Following the occupation of France in May 1940, Nazi Germany initiated an ambitious project of coastal fortifications.<\/p>\n
The most famous part of that project is the Atlantic Wall<\/strong> (Atlantikwall in German), which was the French section of a very long line of fortifications stretching as far as northern Norway. In southern France, between the borders with Spain and Italy, the Third Reich built the Southern Wall<\/strong> (S\u00fcdwall in German), also called the Mediterranean Wall, whose construction took place between 1943 and 1945. When the Allies landed in southeastern France on August 15, 1944, in Operation Dragoon, this defensive wall consisted of some 500 fortified blocks and another 200 under construction<\/strong>.<\/p>\n
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