Military history of Switzerland
Encyclopedia
The military history
of Switzerland
comprises centuries
of armed actions, and the role of the Swiss military
in conflict
s and peacekeeping
worldwide. Despite maintaining neutrality
since its independence from the Holy Roman Empire
in 1499, Switzerland has been involved in military operations dating back to the hiring of Swiss mercenaries
by foreign nations, including the Papal States
.
, an alliance of three cantons was formed for mutual defense, chiefly against the Habsburgs. A succession of interventions by the Habsburgs produced the battles of Morgarten
(1315) and Sempach
(1386), resulting in independence for the confederacy.
By 1353 the original three cantons had been joined by two additional cantons and three city states.
Late in the thirteenth century, soldiers drawn from the cantons of Switzerland gained a military reputation throughout Europe. This reputation was earned as a result of their defense against the Austrian Habsburg
overlords and during campaigns in Italy. By the fifteenth century the Swiss had become particularly valued as soldiers-for-hire. Swiss soldiers were noted for their combat skill and ferocious attacks in the Phalanx
, or deep column formation using pike
and halberd
. They had a virtual monopoly on pike mercenary service up until 1490.
By 1490 German mercenaries became proficient in Swiss military tactics and were available for hire at a lower cost. In 1515 the Swiss pledged themselves to neutrality, and they only continued to fight in the service of the Royal French army. They became bitter rivals with the German mercenaries and the two would often fight on the battlefields of Europe during the next few decades.
Following the Battle of Marignano
in 1515, however, the Swiss style of massed-combat fighting went into steady decline, to be replaced by the arquebusiers, artillery and earthworks. During the Battle of Bicocca
in 1522 the Swiss mercenaries saw a bitter defeat with heavy casualties. Nonetheless Swiss continued to serve as mercenaries during the next two centuries, adopting the musket to replace the pike.
hired them as "bodyguard
s"; however the group of soldiers was large enough to be considered an army. This is appropriate, seeing as the Papal States
took up one-third of Italy
at the time, requiring extensive protection. The pope enlisted them, seeing as he believed they were best at the time. Currently, it is illegal for Swiss citizens to fight as mercenaries, however working to protect the Vatican
is the sole exception.
was a popular revolt by the rural populations of several cantons. The rebellion was suppressed, but it led to a series of reforms. In 1655 and later in 1712, the Battles of Villmergen
occurred as a result of religious conflicts between Catholic and reformed cantons. The religious conflicts were renewed in 1847, resulting in a civil war and leading to the formation of Switzerland as a federal state
.
During the 1814-15 Congress of Vienna
the neutrality of Switzerland was guaranteed by the signatories.
of 1848. From this time, it was illegal for the individual cantons to declare war or to sign capitulations or peace agreements. Paragraph 13 explicitly prohibited the federation from sustaining a standing army
, and the cantons were allowed a maximum standing force of 300 each (not including the Landjäger corps, a kind of police force). Paragraph 18 declared the obligation of every Swiss citizen to serve in the federal army if conscripted (Wehrpflicht), setting its size at 3% of the population plus a reserve of one and one half that number, amounting to a total force of some 80,000.
The first complete mobilization
, under the command of Hans Herzog
, was triggered by the Franco-Prussian War
in 1871. In 1875, the army was called in to crush a strike of workers at the Gotthard tunnel
. Four workers were killed and 13 were severely wounded.
Paragraph 19 of the revised constitution of 1874 extended the definition of the federal army to every able-bodied citizen, swelling the size of the army at least in theory from below 150,000 to more than 700,000, with population growth during the 20th century rising further to some 1.5 million, the second largest armed force per capita after the Israeli Defence Forces.
, Switzerland remained a neutral state. In World War II
, Germany made some plans for the invasion of Switzerland, most notably Operation Tannenbaum
, but these were never carried out. However Swiss air space was repeatedly violated.
commanded in 1912 by Ulrich Wille
, a reputed Germanophile
, convinced visiting European heads of state, in particular Kaiser Wilhelm II, of the efficacy and determination of Swiss defences. Wille subsequently was put in command of the second complete mobilization in 1914, and Switzerland escaped invasion in the course of World War I
.
during mobilization. In 1932, the army was called to suppress an anti-fascist demonstration in Geneva. The troops shot dead 13 demonstrators, wounding another 65. This incident long damaged the army's reputation, leading to persistent calls for its abolition among left-wing politicians. In both the 1918 and the 1932 incidents, the troops deployed were consciously selected from rural regions such as the Berner Oberland, fanning the enmity between the traditionally conservative rural population and the urban working class.
The third complete mobilization of the army took place during World War II
under the command of Henri Guisan
.
Switzerland's military strategy during World War II was essentially one of deterrence. The idea was to make clear to the Third Reich that an invasion would have a high cost. Simultaneously, economic concessions were made to Germany in the hope that the overall cost of a German invasion would be perceived as higher than the potential benefits. Despite this, it is clear that Hitler intended to invade eventually and that the Allied landing at Normandy as well as the difficulties faced in invading Russia
were pivotal in merely delaying an invasion.
After Switzerland was surrounded by German and Italian forces, General Guisan revealed on 25 July 1940 at the so-called Rütli rapport, a meeting of the Swiss army staff at the founding site of the Swiss confederation, that in case of attack the Swiss would only defend the high Alps including the important transalpine roads and rail links. As a last resort, the army would make these routes useless to the Axis by destroying key bridges and tunnels. This plan meant that the populated lowlands - including the economic centres of the country - would be effectively ceded to the Germans. The gold reserves of the Swiss National Bank
in Zürich were moved farther away from the German border, to the Gotthard Pass and to Bern.
Many billions of Swiss Francs have been invested in building the fortifications in the mountains, which are partly still used by the army. The most important buildings of the Reduit
were the fortifications of Sargans
, St. Maurice (Valais) and the Gotthard region. The caverns of those time were equipped with the needed infrastructure, beside cannons and howitzer
s they consisted of dormitories, kitchens, field hospitals, rooms for the sick and bakeries; and they provided space enough to accommodate 100 to 600 soldiers for a timespan of up to several months. Because the tensions between the western countries and the USSR cooled down and bunkers became more or less obsolete because of newer weapon systems, a great number of the Reduit buildings were closed. Some of them have been reopened as museums and can be visited.
) receiving 35.6% support. This triggered a series of reforms, and in 1995, the number of troops was reduced to 400,000 ("Armee 95"). Article 58.1 of the 1999 constitution repeats that the army is "in principle" organized as a militia, implicitly allowing a small number of professional soldiers. A second initiative aimed at the army's dissolution in late 2001 received a mere 21.9% support. Nevertheless, the army was shrunk again in 2004, to 220,000 men ("Armee XXI"), including the reserves.
Military history
Military history is a humanities discipline within the scope of general historical recording of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, their cultures, economies and changing intra and international relationships....
of Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
comprises centuries
Century
A century is one hundred consecutive years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages .-Start and end in the Gregorian Calendar:...
of armed actions, and the role of the Swiss military
Military of Switzerland
The Swiss Armed Forces perform the roles of Switzerland's militia and regular army. Under the country's militia system, professional soldiers constitute about 5 percent of military personnel; the rest are male citizen conscripts 19 to 34 years old...
in conflict
War
War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...
s and peacekeeping
Peacekeeping
Peacekeeping is an activity that aims to create the conditions for lasting peace. It is distinguished from both peacebuilding and peacemaking....
worldwide. Despite maintaining neutrality
Neutral country
A neutral power in a particular war is a sovereign state which declares itself to be neutral towards the belligerents. A non-belligerent state does not need to be neutral. The rights and duties of a neutral power are defined in Sections 5 and 13 of the Hague Convention of 1907...
since its independence from the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
in 1499, Switzerland has been involved in military operations dating back to the hiring of Swiss mercenaries
Swiss mercenaries
Swiss mercenaries were notable for their service in foreign armies, especially the armies of the Kings of France, throughout the Early Modern period of European history, from the Later Middle Ages into the Age of the European Enlightenment...
by foreign nations, including the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
.
Old Swiss Confederacy
Formed with the Federal Charter of 1291Federal Charter of 1291
The Federal Charter or Letter of Alliance documents the Eternal Alliance or League Of The Three Forest Cantons , the union of three cantons in what is now central Switzerland. It is dated in early August, 1291 and initiates the current August 1 national Swiss holiday. This agreement cites a...
, an alliance of three cantons was formed for mutual defense, chiefly against the Habsburgs. A succession of interventions by the Habsburgs produced the battles of Morgarten
Battle of Morgarten
The Battle of Morgarten occurred on November 15, 1315, when a Swiss Confederation force of 1,500 infantry archers ambushed a group of Austrian soldiers of the Holy Roman Empire near the Morgarten Pass...
(1315) and Sempach
Battle of Sempach
An armistice was agreed upon on 12 October, followed by a peace agreement valid for one year, beginning on 14 January 1387.The battle was a severe blow to Austrian interests in the region, and allowed for the further growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy....
(1386), resulting in independence for the confederacy.
By 1353 the original three cantons had been joined by two additional cantons and three city states.
Swiss mercenaries
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
overlords and during campaigns in Italy. By the fifteenth century the Swiss had become particularly valued as soldiers-for-hire. Swiss soldiers were noted for their combat skill and ferocious attacks in the Phalanx
Phalanx formation
The phalanx is a rectangular mass military formation, usually composed entirely of heavy infantry armed with spears, pikes, sarissas, or similar weapons...
, or deep column formation using pike
Pike (weapon)
A pike is a pole weapon, a very long thrusting spear used extensively by infantry both for attacks on enemy foot soldiers and as a counter-measure against cavalry assaults. Unlike many similar weapons, the pike is not intended to be thrown. Pikes were used regularly in European warfare from the...
and halberd
Halberd
A halberd is a two-handed pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 14th and 15th centuries. Possibly the word halberd comes from the German words Halm , and Barte - in modern-day German, the weapon is called Hellebarde. The halberd consists of an axe blade topped with a spike mounted on...
. They had a virtual monopoly on pike mercenary service up until 1490.
By 1490 German mercenaries became proficient in Swiss military tactics and were available for hire at a lower cost. In 1515 the Swiss pledged themselves to neutrality, and they only continued to fight in the service of the Royal French army. They became bitter rivals with the German mercenaries and the two would often fight on the battlefields of Europe during the next few decades.
Following the Battle of Marignano
Battle of Marignano
The Battle of Marignano was fought during the phase of the Italian Wars called the War of the League of Cambrai, between France and the Old Swiss Confederacy. It took place on September 13 and 15, 1515, near the town today called Melegnano, 16 km southeast of Milan...
in 1515, however, the Swiss style of massed-combat fighting went into steady decline, to be replaced by the arquebusiers, artillery and earthworks. During the Battle of Bicocca
Battle of Bicocca
The Battle of Bicocca or La Bicocca was fought on April 27, 1522, during the Italian War of 1521–26. A combined French and Venetian force under Odet de Foix, Vicomte de Lautrec, was decisively defeated by a Spanish-Imperial and Papal army under the overall command of Prospero Colonna...
in 1522 the Swiss mercenaries saw a bitter defeat with heavy casualties. Nonetheless Swiss continued to serve as mercenaries during the next two centuries, adopting the musket to replace the pike.
Swiss Guard
The Swiss Guard has its origins in 1506 when Pope Julius IIPope Julius II
Pope Julius II , nicknamed "The Fearsome Pope" and "The Warrior Pope" , born Giuliano della Rovere, was Pope from 1503 to 1513...
hired them as "bodyguard
Bodyguard
A bodyguard is a type of security operative or government agent who protects a person—usually a famous, wealthy, or politically important figure—from assault, kidnapping, assassination, stalking, loss of confidential information, terrorist attack or other threats.Most important public figures such...
s"; however the group of soldiers was large enough to be considered an army. This is appropriate, seeing as the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
took up one-third of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
at the time, requiring extensive protection. The pope enlisted them, seeing as he believed they were best at the time. Currently, it is illegal for Swiss citizens to fight as mercenaries, however working to protect the Vatican
Vatican City
Vatican City , or Vatican City State, in Italian officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as State of the City of the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, Italy. It has an area of...
is the sole exception.
Internal conflicts after the Reformation
The Swiss peasant war of 1653Swiss peasant war of 1653
The Swiss peasant war of 1653 was a popular revolt in the Old Swiss Confederacy at the time of the Ancien Régime. A devaluation of Bernese money caused a tax revolt that spread from the Entlebuch valley in the Canton of Lucerne to the Emmental valley in the Canton of Bern and then to the cantons of...
was a popular revolt by the rural populations of several cantons. The rebellion was suppressed, but it led to a series of reforms. In 1655 and later in 1712, the Battles of Villmergen
Battles of Villmergen
The Battles of Villmergen were two battles between Reformed and Catholic Swiss cantons. They occurred on January 24, 1656 and July 24, 1712 at Villmergen, Canton of Aargau, Switzerland ....
occurred as a result of religious conflicts between Catholic and reformed cantons. The religious conflicts were renewed in 1847, resulting in a civil war and leading to the formation of Switzerland as a federal state
Switzerland as a federal state
The rise of Switzerland as a federal state began on September 12, 1848, with the creation of a federal constitution, which was created in response to a 27-day civil war in Switzerland, the Sonderbundskrieg...
.
Helvetic Republic
In 1798 the French army overran Switzerland and proclaimed a Helvetic Republic. Internal resistance and economic problems destabilized the state and additional French troops were deployed to restore order.During the 1814-15 Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
the neutrality of Switzerland was guaranteed by the signatories.
Birth of the federal state
In the federal treaty of 1815, the Tagsatzung prescribed cantonal troops to put a contingent of 2% of the population of each canton at the federation's disposition, amounting to a force of some 33,000 men. The cantonal armies were converted into the federal army (Bundesheer) with the constitutionSwiss Federal Constitution
The Federal Constitution of 18 April 1999 is the third and current federal constitution of Switzerland. It establishes the Swiss Confederation as a federal republic of 26 cantons , contains a catalogue of individual and popular rights , delineates the responsibilities of the...
of 1848. From this time, it was illegal for the individual cantons to declare war or to sign capitulations or peace agreements. Paragraph 13 explicitly prohibited the federation from sustaining a standing army
Standing army
A standing army is a professional permanent army. It is composed of full-time career soldiers and is not disbanded during times of peace. It differs from army reserves, who are activated only during wars or natural disasters...
, and the cantons were allowed a maximum standing force of 300 each (not including the Landjäger corps, a kind of police force). Paragraph 18 declared the obligation of every Swiss citizen to serve in the federal army if conscripted (Wehrpflicht), setting its size at 3% of the population plus a reserve of one and one half that number, amounting to a total force of some 80,000.
The first complete mobilization
Mobilization
Mobilization is the act of assembling and making both troops and supplies ready for war. The word mobilization was first used, in a military context, in order to describe the preparation of the Prussian army during the 1850s and 1860s. Mobilization theories and techniques have continuously changed...
, under the command of Hans Herzog
Hans Herzog
Hans Herzog was a Swiss army officer, and was elected Switzerland's General during the Franco-Prussian War.Born in Aarau, he became an artillery lieutenant in 1840, and then spent six years in travelling , before he became a partner in his father's business in 1846...
, was triggered by the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
in 1871. In 1875, the army was called in to crush a strike of workers at the Gotthard tunnel
Gotthard Rail Tunnel
The Gotthard Rail Tunnel, is a 15-kilometre long railway tunnel and forms the summit of the Gotthard Railway in Switzerland. It connects Göschenen with Airolo and was the first tunnel through the Gotthard massif...
. Four workers were killed and 13 were severely wounded.
Paragraph 19 of the revised constitution of 1874 extended the definition of the federal army to every able-bodied citizen, swelling the size of the army at least in theory from below 150,000 to more than 700,000, with population growth during the 20th century rising further to some 1.5 million, the second largest armed force per capita after the Israeli Defence Forces.
The World Wars
During World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Switzerland remained a neutral state. In World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Germany made some plans for the invasion of Switzerland, most notably Operation Tannenbaum
Operation Tannenbaum
Operation Tannenbaum , known earlier as Operation Green, was a planned but cancelled invasion of Switzerland by Nazi Germany during World War II.-Background:...
, but these were never carried out. However Swiss air space was repeatedly violated.
World War I
A major manoeuvreMilitary exercise
A military exercise is the employment of military resources in training for military operations, either exploring the effects of warfare or testing strategies without actual combat...
commanded in 1912 by Ulrich Wille
Ulrich Wille
Conrad Ulrich Sigmund Wille was the General of the Swiss Army during the First World War. Inspired by the Prussian techniques that he had been able to observe at the time of his studies in Berlin, he tried to impress the Swiss Army with a spirit based on instruction, discipline and technical...
, a reputed Germanophile
Germanophile
A Germanophile is a person who is fond of German culture, German people, and Germany in general, exhibiting as it were German nationalism in spite of not being an ethnic German or a German citizen. Its opposite is Germanophobia...
, convinced visiting European heads of state, in particular Kaiser Wilhelm II, of the efficacy and determination of Swiss defences. Wille subsequently was put in command of the second complete mobilization in 1914, and Switzerland escaped invasion in the course of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Interbellum period
Wille also ordered the suppression of the Swiss General strike (Landesstreik) of 1918 with military force. Three workers were killed, and a rather larger number of soldiers died of the Spanish fluSpanish flu
The 1918 flu pandemic was an influenza pandemic, and the first of the two pandemics involving H1N1 influenza virus . It was an unusually severe and deadly pandemic that spread across the world. Historical and epidemiological data are inadequate to identify the geographic origin...
during mobilization. In 1932, the army was called to suppress an anti-fascist demonstration in Geneva. The troops shot dead 13 demonstrators, wounding another 65. This incident long damaged the army's reputation, leading to persistent calls for its abolition among left-wing politicians. In both the 1918 and the 1932 incidents, the troops deployed were consciously selected from rural regions such as the Berner Oberland, fanning the enmity between the traditionally conservative rural population and the urban working class.
World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
under the command of Henri Guisan
Henri Guisan
Henri Guisan was a Swiss army officer, and held the office of the General of the Swiss Army during World War II. He was the fourth and the most recent man to be appointed to the rarely used Swiss rank of General, and was possibly Switzerland's most famous soldier...
.
Switzerland's military strategy during World War II was essentially one of deterrence. The idea was to make clear to the Third Reich that an invasion would have a high cost. Simultaneously, economic concessions were made to Germany in the hope that the overall cost of a German invasion would be perceived as higher than the potential benefits. Despite this, it is clear that Hitler intended to invade eventually and that the Allied landing at Normandy as well as the difficulties faced in invading Russia
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
were pivotal in merely delaying an invasion.
After Switzerland was surrounded by German and Italian forces, General Guisan revealed on 25 July 1940 at the so-called Rütli rapport, a meeting of the Swiss army staff at the founding site of the Swiss confederation, that in case of attack the Swiss would only defend the high Alps including the important transalpine roads and rail links. As a last resort, the army would make these routes useless to the Axis by destroying key bridges and tunnels. This plan meant that the populated lowlands - including the economic centres of the country - would be effectively ceded to the Germans. The gold reserves of the Swiss National Bank
Swiss National Bank
The Swiss National Bank is the central bank of Switzerland. It is responsible for Swiss monetary policy and for issuing Swiss franc banknotes.The names of the institution in the four official languages of the country are: ; ; ; ....
in Zürich were moved farther away from the German border, to the Gotthard Pass and to Bern.
Many billions of Swiss Francs have been invested in building the fortifications in the mountains, which are partly still used by the army. The most important buildings of the Reduit
Reduit
A reduit is a fortified structure such as a citadel or a keep into which the defending troops can retreat when the outer defences are breached...
were the fortifications of Sargans
Sargans
Sargans is a municipality in the Wahlkreis of Sarganserland in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland.Sargans is known for its castle, which dates from before the founding of the Swiss Confederation in 1291...
, St. Maurice (Valais) and the Gotthard region. The caverns of those time were equipped with the needed infrastructure, beside cannons and howitzer
Howitzer
A howitzer is a type of artillery piece characterized by a relatively short barrel and the use of comparatively small propellant charges to propel projectiles at relatively high trajectories, with a steep angle of descent...
s they consisted of dormitories, kitchens, field hospitals, rooms for the sick and bakeries; and they provided space enough to accommodate 100 to 600 soldiers for a timespan of up to several months. Because the tensions between the western countries and the USSR cooled down and bunkers became more or less obsolete because of newer weapon systems, a great number of the Reduit buildings were closed. Some of them have been reopened as museums and can be visited.
Contemporary history
In 1989, the status of the army as a national icon was shaken by a popular initiative aiming at its complete dissolution (see: Group for a Switzerland without an ArmyGroup for a Switzerland without an Army
The Group for a Switzerland without an Army, is a group working to reduce the military activities of Switzerland. The Group was created in Solothurn on 12 September 1982 by 120 people...
) receiving 35.6% support. This triggered a series of reforms, and in 1995, the number of troops was reduced to 400,000 ("Armee 95"). Article 58.1 of the 1999 constitution repeats that the army is "in principle" organized as a militia, implicitly allowing a small number of professional soldiers. A second initiative aimed at the army's dissolution in late 2001 received a mere 21.9% support. Nevertheless, the army was shrunk again in 2004, to 220,000 men ("Armee XXI"), including the reserves.
External links
Living history group representing the federal army of 1861- The Swiss Report, a 1983 study for Western Goals FoundationWestern Goals FoundationThe Western Goals Foundation was a private intelligence dissemination network active on the right-wing in the United States. It was wound up in 1986 when the Tower Commission revealed it had been part of Oliver North's Iran–Contra funding network....
- Fortifications Switzerland
- Swiss Army bike