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GERMAN FORT LINE HELD IMPREGNABLE (5/16/39)
Microfiche-New York Times archives, McHenry Library, U.C. Santa Cruz
| 5/16/39
Posted on 05/16/2009 4:43:58 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
TOPICS: History
KEYWORDS: milhist; realtime
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To: Homer_J_Simpson
Admiral Raeder came through with naval plans for Case White in a top-secret directive signed
May 16. Since Poland had only a few miles of coast on the Baltic west of Danzig and possessed only a small navy, no difficulties were expected. France and Britain were the Admirals chief concern. The entrance to the Baltic was to be protected by submarines, and the two pocket battleships and the two battleships, with the remaining submarines, were to prepare for war in the Atlantic. According to the instructions of the Fuehrer, the Navy had to be prepared to carry out its part of White by September 1 but Raeder urges his commanders to hasten plans because due to the latest political developments action might come sooner.
William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
2
posted on
05/16/2009 4:45:21 AM PDT
by
Homer_J_Simpson
("Every nation has the government that it deserves." - Joseph de Maistre (1753-1821))
To: fredhead; r9etb; PzLdr; dfwgator; Paisan; From many - one.; rockinqsranch; GRRRRR; 2banana; ...
The Germans now assert that their rear is covered in the event of a war in the east, and military experts agree that a conflict between Germany and France in this region would be at worst, as far as Germany is concerned, a standstill fight."Case White" update at #2.
3
posted on
05/16/2009 4:47:26 AM PDT
by
Homer_J_Simpson
("Every nation has the government that it deserves." - Joseph de Maistre (1753-1821))
To: Homer_J_Simpson
The most interesting article was the one on Dewey sees NO WAR IN EUROPE.....an erstwhile Obama.....
4
posted on
05/16/2009 4:55:16 AM PDT
by
Gaffer
To: Homer_J_Simpson
The interesting thing about the West Wall, was it was started in the late 20s on preexisting WWI fortifications in direct reaction to the Maginot Line being built. Pre-WWII, frontier fortification building was a sign of pending invasion of those building the forts. The Germans were afraid that the French were planning on invading Germany. So the Germans built a mirror image of the Maginot Line. The French had also instructed the Belgians to build fortifications with the Dutch/German border, but by the 30s the French didn’t trust the Belgians to last long in a fight. So the French extended the Maginot Line along the Belgium border towards the coast line. That caused the German generals to request from Hitler to extend the West Wall along the Dutch and Belgium border.
5
posted on
05/16/2009 6:02:03 AM PDT
by
neb52
To: neb52
"The interesting thing about the West Wall, was it was started in the late 20s on preexisting WWI fortifications in direct reaction to the Maginot Line being built. The Germans were afraid that the French were planning on invading Germany. So the Germans built a mirror image of the Maginot Line. " Nonsense.
The French Maginot Line was begun in 1930, completed by 1939.
The German Westwall, aka Siegfried Line, was built by Adolf Hitler from 1938 to 1940 -- after he broke the Treaty of Versailles and the Locarno Treaties by remilitarizing the Rhineland in 1936.
His reason was to protect Germany's rear while his army was busy doing Teufelwerk in the East.
6
posted on
05/17/2009 5:15:19 AM PDT
by
BroJoeK
(a little historical perspective...)
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