Favourite Swiss quote in response to the Kaiser of Germany During WW1, Switzerland had 250,000 soldiers. The German Kaiser asked the Swiss ambassador in Berlin: “What would Switzerland do if I invaded with 500 000 soldiers?” The ambassador replied: “Shoot twice and go home.”
Hitler like invade again Switzerland but his famous General Erwin Rommel showed him a calculate...inside Switzerland the first 25km defenders lost app. 25.000 people, ....but Germany Army it will be lost app. 250.000 people... And after the Winter War (Finnland against Sovietunion ), learning something the Wermacht warmachine... Finnland lost App. 25.000 people,...but novadays historic research the Soviets lost over 1 million people....
@@JegesCaverMedve Plus the socialist nazis would have brainwashed the German soldiers into believing the Swiss-Germans would have welcomed them as "liberators", just like the socialist bolsheviks had the soviet soldier convinced they were invading Finland for the same idea. They would have been very enthusiastic until the body bags started coming back by the thousands.
@@JegesCaverMedve imagine swiss snipers in the mountains taking nazi soldiers one by one(like in Finland)... but yeah.. soviet union lost its most troops to cold when going for Finland
@@mercetajs swiss snipers nowadays are a bit of a joke. Yeah durable, can climb an icy mountain, survive morr them a week up there in snow etc. But the modern military is kindergarten for adults. Greeting from a Swiss marksman
Switzerland is the school kid who, in one hand, holds the wallets of the bullies who are fighting each other. Unlike the schoolkid, Switzerland also holds in his other hand a grenade with no pin.
ok the wallet thingy, that i understand. but a grenade with no pin. i am wishing for more context. it was nuke probably or maybe economic trade secrets.
@@rmp7400 it would be best to be a neutral third party for everybody. That way, if one country-let's say, Germany, for the sake of an example-would harm the Swiss, then every country would gun for Germany.
"Neutrality does not just mean staying out of conflict, it means seeing everyone as a potential threat to themselves and preparing for such. Because neutral countries that don't get Belgiumed."
About them bombing bridges, if I recall there was a time where Germany and Switzerland in the early 2000s or 2010s worked together to build a bridge (Germany paid for half of it and Switzerland paid the remaining half) but these madlads decided to place bombs along the bridge without Germany’s knowledge for years, just goes to show their dedication to neutrality is still very strong in the modern age
To be fair, it was only roughly in the same time that Germany started to dismantle its own planned obstacles against an invasion from the east. Bridges were not armed with explosives all the time, but the boreholes were already there. There were also camouflaged towers alongside narrow highway portions that contained large cement blocks that could be blown up in a specific way to fall across the highway. And other stuff. The swiss didn't invent the concept of destroying infrastructure to delay an advancing enemy
No one will invade Switzerland because the swiss bank is where nations store their off shore saving and Switzerland has serious diplomatic ties to practically everyone.
@@unlink1649 I just saw the US Air Force having there fighterr pilots land on a highway in Kentucky just a couple of weeks ago.I couldn't believe they still have their pilots doing such maneuvers these days.
2 things: 1) Swiss tanks were designed for mountain terrain and can adjust their track pattern unlike any other tank for use in mountain regions. It's called a Stridsvagn 103 2) The inner mountain base(s) are real. I've witnessed them personally while stationed in Europe.
There was only one REAL swiss Tank: the "Mutz".Everything else was called "Horse" in really tricky terrain. And the Messenger/intelligence couriers used Bicycles.
@@sunsnows Aghh...Sweden, Switzerland, Slovakia, Somalia... same shit. We don;t give a fuck here in the US, it's all the same to us. We are the greatest country in the history of the human race! Lol
@sneksnekitsasnek Napoleon didn't invade Switzerland. nor have conflict with it. He just walk in the mount alps for deception into thinking the britz wouldn't think.
Got a lift from a Swiss army colonel when hitchhiking once in France/Germany. He said the reason nobody would dare invade Switzerland is simple - all of Europe’s rivers start in Switzerland. They control Europe’s water supply and could deny water to anyone who messes with them.
Banks said lets stay neutral and we will get rich from it simple as that they financed allies and axis double edged sword, traits from temple banking system the first of it kind with tax free till to this day.
Ammunition isn't allowed anymore to carry home. It first was introduced to be able to 'shoot your way into the next military base'. However, since some soldiers killed themselves or relatives in domestic conflict, ammunition was only distributed when in active training at shooting ranges. After every exercise, remaining ammunition must be surrendered by law.
@@juliangerhard2552 not really, it was due to a law. swiss mercenairies should not fight for other countries anymore to prevent swiss men from killing each other.
Switzerland also did a really good job playing its enemies out against each other. A fantastic readable book about this thematic is for example 'Jürg Jenatsch' by Conrad Ferdinand Meyer. Thank you for the video!
Hitler also said no retreat at some point and this allowed for entire armies to be encircled and destroyed by the Russians... Backing down to fight another day when the odds are in your favor is the way to go. If you however are holding a good position that has many force multipliers, the words are wise indeed. Think of Stalingrad where the Russians kept pouring in hundreds of thousands of soldiers for ideological reasons. It is estimated that 2 million died there. Yes they kept the Germans out, but the cost was way too high.
Norway use the same strategy, like the Swiss we are prepared to blast our own infrastructure if ever necessary. Like Switzerland Norway is a mountainous courty, Norway is full of mountains, steep valleys and deep fjords.
I'm from a small village on the german side of the lake of constance and when we visited a swiss bunker with our school once, the senior officer that was showing us around very proudly showed us our home village through the lense of a canon, stating that if it were to come to a conflict, they could easily reinstall said cannon and "shoot down your lighthouse with one shot". "Of course", he added "this bunker is open to the public so we wouldn't actually do it from here". I love our neigbors on the mountains!
The nice thought is this: If there is no invasion from Germany - which will never happen, as long as I live, this is just a "special" story ;-). I think and hope that those days in Central Europe are over for good. I just cannot imagine that we are doing the same sheit we did in the 30ies/40ies of last century. Alone considering how Germany and Switzerland is intertwined as never before.
And there it is. I can‘t believe this wasn’t mentioned in the video. I‘m Swiss and I also live here, this is one of the biggest reasons we weren‘t attacked. Everybody knew, if you do that, you start a war with another 50 countries, some of them your allies
Paresh Kalekar Just dont drag your culture to the alps. Get a green card and start your evolution by eating cheese and chocolate and less curry and camel biryani. (I’m just kidding. I miss making jokes with travelers about stereotypes).
I never been to Switzerland. But, I met two of them in my MMA class. And, they were both at least 6'2" and both have light colors of hair. And, they are tough beasts. Both of them came from different places in Switzerland.
@@5600_xx Doch 😂 Ich höre und spreche es (fast perfekt) jeden Tag, es stört mich nicht, aber wenn ich darüber nachdenke... 😱 Und ja ... ein Berner der Hochdeutsch spricht 😱😱😱 Mutter aus Basel, aufgewachsen in der welsche Schweiz, ich arbeite seit 15 Jahren in Biel/Lyss. Deutsche Freundin, (richtiges) Hochdeutsch ist so viel schöner ^^
As a swiss citizen let me say a lot of this is outdated/exagerated. Most of the bridge bombs have been disarmed(at least officially). 800'000 is incorrect, more acurate number is about 250'000, also you only get to keep your military equipment until 34 when you are no longer considered in "reserve", you can choose to keep the rifle though. Also thr actual effectiveness of the military is highly debated as 90% are citizens and many would refuse to fight. However we do recieve similar training to US marines, and we have joint training exercises. The bunkers are real but were built in the 50s/60s so they are quite outdated, also many are so top secret they have been forgotten(we recently rediscovered one with a jet in it). There is a lot of mountain bunkers though, apparently enough to support ~1 million people, theres even an entire battery factory in one. Modern switzerlands neutrality is 90% diplomatic nowadays. Also we accidentally invaded liechtenstein with tanks a few times (it was my battalion, sorry liechtenstein). We invaded france by mistake too but it was just some infantry so no biggie.
As a Swiss with a "Swiss" name ,-), I thank you for your observations, corrections. I don't want to belittle the Swiss armed forces. Not at all. But a lot of other "weak" factors" weren't accounted for. The most important thing in all those "Switzerland Is a Country of War" jubilation videos don't account for one thing: Switzerland was as beligerent as every other European nation at that time. But they (we) drew the right conclusions after a devastating defeat after a war of expansion: Stick to your country. Defend it, yes. But don't ever do a war for territorial gains again. The defeat in the 16 hundreds (the battle of Marignano) was that "official" Switzerland wanted to conquer Italian territory - and they were defeated by Italian forces - mostly "armed" by Swiss soldiers of fortune who were fighting for the other side... Also, with this: Swiss soldiers were traded like commodities since hundreds of years at that time. Sold by the rich class in our country to other forces in whole of Europe. It was not a slave trade, but a Soldier of Fortune-trade. And those who were "sold" did the bidding of other countries. Out of poverty.
@@Christian-nj5bq What you describe where mercenaries become debters and fight for the other side is literally the founding history of slavery. The rules just got watered down and countries became loot and contracts unenforceable with failing governments. What won out was the men who traded the most debters and these men were expert at creating debters. It's exactly what happened to Native Americans as well. "explorers" as they're called in American history were these men and they also in essence made a pact with states to reignite the economic influence of government. That was the start of capitalism.
@@Furiends Yes, it is/was a form of slavery. I don't exactly concur with your premise that this was the start of capitalism though ;-). But in essence the mechanism was/is the same.
Netherlands and Switzerland during ww1 NL: this is nice Swiss: yeah really it's really pretty NL: next time same place Swiss: yeah sure WW2 Swiss: hello Netherlands?! Germany: Netherlands isnt available at the moment
Good one😂 Maar, “ze germans” pakte ons omdat we close waren met de britten en te para dat we een springplank zouden kunnen zijn later in de oorlog. En vergeet geografie niet…blitzkriegen gaat lastig in de bergen.
Swiss government: "we have taken all the explosives from our infrastructure." also Swiss gov't (maybe, Idk): "bomb all bridges with the hidden planes as soon as you see soldiers approaching."
@@brothdian HOI4-wise, invading Switzerland is essential to defeating France, since the border between France and Switzerland has lower mountains than the mountains between France and Italy.
Switzerland is far from unconquerable, and most great powers would be able to do it (France did it quite easily during the French Revolutionary Wars) now as well as in the past. However, the cost of doing so compared to what you gain from it has always been terrible, and as it has claimed neutrality and served as a buffer zone for ages, there has never truly been any good reasons to conquer the Swiss.
Yeah in war a lot of people often forget you don’t need to be stronger to win you just have to be enough of a pain to actually invade that nobody wants to put in the effort
@@rumplstiltztinkerstein they likely have considering the only reason they won the revolutionary war and war of 1812 was that very thing. They just know if they have the absolute strongest military it is both a giant deterrent and it allows them to meddle in foreign affairs a lot easier
You got two parts somewhat wrong and missed funny things. 1. 3:06 The swiss Men are NOT allowed to take the ammunition home with them. If a war breaks out, the ammuntition is given out. 2. 6:48 The "Tank Traps" are called "Drachenzähne" "EN: Dragontooths" 3. You never mentioned that but, the swiss has no active "Military General". The swiss decides as soon as a war breaks out, who gets to be the "General". Edit: The Swiss actually shot down Planes in WWII. They shot down some Bombers of the allied forces and some Fighter Planes of the Axis. The Swiss got bombed by allied powers one time. The city they bombed was "Schaffhausen" cuz they mistook it for germany territory. The Swiss actually invaded "Lichtenstein" 2-3 times by accident.
@@wirshl7141 ah well, the swiss has many crossroads and if u accidentally take a wrong turn near the Border, that happens. No one said, that the swiss army is smart.
No you are wrong. As he said in the video. In 2007 they decided to not have the ammunition at home anymore. Before you had it at home. I know that because they changed that while I had to do my military service. The idea was that you have enough ammunition to get to the meeting point of your military unit in case of war.
@@ElementsSti I am not wrong. I just misheard the "2007" and thought, that he said, that we still are allowed to take the ammunition home ^^ I know from my brother, that you can keep the equipment and all but not the ammunition. (btw ^^ bin 20 und hat noch keine Aushebung xD)
That reminds me of a famous Swiss reply to a German threat of invasion by Kaiser Wilhem. "What would you do if I sent an army of half a million to invade" "Shoot twice and be home by Chrismas" The Swiss militia/army of the time counted roughly 250 000. Talk about a Spartan reply.
@@Alex0404. you have inferiority complex. They are better in economic terms we are forged in warfare. I didn’t say anything diminishing. Just a statement.
Swiss Engineers: "Hmmm, so how should we design our tank traps, so the Germans and French know that we mean business?" (looks at engineer eating a Toblerone chocolate bar)
Greetings & love goes out from Albanian to all Swiss people & Switzerland we love you and all Albanians living their and doing their service in Swiss Army ❤
as a Swiss army captain, I see a lot of misinformation in this video: - most of the explosives in bridges, tunnels and other infrastructure are removed by now - currently Switzerland can raise an army up to 140'000 (with a goal of reduction to 100'000 in the near future) - "Switzerland doesn't have an army; Switzerland is an army" is a saying from the cold war period - not applicable anymore, and the troops never kept all the materials, but as it is still today, some essentials like the bag-pack and the rifle (without ammunition that is) - there is no "secret" airbase inside a mountain; Meiringen is an airbase still in use today in wich the most important infrastructure and some hangars are build in the mountainside (quite safe and impressive, but not secret or otherworldly special by any means) - regarding the "law" that every building must have a bunker... the meaning is to have an air-raid protection shelter, not a bunker to survive in for a period of time - the "tank traps" are actually called "tank barricades" (sometimes referred to as "toblerone" because they look like the chocolate) and were installed to slow down any advance of a foreign force - very common in all parts of the world - those nice little houses, that are actually canons are very rare, most of the canons don't had this "disguise" (reason the few were disguised was to not frighten the french tourists) - to say Switzerland poisoned the Rhein (even as an accident) is just hilarious... there was an accident/fire in a chemical facility in the city of basel (north western most point of Switzerland) and chemicals were getting in the river, wich killed a lot of fish, but thats it I could go on, but this is getting long
@@lokiodinson5412 he said that switzerland had taken away the bombs on the infrastructure though, so your first point is invalid plus I mean an air raid shelter is basically bunkers
@@mappsmappings4025 I clearly must have missed the part, where he's saying that the explosives are removed... could you please point me to that? (at 1:02 he doesn't mention that, does he?) as for the bunker... I generally agree; an air-raid shelter is a bunker, however to visualise that in the video he shows a bunker to live in for at least a few days (with a kitchen, table, bed, wardrobe, ..etc.) while explaining that, wich is just misleading (most of those "bunkers" are just a reinforced room - often but not exclusive underground/in the cellar - with a steel door)
When i was in military in Switzerland,, my job was to apply explosive charges on bridges and other infrastructure behind enemy lines. Also to build temporary bridges for our Tank battalions. The explosives on most infrastructures are removed since a long time, but theobjects are still prepared (kable canals for detonating wires and boxes for explosives) for explosive charges to be installed quickly.
In other words, all the explosives are removed, but they can all be put back in place before an invading force gets within 1km of the "designated fail point." Yup, you do not even THINK of messing with Switzerland. Makes me wonder if they have an army of hackers providing cyber-security for the nation, as well as being ready to destroy the digital infrastructure of any nation that dares to try a cyber-attack. ... Who am I kidding, the hackers are all billeted near Server Mountain.
@@andrewdreasler428 i doubt the hacker army tbh. We are more of a rigid nation of brains😀 of course in case of a conflict, it would still take a while to put back all the explosives. Also there were several levels of retreat planned, zones with defense lines that would hav been given up, slow down the enemy until they reach the fortified mountains. During the last twenty years, many of these bunkers and structure were given up by the army and are not secret anymore. There is a good documentation on the channel of „bloke on the range“ about that
@@mlugin8050 Switzerland is now recruiting a serious department for cyber security in the army. As a swiss, choosing my military specialization (studying mathematics and thus informatic as well) I've been offrered to be part of it. Everything is closed and an entrance exam has to be taken before beeing able to apply. If i'm not mistaking
The crazy thing is... except two sections, he pretty much was very very accurate. And these specific sections about the rhine poisoning and the airbase are not totally off either - I mean there are known hangars inside of the mountain atleast big enough to store F-5s.
As other commentators already mentioned - the Video describes the very well thought-out defense concept that existed into the 1990s. After 1999 for 20 years much was lost - but in European comparison it's safe to say that Switzerlands defense is in a better shape than Germany and Austria for example. If it had simply reduced spending and size of the military like Finland after the Cold War, instead of switching to a totally other, useless concept ('Security through cooperation' & relying on a 10-year warning time before a next possible war (no joke!, but fortunately this idea is now being abandoned)), it would still be unconquerable. Now the funding is being increased, F-35 jets are being bought. The army size will probably get increased in the foreseeable future. The civil defence suffered simliiar neglect over the last 20years. The 'bunkers' are still there, but the whole system to turn them into a place where people can not only take shelter, but live and survive for days and weeks, is quite 'out f shape'. Here also a lot of reinvestement is overdue.
I chose an apartment where I had no idea that to reach our buildings bunker, you have to have my storage space key to reach it 😅 I think maybe that’s the reason why everyone’s always so kind with me where I live 😂🇨🇭
@@spencervance8484 I have spares fortunately but I’m not allowed to give them to other neighbors unless with the home lord’s permission ;) in Switzerland we all nearly have really special keys that open multiple doors at our residence. Every key is made basically for one apartment and what comes with it.
What? So only you had the key to the other people storage? xD That could cause the landlord a little bit of trouble... xD I'm Swiss, didn't even knew that there are bunkers used as appartments...
@@siomhaithwarren739 no.. You understood what I wrote completely wrong. To reach our buildings bunker you have to have my keller key. I have my own apartment and I don’t live in my Bunker and I don’t have other people’s keys.
I think this is important, Switzerland has a direct democracy, so certain or better said the most important decisions which can impact the culture and society of Switzerland goes to the public, so the citizens in Switzerland have a more powerful voice on how the country is run compared to other countries when it comes to important decisions
In my six years in the country I have not seen/heard of even ONE municipal decision that asked the opinion of those effected by the administrative dictum! Decide: Is it militarism or democracy! My experience: It is pretty fake but seriously fake in both ways. Slavish covid-sheeplings competing who is the most impudent and arrogant bully.
@@xres1329 you simply did not understand our system during your stay. We elect representatives to avoid cumbersome people polls about every legislative decision to be made. But if things go bananas, we have a powerful tool called referendum by the means of which we may say no-no. The weakness in our system is the increasing complexity of topics we need to decide upon, though.
Went riding through the Swiss/Italian Alps a few years ago, and of course stopped at many mountain passes to enjoy the scenery. On one of those occasions (Julierpass) while looking around we notice strange formations in the rock faces in the distance. And the same in the rock faces behind us. Then it dawned on us, those were hidden gun emplacements and they were pointing right at us. No enemy force would be able to get past there without getting hammered by shell fire, exposed to guns from above and nowhere to hide. And then we started noticing odd looking garages and barns in the middle of nowhere located at locations with an excellent view of the surrounding infrastructure. Yeah, Switzerland is weird. :D
if you pay attention, on some mountain roads you can see what looks like a big rectangular manhole made of cement. That's where the bombs are. And we don't always get to know IF there are bombs or not
There are also some "sacrificial" houses and barns which specifically state in their contracts that, should a war break out, the house will be shot to pieces by artillery hidden behind it Usually these buildings are very simple (basically just some wood planks) so that the artillery can actually shoot through them though :3
As commander of a battery of self-propelled heavy artillery armored Howitzer I can say that we have invaded France (accidentally). An armored vehicle, trying to move more quickly to a well-known barracks in the north-west of Switzerland, ended up on French territory. The crew first and the military school commander afterwards had quite a few questions to resolve with the French police who had temporarily confiscated the Howitzer.
the only problem is the border with germany, Basel, Schaffhausen, even St. Gallen doesn't have big mountain, this could be the easiest way to enter swiss.
Either Hitler or the Kaiser once asked what the Swiss would do if he invaded with an army twice as big as what the Swiss could muster in defense. The answer was “shoot twice and go home.” (Loads of variations on this joke)
I was about to post that joke, but my grandfather told it like this: the german asking: "you have 250'000 men ready at the border. What would you do if I attack with a million soilders?" "Shoot four times and go home".
The other big reason to have that is that the military cant radicalize itself. Cause when every man has to go, you have people off all social and political backgrounds in it. The military doesnt become its own political entity here and something like a military coup is just not possible.
How could Switzerland stop any military?the soldiers there shoot a rifle that only shoots in 5.56 which cheap armor can easily stop.The U.S. is moving to the 6.68 Sig rifle,which can shoot through level 4 armor.
My Father was there in WWII, and, as a Scandinavian-'mix'-European with a 'knack' for languages, he fit right-in, and came to quickly love the people and their customs! He told me in one of our few conversations(he died when I was eight(8)), that I was to always think of Switzerland, as my 'other' home! I've met many native Swiss, and Nothing, has detracted from what my Beloved Father told me of them! (Not to mention, the innate beauty of the land itself!) Wonderful & Entertaining Presentation! Thank You. (New Subscriber.)
@Rigel how long ago was that? We talk abbout modern warfare, and neither the US or Russia did manage to conquer it, the twi biggest millitarss in the world. The us even failed with nato.
@@caturix4541 I guess you think America didn't conquer Afghanistan, but really in this day in age, no one is "allowed" to conquer stuff. If America or Russia wanted Afghanistan,they each could literally wade into the country, take over, and call it theirs. If you think otherwise, you're delusional.
I've always been amused by the notion of how far the Swiss will go to be neutral. Kinda reminds me of Irish Neutrality: if you're caught between two of your friends fighting and you wish to stay neutral, just fight them both. Swiss neutrality is kinda like that ... only with a s#!t ton of guns and explosives.
That's how the little guy can keep the big bullies at bay. You don't need to be stronger, just need to let them know how much it will cost them to mess with you.
I really like the Swiss way of thinking because if you stop to think about how horrible war is, you start to wonder why more countries don't do everything in their power to make war less likely. To me it only makes sense.
I've been all over the world, and only TWO places were so amazing that they SURPRISED me. 1.) The Grand Canyon. My vision & mind LITERALLY couldn't handle the canyon. It's like my eyes were trying to tell my brain, "Psst! This MUST be a 3-d movie." It was SO weird, but SO beautiful. 2.) Switzerland. Interlaken specifically. You have these endless green & beautiful pastures, rolling hills, then, seemingly out of NOWHERE, a majestic mountain rises skyward, looking like some giant lost an ancient arrowhead. What my travels taught me: When it comes to raw beauty, FOR ME, man cannot compete with God/Nature/Universe. Don't get me wrong, man has created cool stuff, stuff worth investigating and looking at. But, nature is the ultimate form of art.
I didn't travel the whole world but I sensed that Switzerland is the best place, it has something very special. I love their landscape,their lake, the people,it was a place where I saw a huge snow and it was my firstime to see the snow showers on me together with Rainer, that was the happiest moment happened in my life as the present time. I wish or I hope that I will meet him again and we visit again the place we went together and spending time with him visiting all the places there. I still miss him, even there was something happened to me,that I don't still figured it out. Overall, I love Switzerland.
@@pip5461 Yeah, no kidding. All roads lead to extinction or at least the end of the modern world. But, hey, at least CEO's and policy makers can buy their 5th mansion.
Hey greetings from Interlaken. Well from the village next to it called Matten. Im happy about your comment and the fact that you liked it here. I cant and i dont want to imagine living anywhere else. Im feeling safe in the little bubble we live in between two beautiful lakes! Cheers
I have seen the "secret" airbase from my eyes. It is so confidential that there’s a restaurrant opened to visitors where you can have your coffee at the same place fighter pilots would and buy postcards or gifts from their little "gift shop".
The Swiss Beast - Home of the Devil ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-aD-DiwDUvNA.html shou;d watch this guy's stuff. Its wild what he talks about
As a swiss that has done a few years in the military ( then i mooved away) there are at least 3 mountain base that i know. I can tell you 1 of those is in plain sight , if you drive a specific highway u can spot hangar doors marks on a mountain cliff. Im risking a fondue boarding by telling you this
4:45 One of them is Meiringen Airbase for sure. It's funny that there actually is a street crossing the runway wich where you occasionally have to wait for some F18s to land or take off
@@arnaudborne6904 If you want want something to be kep secret, let everyone else think they actually think they know the secret so they won't dig too much deeper. I do that that : people around think they know a few secrets about me (false) so they don't keep asking asking questions, because in the end I may do a mistake and tell them.
@@madstalk3r604 Your argument is invalid due to the fact that the false secrets you do give, (to deter someone), wouldn't give an "Answer" or end result to what the actual secret is asked or wondered. Also, you then make yourself susceptible to other investigations that are easier to be proven false, resulting in that person or persons trust in you, and then ultimately trusting and believing the prior secret that you don't want to be focused on and proven true. The best thing to do for deterring or evading investigation is to create a more believable false claim of the person investigating you, and tell them that you were told by the individual that told them about your secret. This automatically deters their need to invest in your life, and invests in their need for their own life. The main accuser will deny it fact and become not as credible as before, and the other will never be able to know who created it unless you give in and tell them it was you, that is, if all this was for nothing and let them continue their focus of investigation back on you. An easier approach would just be to...... DENY! DENY! DENY!
That's what I like about Switzerland (aside from its gorgeous landscapes, views, cheese and wine): their "I don't want to have a part in your mess and I will do what ever it takes not to" mentality. That's no mean feat, considering European history.
The thing is, the effort isn't worth the reward. Combination of its geography, it's military and it's mentality along with it being a neutral buffer zone (when attacked from 1 enemy, will automatically alert the other countries to defend), Switzerland is unconquerable!
@@chronicom30yearsago12 Destroy the entire mountains by concentrating fire, it's a small country after all. But still, vacations. The lakes. The cheeses.
if you are riding your motorbike trough the swiss alps and pay close attention to the surroundings you will see bunkers everywhere. The army selected 3 main areas as its main thresholds those areas are called „Festung Sargans“, „Festung Gotthard“ and „Festung Saint Maurice“ if a war would break out they would gather 300‘000 Soldiers in those areas which would have been able to hold out for half a year. There are thousands of bigger or smaller bunkers in the alps and for each cannon they stored 20‘000 Shots. Unfortunately, the last large bunkers were decommissioned and disbanded after the last army reform in 2017 for cost reasons. The fortress troops were also disbanded and integrated into the mountain infantry battalion. Some of the largest fortresses can now be visited as museums. If you ever drive over the Gotthard Pass, I recommend a visit to the Sasso da pigna. It was one of the largest Alpine bunkers. Equipped with 3 "Bison" guns, it was possible to fire from there as far as the Italian border. If you search for „Bison Geschütz“ you‘ll find videos of the canons being fired they are truly impressive.
Also a big reason Switzerland remained unattacked: The Gotthard tunnel is the main Door to Italy and stood open for any freight train from Germany to support Italy.
That was the joker: Germany and Italy helped to fiance the Gotthard tunnel, so they were allowed to transport goods (safer route, only goods, no soldiers). In case of an attack, this route would have been closed.
The funny thing that the Swiss army is extremely specialized when you look at in detail. For example, the rifle which is the Stg90 is build to last for ever. Which implies that they still think of hiding in bunkers with barley any weapon supplies. After 7500 shots it still got 98 points on 100m in a test (Sig 550=Stg90).
That's one of the more ignorant comments - relating their wartime proficiency to their medieval fighters. They are not war-time ready by any stretch. Constant training is required. Swiss have 21K active.
I will say up front that I am a huge fan of the Swiss militia system, particularly the fact that everyone's personal arms are kept at home, for life. That alone makes Switzerland unconquerable, at least in my opinion, because it makes the potential cost to an invader much too high. I very much wish both Taiwan and the Baltic States would adopt the same approach, but that seems unlikely at this point. All of that being said, I wonder if the title of "unconquerable" really belongs to Russia, rather than Switzerland. Having been unsuccessfully invaded twice by a major European power in two centuries (I'm ignoring WW1 here), Russia has repeatedly demonstrated its unconquerableness. The Swiss, not so much. While I think they would indeed repel any invader, this capability still remains a theoretical one. On the plus side, the fact that the Swiss have never had to prove this capability fully demonstrates the deterrence effect of all their preparations. Which makes them the real "winner" in this regard, given that they have not had to suffer horrendous casualties and destruction to prove their point.
It also puts the Noncombatant Civillians at risk. Because every civillian house "could be considered armed" is fair game. See? Today's weapons could level a city within a few minutes to an hour. And that alone could break the Swiss economy. You target the 5 biggest cities in switzerland, and you only have to deal with 10% of Switzerland's force after that. Mass Murder never stopped the big guys. And it was never as easy, as it is today. Sure, you can detect missile launches earlier than in WW2. But what can you do about it?
@@kira-le9qr Duly noted. Of course, Russia was much smaller then too, I imagine, not the largest country in the world like today, with lots of resources to draw upon. The Germans just couldn't match that over time. It's the same reason Russia is slowly grinding down the Ukrainians. Once things turn into a war of attrition, the larger and better resourced of the two combatants is more than likely to win.
We, Swiss, made a really good job at selling everybody the idea that our country is unconquerable. Or maybe it is, but the cost vastly exceeds the benefits (want to rebuild all the crossing through the Alps or re-bridge 400 rivers, uh?). That idea, by itself, is our best defense.
Nothing is unconquerable but geography supports strongly such the idea that Switzerland is unconquerable, therefore it is not an unsounded idea. In addition, indeed the costs of conquering Switzerland exceeds the benefits.
@@ezariogerion3138 Vonmich expressed some skepticism whether the idea of the unconquerable country is sounded and he seemed to lean more into the aspect that this idea of the unconquered land is mainly the outcome of good marketing. I expressed clearly that the idea is sounded. I hope I clarified your concern addressed to me with a lot of sophism.
Rubbish..... The game is in the economics.... I remember the shite they tried to tell us during the military service in Swiss... All BS... Learn your history.. Read up on BIZ and the meetings that took place during the war.... Unconquerable... What a joke... Swiss military is good for show only.... In this century no force needs to invade anymore... Swiss has no resources apart from strategic location in the center and corrupt banks to park the loots...
