Why No One Ever Invades Switzerland...

Reaganite Republican ^ | 24 April 2014 | Reaganite Republican

[Reaganite Republican]

Switzerland's ceaseless determination to remain neutral has kept them out any and all foreign engagements ever since the time of Napoleon... 

In order to guarantee this neutrality, every eligible Swiss male between the age of 18 and 42 are called up for service in the Swiss military. On a person/square mile basis, only Israel fields a larger army. Swiss gun culture is deeply imbedded in Swiss society, and it's not unusual to see arms toted around in public.

Every man in the country is issued a rifle and ammunition which they keep at their home in case of national emergency. And throughout history, the rifles issued to the citizens are real serious business... dependable with world-class accuracy:

1878 Vetterli

The first Swiss national rifle issued was the Vetterli, initially adopted in 1869. The Vetterli was the first magazine fed rifle adopted for universal service in Europe. While at the time of it's adoption, this firearm was the most advanced service rifle in Europe.

1889 Schmidt-Rubin

It was replaced in the late 19th century by the Schmidt-Rubin series of rifles.  There were several models in this series, including the 1889, 1896/11, 1911 Rifle and Carbine, and the K31. The Schmidt-Rubin series was issued from 1889 to 1957, and many K31s stayed in service for decades afterwards.  

Stgw.57

In 1957, the Schmidt-Rubin series was replaced by the Stgw 57.  The Stgw.57 was a marvel of modern craftsmanship, and -like the related handgun SIG210- is considered by many to be the finest battle rifle ever constructed.  Stgw.57's continued to be issued to Swiss soldiers until 1990, when it began to be replaced by the Stg.90.  

The Stg.90 (also know as the SIG 550) began limited service with the Swiss in the late 1980s, and went into full scale production in 1990.  The Stg.90 may well be the most accurate assault rifle in the world, as well as one of the best. It is designed to destroy any target at a range of 400m. Although no longer in production, 600,000 units have been produced.

There's currently one of these daunting 'assault rifles' in virtually every single Swiss home... just like Ukraine probably should have done. 

And can you imagine robbing houses there for a living?  

Video at Reaganite Republican...

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Wikipedia   Swiss Rifles   GunFunTV   h/t Kirby

[Reaganite Republican]

***ping***

[JoeProBono]

[longfellow]

I’ve seen what they can do with a knife so I can only imagine what they’re tanks can do.

[longfellow]

‘their’ you moron.

[skinkinthegrass]

they (ALL :) got guns.

[Defiant]

‘their’ you moron.

Hey, go easy on him. He probably had a public education in the last 30 years. :)

[Yo-Yo]

Why No One Ever Invades Switzerland...

I'm sure all those numbered Swiss Bank accounts have nothing to do with it.

[nickcarraway]

I have to respectfully disagree. The main reason Switzerland hasn’t been invaded is not their neutrality or guns, it’s their geography. Being located in high mountains makes it very difficult.

[SpinnerWebb]

“there”, you idiot!

just kidding... but I didn’t want you to just be flaming yourself. That’s weird.

[Reaganite Republican]

CORRECTION

There are 3.5M Swiss households... yet only 600K of those have a SIG 550 in the home.

But nearly every home is armed with one of the previously issued weapons or hunting rifles

[Leaning Right]

I wonder if the bicycling girls are really Swiss. I don't think their citizen-soldiers are allowed to be so open with their weapons.

I'd guess instead that they are two Americans going to a rifle range. Or perhaps two Israeli reservists.

And one more thing. It's my understanding that even though Swiss reservists keep their weapons at home, the ammunition is stored elsewhere. Even the Swiss are getting PC.

[Michael.SF.]

And don't forget, they also have this bad boy:

[JoeProBono]

[Sam Gamgee]

I have mixed feeling here. It is good that the Swiss depend only on themselves to enforce their neutrality. Hitler knew better than to try to go through their territory. On the other hand if Europe became the new Reich how long would Hitler have tolerated a independent Swiss territory?

[Reaganite Republican]

The whole package works for them

[dfwgator]

Operation Tannenbaum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Tannenbaum

[Reaganite Republican]

I too have thought quite a bit about that when studying history of WWII

[dfwgator]

See #17

[envisio]

Thanks for posting this article. I love this stuff... a big hobby of mine.