How strong would a post war Atlantic Wall be?

How strong would a post war Atlantic Wall be?

  • As strong as it was during the war

    Votes: 4 14.3%
  • Somewhat strong

    Votes: 9 32.1%
  • Extremely strong

    Votes: 15 53.6%

  • Total voters
    28
Wont cast a vote. If Germany won its unlikely the AW would be maintained as we know it. It was a expensive proposition to keep up & I expect most would have been dismantled for the steel & copper. The port fortifications would have remained longer as they doubled as barracks for occupation troops.
 
A confusing question really. You've cited Calbear's AANW, but that's less a Nazi victory and more an ongoing war. If the war is actually over, then the need for fortifications is greatly reduced and they probably get stripped. OTOH, if there's an ongoing war, then there's more of a need for fortifications, but lesser resources available.
 

Wendigo

Banned
A confusing question really. You've cited Calbear's AANW, but that's less a Nazi victory and more an ongoing war. If the war is actually over, then the need for fortifications is greatly reduced and they probably get stripped. OTOH, if there's an ongoing war, then there's more of a need for fortifications, but lesser resources available.
The war is over in the sense that they occupy Europe up to the Urals and are at "peace" with the WAllies. The Reich is still making precautions in case of war and the US/UK attempt to invade the mainland.
 
Is Britain dealt with?

If Britain is still hostile, or even neutral, then I think it expands massively.

If Britain is friendly, or occupied, then I think the New Atlantic Wall is made up of submarines, aircraft, cruisers, and e-boats.
 
AW would slowly decline as threats from WALLIES recede. Initially, guns would be greased, troop numbers reduced, minefields cleared, etc. but the first major change would occur when ammunition exceeds its shelf-life.

Some of that time-expired ammo would be deliberately exploded inside bunkers and gun emplacements, reducing them to rubble and making way for civilian construction.
Once ammo exceeds its shelf-life, some magazines would be emptied. Guns with obscure/obsolete ammo would be sold for scrap.
In the long run, AW would be a mere shell of its former self, WALLIES would have difficulty understanding which bunkers were empty, versus moth-balled bunkers that could still shoot back.
 
I expect things like minefields will be removed but plans for re-emplacement kept on the shelf. Lots of surveys will be done for rapid emplacement of obstacles, but the ones in place will probably be removed as hazards for normal commerce in most places. Most of the emplacements will not be manned, but maintained adequately (hey what are slave laborers and corvée labor for), major emplacements will be manned. As tome passes after the war, the refurbishment updating of emplacements and the potential building of others will depend on the international situation. If there is a low level war going on like AANW, then you'll see a higher level of construction etc. If it's more like the OTL Cold War, then not so much.

A lot of the major installations have held up pretty well even with no maintenance in the last 70 years, heck even Maginot lines structures are not crumbles 80-90 years later. As long as maintained, you could put guns back in, redo command bunkers etc relatively quickly as long as you had plans for it and stored materiel - think of it as a REFORGER type operation for the Atlantic Wall.

As someone with targeting experience let me say that the reinforced concrete bunkers of the OTL Atlantic Wall will stand up pretty well to aerial bombing, not as well to naval gunfire. Until you get the sort of precision guided munitions we have now, using conventional bombin is not going to be terribly effective.

IMHO the minimum is sort of low level improvements updating for key areas, chokepoints etc. Beyond it all depends on the perceived threat. Any attempt to invade continental Europe can't be secret - the exact location yes but the buildup no - so most of the fortifications can be left empty and checked periodically, and filled up with manpower when needed.
 

Redbeard

Banned
The Atlantic Wall was an emergency act, as most of the field army was engaged on the East Front. It was impossible to expand the Field Army any more but in static defences you could at a relatively low cost utilise weapons and men that were unfit for true field service.

I the war is over the field army will not be engaged and the most effective defence will be preparing the rapid deployment of field army units to anywhere a future enemy will try to land. I guess a few keypoints would keep some fortifications, but the rest will be left/dismantled. The Reich through the entire war showed a very impressive capacity to quickly move large troop concentrations by rail. In short the Reich could on their inner lines deploy troops by rail faster than the Wallies could by ship.
 
Britain is still hostile.

Then I think it will involve a lot of concrete and dual-purpose AA/artillery guns. And reserves maybe as far inland as the Ruhr or Paris, to respond to specific attacks. I think this scenario would probably have an Axis Mediterranean, Malta and Gibraltar and Suez will have been taken, so the southern coasts may not be so heavily prepared for invasion.

Britain will still develop the hovercraft, and the helicopter was about to mature in both Axis and Allied use, and so increase the number of potential landing spots. But the Nazi's would keep up.

I just don't believe they last to 2000 without liberalizing and disowning the history of the War, or splitting itself into a coup-roundabout, or a full on civil war.
 
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