September 3, 1939, mere hours after England declared war on Germany, France followed suit. Nothing happened for eight months. No skirmishes, no bullets flying, no bombs dropped, nothing. They called it the Phoney War.

The French were confident the Germans didn’t stand a chance against their mighty army, which was indeed strong—on paper. Plus, they had the Maginot Line. Named after the minister of war, Andre Maginot, the Maginot Line was basically a series of concrete and barbed wire fortifications on the eastern border. Basically a glorified trench, the barrier was constructed to prevent a direct attack from Germany. But it was technology from WWI and German panzers were formidable.

In the end, the Maginot line inspired a false sense of security and turned out to be strategically ineffective. The Germans simply went around the fortification and invaded through Belgium. France suffered a notoriously quick defeat, falling approximately six weeks after the first German panzers touched French soil.