‘Most heavily armed, most free.’ A tale of "EVIL COLLECTIVISTS"

[Swordsmyth]

A Fortress, Disguised As A Country

Morgarten, Switzerland – Here, in 1315, a force of Swiss mountaineers ambushed an invading force of Austrian feudal knights who had come to reassert Hapsburg feudal rule over the rebellious Swiss.
The burly Swiss farmers and woodsmen from the forest cantons Unterwalden, Uri and Schwytz fell upon the close-packed Austrian knights and men-at-arms, using long pikes or deadly pole axes known as halbards, and massacred them without quarter.
Two years later, a second Austrian expeditionary force was caught by the Swiss peasant infantry near Lucerne at Sempach and crushed.

These fierce battles were the first time in modern history that foot soldiers had withstood heavily armored mounted knights. These epochal encounters marked the beginning of the end of European feudalism and the rise of infantry armies. They also freed Switzerland’s forest cantons of Austrian rule, creating Europe’s first independent democratic state, the Swiss Confederation.



The always-astute Machiavelli said of the Swiss warriors: ‘Most heavily armed, most free.’ Indeed, most free to this day.

Those who think of Switzerland as a quaint land of cuckoo clocks and chocolate are sorely mistaken. To paraphrase Voltaire’s bon mot about Prussia, Switzerland is a giant fortress, disguised as a country.
I attended school and university in Switzerland. Over the decades, I kept hearing about mountains opening up to disgorge warplanes, or cliffs studded with hidden artillery. But even my Swiss friends didn’t know much about these seemingly fantastic sightings.
Fifteen years ago, I was the guest of the Swiss Fortress Guard Corps, a top-secret military outfit that operates Switzerland’s mountain fortresses. I was one of the first non-Swiss to be shown the mountain forts that guard the heart of the nation’s ‘Alpine Redoubt.’ What I was shown astounded me – and continues to do so.
In the late 1930’s, as one European nation after another bowed down to Hitler’s demands, the Swiss military and its popular rifle clubs, banded together and decided their nation would not bend the knee as the Czechs, Dutch, Norwegians, Belgians, and then the French had done.
A feverish program of fortress construction was begun across the Alps. Some 900,000 troops were mobilized. Orders went out from Gen. Henri Guisan: ‘leave your families behind in the lowlands. Man our mountain forts. We have no place or food for civilians in them. Fight to your last cartridge; then use your bayonets. No surrender!’
Every road and bridge was mined; all mountain passes were rigged with explosives. Particularly so the rail lines and tunnels that linked Germany to its erstwhile ally, Italy.
Hitler was furious. He denounced the Swiss as ‘insolent herdsmen.’ Mussolini, Hitler’s ally, rightfully feared tangling with the tough Swiss mountaineers who had ravaged Italy during the Renaissance. The Pope’s Swiss Guards are a memento of the era of ‘Furia Helvetica.’
Working 24/7, Swiss engineers created a warren of tunnels and gun positions guarding the main entry points into Switzerland at St. Maurice, Gothard, Thun and Sargans. These forts were equipped with 75, 105 and 150mm cannons, machine guns and mortars emplaced in mountain sides and camouflaged so they are almost invisible.
Inside the forts are barracks, engine rooms, headquarters, clinics, observation posts and magazines filled with shells. The hidden forts interlock their fire and support one another. Unlike the less heavily gunned Maginot Line, each fort was protected by a special infantry unit on the outside, linked by telephone to the underground garrison.
In addition, Switzerland built bomb shelters for most of its people.



More at: https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...ont-mess-swiss

[Origanalist]

WTF are you babbling about?

[Swordsmyth]

WTF are you babbling about?

Switzerland's defenses that have kept it free and independent would be condemned by some of our anarchists as "evil collectivism".

[timosman]

Switzerland's defenses that have kept it free and independent would be condemned by some of our anarchists as "evil collectivism".

Let's not forget they are the world bankers.

[Swordsmyth]

Let's not forget they are the world bankers.

And thus a prime target, you don't think the banks parked there and allowed/encouraged their defenses for no reason, do you?

[timosman]

And thus a prime target, you don't think the banks parked there and allowed/encouraged their defenses for no reason, do you?

Definitely, but the Swiss case is irrelevant to an average country on this planet.

[Swordsmyth]

Definitely, but the Swiss case is irrelevant to an average country on this planet.

Not entirely, they are an example of how you must act to defend your liberty and independence, the bankers value their own liberty and independence.

[timosman]

Not entirely, they are an example of how you must act to defend your liberty and independence, the bankers value their own liberty and independence.

Plus they have $#@!load of money so they don't have to worry about trivial stuff like food or housing.

[PierzStyx]

Switzerland's defenses that have kept it free and independent would be condemned by some of our anarchists as "evil collectivism".

Bastiat was right. You Socialist don't understand anything.


Also, the fact that Switzerland was a low importance target surrounded by mountains played a much bigger role in it not being invaded in either World War. There was simply no reason to waste men, resources, or time on it. It was something you paid attention to after mopping up the big guys.

[Swordsmyth]

Bastiat was right. You Socialist don't understand anything.


Also, the fact that Switzerland was a low importance target surrounded by mountains played a much bigger role in it not being invaded in either World War. There was simply no reason to waste men, resources, or time on it. It was something you paid attention to after mopping up the big guys.

LOL

Switzerland was a high value target because of the banks and it was a target long before the world wars including the battles discussed in the article.
And you can't properly organize military defenses without government.

[TheTexan]

And you can't properly organize military defenses without government.

Without government, there would be no roads, no internet, and certainly no military defenses.

Thank you government!!!

[Swordsmyth]

Without government, there would be no roads, no internet, and certainly no military defenses.

Thank you government!!!

Well organized government forces have always won against unorganized forces, even the famous cases of successful guerilla warfare actually had government backing and leadership and usually required the formation of regular forces to gain final victory.

[Ender]

LOL

And you can't properly organize military defenses without government.

Ahhh.....NO.

The 2nd Amendment was specifically to protect local communities from government. The militias were local men 14 & up who were ready to take on any gov or power that wanted to rob them of their freedom.

The very reason the Swiss stayed free of the World Wars was because of the very fact that everyone was armed. The locals surrounded their borders & defied the enemy.

[Swordsmyth]

Ahhh.....NO.

The 2nd Amendment was specifically to protect local communities from government. The militias were local men 14 & up who were ready to take on any gov or power that wanted to rob them of their freedom.

The very reason the Swiss stayed free of the World Wars was because of the very fact that everyone was armed. The locals surrounded their borders & defied the enemy.

And both the US and Switzerland had regulars because they are required.

[tod evans]

Well organized government forces have always won against unorganized forces, even the famous cases of successful guerilla warfare actually had government backing and leadership and usually required the formation of regular forces to gain final victory.

This country is long past the point of any type of cohesive government.

[Swordsmyth]

This country is long past the point of any type of cohesive government.

Any attempt to replace what we have would require one to succeed and survive.

[Stratovarious]

Without government, there would be no roads, no internet, and certainly no military defenses.

Thank you government!!!

Government gives us potholes, the tanks they run at night build them , no alignment shops would
would be in business without them.

[tod evans]

Any attempt to replace what we have would require one to succeed and survive.

Success measured by what metric?

I measure success as freedom from coastal influence which of course wouldn't require cohesiveness of the current country...

[Swordsmyth]

Success measured by what metric?

I measure success as freedom from coastal influence which of course wouldn't require cohesiveness of the current country...

That metric works.
It would require a cohesive government for whatever area was included in your new country.

[Swordsmyth]

Bump

[acptulsa]

Bastiat was right. You Socialist don't understand anything.

A nation defending itself is called evil collectivists?

Socialists like him know one thing. How to propagandize.

[Swordsmyth]

A nation defending itself is called evil collectivists?

Notice that it is in quotes.
It's the anarchists who claim it's evil and collectivist, especially if it's America.