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A Swiss bayonet with a 19-inch (48.25 cm) saw-toothed blade. Would you really want to mess with a country which uses stuff like this? |
Prior to the beginning of World War II, Adolf Hitler on multiple occasions guaranteed the neutrality of Switzerland and publicly stated that he was eschewing any and all opportunities to invade same. Amazingly, the Swiss were not entirely reassured by these assertions and mobilized a huge army within three days after the Germans started WWII in Europe by launching an offensive against Poland.
The instincts of the Swiss were sound. Hitler was appalled by a Germanic nation that provided its people with a decentralized democracy and a wide range of civil rights. Privately, Hitler confided to his advisers that he considered the Swiss "disgusting" and that Switzerland was a "pimple on the face of Europe." In order to pop this pimple, the Germans developed a scheme called Operation Tannenbaum ("Fir Tree") where they would invade Switzerland with up to 500,000 troops and make it part of the German Reich.
Plans to launch this offensive were finally shelved after D-Day in Normandy. By all expert accounts, implementation of Operation Tannenbaum would have been a total disaster for Germany. There are good reasons why no one invades Switzerland. The country is so mountainous that the only access is through a few passes. The Swiss knew where these passes were and were well-prepared to defend them. The passes, bridges, and tunnels were (and still are) mined with high explosives which can be detonated at a moment's notice. Aircraft and artillery pieces were hidden in the sides of mountains or within bucolic barns or quaint Alpine houses. The heavy forests would have concealed most military targets from the Luftwaffe, and the German navy would, for obvious reasons, have been highly ineffective.
In addition, of course, the Germans had plenty of distractions already on the Russian front. They really, truly, did not also need a horde of angry Swiss crossing their border. Since the late 1400s, Swiss soldiers have been considered the cream of the crop in Europe and had served as line troops in a wide variety of armies. During World War II, every Swiss adult male up to age 60 was trained in the army, belonged to the militia, and kept a rifle at home. And, even today, virtually all Swiss males between ages 20 and 30 are currently in the militia and are required to store fully automatic rifles and ammo at their residences.
The Swiss Guard still serves as the bodyguards for the Pope. You can see them in Vatican City in brightly colored medieval* uniforms and holding old-fashioned pointy things--however, these extremely competent military men are far more than a quaint tourist attraction. Hitler would have faced Swiss opponents bearing highly accurate and highly regarded K31 carbines; the modern Swiss soldiers, including the Swiss Guards at the Vatican, are well-trained and proficient in the latest in small arms and machine guns.
For a thorough description of how "Switzerland does not have an army; Switzerland is an army," read John McPhee's 1983 book, La Place de la Concorde Suisse. For an analysis of the same topic by the characters from Greg and Mort Walker's comic strip Beetle Bailey, see the bottom of this page.
*Speaking of going medieval, that is what a Swiss Guardsman is likely to do to you if you were to deprecate his uniform, such as by calling it a clown costume, in his presence.
In addition, of course, the Germans had plenty of distractions already on the Russian front. They really, truly, did not also need a horde of angry Swiss crossing their border. Since the late 1400s, Swiss soldiers have been considered the cream of the crop in Europe and had served as line troops in a wide variety of armies. During World War II, every Swiss adult male up to age 60 was trained in the army, belonged to the militia, and kept a rifle at home. And, even today, virtually all Swiss males between ages 20 and 30 are currently in the militia and are required to store fully automatic rifles and ammo at their residences.
The Swiss Guard still serves as the bodyguards for the Pope. You can see them in Vatican City in brightly colored medieval* uniforms and holding old-fashioned pointy things--however, these extremely competent military men are far more than a quaint tourist attraction. Hitler would have faced Swiss opponents bearing highly accurate and highly regarded K31 carbines; the modern Swiss soldiers, including the Swiss Guards at the Vatican, are well-trained and proficient in the latest in small arms and machine guns.
For a thorough description of how "Switzerland does not have an army; Switzerland is an army," read John McPhee's 1983 book, La Place de la Concorde Suisse. For an analysis of the same topic by the characters from Greg and Mort Walker's comic strip Beetle Bailey, see the bottom of this page.
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| By Dnalor 01 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 at (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/at/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons |
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| Copyright King Features Syndicate |
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