The Alpine chain extends 700 kilometers from Vienna westward to Leman, then in a 350 kilometers arc the direction changes to the Maritime Alps in southeastern France. Rocks in the zone between Vienna and the French frontier are intensely deformed, but the zone disappears in France. The deformation seems not to be inherent in the zone itself but to have resulted from outside tectonic forces. Northward displacement of the eastern and central Alps, pushing the sedimentary cover in front of them, appears to be the cause of the deformation of the zone east of the French frontier. A northward displacement of the Provencal tectonic block is proposed as the cause of the observed deformation pattern.