The line of defensive fortifications built along France’s north-eastern frontier from Switzerland to Luxembourg, completed in 1936, in which the French placed excessive confidence. Partly because of objections from the Belgians, who were afraid they would be left in an exposed position, the line was not extended along the Franco-Belgian frontier to the coast. Consequently, although the defences proved impregnable to frontal assault, the line was easily outflanked when the Germans invaded France in the spring of 1940. It is named after the French Minister of War André Maginot (1877–1932).