# Swiss army **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 10, 2011, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-army/574121 "2011-03-10T02:20:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-army/574121/21 "2011-03-10T19:24:57Z")
[The Master speaks](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/476/does-the-swiss-army-really-use-the-swiss-army-knife) on the Swiss army and the Swiss army knife. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-army/574121/22 "2011-03-10T20:06:56Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > I said invaders, not the Darth kind. 😛 😃 Same principle though! “We are peaceful, we have no weapons!” isn’t much of a defense against someone who isn’t peaceful at all. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-army/574121/23 "2011-03-10T20:17:57Z")
The Swiss also have a lot of fortifications; artillery and/or anti-aircraft guns hidden in barns, bunkers to support 114% of their population, tank traps, their tunnels are rigged for demolition. See: [Swiss Armed Forces - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_of_Switzerland#Shelters_and_fortifications) The mountainous terrain no doubt helps too. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-army/574121/24 "2011-03-10T22:20:08Z")
> [@](#): > > The weakest of all weak things is a virtue that has not been tested in the fire. > > - **Mark Twain** , from **The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg** We’ll see… ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-army/574121/25 "2011-03-11T00:21:54Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > The Swiss also have a lot of fortifications; artillery and/or anti-aircraft guns hidden in barns, bunkers to support 114% of their population, tank traps, their tunnels are rigged for demolition. I was in Switzerland about a year ago, and one of my guidebooks claimed that in the event of an outside attack all train routes into the country could be blown up within about 20 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-army/574121/26 "2011-03-11T01:05:29Z")
On the other hand, if you talk to Swiss people about what their training exercises look like, you realize the Swiss army is a comic-opera conceit that wouldn’t last two weeks against a determined attacker with modern weapons. The real benefit of neutrality is that Switzerland has no enemies. That’s what really protects it – not a military whose doughtiness is more myth than fact. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-army/574121/27 "2011-03-11T01:47:36Z")
> [@hutchtheoldguy](#): > > Lighten up already! No, sir, we at the SDMB - GQ do not have a sense of humor we are aware of. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-army/574121/28 "2011-03-11T02:56:51Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I was in Switzerland about a year ago, and one of my guidebooks claimed that in the event of an outside attack all train routes into the country could be blown up within about 20 minutes. What an odd thing for a guidebook. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-army/574121/29 "2011-03-11T03:42:31Z")
Very effective against a _wagon-lit_-based offensive thrust, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/swiss-army/574121.md?page=1)