Hackenberg — a poilu on the Maginot

Built between 1928 and 1936 at the initiative of War Minister André Maginot, the line that bears his name is the most modern frontier fortification in Europe: 142 ouvrages spaced over 390 km, from Belgium to Switzerland, two billion francs of investment and, at its peak, a garrison of some 400,000 men. Everything rests on static defence: artillery in armoured cupolas, underground galleries as deep as 30 m, complete living quarters — kitchens, dormitories, hospitals, cinemas.

By autumn 1939, with mobilisation complete, around 600,000 French soldiers are deployed along the line. But the doctrine is already obsolete: the Maginot does not cover the Belgian frontier, left "neutral" by the agreement of 1936, and the Saar offensive launched in September has had to be wound back by 4 October.

From October 1939 the front freezes: no more fighting, no more patrols. Our typical soldier is 24; a peasant or a worker from Brittany or the Limousin, mobilised since 1 September without a single leave, his regiment having marched 200 km on foot to the Moselle. At the Ouvrage du Hackenberg, the largest of the Maginot works with its 19 blocks and 1,081 men, daily life settles into an unchanging routine: reveille at 05:30, maintenance work from 06:30 to 12:00, meals where meat appears four days a week and the mandatory 0.25 L quart of wine is served, more work from 14:00 to 18:00, evening leave until 22:00, then lights out at 23:00. The command must organise this garrison life for eight months, with no certainty whatever as to what comes next.