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The Fortified Region of Metz comprised the central and most heavily fortified portion of the Maginot Line. The region was established in 1926 as a military organization for the French fortifications along the frontier with Luxembourg and Germany to the east of Longuyon in northeastern France, forming a shield to the north of the industrialized areas of Metz and Thionville. The region was dissolved as a military organization on 18 March 1940, its command personnel moving to the 42nd Army Corps. The region was divided into four sectors: * Fortified Sector of the Crusnes * Fortified Sector of Thionville * Fortified Sector of Boulay * Fortified Sector of Faulquemont The region was given the highest priority in funding, manning and equipment of all Maginot regions.〔Mary, Tome 3, p. 79〕 ==Creation== Following the First World War, French defense policy was re-examined at the order of Marshal Philippe Pétain. The 1919 study recommended the creation of a mobile army that could carry war to the territory of an enemy, supported by frontier defenses that would prevent an enemy from penetrating French territory. The second part of the recommendation was to involve the creation of fortified regions (''regions fortifiés'') in which an enemy could be confronted. The initially recommended fortified regions included: * The Rhine frontier, with two fortified regions, one to the south of Mulhouse and a northern region defending the Alsace plain to the frontier on the Lauter. * An area to the west of the Rhine to prevent an incursion across the land frontier with Germany onto the Alsace plain. * An area in Lorraine to defend the coal-mining regions in the Sarre basin. The regions were to provide locations in which to confront an enemy and from which to launch an offensive to carry the battle onto enemy territory. The Metz region was considered a potential base for a counter-offensive should border defenses be pierced and Lorraine threatened, possibly using the former German fortifications of Metz and Strasbourg. The previous fortifications of the Séré de Rivières system of the 1880s were designed to defend the frontiers of France that existed following the Franco-Prussian War, in which France had lost Alsace and Lorraine. With the recovery of these territories following World War I, most of the Séré de Rivières forts were deep in the interior of northeastern France and not useful.〔Mary, Tome 1, p. 12〕 The ''Conseil Supérieure de la Guerre'' ("Supreme War Council") created a committee in March 1920 to study France's newly adjusted frontiers, with Marshal Joseph Joffre as chairman. Disagreement arose between supporters of Pétain, who favored continuous light defenses covering concentrations of troops and construction materials for field fortifications, and supporters of Marshal Joseph Joffre, who advocated fortified regions like the ring of forts around Verdun, that had performed well during the first world war. The committee dissolved without reaching any conclusions.〔Kauffmann, p. 10〕 The RF Metz was again proposed in 1922 by the Territorial Defense Commission (''commission de défense du territoire''), which identified potential invasion routes from Germany into France at three locations: the Belfort Gap, between the Vosges Mountains and the Rhine, and across the Lorraine plateau, the last two directly affecting the Metz industrial basin, home of much of France's coal and steel industry. The CDT recommended that the industrial area of Metz-Thionville-Longwy be protected by new fortifications. The report noted that the frontier with Belgium would be difficult to fortify. The committee's final report proposed a continuous fortification from the Swiss border north to the Lauter, and west to Longwy, with the area of the Sarre, which faced the demilitarized area of the Saarland, left unfortified. The final report recommended three fortified regions: * The Fortified Region of Metz-Thionville-Longwy * The Fortified Region of the Lauter * The Fortified Region of Belfort The CDT's report proposed that offensive operations into Germany should focus on an incursion to establish a line from Konz to Trier, then to Ottweiler, Homburg and Kaiserslautern. No specific recommendations on the location or character of the defenses were made.〔Mary, Tome 1, p. 13〕 The Commission on Defense of the Frontiers (''commission de défense des frontiers'') was established on 31 December 1925 by Prime Minister Paul Painlevé, to once again consider the question of the frontiers. The commissioned was charged with formulating specific recommendations for defenses and for the incorporation of the existing defenses of Metz and Belfort. The report again listed potential invasion routes, listing the area to the northeast of Hunsrück in addition to the previously-identified routes. It reiterated the proposed fortified regions around Metz, Belfort and along the Lauter. The report formalized the concept of the fortified region, to be about in depth, a distance dictated by the range of heavy artillery. The RF Metz-Thionville-Longwy was planned to provide a protected area from which to counter-attack an enemy moving into France along the Sarre, to protect the industrial regions, and to anchor the right flank of the northern armies. The German fortifications of Thionville and Metz were to be incorporated into the region, while the forts of Verdun, to the rear, were to be kept in reserve without renovation〔Mary, Tome 1, pp. 13-14〕〔Kauffmann, p. 11〕 The line of the fortifications was modified in 1927 to leave Longwy exposed, anchoring the right end of the region instead at Longuyon. This allowed optimal siting of fortifications on the heights behind Longwy, rather than contending with the town's basin and its close proximity to the border.〔Mary, Tome 1, p. 20〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fortified Region of Metz」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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