NO nation has worshipped the offensive spirit more than has France, and this idolatry has brought her both victory and defeat. The triumph of the attack columns that overwhelmed her enemies during the wars of the French Revolution cannot hide the tragedy of the bayonet charges that spilled rivers of French blood to no advantage in World War I. “Marchons, marchons, qu'un sang impure abreuve nos sillons!” But for all the sacrifices that France has made at the altar of the offensive, she has not worshipped it alone. There are other altars that have received her offerings – more of gold than of flesh – shrines built of brick and stone, of steel and concrete: her fortresses. The France that built the Maginot Line in the twentieth century constructed the pré carré in the seventeenth. If in the grand siècle, Turenne preached the glory of attacking the enemy in the open field, Vauban advocated the more dependable rewards of positional warfare.

Ultimately, Vauban spoke more directly to the character and goals of Louis XIV, and positional warfare took precedence over field warfare. The term positional warfare as employed in this chapter, encompasses the construction, defense, and attack of fortifications, be they fortresses or entrenched lines; by the close of the grand siècle, it was the most common form of military operation. Although the French were no strangers to sieges under Louis XIII, warfare of maneuver played a more important role during his reign than it would under his son's. Louis XIV displayed an overriding taste for positional warfare. In part this preference reflected a personality that abhorred violation of his lands and desired control.