Siegfried Line The original Siegfried line (Siegfriedstellung) was a line of defensive forts and tank defenses built by Germany as a section of the Hindenburg Line 1916-1917 in northern France during World War I. However, in English, Siegfried line more commonly refers to the similar World War II defensive line, built during the 1930s, opposite the French Maginot Line, which served a corresponding purpose. The Germans themselves called this the Westwall, but the Allies renamed it after the First World War line. This article deals with this second Siegfried line. The Siegfried Line was a defense system stretching more than 630km (392 miles) with more than 18,000 bunkers, tunnels and tank traps. It went from Kleve on the border with the Netherlands, along the western border of the old German Empire as far as the town of Weil am Rhein on the border to Switzerland. More with propaganda in mind than for any strategic reason, Adolf Hitler planned the line from 1936 and had it built between 1938 and 1940. This was after the Nazis had broken the Treaty of Versailles and the Locarno Treaties by remilitarizing the Rhineland in 1936. The Siegfried Line was much more valuable as a propaganda tool than as a military defense. German propaganda, both at home and abroad, repeatedly portrayed the line during its construction as an unbreachable bulwark. For Germans the building of the line represented the regime's defensive intentions, whereas for neighbouring countries it appeared threatening and reassuring at the same time. This strategy proved very successful from the Nazi point of view both at the start and at the end of the World War II. At the start of the war, the opposing troops remained behind their own defense lines, allowing the Germans to attack Czechoslovakia and Poland, and at the end of the war, the invading forces spent more time than necessary at the half-finished, now-gutted Siegfried Line, thus allowing military manoeuvres in the east. In this light, the Siegfried Line can be seen as the Nazis' greatest propaganda success, with wide-ranging consequences. The Siegfried Line was the subject of a popular British song of 1939 which fitted the mood of the time for the troops marching off to France. We're going to hang out the washing on the Siegfried Line. Have you any dirty washing, mother dear? We're gonna hang out the washing on the Siegfried Line 'Cause the washing day is here. Whether the weather may be wet or fine We'll just rub along without a care. We're going to hang out the washing on the Siegfried Line If the Siegfried Line's still there.