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BY Faisal Hoque

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In the 1930s, France built the Maginot Line. This was a series of fortifications—fortresses, weapons, and various obstacles to invasion—that was more than 200 miles long. The Line was built for a world of static warfare, for a world of entrenched positions and slow, drawn-out military engagements. It was in many ways a magnificent achievement and would have been of extraordinary military value—in World War I.

The problem, of course, was that World War I was over a decade prior. In May 1940, Germany’s blitzkrieg (“lightning war”) didn’t try to break through the Line. It simply went around it.…