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Citizens owning guns isn't the safeguard that American gun lovers seem to think it is. Not against artillery and airstrikes.....
That's very true. But the Swiss enforced their neutrality with much more than rifles and militia. Getting into Switzerland was no piece of cake, and staying there wasn't either.
The Swiss built what could be called their own Maginot line inside Switzerland between the wars. They built lines of fortified bunkers, some designed to be strictly defensive, while others were equipped with artillery and AA weaponry.
They were all disguised as timbered barns, houses, or natural outbuildings. The shells were designed to open up in large panels quickly for the weaponry, while the defensive bunkers were built mostly underground, with only secure steel doors in reinforced concrete for access. The citizenry all had their assignments, and were trained before and throughout the war.
These bunkers still exist. The weaponry is now old and antiquated, but is still in perfect operating condition. Any nation mounting a long war against them would have to contend with this weaponry, alongside the Swiss' modern weapons.
The thing that must be understood about the Swiss is their neutrality is based on a long history of Swiss mercenary. Switzerland was Europe's go-to mercenary for hundreds of years, and the Swiss fighters were known for their tenacity and savagery, as well as their willingness to die to the last man if called upon to do so.
This gave them a psychological advantage that helped their neutrality stay neutral. None of the leaders of European empires messed with them for two reasons: their homeland was very difficult to conquer and hold, and if the Swiss were assaulted, the offending leader lost all chances of hiring them when they were needed elsewhere. By WWII, they were no longer sending mercenary troops to fight other nation's wars, but their reputation, plus the easily defensible nature of their country, made leaving them alone much easier than trying to mess with them.
Another reason why Germany, nor anyone else attacked them was because the Swiss maintained foreign relations with all of the combatants. Each had an embassy in Bern, and consulates in other big Swiss cities, and all became pipelines for intelligence. Switzerland was the major intelligence center of the war, where every nation had a radio station within it's embassy, sending out encoded intelligence 24 hours a day unimpeded.
They were also on historically good terms with Germany, as half the Swiss come from German extraction. German Swiss is one of the two primary languages of the country. The Germans depended on Swiss goodwill; invading Switzerland offered them no advantages at all, but would have crippled them further in an already two-front war.
Allied aircraft that few into Switzerland for any reason were seized and put in compounds, and their flight crews were interred in guarded camps. The same happened with the Germans, but their camps were more comfortable than those of the Allies. Neither group was allowed to roam free or mingle, but had to work in the fields, so they were all about one step above being POWs, but were not poorly treated. The Germans, because they could speak the language, fared better in general than the Allies.
Any civilian seeking exile in Switzerland had a very difficult time getting over their border and staying there. The Swiss would take refugees, but the system was strict and the process lengthy. Refugees never knew if they were going to be summarily kicked back over the border at any time until it was complete. Notable refugees were seldom allowed entry at all. The border guards simply turned them away. Any refugee who snuck over the border faced the same if discovered, unless they could convince the government they were in immediate peril of their lives.
The Jews had a very hard time finding sanctuary in Switzerland, but it was easier for some of the other groups the Nazis went after. Catholic German dissidents were more readily accepted, as were Gypsies, depending on where they came from. The French refugees were more readily accepted, because Switzerland is 1/2 French. The Swiss decided for themselves who they wanted to shelter or not.
The Allied airmen much preferred to head to Sweden, Iceland, or Finland if they got into trouble. All those nations accepted them more than the Swiss, and they were allowed more freedom as detainees. Most were never repatriated back to their homes until the war was over.
Last edited by banjomike; 09-30-2014 at 10:22 PM..
Please make the case as to why the millions of armed, trained, and willing citizens of Switzerland did not prove to be a reason why the Germans did not invade the nation during WW2.
??? switzerland was hardly neutral during the war but helping launder and monetize Germany's illicit gains.
Had Switzerland tried to hold its ground or finance the Allies against Germany, it would have been obliterated.
And how many of those nations had 95% of the population armed, trained and ready to fight?
Not a single one...
Plus do you really think they would send army after army into Switzerland? No then would have figured out that it was not worth the loss of men and left as all occupying armies do.
Wrong.
All the European combatant nations had veterans who had much combat experience from WWI, and all had civilian militia groups and armed reserves.
The French were by far the most armed, but they were prepared to fight a defensive war, just like the one they previously fought 20 years earlier, while the German high command were determined to never fall into the same stalemate again.
The French simply could not move around fast enough to counter the German blitzkrieg, which was a completely different way of waging war than WWI. Speed and movement took France for the Germans, not troop numbers. Tactics, not numbers of armed civilians, created the speed and movement.
Switzerland had no importance in any plans of occupation for the Germans. France was the country they wanted. Without conquering France, the Germans had no effective seaports to the Atlantic. The French seaports allowed them to fight a sea war against the British supply lines.
Bud. The OP is gone from this topic. He is simply trolling, setting up absurd topics to rile people up.
Don't waste your time, he is not interested in any discussion nor he has any knowledge to have a discussion with anybody... LOL
Quote:
Originally Posted by banjomike
Wrong.
All the European combatant nations had veterans who had much combat experience from WWI, and all had civilian militia groups and armed reserves.
The French were by far the most armed, but they were prepared to fight a defensive war, just like the one they previously fought 20 years earlier, while the German high command were determined to never fall into the same stalemate again.
The French simply could not move around fast enough to counter the German blitzkrieg, which was a completely different way of waging war than WWI. Speed and movement took France for the Germans, not troop numbers. Tactics, not numbers of armed civilians, created the speed and movement.
Switzerland had no importance in any plans of occupation for the Germans. France was the country they wanted. Without conquering France, the Germans had no effective seaports to the Atlantic. The French seaports allowed them to fight a sea war against the British supply lines.
For the last time I am not this gunlover, if you do not believe me run a IP trace with a local defrag run.
You'll always be Gunlover to us........and we'll always have Paris.
There are a million gunlovers(not you specifically), hiding out in basements, crevices and under rocks. They keep to themselves except on internet forums. One day they act, but never in unison. Always alone. We take them out.
Oh, and a platoon or Company of sharpshooters/snipers will never stop a massed assault like the Blitzkrieg.
You're applying a video game vision to actual warfare and it doesn't fit.
You'll always be Gunlover to us........and we'll always have Paris.
There are a million gunlovers(not you specifically), hiding out in basements, crevices and under rocks. They keep to themselves except on internet forums. One day they act, but never in unison. Always alone. We take them out.
Oh, and a platoon or Company of sharpshooters/snipers will never stop a massed assault like the Blitzkrieg.
You're applying a video game vision to actual warfare and it doesn't fit.
Trust me, we are everywhere, we are cops, we are Marines, we are feds, we are pilots, we are C.E.O`s, we are people who exist in every facet,seem, and unit of America...We are wait for a time to strike, hoping that someone will prevent what is coming...But it just seems like the right is unwilling unable to stop the statist left and the statist left unable to stop their never ending quest for power and domination of the American people..One day they will push to hard, we will push back and after that it will not matter who started this war, only who ends it and how many statist thugs we can put on trial for the world to see as the liars, thieves and tyrants that they are..
It could be avoided, but some people will not stop their current course of action.....
Maybe you understand the role of a sniper is not to stop a mass assault but lay low, hide, let them pass over you, then hit them hard in the rear and destroy their gear to harass the enemy, to kill leadership to make the role of the lead to be one of death and misery, to reduce order to mayhem, to make every waking moment of life one of pure terror and paranoia...To be the unseen force of death and disruption, to be the dispatcher of sentries and the assassinator of Generals to the saboteur of grounded aircraft.
That is the role of the sniper, to be the invisible solider.
Maybe it is a single shot from a 1000 yards, Maybe its a claymore made up to look like a stamp.. Maybe its a single once of C4 or a single grenade in supply plane or docked ship carry artillery rounds is sure to create some hell for them, or maybe killing General as he stands before his men with a well place mortar round. Maybe its wasting the time and allocation of 1000 men looking for someone that does not even exist.
Google Simo Häyhä who took more the 505 Russians with a Mosin Nagant and 200 more with a Suomi KP/-31 in less then a 100 days.....
I would advise those in power to think twice about their course of actions but they never listen, or learn, or even care and it always ends the same way....
Please make the case as to why the millions of armed, trained, and willing citizens of Switzerland did not prove to be a reason why the Germans did not invade the nation during WW2.
Please make the case as to why the millions of armed, trained, and willing citizens of Switzerland did not prove to be a reason why the Germans did not invade the nation during WW2.
The Swiss would have been rolled over by the German Army, you seriously believe armed citizens could have stopped the Nazis from invading? It was a matter of convenience for the Germans to have a neutral country close by and it served them well when it came to using it as a backdoor to flee after they lost, not to mention hiding money. Read more history and try thinking more.
Please make the case as to why the millions of armed, trained, and willing citizens of Switzerland did not prove to be a reason why the Germans did not invade the nation during WW2.
Banks.
Please read a book now and then.
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