Since Switzerland has remained neutral for so long do they even have a military anymore? I heard a story once that they gave their Army to protecting the Vatican but I have my doubts on that story.
Read all about’em: Swiss Armed Forces
From the Britannica:
Switzerland: Police and armed forces – “In accordance with confederation neutrality, which dates back to the 16th century and in 1815 became international law, the army serves solely to preserve the independence of the country. Defense is based on a system of universal conscription under which every Swiss male is liable for military duty between the ages of 20 and 50 years or, for officers, 20 and 55 years. The training of recruits is followed by eight annual three-week refresher courses and later by shorter supplementary courses. Swiss women may serve as volunteers in the women’s auxiliary force. The Swiss is the only soldier in the world who keeps his equipment, including arms and ammunition, at home and who performs his obligatory gunnery duty each year in civilian clothes, a manifestation of the extraordinary degree of trust between citizen and government. In November 1989 a national referendum saw more than one-third of the electorate, mainly those between the ages of 20 and 30, and a majority in the cantons of Jura and Geneva, vote to do away with the Swiss army. This came as a shock to the establishment of army officers, who also are parliament members and executives in the country’s banks and multinational corporations.”
Swiss neutrality is “armed neutrality”, and they have traditionally stayed out of wars by being virtue of being fairly heavily armed for their size (and of course by being the exact opposite of, say, Poland, topographically speaking). The results of that 1989 referendum are interesting, though, and suggest that the answer to your first question may be “yes” sooner or later.
Swiss Guards – “Italian GUARDIA SVIZZERA corps of Swiss-born soldiers responsible for the safety of the pope. They serve as personal escorts to the pontiff and as watchmen for Vatican City and the pontifical villa of Castel-Gandolfo. The guards, who are independent of the Swiss armed forces…” (Emphasis added.)
Buckner’s pretty much covered it. I just wanted to mention that a lot of neutrals only successfully remain neutral by being armed to the teeth and making it clear that if anyone from either side violates their neutrality, they’ll have a considerable military to add to their list of enemies. Sweden is another example of a well-armed neutral. Europe can be a dangerous place… (historically speaking)
Yes there is a swiss military and it isn’t to bad of one. They could hold thier own. I think that Swiss mercanaries once protected the vatacin and still might, not to sure if they still do
(I wrote this back in June 2000 but am copying it here. No reason to make you follow a link to an old post when I can just copy and paste)
From what I understand, the Swiss know that saying “I’m neutral” isn’t worth much without a way of ensuring that you
remain so. The Swiss countryside is peppered with gun turrents (some disguised as chalets), fortresses, bunkers carved into the cliffs and mountians, flood zones, minefields, and various other things that makes the entire country a deathtrap to any army that tries to force its way through. I had always thought when I was younger “well, so what if you’re neutral? If someone wants to attack you, they’re going to do so regardless of what you say.” Apparently, the Swiss have found a way around that.
I knew the Swiss still have an army, but the OP loosed these strands of curiosity:
Unlike U.S. army reservists & national gaurdsmen, the Swiss don’t return their weapons back to the armory at the end of training sessions - they take them home. This means that most every Swiss home has guns handy - but Switzerland has few gun crimes (this told to me by NRA boosters - anybody got input?)
10-15 years ago the Swiss army finally stopped using bicylcles (IIRC - they weighed 105 lbs! Even if the country is only 1/3 Alps & Juras, that’s still heavy going on the plains) Does anyone know about the bikes themselves? Were they, uh, mountain bikes or sturdy coasting-brake cruisers? Were they scrapped or sold in war surplus stores?
BTW - I already read Cecil’s column on the Swiss Army knife, so I’m up to speed on that one.
This is true, but isn’t as unusual as it sounds. How many crimes in the US are committed using assault rifles? Not many (making the ban on some of them pretty much useless, BTW).
Arjuna34
For one thing, the ammo is locked up in a sealed container (which is also kept in the home), and there are heavy penalties for breaking the seal.
A good reference on the Swiss Army (at least in the mid-late 80s) is John McPhee’s La Place de la Concorde Suisse.
Assault rifles are not the kinds of weapons you want for your average armed robbery, that’s true. They can be spotted a mile away, make a hell of racket and are hopeless to control on full auto. The average crime is committed at distances far shorter than the ranges that Army rifles are designed for, anyway.
I have no firsthand knowledge of the Swiss procedure, but the different Scandinavian Home Guards operate on the same principle (weapons/ammo in the home, ammo in a sealed container kept separately), and stepping one step out of line on weapons procedures means an instant, oneway ticket out of the forces - and probably a criminal investigation as well. Armies worldwide are notorious for their complete lack of humour when firearms are involved.
As for the biciycle troops: It sounds like a ridiculous concept, but think about it.
A bicycle is practically silent, presents no major logistical challenges and enables the soldier to carry heavier loads over longer distances at higher speeds and still be able to fight when he arrives. I’ll bet anyone who’s been in the infantry have wished for a bicycle at times - I sure have. I read an article back when the Swiss Army decided to actually upgrade the bicycles to mountain-bike lookalikes instead of the very robust “standard” bicycles they’d been using up to then. Apparently, the bicycle troops considered themselves pretty bad-ass soldiers. “If it’s silly, but works, it isn’t silly”.
S. Norman