“Was It Over When the Germans Bombed Pearl Harbor?!”
Chris Carpenter, gunloon, gives us his best Blutarsky imitation in comments at the American Thinker:
The Swiss realized the value of the militia system earlier than we did and for centuries has relied on the militia system. In fact Ben Franklin often referred to Switzerland in regards to this.
Swiss men, at the age of 18 are issued a SIG 550 assault rifle and are required to keep it in their homes in a ready state along with their kit and a full battle load of ammo. They are required to show for musters and to remain proficient in the use of their arms. This has been a tradition for centuries.
With a whole country armed, it served as a deterent to Nazi aggression during WWII. In fact, after Hitler began invading Europe, a German border guard was talking with a Swiss militia man at a border crossing. The German asked, “What would you do if we invaded your country?” The Swiss militia man said, “We would all take one shot, and then go home.”
I’ve often heard gunloons cite Switzerland as an example of gunloon utopia. Nevermind the fact, privately-owned guns and ammo are registered. The state-issued militia weapons are required to be locked up and securely stored and all ammo sealed and strictly accounted for. But I’ve never heard the story that Nazi Germany was afraid to invade Switzerland.
However, from that time onwards the country was completely encircled by the Axis powers. Eugen Bircher, a Swiss colonel, probably made a correct assessment of the situation at the time when he said that the Germans would have been able to advance towards Bern with a single tank regiment.
The reason Switzerland wasn’t invaded by Hitler was because Switzerland served a key German interest: maintaining a financial and trade conduit to the international market.
Chris Carpenter also makes a bizarre comment regarding Franklin–alleging Franklin spoke often of Switzerland’s militia system. Ben Franklin was an amazing man. But not so amazing that he could have been remarking on a system that was created nearly a quarter century after his death.
Supposed proof.
Yawn.
Next.
Glaring holes in your logic. Too stupid to figger it out.
Comment by theirritablearchitect — June 25, 2008 @ 10:27 am
Switzerland is just impossible to invade and hold. Why would you want it? It’s a through-way to other regions anyway. In the Alps, you can still see massive caves which have been re-filled, but which are said to still house anti-aircraft and other heavy artillery. Let it not be said that the Swiss were lackadaisical about their defense, and your blog is a good story about their citizenry. But living in the mountains is all about strategic defensive fortifications, and anyone who has been to Switzerland can simply look around to know why they were never invaded. Haven’t you seen “300″?
Comment by brizzle — June 26, 2008 @ 8:11 pm
Switzerland is just impossible to invade and hold. Why would you want it? It’s a through-way to other regions anyway. In the Alps, you can still see massive caves which have been re-filled, but which are said to still house anti-aircraft and other heavy artillery. Let it not be said that the Swiss were lackadaisical about their defense, and your blog is a good story about their citizenry. But living in the mountains is all about strategic defensive fortifications, and anyone who has been to Switzerland can simply look around to know why they were never invaded. Haven’t you seen “300″?
Comment by brizzle — June 26, 2008 @ 8:12 pm