André Maginot was born in Paris February 17th 1877 and dies January 6th 1932 in the in the same city. At the age of 23 he became Commissioner of Audit in the Council of State. In 1910, André Maginot is elected deputy of the Meuse. He will specialize in the study of military affairs. He is appointed many times Under-Secretary of State and Ministry. When the First World war broke out he will serve his country as non-commissioned officer but will be seriously wounded. During the years between 1922 to 1924 and 1929 to 1932, in the role of Minister of war, he will activate the realization of his fortification program. December 28th, 1929 he presents his budget bill to the deputies. January 14th, 1930 the parliament amended 2900 million francs budget for the borders terrestrial defence. As the result of additional costs, the credit total rises up to 3442 millions in 1930, with this work coast distribution: 55% for Lorraine, 26% for Alsace and 10% for the Alps.

Born in the Lorraine, François Nicolas Benoît Haxo WAS originally from Lunéville ( Meurthe-et-Moselle ). He became a captain at 22 years old, taking part in the campaigns of 1794 and 1795 in the armies of the Republic. In 1796, he was a student at the brand new Ecole Polytechnique, founded two years earlier. As an engineer he carried out fortification work along the borders. Under the first empire, in 1810 he was in charge of work at the fort of Bard (in the Jura ) and then of the fortifications in Italy, followed by others for improving the defence of the Dardanelles strait in Turkey. In 1811 Napoleon appointed him as head of the army's engineering corps in Germany, where he carried out major works in Meldin and in Dantzig, where he constructed the casemated batteries. As governor of the place de Magdebourg and then head of engineering in the Imperial Guard in 1813, his career did not end with the fall of the Empire as, during the Restoration, he carried out the duties of inspector general of the fortifications. For many years, he worked on the border fortifications, restoring the fortresses that were essential for the defence of the kingdom.

Sébastien le Prestre de Vauban was born the 4th of May 1633 in the region of Morvan, in Saint-Léger-de-Focheret. At the age of eighteen he became a cadet in the regiment of Condé. It's the period of the "Fronde of Princes" (The Slinging of Princes) animated by Louis de Bourbon, also known as ?The Great Condé?. He wan, during the rebellion, against queen Anne of Austria and her Prime Minister Cardinal Mazarin, in Recroi in 1643. After the arrest of Condé in 1650, Vauban joined Mazarin and the young king Louis XIV. He leads his fist city siege in Argonne. Then, thanks to his studies, he will be proclaimed king's engineer in 1655. Joining theory and practice he works very hard to improve the forts defences following the footsteps of Henry's IV engineers of fortifications (les Errard, Chastillon, de Beins, de Bonnefons). He improves, invents, implements; in 1705 he also writs a thesis about the attacks of the fortresses. He is appointed general Lieutenant in 1688. The Marshal of France gives him his honours the 14th of January 1703. He devotes his entire carrier to the king and his kingdom : he builds or restores more than 300 fortresses, leads more than 50 sieges; some of his conquers are famous: Tournai, Douai, Lille, Maastricht, Mons, Besançon, Namur, Luxembourg, are some examples.

From 1673 he will fortify the kingdom which he will call "le pré carré". In Flandres and in the north, in Ardennes, Alsace, Rhénanie, in Franche-Compté, the Alps, Brittany, Roussillon, without forgetting the maritime front, all these locations have been fortified by Vauban. He created fortified places in Lille, Besançon, Belfort, etc. He was a builder, a town planner, an engineer of the armament, a strategist and tactician, a manager, an economist and a civil engineer. In 1707 he publishes his project about the royal tithe, recommending a single tax. In 1689 he also wrote a report disapproving the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in the name of the freedom of conscience. Exhausted by a life of immense work he dies the 30th of March 1707 in Paris. His body rests in the church of Bazoches ( Nievre ), close to the castle he acquired in 1675, his heart is deposited, since the 28th of May 1808 in the church of the Dome, in Invalides. It was Napoleon's decision to transfer it to Paris.

" After God the King is my great example and I will always carry out with joy every order he will give me. Even if I would have to pay with my own life. " Vauban , letter of Vauban to CHAMILLART, Paris, 16th of January 1706. Besiege city by Vauban : besieged city. City defended by Vauban, impregnable city.

Born on the 15th October 1856 in Tulle into a protestant Franco-British family on his mother's side, Robert Nivelle proved to be a good student in addition to his bilingualism. Born on the 15th October 1856 in Tulle into a protestant Franco-British family on his mother's side, Robert Nivelle proved to be a good student in addition to his bilingualism. He enrolled at the Ecole Polytechnique (class of 1876) graduating in the artillery corps in 1878. Nivelle began his military career overseas. He joined the French expeditionary corps sent to China during the Boxers' Rebellion (summer of 1900), and then served in Africa, where he was particularly appreciated for his interpersonal skills. Promoted to Colonel at the beginning of the First World War, he once again stood out due to his exemplary conduct in the Alsace and, in September 1914, during the Battle of the Ourcq. In fact, by launching his infantry against the lines of the 4th corps of von Kluck's 1st army around Meaux, he saved the capital from the German threat. He was then promoted to Brigade General in October 1914, at the same time as Philippe Pétain. Becoming Division General the following year, Robert Nivelle took command of the 11th French army in May 1916, although he had been serving on the front at Verdun at the head of the 3rd corps of this army since February.

Having succeeded Pétain on the 19th April 1916, he carried out victorious missions at Vaux and hill 304 and on the 24th October 1916, the retaking of the fort de Douaumont, alongside his subordinate, General Mangin. These particular victories earned him growing popularity amongst the troops, despite the lack of respect he showed for human life, relentlessly sending his men on the attack. As a result of these victories, Robert Nivelle appeared to be the natural successor to Joffre, who had been judged to be too static after two years of fighting in the trenches, and promoted to the dignity of Marshall of France. General Nivelle also had the advantage of very close contacts in British headquarters because of his family background. He took up the role of Commander in Chief of the army on the 12th December 1916, promising the Chamber's Army Commission a quick victory. Guided by his faith in the rift, he decided to break with the positional war to return to a dynamic offensive by attacking the fortified German lines in the Chemin des Dames sector, with support from the British troops placed under his command by Lloyd George. Braving the reticence of his Generals, who argued the lack of preparation of the soldiers, and also of several military leaders, such as Lyautey, the short-lived War Minister and especially Pétain and the political authorities, anxious at the possibility of a setback, he launched the Chemin des Dames offensive on the 16th April 1917. This assault, which he hoped would be lightning quick, came to a sudden end: the Germans, having got hold of a copy of his plan of attack in a trench that they had captured, had strengthened their positions and put up fierce resistance; the operation was a failure that was expensive, both in terms of men (350,000 men out of action for an insignificant gain of ground) and in equipment. George Nivelle persisted, suspending the attack on the 21st April, before taking it up again at the beginning of May. The troops were demoralised, losing confidence in their leaders: the first mutinies broke out. Nivelle was thanked and replaced on the 15th May 1917 by Philippe Pétain. An enquiry committee was then set up. Directed by Division General Henri Joseph Brugère, it gave the ruling on General Nivelle: "For the preparation as well as the execution of this offensive, General Nivelle was not up to the enormous task that he had taken on". Fallen into disgrace, he went to North Africa in December 1917 to take charge of the 19th army corps in Algiers as commander of the French North African troops, a role he would carry out until his retirement in 1921; he then returned to mainland France and settled in Paris where he died three years later.

Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban was born on 4 May 1633 in Saint-Léger-de-Foucherets (Morvan). At 18 years of age, he joined Condé’s regiment as a cadet. This was during the time of the Fronde, a series of civil wars in France led by Louis de Bourbon – Le Grand Condé, who won victory at the great Battle of Rocroi in 1643, in the rebellion against the queen regent Anne of Austria and the Austrian prime minister, Cardinal Mazarin. 

Vauban joined forced with Mazarin and the young King Louis XIV after Condé's arrest in 1650. He had the opportunity to lead his first siege of the town of Argonne then was appointed, in recognition of the studies he carried out, an engineer to the king in 1655.

Combining theory and practice, he studied the defence problems in the footsteps of engineers who worked on Henry V's fortifications, Errard, Chastillon, de Beins and de Bonnefons. An expert in improving, implementing and erecting fortification systems, he wrote a treatise on the attack of fortresses in 1705.

Named Lieutenant-General in 1688, he was promoted to the dignity of Marshal of France on 14 January 1703. The rest of his career was devoted to the king and his kingdom, building or modernising over 300 fortresses and leading over 50 sieges. His victories are famous and he is credited for capturing Tournai, Douai, Lille, Maastricht, Mons, Besançon, Namur, Luxembourg and others.

In 1673, he fortified the kingdom, which he called the “private reserve”, in Flanders and in the north of France, in Ardennes, Alsace, Rhineland, Franche-Comté, the Alps, Brittany and Roussillon, not to mention the coastline. He created fortifications with parallel series of trenches in Lille, Besançon, Belfort and other sites. 

He was a builder, town planner and a military engineer, strategist and tactician, administrator and economist, as well as a civil engineer. He wrote and published his Project for a Royal Tithe in 1707, recommending a flat tax. He also wrote a memoir in 1689 in which he condemned the repeal of the edict of Nantes on the basis of freedom of thought.

Exhausted from a life of huge endeavours, he died on 30 March 1707 in Paris.

His body is buried at the Church of Bazoches (Nièvre) near the château he acquired in 1675, while his heart has lain in the Dome Church at Les Invalides in Paris, the decision of the Emperor Napoleon, since 18 May 1808.

“After God the King is my great example and I will always be happy to carry out his every command. 

Even if I have to pay with my own life." 

Vauban, letter from Vauban to Chamillart, Paris, 16 January 1706.

Town besieged by Vauban: A captured town.

A town defended by Vauban, an impregnable town.