limit of its expansion, sue
cessive Emperors built barriers between
the Rhine and the Danube. Hadrian's
Wall separating modern Scotland from
England still survives in parts as q
record of that period
Practically speaking, the new French
system is not a wall either In the Chi
nese or the Roman sense. It is not
even to be compared exactly with the
once famous Hindenburg line, which was
long counted impregnable but which fell
to the first general attack of the British
just Is years ago this month. What the
French have done is to stretch a line
OF strong points and centers of re-
thing like hundred miles from the
Rhine westward.
The eastern end of the line is on the
French side Of the Lauter, where that
stream, which constitutes the Franco
German frontier. enters the Rhine The
western extremity is the little town Of
Audun -le- Tiche. just south of the point
where the four frontiers Of France,
Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium
used to meet. Therefore this line COW
ers Eastern France from any attack
coming out Of Germany west of the
Rhine and entering France either from
German or Luxembourg soil.
Since the Rhine and the Vosges con-
stitute double wall against any attack
coming from east to west, it is plain
that a future German invasion-like
that Of 1870-must proceed from north
to south. But at the frontier it will
encounter the French system organized
as the soldiers say in depth" and
constituting a fortified area several
miles deep. Before a considerable por-
tion Of this line either the the Lauter
or the Sarre provides a natural moat
and between the two the country Is
deeply wooded. broken only by the sum
mits OF the lower Vosges ranging up to
$500 feet in elevation.
Network Of Fortifications.
Directly behind this line west of the
Vosges region Is the network of fortifi-
cations about Metz and Thionville
which was the corner stone of the old
German system in 1914 and the pivot
Of their first great advance in accord
ance with the Schlieffen plan through
Luxembourg and Belgium upon Paris.
To the westward. again the fortified
area Of Verdun f1anks the Metz -Thion-
vile network Northeast from Verdun
all the way to the Belgian line beyond
Givet the Meuse River acts as a nat
ural barrier against invasion coming
from Germany across Belgium south Of
the lower Meuse
Before the war Of 1914-18 France had
relied upon system of Notifications
quite different from the present. From
Belfort to Verdun there were four great
fortified centers-Belfort, Epinal, Toul
and Verdun. At various points between
these cities, each Of which was sur
rounded by circle of forts, was a series
OF detached forts covering the space
between Verdun and Toul. Between
Epinal and Belfort the Vosges consti-
tuted an impregnable natural barrier.
Only between Toul and Epinal was
there deliberate gap. As the event
proved a hostile army advancing into
this gap, the famous Trouee de
Charmes, was exposed to fatal flank at
tack-an attack which in the first days
Of September. 1914, ended in decisive
defeat for the forces commanded by
Rupprecht. Crown Prince of Bavaria.
1t was the existence of this system
OF fortified towns which forced the Ger
mans, condemned to seek quick victory
to avoid being caught between French
and Russian superior numbers, to choose
the Belgian route. The experience OF
Rupprecht in Lorraine and the later
story Of Verdun demonstrated that
French reliance upon these fortifica-
tions in which they had sunk million.
was justified. Several of the forts were
taken and at st. Mihiel the line was
momentarily preached, but actually
from Belfort to Verdun the line held
The quick fall of Lege and Namur
followed by the relatively brief resist
ance of Maubeuge led to popular con.
viction that Notifications had lost theil
old value and for a certain time the
military authorities shared this view
But the experience Of the Germans al
Verdun and Of the Allies in their early
attempts at break-through, in fac,
right down to August, 1914, served tt
successful resistance of Gouraud's army
to the final German attack of July Is
1918-the last established
the value Of defenses.
Nation Now Seems Safe.
And it Is with the lessons of the
Great War and of the final phase that
the French have proceeded to cover
their new German frontier with per-
manent defenses. To certain extent
they have done the same on the Italian
border. This French course has beer
in part dictated by the reduction of the
length Of service of French recruit.
from the three years of 1914 to the
present year. 1t has. too. been en-
forced by the fact that, owing to the
low birth rate during the war, the
number of French recruits will fall
from 250000 to 125. 900 in the five year.
from 1888 to 1943.
Against any successful sudden attack
France now seems to be safe. SO long