Cook
Banned
No, not in retrospect; there were numerous critics of the French decision to build the Maginot Line and even more for their passive foreign policy once it was built. J.F.C. Fuller and de Gaulle were both vocal critics at the time and wrote extensively on their ideas on the use of tanks. The most vocal proponent of armour was of course Guderian, unfortunately no-one even bothered to translate his book into either English or French before the war.Only in retrospect...Clearly what they couldn't rely on their perceptions of the world at the time, only yours and in retrospect...
As to critics of France’s pacifism, apart from those at home there were their allies in Europe; Poland, France’s ally since 1920, dropped their alliance with France in 1934 and signed a non-aggression pact with Germany because the building of the Maginot Line made it obvious that the French would not go to their assistance. The Belgians, allied from 1920 as well, clung on longer; they only dropped out in 1936 when the French refused to do anything when Hitler occupied the Rhineland.
And of course the pacifist foreign policy had a very harsh critic on the other side of the Channel.
Unfortunately the French command system did not support initiative from below.Brocard also clearly promoted above his capacity. You'd think a general officer would show some initiative.
It starts here:Link please. I simply must read this
https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=219910&highlight=Maginot
It’s really not that funny. The level of required insanity needed to follow his reasoning(?) is just a bit too high.