PC/WI: Westwall actually built?

For the record, I have read A Storm of Steel and Fire, but just wanted to ask this anyway, considering how little I know about WWII. Besides, I've already raised the usual "Kaiser Bill attacks east, defends west" question, may as well round things out.

Anyway, what set of circumstances would lead Nazi Germany to build a substantial "Westwall", rather than just a propaganda piece? And, once built, how much would it help the Axis, considering the major disadvantage they had in almost every area.
 
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Confused here. Are you referring to WWI or II ?

In the case of 1914 the substantial fortress groups at Metz and Strasberg covered the main rail lines between France and Germany. While it was possible for a French army to march between the two cities the thin secondary railways there prevented effective supply into Germany. A second factor is the Germans guessed correctly the French had no artillery capable of demolishing the Metz fortresses. They understood the fortress they had there would have to be picked apart with bloody infantry assaults backed with antiquated heavy artillery.

In the case of WWII it improves the situation circa 1939. Since the fortress system actually built was dismantled 1941-43 to build other fortress systems it may not matter much. There is also the question of if the cost of construction would mean fewer field armies for the Germans?
 
Confused here. Are you referring to WWI or II ?

In the case of 1914 the substantial fortress groups at Metz and Strasberg covered the main rail lines between France and Germany. While it was possible for a French army to march between the two cities the thin secondary railways there prevented effective supply into Germany. A second factor is the Germans guessed correctly the French had no artillery capable of demolishing the Metz fortresses. They understood the fortress they had there would have to be picked apart with bloody infantry assaults backed with antiquated heavy artillery.

In the case of WWII it improves the situation circa 1939. Since the fortress system actually built was dismantled 1941-43 to build other fortress systems it may not matter much. There is also the question of if the cost of construction would mean fewer field armies for the Germans?
My bad, WWII. I've edited it a bit for clarity.
 

Ian_W

Banned
Utterly shameless bump

"And once built, how much would it help the Axis, considering the major disadvantage they had in almost every area."

Patton bashes his head in at Metz. Montgomery finally clears Antwerp and then manages to get through Nimijen one way or another. The Russians conquer Berlin in May 1945.
 
It wouldn’t help to have a better westwall because the OTL worked perfectly.
It emboldened Hitler to strike east with a thinly guarded western border, and it helped convince the French that they had no business attacking to help Poland.
The only way it could have done better is if it convinced the French that the war was futile.
Thats a stretch and I wonder if this could have been done. By the westwall.
 
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