the maginot line was built 10 years after the Great War. germany simply went through belgium as they believed it to be more efficient. this was before mechanized conflict that led france to believe that the ardennes were impassable. germany's main advantage in the Great War was that it essentially spawned in as a giant superpower of a nation, slightly, or more, exceeding french capability. however in the end, they met, made trenches, then each trench would try and flank the other trench until they reached the sea.
partially innacurate, and france isn't entirely to blame.
france had offered to build the line from switzerland to the sea, and belgium went with a similarly stupid logic: "germany will inevitably invade us, so if we pretend germany isn't *inevitably* going to invade us, and remain neutral and play dead, germany won't invade us!" (germany invaded them)
also, when germany went to war with poland, they took EVERYTHING there, and were out of fuel for a whole week. France and Germany had similar militaries at the time, France's a little better, and yet France just shelled some chickens in germany for a year or something.
