Ep 260: Kevin Passmore on the Maginot Line and the Battle of France

School of War

Kevin Passmore, professor of History at Cardiff University and author of ⁠The Maginot Line: A New History⁠, joins the show to talk about the most elaborate fortification system of the 20th century and why it failed.

Kevin Passmore, professor of History at Cardiff University and author of <a href="https://a.co/d/fbVzUH9">The Maginot Line: A New History</a>, joins the show to talk about the most elaborate fortification system of the 20th century and why it failed.
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Times
02:03 Attacking the Maginot Line
05:53 Fortifications and Warfare
11:48 Flexibility vs Depth
15:38 A Total Commitment to War
19:49 French Defensive Concepts
22:42 Living in the Line
27:31 Decision in Belgium 
36:22 Breaking the Enemy’s Will 
39:36 Ukrainian Fortifications
 
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This podcast seeks to learn what war teaches. There has been a steady decline in the study of military history and its associated theoretical discipline, strategy.This podcast seeks to fill that gap through in-depth interviews on military and diplomatic history.&nbsp;Our guests have included former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the Cold War historian John Lewis Gaddis, and former China Select Committee chairman Mike Gallagher. We discuss the battlefield commanders, diplomats, strategists, policymakers, and statesmen who have had to make wartime decisions in the ancient and modern eras. The subject of an episode may be an historical battle, campaign, or conflict; the conduct of policy in the course of a major international incident; the work of a famous strategist; the nature of a famous weapon; or the legacy of an important military commander or political leader.&nbsp;&nbsp; Aaron MacLean is a senior fellow at Hudson Institute. He has worked as a foreign policy advisor and legislative director to Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas and spent seven years in the U.S. Marine Corps. <a href="https://schoolofwar.substack.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Visit our Substack for episode transcripts</a><a href="https://www.instagram.com/school.of.war/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Follow along on Instagram</a>