Fortified Sector of Savoy

The Fortified Section of Savoy (Secteur fortifié de la Savoie) was the French military organization that in 1940 controlled the section of the Alpine Line portion of the Maginot Line facing Italy in the Savoy region. The sector constituted part of the Alpine Line portion of the Maginot Line, between the Defensive Sector of the Rhône to the north, and the Fortified Sector of the Dauphiné to the south. The works combined a number of pre-1914 fortifications with Maginot-style ouvrages, with many forward-positioned cavern-style frontier stations or avant-postes that proved effective in holding invading forces near the order.

The sector formed a discontinuous line about 100 kilometres (62 mi) long along France's frontier with Italy, from the Aiguille des Glaciers on the Mont Blanc massif, through Bourg-Saint-Maurice to the Moulinière peak on the Massif des Cerces, to Valloire. The sector's fortifications barred the valleys and passes crossing the Alps, particularly the routes over the Little St Bernard Pass via the Tarentaise Valley and the Mont Cenis pass via the Maurienne valley.

The sector's fortifications were built during the 1930s and saw combat during the Italian invasion of France in 1940 and later during the Second Battle of the Alps in 1944. The 1940s actions were successful in holding off the Italian invasion, but the surrender of France as a whole left the works in Italian occupation. Some of the fortifications were renovated in the 1950s, during the Cold War, and were finally abandoned by the end of the 1960s. Some of the fortifications have been maintained as museums, and may be visited.