(continued from page 1, column 1) fallen only because it was insufficiently manned, and was subsequently recaptured only after the Germans withdrew. Fortifications like this could be spaced at regular intervals along the French border, and garrisons could issue forth to defend the gaps. (2) Create a long, deep network of fortifications, reminiscent of the German Siegfried Line. Pétain was most favorable to this alternative. (3) Ignore static defenses all together, and focus on building tanks and planes. Charles de Gaulle—who felt that warfare would become more mobile—was a proponent of this view, but it was frowned upon by most in France, since it was seen as inherently aggressive.
               In 1922, as the newly appointed Minister of War, Maginot developed a compromise between the first two schools of thought based largely on Pétain’s model. There was plenty of opposition to the defense system, but Maginot used compelling arguments to persuade detractors: a defense system was necessary to stop mass bloodshed, which would delay or halt the population recovery; a replacement was needed for the French troops who were to leave the Rhineland buffer zone in 1930 per Versailles; construction of the line would create jobs and stimulate the economy. In 1929, Maginot successfully lobbied the French government to allocate 3.3 billion Francs to the project.
               Construction began in earnest in 1930 and was largely completed by 1935, but continued into 1940 after Belgium declared neutrality and hostilities with Germany escalated.
               The Maginot Line has long been maligned as a costly failure, largely because it was unable to keep the Germans out of France. Most attribute this to the fact that the fortifications ended at the Belgian border. There are two reasons for this: (1) France and Belgium had signed a treaty of alliance in 1920, so it was inconceivable that a defense system would be necessary along an allied border. When Belgium abrogated the treaty in 1936 and declared neutrality, the Maginot Line was extended, though not to the specifications and quality of the rest of the Line. (2) The Ardennes Forest was believed to be impenetrable, so many felt it would be more economical to rely on this natural defense.
               In any case, André Maginot did not live to see his eponymous defenses completed. He died in January, 1932 of typhoid fever. A monument in his memory was dedicated in 1966, near Verdun.

Sources: Wikipedia, About.com.

ETYMOLOGY 101
The origin of: gorgeous
We owe this word’s origins to an article of clothing commonly worn by women in the late Middle Ages, the wimple. The wimple was a cloth headdress worn around the head, neck and chin that left only the face exposed. It was called the gorgias in Middle French, from the word gorge, meaning “throat.” The gorgias was, strictly speaking, the part of the garment that covered the throat and shoulders, but the word was also used to describe the whole headdress. Apparently, an elegant and