Rütli report

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The Rütli report is an event in Swiss military history that took place on July 25, 1940.

On this day the Commander-in-Chief of the Swiss Army , General Henri Guisan , ordered all senior officers (from major level ) to report to the Rütliwiese . He informed them about the Reduit plan, in the event of an attack by the Axis powers , to concentrate the defense of Switzerland on the area of ​​the high Alps with the important pass crossings, especially the Gotthard massif , and to destroy all approaches to the mountains if necessary. His operational order No. 12 of July 17, 1940 had caused the relocation of five divisions (Div 1, 3 , 8; 7 and 9 were already there) to the foothills of the Alps and the Alps.

Commemorative plaque for the journey of the general and his officers on the steamship Stadt Luzern

The orders issued at this report on the defense of the country in World War II were formulated as a message of deterrence against the Axis powers Germany and Italy and accompanied the political, economic and diplomatic measures of the Swiss government in Bern .

"As long as there are millions of armed men in Europe and as long as significant forces can attack us at any time, the army has to stand at its post."

- Henri Guisan : order of the day of July 25, 1940

The background was the fact that after the fall of France on June 22, 1940, Switzerland was completely enclosed by the Axis powers and an attack on Switzerland could not be ruled out at that time. This caused panic in parts of the Swiss public, which the government, the Federal Council , also seemed to have gripped: On June 25, the Foreign Minister and then Federal President Marcel Pilet-Golaz gave a radio address to calm the mood. However, since Pilet-Golaz spoke of "adjustments to the new circumstances", one could read from it an invitation to come to terms with the Axis powers.

Because of this constellation, the Rütli report received a special place in the collective consciousness of Switzerland as a manifestation of an indomitable will for independence in a place steeped in history and in difficult times. However, this representation is now considered outdated, especially by younger historians. Guisan's biographer Willi Gautschi points out, for example, that large parts of the speech were only edited later in the way they were recorded in the collective memory. However, Guisan had not adhered to the manuscript and had cleared the Rütli and concentrated on the military aspects, while the manuscript had included socio-political twists and turns. Bringing the entire top of the army - with the exception of general staff officers - to the Rütli entailed a certain risk, which worried many of the 650 officers taking part. An attack could have left the Swiss army almost unmanaged.

In Swiss public life, Pilet-Golaz, who had to resign in 1944, became a symbol of defeatism and General Guisan - undisputed until the 1960s - that of resistance .

literature

  • Oscar Gauye: Au Rütli, July 25, 1940: le discours du général Guisan . In SQ 10, 1984
  • General Henri Guisan: The Swiss Army Command in World War II . Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zurich 1989, ISBN 3-85823-233-5 .
  • Georg Kreis: The Rütli Myth. History of a place of remembrance . With two contributions by Josef Wiget. Orell Füssli Verlag, Zurich 2004. ISBN 3280060427
  • Markus Somm: General Guisan. Resistance the Swiss way . Stämpfli Verlag, Bern 2010, ISBN 978-3-7272-1346-5
  • Jean-Jacques Langendorf: General Guisan and the Rütli report on July 25, 1940 . Infolio Editions, Gollion 2015, ISBN 978-2-88474-363-1 . Book accompanying the exhibition at the Musée militaire vaudois in the Château de Morges from May 8 to November 29, 2015, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Rütli report.

Web links

Commons : Rütlirapport  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hans Rudolf Kurz: Documents of the active service. Huber Verlag, Frauenfeld 1965
  2. ↑ The Federal Council to the Swiss People (PDF) Text of the Federal Council's declaration in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung of June 25, 1940
  3. ↑ RÜTLIRAPPORT: This is how Guisan awakened the spirit of resistance , Luzerner Zeitung, July 23, 2015
  4. ↑ When the Guisan myth was born , 20 minutes, July 25, 2010
  5. ↑ Christine Lustenberger: Review Mythos Rütli by Georg Kreis