WI: Maginot goes all the way to the coast

Surely extending the Maginot line to Switzerland ,makes more sense to french planning? This would direct the Germans to Belgium where the French Army can meet them on ground of their own choosing.

That's what happened IOTL and the WAllies responded accordingly. Their problem was that they didn't realize where in Belgium the Germans would mount their attack.
 
The border defense built covering the Ardennes, was defeated on the run by Guderians Pz Corps in 30 hrs. The French could not have enough first or second rate units to cover the front in 1940. The Germans could inevitably find a weak point somewhere & break through decisively.
The Ardennes were almost completely undefended, in both men and fortifications, because the general idea is that terrain was too harsh to allow any effective attack in that direction. That proved to be untrue: in hindsight, the Ardennes should have been either as fortified as the Maginot line, or as defended as the rest of the Belgian border.

Wouldn't they pass through the flat lands of Belgium then?
That was the exact idea. Most of the Franco-British army was focused on that border, waiting for exactly that move: the Maginot Line was meant to channel the German attack exactly where everyone was expecting it. If the Germans go through central Belgium, all the plans the French and British mounted up are now validated and in effect. And, while the Germans can probably push them back more than they would expect, there's no horribly blind spot like the Ardennes were.
 
The Ardennes were almost completely undefended, in both men and fortifications, because the general idea is that terrain was too harsh to allow any effective attack in that direction. That proved to be untrue: in hindsight, the Ardennes should have been either as fortified as the Maginot line, or as defended as the rest of the Belgian border.


That was the exact idea. Most of the Franco-British army was focused on that border, waiting for exactly that move: the Maginot Line was meant to channel the German attack exactly where everyone was expecting it. If the Germans go through central Belgium, all the plans the French and British mounted up are now validated and in effect. And, while the Germans can probably push them back more than they would expect, there's no horribly blind spot like the Ardennes were.
Any TL where that happens?
 
Any TL where that happens?
Probably, but I can't name one on the spot. Pdf27's "A Blunted Sickle" is interesting in the analysis of German reaction to the Sickle Cut not working, but it takes a different PoD and leaves the Ardennes alone, so it's not what you're looking for.

(It's still very much worth reading to understand just how much Germany gambled on the invasion working.)
 
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