Why not to France ?To add to Post No. 1 - Luxembourg to be annexed by Belgium. It was a very small country with a lot of iron ore under it and a big steel industry.
Why not to France ?To add to Post No. 1 - Luxembourg to be annexed by Belgium. It was a very small country with a lot of iron ore under it and a big steel industry.
I suggested it to make Belgium stronger and to compensate the country for the damage done to it during the German occupation. I hadn't even thought of your suggestion, but now that I have, no. Because:Why not to France ?
France doesn't need the Saargebiet as much as it needs a Rhenish buffer. And this Rhenish buffer would be best served by owning the Saargebiet, in order to have enough industry to put up significant resistance to any German temptative invasion.I suggested it to make Belgium stronger and to compensate the country for the damage done to it during the German occupation. I hadn't even thought of your suggestion, but now that I have, no. Because:
- Because France got Alsace-Lorraine and the Saar;
- I thought the point of the thread was to weaken Germany, but not to make France stronger.
It might help France if the Maginot Line went through Luxembourg. The steel works and iron ore would help France economically. However, Luxembourg going to Belgium instead of France fits in better historically and it looks tidier on a map.France doesn't need the Saargebiet as much as it needs a Rhenish buffer. And this Rhenish buffer would be best served by owning the Saargebiet, in order to have enough industry to put up significant resistance to any German temptative invasion. However, it doesn't really matter who gets Luxemburg as long as it is one of the Allies.
It might help France if the Maginot Line went through Luxembourg. The steel works and iron ore would help France economically. However, Luxembourg going to Belgium instead of France fits in better historically and it looks tidier on a map.