Swiss neutrality vote puts Guisan’s wartime plan under scrutiny

General Henri Guisan’s secret wartime agreement with France could have been compatible with Swiss neutrality, but its legality under the proposed Neutrality Initiative is disputed, SRF reports.

Guisan, who led the Swiss Army during the Second World War, planned to defend Switzerland from the so-called Limmat Line. Because he lacked enough troops and weapons, he secretly agreed with France from 1936 that French forces would come to Switzerland’s aid if Germany attacked.

On the Gempen plateau, Guisan had around 20 artillery bunkers built within firing range of Basel. The positions were prepared specifically for French army guns and soldiers, who would have used them to defend the Rhine border against an attack by the German Wehrmacht.

Christoph Blocher, who supports a strict interpretation of neutrality, says the agreement did not violate Switzerland’s neutrality. The initiative, which will be put to a vote at the end of September, would still allow such an arrangement if Switzerland were under threat, he argues.

“If one wants to make a scandal out of Guisan’s actions, it would be that he told the Federal Council nothing and acted on his own authority,” Blocher said.

Josef Dittli, a colonel in the army and a member of the FDP in the Council of States, is campaigning against the initiative. He also believes Guisan acted correctly, describing the arrangement as contingency planning that would only have taken effect if Switzerland had actually been attacked.

However, Dittli and Blocher disagree over what the initiative would permit in the future. The proposal says Switzerland would not join a military or defence alliance, but could cooperate with such alliances in the event of a direct military attack on Switzerland or actions preparing for such an attack.

Blocher says the wording would allow cooperation with foreign armies if Switzerland were threatened. He rules out training with NATO, however, saying that joining an alliance would make Switzerland a party to a war.

Dittli argues that Switzerland must be able to identify threats with neighbouring countries and train together before a war begins. The initiative would make such cooperation “at least considerably more difficult”, he said.

The Swiss Air Force already trains with other countries. Last year, Swiss ground troops trained in Austria with Germany’s NATO forces. Opponents of the initiative fear that Switzerland would have far less room for manoeuvre than Guisan had during the Second World War.