The Swiss & Neutality

[Split from 'The Stug III']

Well, if i was a Swiss i wouldn't worry to be drawn into a war anytime soon!!

 

Ta very much, I am enlightened.

Also, I see the point about Switzerland. What do they need tanks for at all?

 

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Tilly , the swiss federal army need armor for the same thing as anybody ,
...........to kill people ........,
hopefully for a pretty good reason ,
since the swiss federation lasted in one form or an other for 500 years ,
more or less without interuption , it's hard to fault their logic .
a proclamation of neutrality will be respected or not , just ask the
norvegians, dutchs , belges etc , etc , :roll: :roll: :roll:
It has more to do with one's weaponry than somebody else good
intentions

the swiss are rather militaristic about being peaceful
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Indeed, it is not widely known that the Swiss fought a series of air battles against the Luftwaffe early in WWII (Flying Bf109s bought from Germany), incursions into Swiss territory by anyone were not taken lightly and the shooting down of Luftwaffe aircraft crossing over only ceased when it was made clear that Germany was more than prepared to take things further if necessary.

 

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One of the problem of being neutral is to obtain neutral weapons
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The arm market is an interesting place full of motives and interests ,
usually the coutry of origin of one's armory give a good clue as to their
political alignment , the better the gear the closest the link
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it make neutral mix their suppliers to avoid being pined down to one side
or the other at the time of crisis

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The Finnish are very good at this, having a strange mix of Russian & Western equipment, plus (I think) a healthy dollop of home produce.

 

Simon, do you have any references for this -- I'd like to find out more

Tom

 

This is getting wildly off topic, but they also had a few aerial battles with American and British planes that got a bit lost over Germany.

 

Well, more or less the Swiss army is considered to have a high readiness level despite the fact that they live in peace for the last 500 years.

Also, these battles with thw Germans were fought around 1933-36?I think i've heard something similar but i'm not sure...

 

I think the world would have noticed! I assume it was 1939-45

 

Well,these battle could have been fought during the Spanish Civil War.This could explain why they're unknown to most.I'm pretty sure it was before ww2. Whatever it is,probably Simon can enlight us.

 

My understanding about the Swiss-Air Corps was that it incorporated a number of aircraft that they seized when pilots from agressor-nations were forced-down in neutral territory. If memory serves, they had P-51 Mustangs painted with the red/white Swiss cross.
Later in the war--1944?-- a Bf110-G nightfighter with top-secret liechtenstein (sp?) radar-gear, landed by mistake on a Swiss air-base. The Germans negotiated hard for the return of both the aircraft and it's crew. Hitler ordered the airmen shot after they--and the aircraft-- were "repatriated."
I believe the Swiss bartered for some German air assets to add to their Air Force to seal the deal and return the aircraft and crew..

Tim

 

i do find it strange that nobody attacked the Swiss for more then 500 years.
on the other hand, with all those bank accounts, would you risk a war in a country filled with mountains (excellent defense) and with bankers that can burn/ delete you money/ bankaccounts when you attack them?

back to the topic.
i didn't know that the swiss fought the luftwaffe. simon, come on, give us those sites, book titles, whatever, we are curious and we like to know more

 

I think I read something about it at school - didn't a Swiss pilot scare the Germans away by machine-gunning an apple off the top of his wingman's canopy.

 

No, he machine-gunned his wingman for eating his apple :lol: :bang: :bang: :bang:

 

It was William "T-air-ifying" Tell!

 

I assume someone tried to invade them but failed, I will look into it.

Edit; Do civil wars count as attack?

http://www.zum.de/whkmla/military/italy ... rland.html

 

It dates from the time when Switzerland won her freedom. Her armies of pikemen were so revolutionary and so formidable that none could challenge them, so nobody bothered. And nobody has since. Pretty much because any benefit you would gain from taking it over would be cancelled out by the cost of actually taking the place.

 

Not to mention the tactical advantage of defending a terrain know to them which is mountinous which would make invasion evan harder.

(it is mountinous right? I am pretty sur eon that one)

 

in cause of a doubt, just say, a terrain filled with mountains. why making it difficult?