And then the brilliant Swiss decided to invite invaders through other means, demographic-replacement level immigration of non-Europeans, of other than Descendants of European Christendom, you know, that canard, we are told, that is by far the most before and after, visible feature of 21st Century Switzerland.
As a US veteran living and working in Switzerland, I love going hiking with our dear old friend Heinz. He frequently shows us interesting defensive outposts hidden in the gorgeous natural surroundings. My daughters both know how to shoot, one does so competitively, and the Swiss are remarkably firearm-friendly by European standards. We love it here!
They can be firearm-friendly because they do it right, the US has a lot to learn. The two countries almost perfectly demonstrates the opposites extremes how to let the people have arms, and how _not_ to let the people have arms.
@@TheSaltyAdmiral Prior to the 21st century guns in the united states were accepted widely in the public, and shootings were so rare they would make national headlines if they did happen, however liberal movements which value ones own desires above the lives of others as well as inciteful material such as the book "rage" by Stephen king among numerous other pathetic failures and media have reduced the meaning of the lives of those you disagree with or hate to such a degree we in the untied states have the issues we do today. The reason guns exist in the united states it to protect the citizens freedom from the government which is guaranteed to at times be corrupt and take advantage of its citizens and it encourages the government to uphold the values of the people. There are actually multiple examples of the second amendment working for the people and causing reform to take place. such examples include the battle of blair mountain which led to minimum wages being introduced as well as a battle where veterans faced off against a governor which was using the police to extort money from his citizens after the second world war. The swiss are not "free" and their ammunition is controlled by their government and they have no rights to their arms outside of their duty to defend their country from purely foreign powers. There are multiple cases in which a disarmed country such as britain or australia had unbelievable tragedies because someone with an agenda got ahold of an illegal firearm and went on a shooting spree. A similar case could even be made in the united states as most firearms used in shootings are illegally smuggled across national borders and rarely originate from the US. If you live in the united states you can even attribute the freedom you have to make such a comment to those who upheld the second amendment when the government stepped out of line.
Some years back we were in a remote area of the Swiss Alps when a door opened high on a cliff and a helicopter flew out. A surreal experience - like something out of a James Bond movie...
I'm Swiss. Most of our bunkers have fallen into disuse; some have been bought by private investors to turn into restaurants or hotels; most of the guns installed have been rusting or removed since the second World War. Modern warfare predominantly deals in missiles, drones, and long-distance weapons - not ground troops and tanks, as these bunkers were originally designed to combat. But don't worry - we Swiss are staunchly neutral, and as you said, the best defence is a good offense. The bunkers are smoke screens.😎
“Staunchly neutral”???? I am Swiss too and our neutrality STOPS AT BANK ACCOUNTS. How can you say that? Unless you don’t know what the word “staunchly” means. We Swiss invented loopholes in legal systems to allow dictators to carry on using our bank to make our economy stronger. We Swiss voted in favor of delivering arms to countries that are unstable, but refuse to accept their refugees! I wouldn’t dare say that we Swiss are “staunchly neutral”. We are staunchly opportunistic!
As a Swiss I had to laugh when I saw this video. It reproduces the „big alpine fortress“ myth that was constructed during and after world war 2. Yes, we do have these tunnels and weapons, and some of the poor guys serving in the army have to actually live in those bunkers for extended periods of time (I was one of them), but trust me: It‘s all pretty useless. Modern armies would crush the Swiss military in a millisecond, and even if some brave mountain men were to hold out in their forts, let‘s be honest: An enemy would be more than content to occupy the flat and bountiful grasslands to the north and let the defenders starve in their rock prisons. The real defense of Switzerland was - and is - the economical entanglement with the world and the willingness of the business elite to cooperate with anyone.
I just got back from Switzerland and drove that stretch of road under the shooting range. The Swiss may have a lot of guns but they rarely fire them at each other, that would be against the rules and if there’s one thing the Swiss do well it’s obeying the rules.
Swiss make their own rules, but unlike Germans are not always following the rules of their Executive such as defying Plandemie LOCK DOWNS and also Swiss doctors have balls and used Chlorquine forcing the Big Pharma Swiss health minister to lift the ban of Cloroquine after 2 weeks( based on falsified Fraudci-US rsearch) a few Swiss mayors lost their heads after battles or killing the farmers dogs such as the mayor of Zurich Hans Waldmann which was decapitated a mayor of Berne was beaten to death by angy peasant. Also deposing tons of manure on Parlement steps or even breaking windows no MP would dare call the citizens terrorists, since Swiss citizens always have the last word. When you check Swiss pres.Ueli Maurer at the Feldschiessen, you see him surrounded by Swiss citizens all with loaded assault rifles in a shooting stand no body guards.A whole Swiss regiment from the Grisons refused to do their 3 weeks reserves during hunting season so the ;Military had to reschedule, I have seen Swiss being much more self-sure then Americans and Swiss police don't break down doors in SWAT gear during night for minor infractions, they ask you nicely to come to the police station or send a cop in Civlians clothes at most.
@@Alsatiagent-zu1rx Switzerland used to be nice, didn't need to close house-doors,, women and girls didn't get harassed in the streets and no garbage lying around, respectful youth and respectful adults....then we let in the mysogynic hordes which today fill to 85% our prisons..Swiss became to nice to all this parasites
It may not be 100% true but it is said that a German officer once said we could invade Switzerland if we wanted. A Swiss asked "and how would you do it" The German replied "we would send a million men" The Swiss replied " We would all have to shoot twice and then we could all go home"
The Germans would have only needed to block Switzerland totally to finish it. But they didn't because Switzerland cooperated partially with them. Beside both, the Allies and the Nazis needed Switzerland as a hub for their espionage and for hidden contacts. But of course also the mountain fortresses were important, because they would have made a military Invasion very difficult and costly.
@@schurlbirkenbach1995 If germany _blocked_ Switzerland, indirect dealings with business partners that wanted to stay _away from war_ would be impossible for Germany... and sending in troops would halt the whole western offensive in 1940... giving France and UK months to prepare.
The Swiss held huge supplies of Nazi gold in their banks, which is why the Nazis never invaded, but given the size and equipment the Nazis had at their reach, Switzerland wouldn't have lasted longer than any other tiny country. For sure, their would have been a Swiss resistance, but not enough to make a difference.
True but, but, but... As all other countries in Europe, Switzerland disarmed heavily after the fall of iron curtain. Most of military bunkers are no more adapted to today's menaces and have to be upgraded. Add that a lot have been completely abandoned from more than 30 years, many sold to private owners and internally transformed... The military bunkers ready for war are certainly less than 10%. This figure is certainly a little higher for civilian shelters but owners will have to evacuate all the stuff amassed in stockpiles... The Swiss airforce is only the shadow of what it was during the cold war. Enrollment was strongly reduced, the target being about 110'000 men only... Switzerland ready for a war ? Not at all !!! But certainly much more than France, Germany, Italy and others
@@RootedHat I'm not sure at all you are familiar with Switzerland and his geography. The part called " le plateau suisse ", Swiss low-lands, can be entered from everywhere and represents about 50% of Switzerland. If you are talking about the " réduit national ", national redoubt, it's another thing and the fortified part represent according various sources between 25 and 35%, all mountains-
@@gringoloco5989 I mean flat points for ground troups with vehicles and all that logistics. For example, the entry point near Nyon, where the Toblerone line ends.. otherwise it's just mountains, hills or lakes, making it really not ideal to cross with anything.
The highways going in from the borders have big counterweighted blocks that can pop up as needed. A large chunk of their Air Force is in mountain bunkers as well, they use the roads as runways. Swedes do that too. The vegetation has some shades of green I haven't seen anywhere else in the world.
@paulpowell4871 Switzerland is a close to a true democracy, with their referendums on major issues, that any country has. The EU hates democracy, especially that which puts the people in real charge and the Swiss know that which is why like all good democrats they always turn down efforts to get them to join.
@@BaltimoresBerzerker Switzerland has a lot of immigrants, from Europe and outside it. If that's what you meant. But they certainly have a good assimilation policy, beyond even having one.
Switzerland: "We are polite and peaceful people who had been training and building our defenses to the point that any attacker will be massacred" I like their philosophy, a lot
For those that are loving the glorious Alpine views at 2:19, the wonderful meadows and peaks are....in Italy! And not the part next to Switzerland but the Dolomites in Sued-Tirol, next to Austria, a hundred miles away from Switzerland.
Exactly! And the fact that the maker of this video didn't even research something so simple properly says a lot about the rest of the content of his video.
Damn! You're right! I am Swiss and I didn't even notice ... I just thought "Where could that be? Central Switzerland? Maybe Gruyere?" and didn't think much further ... but it's actually a place with one of the best World Cup Skiing races I watch almost every year 🙈
As a swiss, the description of "people who tunneled into the mountains with enough weapons, ammuniton and supplies to defend ourselves from literally everyone" has officially changed my perspective: We are actually dwarves. (Also the banks 👀)
PS: Pretty sure that means Nazi Germany were elves. Blonde, blue eyes, excessive yearning for perfection, racism and living in the woods (Schwarzwald).
Switzerland has the oldest overseas deployment in the world, to the Vatican. 210 years unbroken, and 490 years since it started in 1509 (515 years ago).
All very accurate. My wife and I lived in Switzerland for 6.5 years and traveled extensively, by car, motorcycle and foot. I have seen many features similar to those he shows and even smaller concrete gun emplacements that control small rural roads near the border. Both houses we lived in had concrete bomb shelters in the basement with specialized air filtration equipment and reinforced concrete doors over 2 feet thick. The Mont Blanc tunnel has giant blast doors that can be closed on both sides with enough supplies for hundreds of Swiss to survive inside. I have seen blast doors open in the side of a mountain, fighter jets pull out onto a runway running parallel to the highway but barely visible and shoot into the sky. In the second small village we lived in the Jura it was not uncommon to pull to a stop coming into the village and to have to wait for several tanks to go by along with companies of soldiers going to a practice range nearby. (The military equipped the tanks with rubber caps on the treads so as not to damage the roads and they avoided movement when the farmers were bringing their cattle through the village to the barns from the fields or vise versa.)
Almost accurate, except that the French and the Italians would probably be pretty pi..ed off if the Swiss were to barricade themselves in the Mont Blanc tunnel. Because the Mont Blanc Tunnel connects France with Italy and therefore belongs to these two countries, as they financed and built it. 😉
The Axis was heavily dependent on rail shipping through the Swiss tunnels, which would have been blown immediately in the event of an invasion. Rommel's supply line would be severely restricted.
@@mediocremodeler5174they did suffer a little bit During the war the USA had bombed a town in Switzerland, that town had a twin across the border in Germany with the same name, forgot what it was Americans “accidentally” flew into Swiss airspace and hit some stuff and on the way out the Swiss shot down a couple bombers and lost a plane themselves Everything was played off as an accident, however the Swiss where secretly manufacturing parts for German 88mm guns there and the Americans destroyed there Swiss secret factory 😁 and the Swiss where mad There were a few more incidents after which the Swiss were forced to stop helping Germany because America secretly sent a threat telling them things wouldn’t end well for them To say the Swiss are just neutral innocent would be incorrect They better keep taking care of there bunkers
Great video of something people usually don't realise in Switzerland. Though you missed the main points of Swiss preparedness.. It is people's army with huge reserves and continuous practising. And not to mention their real democracy... people vote and make decisions continuously.. it is called direct democracy and their defense is like that too. Their unique history has made this defence and this governing system.. so you should go to reasons behind it. And for your information.. it is not about generals it is about people
It was more about soldiers than generals back in the swiss expansionist days. But ever since the swiss federation, generals have been important, too. We got extremely lucky to have Dufour during the civil war. His ability to keep his troops disciplined and avoid almost all bloodshed, saved us for lingering divisions (this was crucial to keep the country from splitting along language and cultural barriers in the world wars). And it takes quite a general to convince a government to go with a "we will burn down our industrial centers and our infrastructure, let the population face reprisals by war criminals and fight to the death in our alpine fortress". Would obviously not work, if you don't have a army and people to carry it along, but without a general to unite behind, it wouldn't have mattered. That said, most governments would have rather caved it and become puppets. Direct Democracy does Anker Government. Militia Army does Anker to Army to a compromise stance which is inclusive enough, that it's near impossible for an invader to exploit divisions within politics. But we shouldn't forget, that the government used the army in 1918 to shut down popular protest (general strike) with lethal violence. While within few years, all the reforms demanded by the protestors where implemented, that was a dark day in our history. Only the voting reforms implemented, lead to a government truly representing the people.
@@beyondEV Actually the Sonderbund war was Catholics=Ancien Regime, against the DIRECT DEMOCRACY Protestants. The bilingual Valais being 100% Catholic was united but unilingual Appenzell separated and the Swiss Italians being Catholics had enough of the staunch Catholic Central Swiss cantons to joined the Protesatant side. A Vaudois ad Bernois go along quite well, better then a Sanglier and Belrie both speaking the same language.
Having worked in Gothenburg, Sweden, there are loads of tunnels both road and seemingly pointless, they too have bunkers big enough for fighter aircraft.
You talk about Switzerland and the alps and the first picture you show is the dolomites (Seiner Alm) in Italy. Of course you cannot conquer Switzerland when you attack the wrong country ;-)
Australian. I had no idea you were going to mention Australia specifically but when I saw the thumb "everything in Switzerland will kill you I thought "what is this bullshit" Then I watched the video. Excellent. Thank you.
yeh we know how to use the mountains to our advantage. Most of us know where to go and how to defend if the time comes, hopefully never, but if so, we know what to do. Hop Schwiiz. Viva la Grischa. Nice video.
Wow! This was a wonderful lesson in history. Presented perfectly. Well thought out and very well narrated. Nice job young man. As a U.S. born and life long citizen I am pleased to say I am proud of you and the path you've chosen. Thank You.
When I was there I loved the roads with speed signs for tanks. Its a miracle they have not all been stolen by Aussies. They do send a message tho. Railway lines and roads ending at doors into mountains were fun also.
The Swiss don't play around. While I was on vacation there a few years ago planes mysteriously appeared out of no where and proceeded on to a runway without any stopping. They were up and gone in a matter of seconds. They began low level flying through the valleys so close to the edges it looked like they could just reach out and touch the mountain sides. I later found out from the locals that the US was actually training with the Swiss and many of the pilots were from the states. All in all very interesting but apparently very normal for the locals.
Calling Alps to be the reason, is childish. Switzerland is not the only country that shares those Alps. Also, they had fighting planes by that time. Like someone said, it’s the “bankers”
Great video, very informative. I've been to Switzerland loads of times. It's a beautiful country, very friendly people. You'd never get the impression that it's armed to the teeth and ready to take on even the most powerful invaders. Hitler would never have allowed the country to remain independent if he had won the war. Switzerland was definitely on his bucket list of still to invade and occupy countries. The Swiss would have made sure to make it costly for him though.
Liebe Leute ich bin ADA und ehemaliger Angehöriger der Red Br 22, also ich war einer von jenen der in den Festungen der Schweiz dienst geleistet hat und das von 1976 bis 1995. Ich kenne viele dieser Anlagen, habe damit gearbeitet (geschossen) und geübt. Uebungen damit hiess für mich immer auch in der Woche min. 3-4 aktive Schiesstage und Training. - Was hier gezeigt wird beurteile ich als eher dürftig.
du bist halt scheinbar ein richtiger bünzli, hans haller, verstehst wohl english nur so halbwegs, dieser amerikaner hat einen top job geleistet, alles precise beschrieben ohne viel geschwafel...erklärt alles was wchtig ist. der Berner Tschanz von"Made by Tschanz" das ist klar geht richtig in details, aber dieser ex US helicopter pilot hat alles erfasst. BTW war auch in ein paar festungen(Charmey), militärspitälern(Fiesch), und habe neben Mirages3 in hangars geschlafen( Ulrichen) auch war ich 6x Div+Regimentsmeister in Biathlon-Triathlon in Andermat+Lenk etc,. habe auch hier in Canada Übungsplätze gesehen wie Cold Lake Alberta und Gagetown New Brunswick und auch Reedereien wo die Landungschiffe gebaut wurden Irving Shipbuilding St.John New Brunswick, mein Onkel hat Sulzer Motoreneibau bein Vickers in England überwacht später am Leopard 2 mitgeplant. Jeder ist auf seine Art ein Experte in der Schweiz.
@@8d4o0c4 Danke für Arbeit und Einsatz??? Festungstruppen sassen auf dem dicken Arsch in geheizten Bunkern mit täglich 3x warmen Essen. Die waren nie in Einsätzen wo sie in Schneelöchern sich den Derriére abfroren, Essen und Munition uf die Gastlosen raufbuckelten weil der Train Commandant fand das die Stecke zu gefährlich war für seine wertvollen Pferde war.(ok mein Vater war auch im Train als Offizier, musste noch seinSachen abgeben).Meines Grossvaters Pferde wurden im WW2 eingezogen, Grossmutter hat mit dann meinem ca. 12 jährign Vater+Onkel die Felder mit Kühen gepflügt. Mein Vater später als Geschäftsmann ging noch oft vor der Arbeit, die Kühe seines Cousins melken, wenn dieser seine 3 Wochen ins Militär musste. Bauern und Selbständige haben am meisten geleistet für die Landesverteidigung. Meine Tanten als ledige Krankenschwestern wurden eingezogen in der Rot-Kreuzdienst der Armee, ihnen wurde der Korporals Grad gerechterweise geschenkt( von männlichen Sanitäter hielten sie nicht viel) aber stimmen durften sie noch nicht. Jede Familie in der Schweiz hat zur Landesverteidigung zugetragen, darum DANKEN WIR Schweizer NIEMANDEN weil es halt Bürgerpflicht ist.
There was a famous exchange in 1914 between the german Kaiser and a swiss commander. The Kaiser said "My army is twice as big, what are you gonna do ?" The swiss commander responded "Every soldier will shoot twice and go home". So your comment is absolutely in line !
I lived in Switzerland for a couple of years, these "fortifications ' are out of military doctrine of 150 years ago. Locations are known for decades. They are tourist atractions but not more. Nobody wants to invate Switzerland and that works on the Swiss ego. In WW 2 Germany hadg nothing to gain by invading Swiss. Austria was part of the Reich, Italy was an Ally, France was rolled over. There was no strategic benefit to invade the Swiss, they where an enclave ,nothing else. Only the Americans bombed Switzerland a few times because of navigational errors and one time the bombed Basel as retaliation for the Swiss had shot down a few US bombers out of frustration that nobody noticed tbem.
There was a strategic need for Germany, namely the Swiss population and later its industry. But in the meantime the war in the East changed the priorities
The are loads of preppers in the US. But in Switzerland it's done on a national level. Still, when they announced the covid-shutdown, people went crazy and we had a shoprun. Because most people had forgotten about the 2 weeks of supplies your supposed to hold at home.
@@franckorphanos2998 Indeed. All of the mass shootings in past century in Switzerland, only 223 people have been killed. This compares to 246 dead for the same period in the UK, and 318 in the USA _just since the start of the year_ .
@GoranXII The irony about that is that the party (Democrats) that wants to ban guns in the US, is the party whose voters commit almost all of the gun violence. If we could prevent democrats from having guns, gun violence here would drop to near zero statistically.
I want to note that you do a very good summary of what is official myth here. Also you got a very good choice of video material. It's fascinating what is still in the mountains. There are also many Swiss who believe such as I did when I was 11 years old.
You might assume that Switzerland had to defend its country repeatedly. Not really. In the last 600 years, fighting against foreign enemies mainly took place when Napoleon invaded Switzerland in 1798. During the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), the Swiss Confederacy remained neutral and was subsequently recognized as independent in 1648. However, the Swiss have a long history of internal conflicts. Swiss mercenaries were in demand, but more problematic were internal disputes that often led to armed clashes. By far the greatest conflict was a civil war in Switzerland that began around 1830 and ended in the 1847 Sonderbund War, but this was only Swiss cantons against each other. From the 17th century onwards, Switzerland's cantons sometimes served as a reserve army for France, with some Swiss nobles holding titles in both Switzerland and France. When the French invaded Switzerland in 1798, Bern, the largest canton, conceded quickly, but remote areas in the Alps resisted for about a month. Napoleon's reforms included the transfer of church lands to the cantons. I estimate that old Switzerland grew more than 10% without wars. After Napoleon's defeat in 1815, the Congress of Vienna gave Switzerland land from France, and reinforced its neutrality to create a buffer state. Switzerland grew again in size without any armed conflict. Opposit to the myth of the Swiss Army Switzerland has a history of substantial defeats: especially against France 1790-1810: I agree fully with chatGPT: "Without the Congress of Vienna's adjustments and subsequent territorial gains, Switzerland's size might have been reduced to the core territories of the original Swiss cantons, likely covering less than 20,000 square kilometers in total. Therefore, the territorial expansions following the Congress of Vienna, particularly the incorporation of regions like Geneva, Neuchâtel, Valais, and parts of others, have more than doubled Switzerland's size from its historical core. These expansions have had a significant impact on Switzerland's modern geopolitical and strategic importance."
There was an urban legend about Hitler asking the Swiss, how many soldiers do they have, and when answered, he threatened to invade with double the amount. The Swiss allegedly responded: "Well, in that case, each of our soldiers will have to shoot twice."
The main reason nobody invades Switzerland is, that it has more value the way it is. A foreing power ruling it, would just ruin everything and the mountains don't have any value by itself. As long as Switzerland shows that it takes defense seriously, its effect for security to all neighbors is better than if one of the neighbors countries "owning" it.
The reason nobody invades it as its slap bang in the center of Europe and there's been precisely two wars in the last 80 years both of which were on the periphery.
before building a border like that, you americans need to first detach from southern workforces by learning to live without them. the same goes for chinese products. only then you'll have the right to build a border like that.
1) If that defense is set up, that ends the workforce. 2) what does Chinese products have to do with southern border? I’d recommend staying on topic, at least your first point was somewhat sensible.
When travelling by road or rail in switzerland i often wondered why the ends of the tunnels were built with that design to be collapsed by explosion. Thankyou and salute
Looking back a few thousend years every invader or may be invader is gone and the Helvetic people are still here ;-) The Romans gone, Habsburg (Austrian) gone, Napoleon (France) gone, Hitler (Germany) gone. They have been leaving some of there buildings and best of their culture. So we speak 4 official languages, many dialects and hopefully continue to keep out of foreign quarrels and wars.
As a Swiss I can say: Well done! Only one little hint: The area we would have defended the hardest within the alps is called "Le Reduit" and is pronounced more like "Re" like in "red", "du" like in "dude" and just an "e" at the end like in "bee" without the b. Something like "Re-du-ee". It's a French word, and French is strange even for us German speaking Swiss ...
I wrote a report on Switzerland in the 70's. I always loved the way they considered defense the best offense and pledged to ensure every citizen has a place. I suggested that it would be prudent for America to do the same. I still agree with this.
@@SMILYSUNFLOWER They protected Nazi gold during Hitler's rise and WW2. They were very much aligned with Germany's goals at the time. Only very rich Jews were accepted while the poor ones were discriminated against and treated terribly. They claimed to be neutral while helping Hitler. Makes perfect sense if you understand why they even built such an elite defence.
@@exaltedone2799 how did they protect it?? they just traded it. and it's hard to not be aligned with it when it's surrounding 75% of your country. sometimes you have to put the good of the country above morals. but some things that happened can't be excused
Even though the supply of chocolate, watches, and pocket knives...😂🤣😁 For all the strategy and fortification, i think the last thing might have been the biggest deterant,,,the river. Get lost!
G'day Mason, I'm ex-Australian Air Force and for the past 15-years or so I've been a military historian. Your video has, frankly, made me slightly ashamed. Although I knew the Swiss had an active, nation-wide, 'citizen/soldier' reserve; I had no idea they had such an extensive network of heavy-duty defensive positions in its alpine region. That is so impressive. Since seeing your excellent video I've given their 'Alpine redoubt' a lot of thought, and some extra reading. It all makes perfect sense and, like the Swiss themselves, it's totally logical. For a long time I'd assumed that it was the country's ultra-secure and, basically, 'no-questions-asked' banking system that kept them safe from invasion. I figured that if they had large sums of money and bullion from all sides in WW2; then those 'depositors' would leave the Swiss alone. Well, that was wrong, or mostly so. I discovered some time ago that the Nazis had a preferred habit of stashing all kinds valuables, including stolen treasures from defeated countries, in tunnels, caves and disused mines etc. Also, that the Nazi's Swiss bank holdings were, by comparison to other countries, rather small, although large German companies did 'squirrel away' cash reserves, just in case things went bad at home. I also discovered that both the Allies and the Nazis 'accidentally' mounted air raids on Swiss territory. There has been increasing doubt as to how accidental these raids were. 'Testing' their resolve or neutrality, perhaps. Some time back I saw a documentary that looked into these brief 'attacks' on Switzerland, I'll have to see if I can find it again. Obviously, at the beginning of the war, there was natural curiosity to see which side, if any, the Swiss might favour. You've got to hand it to the Swiss; it was a definite, some would say brutal, last-ditch strategy. They made the centre of their country too difficult to invade; with basically every member of the population part of a military reserve, or, if an attacker did succeed, there would be little left in the country of any great value. Thanks again, Mason for a truly interesting video, also, thank you for your Service. Cheers, Bill H. P.S. Mason, I've taken no offence about your opening remark that Australia has, "Hostile, nightmare fuel." That might be true if you've been to a Collingwood -v- Melbourne AFL football game 😉 , however, I must point out that, although we have several species of deadly snakes (I've lived here for nearly 70 years and only ever seen snakes in the wild twice); we don't have Mountain Lions, Tigers, Bears (the Koala Bear is, essentially 'cuddly' and tiny), or any other massed, lethal species that can found in many other countries. Sure, we've got sharks, but they are around most of the world's oceans and, yes, we have crocodiles but they are confined to extremely remote, almost unpopulated regions. The Tasmanian Devil (don't help us Warner Bros cartoons!) in reality is no bigger than a ferret, on 'angel dust'. Definitely not 'man-eaters'. If you let yourself be attacked by a 'Tassie Devil' you'd have to lay on the ground among a 'pack' of them then, well, you'd be an idiot. 😀 BH
Most people don't consider the aftermath. They think that once you survive the explosion, the sun will shine again. It will, but no one is going to see it through the dust in the higher atmosphere. When in 1883 the Krakatoa volcano in Indonesia exploded with an estimated 200 megaton of force, it had extreme consequences all over the world for years.
If you were to attempt going into the Alps with a military force, guns and artillery pieces were waiting for you on every turn on the switch backs going up into the mountains. Blocking your advance over and over
@@808bigisland Remember your words later when ww3 gets ugly, truth is reality, always remember that because its the people who neglect The Truth that cause the wars...
ROFL. The barrel of the gun shown this video inside a wooden box (like 50-60 years old at the best) is sealed forever, and so - most of the Switzerland’s defenses.
Thays the biggest tragedy... all the sacrifice of our ancestors, the massive investment in defense... all of it for nothing because our corrupt and incompetent ruling class has betrayed it all and facilitated the invasion and destruction of the entire west...
***check out THE map of every video***
www.google.com/maps/d/u/1/edit?mid=1kYG8ZsjoxVjvZesPs3kp62eHMZCvsR4&usp=sharing
Oh so are almost like us finns. Almost.
Yeah but Switzerland eugenics inspired American eugenics inspired the Holocaust.
you do understand why we call you septic tanks ....
The swiss are pure evil.
And then the brilliant Swiss decided to invite invaders through other means, demographic-replacement level immigration of non-Europeans, of other than Descendants of European Christendom, you know, that canard, we are told, that is by far the most before and after, visible feature of 21st Century Switzerland.
As a US veteran living and working in Switzerland, I love going hiking with our dear old friend Heinz. He frequently shows us interesting defensive outposts hidden in the gorgeous natural surroundings.
My daughters both know how to shoot, one does so competitively, and the Swiss are remarkably firearm-friendly by European standards.
We love it here!
its crazy with all the bunkers. My brother in law is in a group that maintain a few bunkers in the canton of solothurn
They can be firearm-friendly because they do it right, the US has a lot to learn.
The two countries almost perfectly demonstrates the opposites extremes how to let the people have arms, and how _not_ to let the people have arms.
we are firearm friendly. Americans are firearm fanatics
@@TheSaltyAdmiral
Prior to the 21st century guns in the united states were accepted widely in the public, and shootings were so rare they would make national headlines if they did happen, however liberal movements which value ones own desires above the lives of others as well as inciteful material such as the book "rage" by Stephen king among numerous other pathetic failures and media have reduced the meaning of the lives of those you disagree with or hate to such a degree we in the untied states have the issues we do today.
The reason guns exist in the united states it to protect the citizens freedom from the government which is guaranteed to at times be corrupt and take advantage of its citizens and it encourages the government to uphold the values of the people.
There are actually multiple examples of the second amendment working for the people and causing reform to take place. such examples include the battle of blair mountain which led to minimum wages being introduced
as well as a battle where veterans faced off against a governor which was using the police to extort money from his citizens after the second world war.
The swiss are not "free" and their ammunition is controlled by their government and they have no rights to their arms outside of their duty to defend their country from purely foreign powers.
There are multiple cases in which a disarmed country such as britain or australia had unbelievable tragedies because someone with an agenda got ahold of an illegal firearm and went on a shooting spree. A similar case could even be made in the united states as most firearms used in shootings are illegally smuggled across national borders and rarely originate from the US.
If you live in the united states you can even attribute the freedom you have to make such a comment to those who upheld the second amendment when the government stepped out of line.
@@NotSageMan my crew ones jumped 2 American tourists in Greece...you are not welcome here
My immediate analysis of Switzerland is that the flag is a big plus.
Genius!
gold! ! ! funniest youtube joke eva......hahahshshshhhshsahah,,,,,,,,,,woooooo haaaaaaaaaaaa
Unlike Austria which is nothing but a big minus.
@Anmeteor9663 tell me about it. I live in Denmark, and we are about as secular and atheist as it goes, and we have a cross in our flag.
Or a BIG crosshair...
I think their ability to avoid wars is not related to those bunkers but because nobody wants to attack their own banker …😊
That’s it
Well but if you need a bank you would want it to be really well protected or it would be useless.
Lol... lmao... look at private central banks issuing fiat currency worldwide and think about that again.
True, every dictator and wannabe dictator probably have millions and billions hidden in Swiss banks.
YES!!!!!!!
Some years back we were in a remote area of the Swiss Alps when a door opened high on a cliff and a helicopter flew out. A surreal experience - like something out of a James Bond movie...
That was me.
Goldfingers summer house
Got another one in a volcano in Japan😂
That was me, I apologize for startling you.
Did you eat too much cheese that day? Gives you crazy dreams....
"Prices" is what crossed my mind first when I read "Everything in Switzerland Will Kill You"
You have to know where to shop...
Best comment, honestly😂, and a 👍from a Swiss.
@@lostandfound1642 yes, in Germany :)
its funny because its true xD
My thought exactly, having spent a month there! 😅
Switzerland doesn't have an Army; Switzerland is an Army.
And it's a highly educated, communal, cooperative army at that! Might as well throw in highly organized and logical too!
@@marcariotto1709 And Rich! Criminals from all over the World bunk their money there. But pssst dont tell anyone, its a "bank secret".
@knuterthal5131
Well, like I said!
I don't suppose I'd hide my money in Argentina, Venezuela or Zimbabwe if I had any to hide.
Was. Emphasis on was please.
Hence the joke 'The Kaiser and the Swiss farmer'.
I'm Swiss. Most of our bunkers have fallen into disuse; some have been bought by private investors to turn into restaurants or hotels; most of the guns installed have been rusting or removed since the second World War. Modern warfare predominantly deals in missiles, drones, and long-distance weapons - not ground troops and tanks, as these bunkers were originally designed to combat. But don't worry - we Swiss are staunchly neutral, and as you said, the best defence is a good offense. The bunkers are smoke screens.😎
“Staunchly neutral”???? I am Swiss too and our neutrality STOPS AT BANK ACCOUNTS. How can you say that? Unless you don’t know what the word “staunchly” means. We Swiss invented loopholes in legal systems to allow dictators to carry on using our bank to make our economy stronger. We Swiss voted in favor of delivering arms to countries that are unstable, but refuse to accept their refugees! I wouldn’t dare say that we Swiss are “staunchly neutral”. We are staunchly opportunistic!
That is what the dutch thought too..Hitler had no problem taking it anyways...
The Gnomes will not give up their hoards of gold without a fight!
as a swiss citizen i should feel offended. But damn that is to good!
😂😂😂
@Zonkobel Man that is truth!Just think with your head!Don't watch TV!It's all lies!
You are wrong... we are dwarves
We're not bloody Gnomes! We're dwarfs and like to diggy figgy holes! :P
As a Swiss I had to laugh when I saw this video. It reproduces the „big alpine fortress“ myth that was constructed during and after world war 2. Yes, we do have these tunnels and weapons, and some of the poor guys serving in the army have to actually live in those bunkers for extended periods of time (I was one of them), but trust me: It‘s all pretty useless. Modern armies would crush the Swiss military in a millisecond, and even if some brave mountain men were to hold out in their forts, let‘s be honest: An enemy would be more than content to occupy the flat and bountiful grasslands to the north and let the defenders starve in their rock prisons. The real defense of Switzerland was - and is - the economical entanglement with the world and the willingness of the business elite to cooperate with anyone.
I just got back from Switzerland and drove that stretch of road under the shooting range. The Swiss may have a lot of guns but they rarely fire them at each other, that would be against the rules and if there’s one thing the Swiss do well it’s obeying the rules.
Being a direct democracy means we can influence those rules ... and that makes our parliament more hesitant to add unpopular nonsense!
Swiss make their own rules, but unlike Germans are not always following the rules of their Executive such as defying Plandemie LOCK DOWNS and also Swiss doctors have balls and used Chlorquine forcing the Big Pharma Swiss health minister to lift the ban of Cloroquine after 2 weeks( based on falsified Fraudci-US rsearch) a few Swiss mayors lost their heads after battles or killing the farmers dogs such as the mayor of Zurich Hans Waldmann which was decapitated a mayor of Berne was beaten to death by angy peasant. Also deposing tons of manure on Parlement steps or even breaking windows no MP would dare call the citizens terrorists, since Swiss citizens always have the last word. When you check Swiss pres.Ueli Maurer at the Feldschiessen, you see him surrounded by Swiss citizens all with loaded assault rifles in a shooting stand no body guards.A whole Swiss regiment from the Grisons refused to do their 3 weeks reserves during hunting season so the ;Military had to reschedule, I have seen Swiss being much more self-sure then Americans and Swiss police don't break down doors in SWAT gear during night for minor infractions, they ask you nicely to come to the police station or send a cop in Civlians clothes at most.
My sister-in-law joked : If it's not obligatory, it's verboten.
@@Alsatiagent-zu1rx Switzerland used to be nice, didn't need to close house-doors,, women and girls didn't get harassed in the streets and no garbage lying around, respectful youth and respectful adults....then we let in the mysogynic hordes which today fill to 85% our prisons..Swiss became to nice to all this parasites
@@Alsatiagent-zu1rx True bots.
Somebody has got to guard the banker's hidden hoards.
It may not be 100% true but it is said that a German officer once said we could invade Switzerland if we wanted. A Swiss asked "and how would you do it" The German replied "we would send a million men" The Swiss replied " We would all have to shoot twice and then we could all go home"
The Germans would have only needed to block Switzerland totally to finish it. But they didn't because Switzerland cooperated partially with them. Beside both, the Allies and the Nazis needed Switzerland as a hub for their espionage and for hidden contacts. But of course also the mountain fortresses were important, because they would have made a military Invasion very difficult and costly.
@@schurlbirkenbach1995
If germany _blocked_ Switzerland, indirect dealings with business partners that wanted to stay _away from war_ would be impossible for Germany... and sending in troops would halt the whole western offensive in 1940... giving France and UK months to prepare.
@@Vickzq exactly what I said ! Switzerland managed to be useful for both sides.
@@schurlbirkenbach1995
Yes. But the _you need time and effort_ was the winning strategy. Making any invasion the least attractive possible.
The Swiss held huge supplies of Nazi gold in their banks, which is why the Nazis never invaded, but given the size and equipment the Nazis had at their reach, Switzerland wouldn't have lasted longer than any other tiny country. For sure, their would have been a Swiss resistance, but not enough to make a difference.
True but, but, but...
As all other countries in Europe, Switzerland disarmed heavily after the fall of iron curtain.
Most of military bunkers are no more adapted to today's menaces and have to be upgraded.
Add that a lot have been completely abandoned from more than 30 years, many sold to private owners and internally transformed...
The military bunkers ready for war are certainly less than 10%.
This figure is certainly a little higher for civilian shelters but owners will have to evacuate all the stuff amassed in stockpiles...
The Swiss airforce is only the shadow of what it was during the cold war.
Enrollment was strongly reduced, the target being about 110'000 men only...
Switzerland ready for a war ?
Not at all !!!
But certainly much more than France, Germany, Italy and others
Well considering there's only 2 entry points for ground troops, it's a headache for an invading force
@@RootedHat
I'm not sure at all you are familiar with Switzerland and his geography.
The part called " le plateau suisse ", Swiss low-lands, can be entered from everywhere and represents about 50% of Switzerland.
If you are talking about the " réduit national ", national redoubt, it's another thing and the fortified part represent according various sources between 25 and 35%, all mountains-
@@gringoloco5989 I mean flat points for ground troups with vehicles and all that logistics. For example, the entry point near Nyon, where the Toblerone line ends.. otherwise it's just mountains, hills or lakes, making it really not ideal to cross with anything.
I am swiss, we are trained like ninjas. fear us. we can make your bank account explode.
The highways going in from the borders have big counterweighted blocks that can pop up as needed. A large chunk of their Air Force is in mountain bunkers as well, they use the roads as runways. Swedes do that too. The vegetation has some shades of green I haven't seen anywhere else in the world.
They actually had a try out after 26 years on one of the motorways. ua-cam.com/video/QVAiq50dGLY/v-deo.html
Staying out of the EU is another smart move. no pressure to take the Kalergi plan
Aaaand we found the Nazi spouting conspiracy theories.
This may be the last bastion of indigenous Europeans if all goes horribly. Mountainous areas are historically holdout areas after invasion.
@paulpowell4871
Switzerland is a close to a true democracy, with their referendums on major issues, that any country has. The EU hates democracy, especially that which puts the people in real charge and the Swiss know that which is why like all good democrats they always turn down efforts to get them to join.
@@BaltimoresBerzerker Switzerland has a lot of immigrants, from Europe and outside it. If that's what you meant. But they certainly have a good assimilation policy, beyond even having one.
@@wjf0nethey were close to a true democracy in the old cantons, but it's not the same country anymore with modernization to the "rules based order"
imagine storming this country and you see a giant boulder turning towards you
guys is it just me or are these rocks moving?
Switzerland: "We are polite and peaceful people who had been training and building our defenses to the point that any attacker will be massacred"
I like their philosophy, a lot
Yes, very much like Theodore Roosevelt said "speak softly and carry a big stick."
They were the axis’ bank. The axis had no reason to capture Switzerland.
Took me awhile to get here but I’m never disappointed. Fascinating information. Thank you Mason!
unfortunately most of it not based on current status . fact checking is a thing.
For those that are loving the glorious Alpine views at 2:19, the wonderful meadows and peaks are....in Italy! And not the part next to Switzerland but the Dolomites in Sued-Tirol, next to Austria, a hundred miles away from Switzerland.
Exactly! And the fact that the maker of this video didn't even research something so simple properly says a lot about the rest of the content of his video.
Damn! You're right! I am Swiss and I didn't even notice ... I just thought "Where could that be? Central Switzerland? Maybe Gruyere?" and didn't think much further ... but it's actually a place with one of the best World Cup Skiing races I watch almost every year 🙈
As a swiss, the description of "people who tunneled into the mountains with enough weapons, ammuniton and supplies to defend ourselves from literally everyone" has officially changed my perspective: We are actually dwarves. (Also the banks 👀)
PS: Pretty sure that means Nazi Germany were elves. Blonde, blue eyes, excessive yearning for perfection, racism and living in the woods (Schwarzwald).
Switzerland has the oldest overseas deployment in the world, to the Vatican. 210 years unbroken, and 490 years since it started in 1509 (515 years ago).
Will that deployment create additional homosexual special rights ?
@@benjurqunovwhat?
« Overseas »… The Vatican isn’t overseas from Switzerland 😆You’re making a confusion between overseas and abroad.
@@yagi3925 Fair. Still, I live in NZ, so they're pretty much synonymous for me.
All very accurate. My wife and I lived in Switzerland for 6.5 years and traveled extensively, by car, motorcycle and foot. I have seen many features similar to those he shows and even smaller concrete gun emplacements that control small rural roads near the border. Both houses we lived in had concrete bomb shelters in the basement with specialized air filtration equipment and reinforced concrete doors over 2 feet thick. The Mont Blanc tunnel has giant blast doors that can be closed on both sides with enough supplies for hundreds of Swiss to survive inside. I have seen blast doors open in the side of a mountain, fighter jets pull out onto a runway running parallel to the highway but barely visible and shoot into the sky. In the second small village we lived in the Jura it was not uncommon to pull to a stop coming into the village and to have to wait for several tanks to go by along with companies of soldiers going to a practice range nearby. (The military equipped the tanks with rubber caps on the treads so as not to damage the roads and they avoided movement when the farmers were bringing their cattle through the village to the barns from the fields or vise versa.)
Almost accurate, except that the French and the Italians would probably be pretty pi..ed off if the Swiss were to barricade themselves in the Mont Blanc tunnel. Because the Mont Blanc Tunnel connects France with Italy and therefore belongs to these two countries, as they financed and built it. 😉
The Axis was heavily dependent on rail shipping through the Swiss tunnels, which would have been blown immediately in the event of an invasion. Rommel's supply line would be severely restricted.
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer
Switzerland, being a huge oil and food producer would have suffered no ill consequences as a result at all…
@@mediocremodeler5174they did suffer a little bit
During the war the USA had bombed a town in Switzerland, that town had a twin across the border in Germany with the same name, forgot what it was
Americans “accidentally” flew into Swiss airspace and hit some stuff and on the way out the Swiss shot down a couple bombers and lost a plane themselves
Everything was played off as an accident, however the Swiss where secretly manufacturing parts for German 88mm guns there and the Americans destroyed there Swiss secret factory 😁 and the Swiss where mad
There were a few more incidents after which the Swiss were forced to stop helping Germany because America secretly sent a threat telling them things wouldn’t end well for them
To say the Swiss are just neutral innocent would be incorrect
They better keep taking care of there bunkers
@@mediocremodeler5174Switzerland has no oil and has to import about 50% of its food.
How could Switzerland claim neutrality then if they allowed Germany to use it's tunnels? It doesn't add up.
Everything can kill you, especially Roaming internet data costs, with 7000€ per 1GB 😂
Wait what? 7000 Euros!?
7k in euros. Brother eww. Eww brother.
Are you being serious? I'm going to Switzerland in 2 weeks
What is that real?
No way, cell phone 20 GB for one mont around 25 SFR, Home Phone Flat a mont 35 SFR .
Great video of something people usually don't realise in Switzerland.
Though you missed the main points of Swiss preparedness.. It is people's army with huge reserves and continuous practising.
And not to mention their real democracy... people vote and make decisions continuously.. it is called direct democracy and their defense is like that too.
Their unique history has made this defence and this governing system.. so you should go to reasons behind it.
And for your information.. it is not about generals it is about people
Thank you for sharing that. That makes perfect sense.
It was more about soldiers than generals back in the swiss expansionist days. But ever since the swiss federation, generals have been important, too. We got extremely lucky to have Dufour during the civil war. His ability to keep his troops disciplined and avoid almost all bloodshed, saved us for lingering divisions (this was crucial to keep the country from splitting along language and cultural barriers in the world wars). And it takes quite a general to convince a government to go with a "we will burn down our industrial centers and our infrastructure, let the population face reprisals by war criminals and fight to the death in our alpine fortress". Would obviously not work, if you don't have a army and people to carry it along, but without a general to unite behind, it wouldn't have mattered.
That said, most governments would have rather caved it and become puppets. Direct Democracy does Anker Government. Militia Army does Anker to Army to a compromise stance which is inclusive enough, that it's near impossible for an invader to exploit divisions within politics.
But we shouldn't forget, that the government used the army in 1918 to shut down popular protest (general strike) with lethal violence. While within few years, all the reforms demanded by the protestors where implemented, that was a dark day in our history. Only the voting reforms implemented, lead to a government truly representing the people.
@@beyondEV Actually the Sonderbund war was Catholics=Ancien Regime, against the DIRECT DEMOCRACY Protestants. The bilingual Valais being 100% Catholic was united but unilingual Appenzell separated and the Swiss Italians being Catholics had enough of the staunch Catholic Central Swiss cantons to joined the Protesatant side. A Vaudois ad Bernois go along quite well, better then a Sanglier and Belrie both speaking the same language.
we only show you what we choose to let you see
Thanks for the no nonsense look into this.
This is pretty similar to Norway and finland as well. Crazy defensive capabilities, many hidden in plain sight. When you look, you start to see them.
Having worked in Gothenburg, Sweden, there are loads of tunnels both road and seemingly pointless, they too have bunkers big enough for fighter aircraft.
Sounds like a wonderful place to live. Knowing your country is doing their utmost to protect their citizens relieves a heavy load of fear & anxiety.
Amazing mini-doc my guy! Thanks for putting this out there!
You talk about Switzerland and the alps and the first picture you show is the dolomites (Seiner Alm) in Italy. Of course you cannot conquer Switzerland when you attack the wrong country ;-)
That's the Swiss strategy , keep the enemy guessing and confused ! Brav0
The Swiss actually are what Americans think they are.
Very nicely detailed video. Haven't seen alot of them on youtube lately. Love from switzerland
Australian. I had no idea you were going to mention Australia specifically but when I saw the thumb "everything in Switzerland will kill you I thought "what is this bullshit" Then I watched the video. Excellent. Thank you.
eye opening. great video. thanks
The tunnels and bridges are not rigged with explosives anymore. Hasn’t been this way for a very long time.
But it would be easy
This picture was correct during and after WW2. The threat today is different.
yeh we know how to use the mountains to our advantage. Most of us know where to go and how to defend if the time comes, hopefully never, but if so, we know what to do. Hop Schwiiz. Viva la Grischa.
Nice video.
Wow! This was a wonderful lesson in history. Presented perfectly. Well thought out and very well narrated. Nice job young man. As a U.S. born and life long citizen I am pleased to say I am proud of you and the path you've chosen. Thank You.
Thank you!
'concrete Toblerones' is so obvious once you hear it
The Heart of the Beast will always be heavily defended.
When I was there I loved the roads with speed signs for tanks. Its a miracle they have not all been stolen by Aussies. They do send a message tho. Railway lines and roads ending at doors into mountains were fun also.
I never knew that. Thanks for the informative video.
This was fascinating!
Fascinating little.tricks , you must be swiss
Semper Fi Mason! Great content and easy delivery. I like!
Nothing that comes out of purple cows can be safe.
Milka is German.
Still true, though.
@@8d4o0c4 Are you sure Milka is a german invention? It was actual a swiss thing until 1990
@@Zonkobel Yeah, it WAS Swiss. Nowadays it's German (and much worse in quality).
The Swiss don't play around. While I was on vacation there a few years ago planes mysteriously appeared out of no where and proceeded on to a runway without any stopping. They were up and gone in a matter of seconds. They began low level flying through the valleys so close to the edges it looked like they could just reach out and touch the mountain sides. I later found out from the locals that the US was actually training with the Swiss and many of the pilots were from the states. All in all very interesting but apparently very normal for the locals.
Calling Alps to be the reason, is childish. Switzerland is not the only country that shares those Alps. Also, they had fighting planes by that time.
Like someone said, it’s the “bankers”
What you forget is the super weapon we are building 100 km underground Geneva , sold as civil project to the outer world called CERN
Merry Christmas buddy! Thanks for the great videos 🎉
Merry Christmas to you too! Thank you!
2 rules. Don't mess with the guy keeping your money safe and don't mess with the one feeding you...
I love bunkers! I would love to go explore all the caves and bunkers there!
You know what else is deadly about Switzerland, at least to me: cold temperature and high altitude.
Great video, very informative. I've been to Switzerland loads of times. It's a beautiful country, very friendly people. You'd never get the impression that it's armed to the teeth and ready to take on even the most powerful invaders.
Hitler would never have allowed the country to remain independent if he had won the war. Switzerland was definitely on his bucket list of still to invade and occupy countries. The Swiss would have made sure to make it costly for him though.
mustache man: I will conquer the world!
litttle alpine dwarfs: im a dwarf digging a hole diggi diggi a hole.......
Liebe Leute ich bin ADA und ehemaliger Angehöriger der Red Br 22, also ich war einer von jenen der in den Festungen der Schweiz dienst geleistet hat und das von 1976 bis 1995. Ich kenne viele dieser Anlagen, habe damit gearbeitet (geschossen) und geübt. Uebungen damit hiess für mich immer auch in der Woche min. 3-4 aktive Schiesstage und Training. - Was hier gezeigt wird beurteile ich als eher dürftig.
I'm sorry you feel that way. I'm not sure what was incorrect.
du bist halt scheinbar ein richtiger bünzli, hans haller, verstehst wohl english nur so halbwegs, dieser amerikaner hat einen top job geleistet, alles precise beschrieben ohne viel geschwafel...erklärt alles was wchtig ist. der Berner Tschanz von"Made by Tschanz" das ist klar geht richtig in details, aber dieser ex US helicopter pilot hat alles erfasst. BTW war auch in ein paar festungen(Charmey), militärspitälern(Fiesch), und habe neben Mirages3 in hangars geschlafen( Ulrichen) auch war ich 6x Div+Regimentsmeister in Biathlon-Triathlon in Andermat+Lenk etc,. habe auch hier in Canada Übungsplätze gesehen wie Cold Lake Alberta und Gagetown New Brunswick und auch Reedereien wo die Landungschiffe gebaut wurden Irving Shipbuilding St.John New Brunswick, mein Onkel hat Sulzer Motoreneibau bein Vickers in England überwacht später am Leopard 2 mitgeplant. Jeder ist auf seine Art ein Experte in der Schweiz.
I think he might mean "there is/was a LOT more to it than was shown here" rather than "it was crappy." Which is to be expected in a 12-minute video!
Lieber Hans, vielen herzlichen Dank für die Arbeit und den Einsatz!
@@8d4o0c4 Danke für Arbeit und Einsatz??? Festungstruppen sassen auf dem dicken Arsch in geheizten Bunkern mit täglich 3x warmen Essen. Die waren nie in Einsätzen wo sie in Schneelöchern sich den Derriére abfroren, Essen und Munition uf die Gastlosen raufbuckelten weil der Train Commandant fand das die Stecke zu gefährlich war für seine wertvollen Pferde war.(ok mein Vater war auch im Train als Offizier, musste noch seinSachen abgeben).Meines Grossvaters Pferde wurden im WW2 eingezogen, Grossmutter hat mit dann meinem ca. 12 jährign Vater+Onkel die Felder mit Kühen gepflügt. Mein Vater später als Geschäftsmann ging noch oft vor der Arbeit, die Kühe seines Cousins melken, wenn dieser seine 3 Wochen ins Militär musste. Bauern und Selbständige haben am meisten geleistet für die Landesverteidigung. Meine Tanten als ledige Krankenschwestern wurden eingezogen in der Rot-Kreuzdienst der Armee, ihnen wurde der Korporals Grad gerechterweise geschenkt( von männlichen Sanitäter hielten sie nicht viel) aber stimmen durften sie noch nicht. Jede Familie in der Schweiz hat zur Landesverteidigung zugetragen, darum DANKEN WIR Schweizer NIEMANDEN weil es halt Bürgerpflicht ist.
"you are surrounded by bloodlust neighbours, and you are a small nation. But would you lose??"
"Nah. I'd win" Switzerland probably
There was a famous exchange in 1914 between the german Kaiser and a swiss commander. The Kaiser said "My army is twice as big, what are you gonna do ?" The swiss commander responded "Every soldier will shoot twice and go home".
So your comment is absolutely in line !
enemy: we gonna invade you
swiss: no u wont
the swiss army is trained to hit headshots at a range of 300m WITH IRON SIGHTS!!!
This was an awesome random feed offering
I lived in Switzerland for a couple of years, these "fortifications ' are out of military doctrine of 150 years ago.
Locations are known for decades. They are tourist atractions but not more.
Nobody wants to invate Switzerland and that works on the Swiss ego.
In WW 2 Germany hadg nothing to gain by invading Swiss.
Austria was part of the Reich, Italy was an Ally, France was rolled over.
There was no strategic benefit to invade the Swiss, they where an enclave ,nothing else.
Only the Americans bombed Switzerland a few times because of navigational errors and one time the bombed Basel as retaliation for the Swiss had shot down a few US bombers out of frustration that nobody noticed tbem.
There was a strategic need for Germany, namely the Swiss population and later its industry. But in the meantime the war in the East changed the priorities
Nice bunkers. Now show their defenses against drones. Those must be really neat.
The United States could learn much from the Swiss! The Swiss live eat and breathe preparedness! They are ready in ways that we haven't thought of!
Because the USA has no need to. It’s two completely opposite situations.
The are loads of preppers in the US. But in Switzerland it's done on a national level. Still, when they announced the covid-shutdown, people went crazy and we had a shoprun. Because most people had forgotten about the 2 weeks of supplies your supposed to hold at home.
😂 right…because Canada and Mexico are a threat…
@@franckorphanos2998 Indeed. All of the mass shootings in past century in Switzerland, only 223 people have been killed. This compares to 246 dead for the same period in the UK, and 318 in the USA _just since the start of the year_ .
@GoranXII The irony about that is that the party (Democrats) that wants to ban guns in the US, is the party whose voters commit almost all of the gun violence. If we could prevent democrats from having guns, gun violence here would drop to near zero statistically.
Love it , Great Stellungs . !
Peace through strength.
Very good take for general audience 👍
I want to note that you do a very good summary of what is official myth here. Also you got a very good choice of video material. It's fascinating what is still in the mountains. There are also many Swiss who believe such as I did when I was 11 years old.
You might assume that Switzerland had to defend its country repeatedly. Not really. In the last 600 years, fighting against foreign enemies mainly took place when Napoleon invaded Switzerland in 1798. During the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), the Swiss Confederacy remained neutral and was subsequently recognized as independent in 1648. However, the Swiss have a long history of internal conflicts. Swiss mercenaries were in demand, but more problematic were internal disputes that often led to armed clashes. By far the greatest conflict was a civil war in Switzerland that began around 1830 and ended in the 1847 Sonderbund War, but this was only Swiss cantons against each other.
From the 17th century onwards, Switzerland's cantons sometimes served as a reserve army for France, with some Swiss nobles holding titles in both Switzerland and France. When the French invaded Switzerland in 1798, Bern, the largest canton, conceded quickly, but remote areas in the Alps resisted for about a month. Napoleon's reforms included the transfer of church lands to the cantons. I estimate that old Switzerland grew more than 10% without wars. After Napoleon's defeat in 1815, the Congress of Vienna gave Switzerland land from France, and reinforced its neutrality to create a buffer state. Switzerland grew again in size without any armed conflict.
Opposit to the myth of the Swiss Army Switzerland has a history of substantial defeats: especially against France 1790-1810: I agree fully with chatGPT: "Without the Congress of Vienna's adjustments and subsequent territorial gains, Switzerland's size might have been reduced to the core territories of the original Swiss cantons, likely covering less than 20,000 square kilometers in total.
Therefore, the territorial expansions following the Congress of Vienna, particularly the incorporation of regions like Geneva, Neuchâtel, Valais, and parts of others, have more than doubled Switzerland's size from its historical core. These expansions have had a significant impact on Switzerland's modern geopolitical and strategic importance."
And here I thought all they had to defend themselves with was….. knives.
No wait that would be,
The Swiss knife Army.
There was an urban legend about Hitler asking the Swiss, how many soldiers do they have, and when answered, he threatened to invade with double the amount. The Swiss allegedly responded: "Well, in that case, each of our soldiers will have to shoot twice."
That wasn't Hitler. That exchange happened back in WW1 with Kaiser Wilhelm II. The rest is essentially right.
The main reason nobody invades Switzerland is, that it has more value the way it is. A foreing power ruling it, would just ruin everything and the mountains don't have any value by itself.
As long as Switzerland shows that it takes defense seriously, its effect for security to all neighbors is better than if one of the neighbors countries "owning" it.
The reason nobody invades it as its slap bang in the center of Europe and there's been precisely two wars in the last 80 years both of which were on the periphery.
@@JBDiamondCutter but Switzerland was not invaded in 226 years and the invasion back then only went on for 4 months from what I gathered.
This is what America's southern border should look like.
Ah yes the famed soaring mountains of Alabama
before building a border like that, you americans need to first detach from southern workforces by learning to live without them. the same goes for chinese products. only then you'll have the right to build a border like that.
Yes we need a defense like this at our southern border 🤣🤣 to protect us from "invading" migrants. You're a snowflake dude
1) If that defense is set up, that ends the workforce.
2) what does Chinese products have to do with southern border?
I’d recommend staying on topic, at least your first point was somewhat sensible.
@@deathrowlemon7367HAAHAAAHAHA
Switzerland has avoided wars for hundreds of years
*Laughs nervously in Australian*
When travelling by road or rail in switzerland i often wondered why the ends of the tunnels were built with that design to be collapsed by explosion. Thankyou and salute
Looking back a few thousend years every invader or may be invader is gone and the Helvetic people are still here ;-)
The Romans gone, Habsburg (Austrian) gone, Napoleon (France) gone, Hitler (Germany) gone. They have been leaving some of there buildings and best of their culture. So we speak 4 official languages, many dialects and hopefully continue to keep out of foreign quarrels and wars.
As a Swiss I can say: Well done! Only one little hint: The area we would have defended the hardest within the alps is called "Le Reduit" and is pronounced more like "Re" like in "red", "du" like in "dude" and just an "e" at the end like in "bee" without the b. Something like "Re-du-ee". It's a French word, and French is strange even for us German speaking Swiss ...
Thanks for clarifying that for me. I appreciate it
Concrete Toblerones XD
Switzerland was surrounded anyway- Hitler could wait to take it last. He didn’t need to hurry and had bigger priorities.
'100 guns for every 100 Americans'....as a Canadian, that makes me smile in envy.
Oh and furthermore " everyone that I know that owns a gun owns more than one " it is an addiction really!!
I wrote a report on Switzerland in the 70's. I always loved the way they considered defense the best offense and pledged to ensure every citizen has a place. I suggested that it would be prudent for America to do the same. I still agree with this.
Had to protect that Nazi gold somehow.
makes no sense
@@SMILYSUNFLOWER Learn some history maybe.
@@SMILYSUNFLOWER They protected Nazi gold during Hitler's rise and WW2. They were very much aligned with Germany's goals at the time. Only very rich Jews were accepted while the poor ones were discriminated against and treated terribly. They claimed to be neutral while helping Hitler. Makes perfect sense if you understand why they even built such an elite defence.
@@exaltedone2799 yeah sure. they made all these defenses to protect gold. are you serious..
@@exaltedone2799 how did they protect it?? they just traded it. and it's hard to not be aligned with it when it's surrounding 75% of your country. sometimes you have to put the good of the country above morals. but some things that happened can't be excused
Switzerland: if “Escape from New York” was a country
Access for the axis
Schwaab is there yee
Interesting content, and you presented it well. I subscribed!
Thanks!
Even though the supply of chocolate, watches, and pocket knives...😂🤣😁 For all the strategy and fortification, i think the last thing might have been the biggest deterant,,,the river.
Get lost!
G'day Mason, I'm ex-Australian Air Force and for the past 15-years or so I've been a military historian. Your video has, frankly, made me slightly ashamed. Although I knew the Swiss had an active, nation-wide, 'citizen/soldier' reserve; I had no idea they had such an extensive network of heavy-duty defensive positions in its alpine region.
That is so impressive. Since seeing your excellent video I've given their 'Alpine redoubt' a lot of thought, and some extra reading.
It all makes perfect sense and, like the Swiss themselves, it's totally logical.
For a long time I'd assumed that it was the country's ultra-secure and, basically, 'no-questions-asked' banking system that kept them safe from invasion.
I figured that if they had large sums of money and bullion from all sides in WW2; then those 'depositors' would leave the Swiss alone.
Well, that was wrong, or mostly so. I discovered some time ago that the Nazis had a preferred habit of stashing all kinds valuables, including stolen treasures from defeated countries, in tunnels, caves and disused mines etc.
Also, that the Nazi's Swiss bank holdings were, by comparison to other countries, rather small, although large German companies did 'squirrel away' cash reserves, just in case things went bad at home.
I also discovered that both the Allies and the Nazis 'accidentally' mounted air raids on Swiss territory. There has been increasing doubt as to how accidental these raids were. 'Testing' their resolve or neutrality, perhaps.
Some time back I saw a documentary that looked into these brief 'attacks' on Switzerland, I'll have to see if I can find it again.
Obviously, at the beginning of the war, there was natural curiosity to see which side, if any, the Swiss might favour.
You've got to hand it to the Swiss; it was a definite, some would say brutal, last-ditch strategy. They made the centre of their country too difficult to invade; with basically every member of the population part of a military reserve, or, if an attacker did succeed, there would be little left in the country of any great value.
Thanks again, Mason for a truly interesting video, also, thank you for your Service.
Cheers, Bill H.
P.S. Mason, I've taken no offence about your opening remark that Australia has, "Hostile, nightmare fuel." That might be true if you've been to a Collingwood -v- Melbourne AFL football game 😉 , however, I must point out that, although we have several species of deadly snakes (I've lived here for nearly 70 years and only ever seen snakes in the wild twice); we don't have Mountain Lions, Tigers, Bears (the Koala Bear is, essentially 'cuddly' and tiny), or any other massed, lethal species that can found in many other countries. Sure, we've got sharks, but they are around most of the world's oceans and, yes, we have crocodiles but they are confined to extremely remote, almost unpopulated regions. The Tasmanian Devil (don't help us Warner Bros cartoons!) in reality is no bigger than a ferret, on 'angel dust'. Definitely not 'man-eaters'. If you let yourself be attacked by a 'Tassie Devil' you'd have to lay on the ground among a 'pack' of them then, well, you'd be an idiot. 😀 BH
Thanks for the addition to history! I was aware that Australia wasnt really that scary, but its youtube, so a bit of hyperbole will always happen.
Moot point - I can assure you, no one can run and hide from a nuclear bomb.
What part of Swiss Military positions are buried under mountains aren't you understanding?
@@qwopiretyuwhat's there to defend when everyone's dead? 😂
Most people don't consider the aftermath. They think that once you survive the explosion, the sun will shine again. It will, but no one is going to see it through the dust in the higher atmosphere. When in 1883 the Krakatoa volcano in Indonesia exploded with an estimated 200 megaton of force, it had extreme consequences all over the world for years.
Nukes are fake. So are satellites.
If you were to attempt going into the Alps with a military force, guns and artillery pieces were waiting for you on every turn on the switch backs going up into the mountains. Blocking your advance over and over
You should ask Putin if Swiss is still neutral, and look up the term neutrality, and consider the confiscated billions = non neutrality
Nah, criticism from the fascist side is self serving 😂
@@808bigisland Remember your words later when ww3 gets ugly, truth is reality, always remember that because its the people who neglect The Truth that cause the wars...
"two friendly countries in north and SOUTH"
Mexico: Que ?
ROFL. The barrel of the gun shown this video inside a wooden box (like 50-60 years old at the best) is sealed forever, and so - most of the Switzerland’s defenses.
Assuming maintenance isn't done, but that's a debatable assertion.
@@GoranXII bro, I can’t tell you the state of other gun barrels in Switzerland but this one is 100% decommissioned. )
Urban legend , Switzerland has underwater submarine bases around the world
got to keep all that dirty money safe !!!
Scumbag central.
its switzerland, not USA
you don't get to maintain neutrality status by singing kumbayaah
They are not neutral any more, they are supporting Ukraine now !!!
The fact you can now fly a $500 FPV drone down the air vent or gun barrel of all these gun emplacements renders them worthless.
Will they be overrun by diversity?
Thays the biggest tragedy... all the sacrifice of our ancestors, the massive investment in defense... all of it for nothing because our corrupt and incompetent ruling class has betrayed it all and facilitated the invasion and destruction of the entire west...
no. +55% are right wingers here
They already are, swiss is little albania.
@@Psysso Germans are the biggest group. they should go home too
A few centuries ago we defended us with walls of pikes and had the concept of no quarter. Meaning, who invades in arms stays forever.
Imagine future explorers 5000 years from now exploring Switzerland.