Swiss troops in foreign service

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Flag of the Swiss Guard Regiment in France 1616–1792, 1815–1830

Swiss troops in foreign service was the name of the pay service of commanded, whole troops abroad, regulated by state treaties by the authorities of the Swiss Confederation from the 15th to the 19th century . Behind the goal of curbing unregulated individual travel was also the intention of generating financial income.

Measures by the authorities

The old confederation of 13 sovereign places existed until 1798 as a loose confederation of six rural cantons (Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Zug, Glarus, Appenzell), seven urban estates (Zurich, Basel, Schaffhausen, Freiburg, Solothurn, Lucerne, Bern), two facing locations (St. Gallen, Graubünden), four subject areas (Waadt, Aargau, Thurgau, Ticino), three informal allies (Neuchâtel, Valais, Geneva) and various temporarily involved bodies. Today's canton of Jura, as the French-speaking territory of the Principality of Basel, belonged to the German Empire, but was largely allied with Bern.

The Swiss Confederation was the only joint authority and sole link that held the periodical meeting of the briefed delegates of its allies.

For various reasons (overpopulation, poverty, thirst for adventure, greed for money, family tradition or personal hopelessness), all members of the federal government have always been traveling around and its effects (death abroad, invalidity, neglect, brutality). In four centuries two million Swiss people are said to have moved into foreign services (half of them to France) and every third person perished there.

In the 15th century, the Diet and the authorities of the individual places began to direct the unregulated individual travel, this "export of blood", through state treaties - the first was concluded in 1453 with the French King Charles VIII - in a more orderly manner: initially tolerated by entrepreneurial native captains who recruited mercenaries by private contract (particular capitulation), but soon with their own offensive and defensive contracts with foreign princes and states that contained military surrender.

Military capitulation

Preamble to the military surrender of the Dutch States General to the Republic of Bern on January 8, 1714 (Bern State Archives)

In the alliance treaty, the military concerns were summarized in a separate chapter, the military surrender. It stipulated the area of ​​operations and the purpose of the troops and regulated the recruitment, pay, food, duration of engagement, vacation, uniforms, armament, ammunition, medical care and the stocks of troop members. It determined the procedure for the appointment of officers, pensions, commissions, and the manner in which justice was administered and the practice of religion. Often it also contained a provision on mutual aid in the event of an attack on one of the contractual partners and usually granted the canton a right of recall if it needed it.

Foreign contract partners

The force and discipline of the force of the Swiss mercenaries, which were successful against the Habsburg and Burgundian knight armies, cemented the reputation of their invincibility and their military market value as early as the 15th century. The princes of Europe, almost constantly involved in wars against each other, were very interested in the quarter of halberds as hand-to-hand fighters, protected by pikemen with their long spikes (16 feet = 5 m). They sought more and more official alliance agreements and military surrenders with the federal authorities.

France, 1453-1830

France was the first and for four centuries the most important contractual partner of the Confederations with more than 90 Swiss troops. Together with the bodyguards of the « Hundertschweizer », they formed the first standing Swiss troops abroad, supported the Valois royal dynasty against Burgundy , the Huguenots and Habsburgs , and were deployed during the expansion policy of the subsequent Bourbons and finally during and after the revolutionary times.

Holy See, since 1506

A total of 21 Swiss troops were on the expansion of the Papal States involved, supported the secular politics pope and put bodyguards for him (today's Swiss Guard ) and its legacies . Around 1870, however, as part of and together with his troops, they could not prevent the integration of the Papal State into the emerging Italian nation-state . With a special permit from the Federal Council, 110 Swiss Guards are still responsible for the personal safety of the Pope.

Netherlands, 1568-1829

31 Swiss troops have entered the Dutch service: in 1568 for the freedom struggle of the Republic of the United Netherlands (including the Life Guard Guardes Switsers ), in the 18th century for the Dutch East India Company (to Africa and Asia) and in the 19th century for the monarchy of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands .

Venice, 1573-1719

The Republic of Venice was supported by 12 Swiss troops in almost 150 years. Due to Vasco da Gama's sea ​​route to India, it was economically on the defensive and militarily by the Ottomans gradually got rid of its colonies. In 1797 it had to surrender to the Napoleonic troops without a fight. It was adopted by the Italian nation-state in 1866.

Spain, 1574-1835

Thirty Swiss troops in Spanish service (two of them non-regular units) successively supported the royal dynasties of the Spanish Habsburgs and the Spanish Bourbons who followed them on the throne of Spain , as well as for a short time King Joseph I , a ruler by Napoleon's grace.

Genoa, 1575-1779

The Maritime Republic of Genoa put 8 Swiss troops into service. One of them was a Swiss guard.

Lorraine, 1581-1767

The Duchy of Lorraine afforded a Swiss Guard in 1581. Its eventful history ended in 1767 in Austrian service at the Habsburg court in Vienna.

Savoy / Sicily / Sardinia, 1582–1848

Thirty-five Swiss troops in the service of Savoy served the dukes and later the kings of the House of Savoy from 1582 to 1848 on their eventful rise from Piedmont via the Kingdom of Sicily to that of Sardinia-Piedmont . Among them was also a Swiss Guard.

Electoral Palatinate, 1582–1777

One of the Swiss troops in the service of the Electorate of the Palatinate, repealed and re-established several times by the Electors of the Palatinate Counties near Rhine, was a Swiss bodyguard.

Strasbourg, 1592–1679

A total of eight Swiss troops in the service of Strasbourg supported the free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation in the dispute over the bishopric of Strasbourg and - in vain - against the expansionist urge of the French Sun King Louis XIV.

Sweden, 1632-1634

The Kingdom of Sweden had three unauthorized Swiss troops in its ranks during the Thirty Years' War in 1632 .

Lucca, 1653-1806

Lucca , the Tuscan city-state, was independent until the Napoleonic period and became part of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861 . In 1653 the city recruited a Swiss palace guard.

Saxony, 1656–1814

Of the two Swiss troops of the Electors of Saxony , only one was capitulated: the Swiss Guard.

Austria, 1690-1801

From 1690 to 1801 there were sixteen Swiss troops in Austrian service, including a Swiss Guard.

In addition to numerous Swiss mercenaries , they served the Habsburgs , partly financed from outside , in the Spanish , Polish and Austrian Wars of Succession, as well as in their seemingly endless disputes with France .

England / Great Britain / United Kingdom 1691–1856

Seventeen Swiss troops in English and British service were deployed from 1691 to 1856 for the Kingdom of England , the Kingdom of Great Britain (from 1707) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (from 1801), mostly for the benefit of allied states.

Prussia, 1696-1848

The army of Prussia had two Swiss troops, one of them was a Swiss palace guard.

Naples, 1734-1859

Flag of the 4th Swiss Regiment in Naples

The Kingdom of Naples became a contractual partner for a total of 11 Swiss troops for the first time in the 18th century, after the first entry of the Bourbons, and a second time in the 19th century, after their reinstatement after a Napoleonic phase.

Portugal, 1762-1763

The deployment of the two Swiss troops in Portuguese service during the Seven Years' War ended ingloriously.

Brazil, 1819/1840

The requests from the king in 1819 and in 1840 from the emperor of Brazil for Swiss troops in connection with the establishment of the colony Nova Friburgo and the secession of the province of Rio Grande do Sul ( Republic of Piratini ) and other unrest were unsuccessful. There were no Swiss troops in Brazilian service.

Egypt, 1882/1883

The khedive Muhammad Tawfiq Pascha deployed a non-regular Swiss guard in Alexandria in 1882, as part of a European guard within the gendarmerie, to secure the city.

Denmark

Although the guards in front of the royal palace in Copenhagen are called Schweizer (German: Schweizer) and King Claudius calls for his Swiss gatekeepers in Shakespeare's Hamlet , there were no Swiss troops in Danish service. Rather, it is an example of the fact that the term Swiss in European parlance has also become a synonym for a royal guard soldier .

Cologne and other places with large sacred buildings

Ecclesiastical Swiss, also known as Domschweizer in episcopal churches , is another example of the Swiss being a non-military professional or function designation that is still common today without reference to Swiss citizenship .

Employed by dioceses , parishes and parishes, they ensure peace and order in (mostly even larger) Catholic churches . In Cologne Cathedral are now even Domschweizerinnen in use.

End of the Swiss troops in foreign service 1859

The payments ( pensions ) agreed in the alliance agreements to the federal locations, to important personalities, mercenary officers and family pay companies led to early criticism. Diebold Schilling wrote as early as 1483 in a draft for the Bern Chronicle (which then fell victim to censorship):

«So also the Houptlüten and other mighty ones from Stetten and Lendern were given a merglich and gross humming word, which they also gave voluntary names and not, and the common man was not waited on, which then stat and land as well and me then the mighty ones have to keep. I foresee the Almighty God, who knows how to reward you according to your own merits. "

Attempts, such as the pension letter of 1503, to restrict it were unsuccessful.

The Zurich reformer Huldrych Zwingli also preached against paid service in 1525.

Individual financial interests also frequently corrupted the decisions of the Diet, made a joint federal foreign policy impossible and even led to the loss of direct encounter between Swiss troops on the battlefield in opposing ranks.

But "the evil itself should gradually create the possibility of overcoming it", wrote Lorenz Stucki in 1968:

The capital flowing into the Swiss Confederation became an important prerequisite for the relatively early development of successful Swiss foreign trade and the beginnings of domestic industry. Many mercenary officers used their service time to build international relationships and for their business development as trading masters, as well as the homework of the farmers at home as a cheap production base.

Perugia massacre

The close ties to powerful France also secured the western border of the Confederation and its freedom of action vis-à-vis the other European powers for centuries. It also conveyed diverse cultural, architectural and social impulses to the backward country, not least through the French Revolution in 1789, as a result of which the old Confederation collapsed in 1798 and, after some birth pangs , the Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation was created in 1848 .

The young federal state, now dominated by liberal forces, gradually abolished the foreign service of Swiss troops in 1849 and, after a deployment of a papal Swiss regiment in Perugia in 1859 had escalated into atrocities of war, and in 1927 that of individual citizens too, unless approved by the Federal Council.

Swiss citizen in foreign service 1859–1927

According to the federal law of 1859, Swiss citizens were still allowed to do individual foreign service as long as they did not neglect their Swiss tax and military service obligations.

Only if he wanted to join foreign, non-national troops, did he need the approval of the Federal Council , which could issue this “for the purpose of training in the interests of the Swiss Army ”.

Such approval procedures are known for sixteen armies .

The Military Criminal Law of 1927 finally made this individual foreign service by Swiss citizens generally a criminal offense, unless it was approved by the Federal Council.

Swiss citizens in foreign service after 1927

the white cap of the French Foreign Legionnaire

In 1927, the new Paragraph 94 of the Military Criminal Law came into force, which also criminalized the individual foreign service of Swiss citizens and was consistently applied by the federal authorities .

French Foreign Legion

The mercenaries of the French Foreign Legion were particularly affected by the new regime of the authorities . The exact number is not known, only the number of convictions: after the Second World War there were around 240 victims per year, now a low single-digit number.

Spain fighters

The approximately 800 Swiss nationals who fought on the republican side in the Communist International Brigades against the fascism of the Spanish Falangists in the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939 were also hit hard. Richard Dindo impressively documented their fate in his 1974 film, Swiss in the Spanish Civil War . One of their most famous leaders was Otto Brunner .

The Spanish fighters were finally rehabilitated by the Swiss parliament in 2009 and the judgments against them overturned. The rehabilitation law, however, did not apply to the 30 or so Swiss in the ranks of the coup general Francisco Franco .

German Wehrmacht and National Socialist Waffen SS

Another chapter is the approximately 2000 Swiss members of the National Socialist German Waffen-SS and the German Wehrmacht .

The volunteers from all walks of life, between 17 and 25 years old, mostly dual citizens from the Swiss-German cantons of Bern and Zurich, were not all Nazi supporters. Some wanted to fight the Bolsheviks , escaped personal difficulties, or simply pursued their thirst for adventure.

Higher-ranking Swiss were, for example, Rittmeister Hugo von Senger, SS-Oberführer Johann Eugen Corrodi , SS-Obersturmbannführer Franz Riedweg , SS-Sturmbannführer Heinrich Johann Hersche , SS-Hauptsturmführer Kurt Brüderlin, SS-Untersturmführer Benno Schaeppi , SS-Hauptscharführer Johannes Pauli, notorious the sadistic Concentration camp - prisoner functionary Eugen Wipf .

The medical missions of the Swiss Red Cross under Major Eugen Bircher also leave an ambivalent feeling.

The members of the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS were convicted after the Second World War (1939–1945), mostly after a long period of imprisonment and sometimes in absentia, and 29 of those affected were even deprived of their citizenship.

Recent conflicts (Middle East, Turkey, Ukraine)

Recently, intelligence and military judicial investigations into Swiss soldiers serving in the Israeli army , with Blackwater in Iraq , in the war in Ukraine , as a fighter with the Kurdish PKK and in the civil war in Syria have become known.

Jihad

Also the jihad took Trailer: against 100 people from Switzerland for by Syria , Iraq , Afghanistan , Pakistan , Yemen , Somalia or the Philippines traveled one in three with a Swiss passport, of which about two-thirds of dual citizens.

Those who are radicalized by Islamist ideas (including several dozen people at risk ) are recorded by the federal intelligence service and monitored by the Federal Office of Police . To deal with them, the Federal Council has created a specialized unit within the framework of the new Intelligence Service Act.

Helmet of the Papal Swiss Guard

The Federal Council does not want to actively repatriate the jihadists with Swiss passports incarcerated in Kurdish prisons, but is reviewing exceptions for the seven affected children and their mothers. He supports the idea of ​​creating an international court on site (e.g. under the custody of the UN) to try adult jihadists and is considering the possibility of depriving Swiss citizens of dual citizenship.

Jihad travelers who have been deported from the crisis area or who are returning to Switzerland voluntarily, as well as persons who have committed criminal offenses, are brought to the local justice system. There are currently 70 such criminal proceedings pending.

Papal Swiss Guard

The Pontifical Swiss Guard , has a special permit from the Federal survived, the only Swiss troops from the time of the foreign service to this day. It is financially supported by two foundations from Switzerland. Your alumni are organized in an association. The Guard Museum is located in Naters .

Special regulations for dual citizens since 1938

Since 1938, the Federal Council has concluded seven bilateral agreements that allow dual Swiss citizens to perform their military service in these foreign contracting states, contrary to Section 94 of the Military Penal Act.

Swiss citizens with a second citizenship ( dual citizenship ) in Germany, France, the USA, Colombia, Argentina, Austria or Italy usually only have to do their military service in one country. They have freedom of choice in this regard for Switzerland's four direct neighbors.

Resistance organization P-26, 1979-1990

In 1990 the existence of a resistance organization established in 1979 in what was then the Federal Military Department became public. The cadre organization, which was screened by a parliamentary commission of inquiry and built up in the event of hostile occupation of Switzerland, was scandalized by some media as a secret army and disbanded by the Federal Council. In 2018, he published the final report of the Neuchâtel investigating judge Pierre Cornu from 1991 in an anonymised version. He shows that this stay-behind organization called P-26 was based on expertise, training and, in some cases, UK leadership. It also showed a certain affinity with similar organizations abroad and with NATO .

Foreign missions of today's Swiss Army

Ambulance of Swisscoy

The Swiss army is in accordance with one of their jobs ( promotion of peace in the international arena ) since 1953 worldwide in various missions. For special tasks abroad, the Federal Council also has the elite professional soldiers of Army Reconnaissance Detachment 10 (AAD 10).

Recent private mercenary companies in Switzerland

After internationally active, private mercenary companies settled in Switzerland - for example the British Aegis Group , which relocated its holding company to Basel in 2010 - the Federal Council and Parliament supplemented the legal framework. The federal law that came into force on September 1, 2015, made private security services from Switzerland subject to strict official controls abroad and an international code of conduct. Private mercenary companies in Switzerland were deprived of their livelihood by banning participation in hostilities and serious human rights violations . Recently, however , this mercenary law has been increasingly applied to industrial companies.

Remarks

  1. ↑ The modern Swiss federal state abolished the foreign military service of Swiss mercenaries step by step: the led, whole troops in 1849 and 1859 and the unauthorized by individuals in 1927 . Exceptions apply to the Pontifical Swiss Guard and the recent missions of the Swiss Army abroad .
  2. ↑ for example through debts, flight from serfdom or from criminal prosecution, later-born farmer sons (without inheritance claim on the father's farm), factual occupation ban for craftsmen through restrictive guild regulations or unemployment of professionals.
  3. ^ The Royal French Foreign Regiments (Infanterie étrangère de ligne) were infantry regiments of the French army of the ancien régime recruited abroad in the 17th and 18th centuries . Their relatives came mainly from Switzerland (Régiment suisse), Germany (Régiment allemand), Ireland (Régiment irlandaise) and Wallonia (Régiment wallon or Régiment liégeois) as well as some other countries, from which only small contingents were required. The Swiss regiments often use the addition “des grisons” (Graubündner) or “de bâlois” (Basler).
  4. ^ For example, Basilica Vierzehnheiligen , Prien am Chiemsee , Basilica Gößweinstein , Cologne , Speyer , Mainz , Trier , Limburg / Lahn , Bamberg , Aachen , Freiburg Cathedral and Salzburg Cathedral .
  5. ↑ for example the Zurlauben family from Zug, in which female members also played an important role. See: Nathalie Büsser: Beautiful men for the woman captain . In: Bieler Tagblatt , May 15, 2020, or Cécile Huber / Katrin Keller: French pensions in the Confederation and their distribution in the city and office of Zug by the Zurlauben family. Chapter in: Pay deals, clientelism, corruption in the early modern period. Editors: Kaspar von Greyerz, André Holenstein, Andreas Würgler, V&R unipress, Göttingen 2018.
  6. ↑ more understandable interpretation of the legal text, "only for the purpose of further training for the purposes of the patriotic defense system", which left the Federal Council a certain margin of discretion.
  7. ↑ after Peter Huber: Vanishing Point Foreign Legion. Swiss in Indochina and Algeria, 1945–1962. Chronos-Verlag, Zurich, 2017, it is said to have been 2,200 Swiss citizens during this period, one in ten of whom died and 18% attempted to escape, 2/3 of them successfully.
  8. ↑ The homepage of the interest group of Spain volunteers contains the most important information about them.
  9. ^ Homepage of the Association of Former Papal Swiss Guardsmen .
  10. ↑ The Guards Museum (the Swiss Guard 500th anniversary) is former ammunition magazines of historical since 2006 Simplon fortress housed.
  11. ↑ today: Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport .
  12. ↑ from Latin missio : mission , order .

literature

Web links

Commons : Swiss troops in foreign services  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Alexander Sury: The fate of a Bernese emigrant , In: Der Bund , March 16, 2020.
  2. ^ Paul de Vallière: The foreign service in Swiss history. In: Alexander Randa: Handbuch der Weltgeschichte. Special print, Otto Walter Verlag, Olten [1958], p. 1724.
  3. ↑ a b c Lorenz Stucki: The secret empire. How Switzerland got rich. Scherz, Bern / Munich 1968, DNB 458274143 .
  4. ^ Heinrich Türler, Viktor Attinger, Marcel Godet: Historisch-Biographisches Lexikon der Schweiz. Fourth volume. Neuchâtel 1927.
  5. ↑ Burin de Roziers: Capitulations militaires entre la Suisse et la France. Diss. Law Faculty of the University of Paris, Arthur Rousseau, Paris 1902.
  6. ^ Henry A. Ulstrup , category deaths (Danish: Døde). In: Kristeligt Dagblad (German: Christian Tagblatt) from July 28, 2009.
  7. ↑ Hamlet / 4. Elevator / Scene 5: King: Come! Where are the Swiss? Have the door guarded. What's out there ?
  8. ↑ Stephan Dinges: Domschweizer in Mainz Cathedral , section SWR Heimat, Südwestrundfunk SWR from January 1, 2019.
  9. ^ Article Domradio : The first Swiss women from the Cathedral to introduce themselves at Cologne Cathedral , Bildungswerk der Erzdiözese Köln eV from May 15, 2019.
  10. ↑ Ernst Walder: Von raeten und burgeren interrogated and corrected, Diebold Schilling's three reactions to the Bern Chronicle of the Burgundian Wars. In: Bern journal for history and local history. Volume 48, 1986.
  11. ^ Hans Stadler: Pension Letter. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  12. ↑ Melchior Schuler, Johann Schulthess: Huldreich Zwingli's works. Volume 2, Schulthess'sche Buchhandlung, Zurich 1832:

    “ A divine muddle to the eersamen, wysen, eerenfesten, elderly sworns in Schwyz, that sy be on guard and unload before pious gentlemen ... when now ... some of us ... has the top ... glych like the first of the snakes' scoop, so to our cytes the pious gentlemen ufgricht that sy talked to us are: ... serving us for rychen sold? We give birth to great names and goodness, and we give strength to people who are known and feared. Glych also spoke the tüfel zuo Eva through the snakes ... [...] ... There should also be a cute ... at jm think about it, if you dealt with jm, as ... where a stranger who has become messed up in your country mightily approach you, din matten, field, wyngarten gschendet, din cattle and vee tribe away, all husrat tame bundles and away soumete, dine sün… would have slain; Your daughters with violence were not pulling and languishing, din love husfrowen ... kicked their feet; and you ... stabbed you miserably in the face of dines wybs ... and burned to the last house and yard. "

  13. ↑ Jonas Furrer : The political department of the Swiss Confederation to the Swiss Federal Council , assessment of the situation by the first Federal President. In: Supplement 2 to Federal Gazette No. 2 of February 2, 1849.
  14. ^ Federal Constitution of September 12, 1848 in the first Federal Gazette 1849:

    Article 11
    No military surrender may be concluded.
    Article 12
    The members of the federal authorities, the federal civil and military officials and the federal representatives and commissioners may not accept pensions or salaries, titles, gifts or medals from foreign governments.
    If they are already in possession of pensions, titles or medals, they have to refrain from enjoying pensions and wearing the titles and medals during their term of office.
    Subordinate civil servants and employees can, however, be approved by the Federal Council to continue drawing pensions.

  15. ↑ a b Federal Law on Advertising and Entry into Foreign Military Service (of September 30, 1859):

    Article 1
    Entry into those troops abroad that are not to be regarded as national troops of the state concerned is prohibited to any Swiss citizen without the approval of the Federal Council.
    The Federal Council can only grant such a permit for the purpose of further training for the purposes of the patriotic defense system.

  16. ↑ a b c d Military Criminal Law of June 13, 1927:

    Article 94 A
    Swiss citizen who enters into foreign military service without the permission of the Federal Council is punished with imprisonment of up to three years or a fine.

  17. ↑ Guido Mülhaupt: ... for the purposes of the patriotic defense system ... - The federal administration of foreign services 1859-1927 . Master's thesis in Modern History, Faculty of Philosophy and History, University of Bern, 2012.
  18. ↑ la légion dans le monde , homepage of the association of former legionaries.
  19. ^ Peter Huber: Vanishing Point Foreign Legion. Swiss in the Indochina and Algerian wars, 1945-1962 , pages 8-19, Chronos-Verlag, Zurich, 2017.
  20. ^ Andreas Oplatka: Legio Patria Nostra - 150 years of the Foreign Legion In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. 5th / 6th September 1981, no.205.
  21. ^ Swiss Social Archives: 80 Years Ago: The Spanish Civil War and Switzerland
  22. ↑ Konrad Kuhn: In Spain also fought for Swiss democracy: Graubünden volunteers in Spain between war and ideology 1930-1960 . In: Bündner Monatsblatt - magazine for BündnerGeschichte, regional studies and building culture 1/2010, Chur 2010.
  23. ↑ Federal Law on the Rehabilitation of Volunteers in the Spanish Civil War
  24. ↑ Peter Huber: The Swiss at Franco's side. in: Sunday newspaper . 17th November 2013.
  25. ↑ a b Sabine Bitter: I wanted to be part of this war , Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) Kultur, January 21, 2018.
  26. ^ Fränzi Zwahlen-Saner: Out of a thirst for adventure and delusion: Solothurner in the Waffen-SS In: Solothurner Zeitung , August 21, 2015.
  27. ↑ a b c The hidden past of Swiss Nazi-era volunteers , article (English) by swissinfo.ch, based on an Italian article by Paola Beltrame in St. Gallen, January 7, 2009.
  28. ↑ Hugo von Senger's curriculum vitae . Obituary of the Avalon community . Accessed: September 20, 2019.
  29. ^ Kurt Brüderlin's curriculum vitae, obituary of the Avalon community . Accessed: September 20, 2019.
  30. ^ Remy Bütler: My grandfather was a murderer , Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen (SRF) Kultur, January 21, 2018.
  31. ↑ Marc Tribelhorn: Torture and murder in the Nazi concentration camp. Sadist Wipf. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . 3rd July 2017.
  32. ↑ Erich Aschwanden: Off to the Eastern Front: Swiss doctors care for Hitler's wounded soldiers. . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . February 11, 2020.
  33. ↑ Kian Ramezani: Swiss legionaries in the Israeli army? The military justice investigates In: watson . April 1, 2017.
  34. ↑ Oren Giladi in "beneath the helmets" (youtube video)
  35. ^ Investigation against Swiss Blackwater employees In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . November 7, 2007.
  36. ↑ No proceedings against Swiss mercenaries In: Blick . July 7, 2008.
  37. ↑ Fabian Eberhard: Swiss fight in the Ukraine In: Sunday newspaper . September 7, 2015.
  38. ↑ Fabian Eberhard: This Swiss neo-Nazi fought in the Ukraine war In: Blick . 23 August 2020.
  39. ↑ Tobias Kühne: Foreign military service (Art. 94 MStG) when joining an armed non-governmental group or terrorist organization Master's thesis in the Master of Advanced Studies Forensics program of the Public Prosecutor's Academy of the University of Lucerne, 2015.
  40. ↑ Christian anti-IS fighter back in Switzerland In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . March 11, 2015.
  41. ↑ Andrea Böhm: Swiss Sniper In: ZEIT ONLINE . October 24, 2014.
  42. ↑ Swiss Parliament: Swiss anti-fascists trained in Syria? , Federal Council opinion on interpellation 20.3706 Glarus, 26 August 2020.
  43. ↑ Collection of Articles Iraq: Will War and Terror Ever End? , In: Der Tagesspiegel , Accessed: June 10, 2019.
  44. ↑ Federal Intelligence Service: Jihadist Travelers , Federal Department of Defense , Civil Protection and Sport , accessed: November 2018.
  45. ↑ Federal Office of Police fedpol : Annual reports fedpol , accessed: June 18, 2020.
  46. ↑ Andreas Maurer: Jihadists live from the state , Aargauer Zeitung , June 12, 2019.
  47. ↑ SRF 10 vor 10: This is how much the Swiss IS network was , news broadcast, September 20, 2019.
  48. ↑ General Secretariat, Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport: Number of people at risk , accessed: January 3, 2020.
  49. ↑ Fabian Baumgartner, Florian Schoop: Marat Yusupov lived in Switzerland for 13 years. Then he is taken away by the police in the middle of the night - and deported / “I experienced the war, and you can experience it too” - Marat Yusupov's life falls into chaos In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . August 7/8, 2019.
  50. ^ The Federal Council  : Intelligence Service Act , press release Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport. Accessed: May 11, 2020.
  51. ↑ The Federal Council : National Action Plan against Radicalization and Violent Extremism: Implementation of the measures is on track , press release from the Federal Department of Defense , Civil Protection and Sport , accessed: June 18, 2020.
  52. ↑ Swiss Confederation, TETRA Security Core Group: Measures taken by Switzerland to combat jihadist-motivated terrorism (Third TETRA report) PDF. Accessed: May 11, 2019.
  53. ↑ Marcel Gyr: The Federal Council does not want to actively bring back jihadists In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . March 8, 2019.
  54. ↑ Andrea Kucera: Concern for Swiss Terrorist Children In: NZZ am Sonntag . March 10, 2019.
  55. ↑ Marcel Gyr: The fate of the children of Swiss IS women remains uncertain In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . 29th September 2019.
  56. ↑ Kathrin Alder: Returnees from Turkey: Federal Prosecutor's Office is conducting criminal proceedings for alleged violations of the IS law . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . January 3, 2020.
  57. ^ Announcement sda : Three months of pre-trial detention ordered for IS returnees . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . 1st November 2019.
  58. ↑ The Federal Council : Federal law on the prohibition of the groups "Al-Qaïda" and "Islamic State" and related organizations In: Systematic Collection of Federal Law December 14, 2014.
  59. ↑ Federal Prosecutor : Combating Terrorism: Indictment filed against two people , media release, July 6, 2020.
  60. ↑ Minutes of the meeting of the Federal Council of February 15, 1929, 297. Le nouveau statut du St. Siège, Verbal:

    “ … Il est difficile […] de considérer la garde papale comme une armée étrangère au sens de l'article 94 du code pénal militaire; cette troupe étant une simple garde de police, quiconque pourra y prendre du service, comme actuellement, sans l'autorisation du Conseil fédéral ... "

  61. ^ Foundations of the Pontifical Swiss Guard in the Vatican .
  62. ↑ Martin Rupf: Former Swiss Guardsmen did the honors in Baden . In: Aargauer Zeitung , September 2, 2019.
  63. ↑ The Federal Council: Agreement between the Swiss Confederation and the Federal Republic of Germany on the conscription of dual citizens / dual nationals . Legal text 0.141.113.6 from October 1, 2011 in Systematic Legal Collection. Accessed: March 18, 2019.
  64. ↑ The Federal Council: Agreement between the Swiss Federal Council and the government of the French Republic on the military service of dual citizens . Legal text 0.141.134.92 from May 1, 1995 in Systematic Legal Collection. Accessed: March 18, 2019.
  65. ↑ The Federal Council: Treaty between Switzerland and the United States of America on the military duties of certain persons who are dual citizens . Legal text 0.141.133.6 from May 7, 1938 in the Systematic Legal Collection. Accessed: March 18, 2019.
  66. ↑ The Federal Council: Agreement between Switzerland and Colombia on military service . Legal text 0.141.126.3 from May 6, 1963 in Systematic Legal Collection. Accessed: March 18, 2019.
  67. ↑ The Federal Council: Agreement between the Swiss Confederation and the Argentine Republic on military service . Message 10 040 130 of March 13, 1958, not ratified by Argentina, current practice. Accessed: March 18, 2019.
  68. ↑ The Federal Council: Agreement between the Swiss Confederation and the Republic of Austria on the military service of dual citizens . Legal text 0.141.116.3 from January 1, 2001 in Systematic Legal Collection. Accessed: March 18, 2019.
  69. ↑ The Federal Council: Agreement between the Swiss Confederation and the Republic of Italy on military service for dual citizens . Legal text 0.141.145.42 from September 1, 2008 in Systematic Legal Collection. Accessed: March 18, 2019.
  70. ↑ The Federal Council: Dual Citizens . Information from the Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport . Accessed: February 22, 2019.
  71. ^ Information: Military service of dual citizens , In: Homepage Organization of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) . Accessed March 15, 2019.
  72. ↑ Titus J. Meier : P-26 or the story of the Swiss secret army In: NZZ am Sonntag . 15th July 2018.
  73. ↑ Pierre Cornu: Relations between the organization P-26 and analogous organizations abroad , report to the Federal Council, Neuchâtel and Bern, August 5, 1991.
  74. ↑ Pietro Boschetti, Xavier Nicol: The Swiss Secret Army P-26 . Report for SRF Dok , YouTube video, 2018.
  75. ↑ Homepage: SWISSINT - Peacebuilding of the Swiss Armed Forces in an International Framework , Competence Center SWISSINT, Kasernenstrasse 8, CH-6370 Stans-Oberdorf.
  76. ↑ Swiss Army: Military Peacebuilding, Missions , Accessed: January 28, 2020.
  77. ↑ Swiss Army: Army Reconnaissance Detachment 10 , accessed: May 18, 2019.
  78. ↑ Mercenary companies are banned in Switzerland in the future. In: Aargauer Zeitung , September 23, 2013.
  79. ↑ Federal Act on Private Security Services Provided Abroad (BPS) of September 1, 2015:

    Art. 1 Purpose
    This law is intended to help:
    a. to guarantee the internal and external security of Switzerland;
    b. to realize Switzerland's foreign policy goals;
    c. to maintain Swiss neutrality;
    d. to guarantee compliance with international law, in particular human rights and humanitarian law.

  80. ↑ Federal Act on Private Security Services Provided Abroad (BPS) of September 1, 2015 (PDF; 146 kB).
  81. ↑ Federal Act on Private Security Services Provided Abroad (BPS) of September 1, 2015:

    Art. 4 Terms:
    In this law:
    a. Private security services in particular the following activities performed by a private company:
    1. Personal protection in a complex environment,
    2. Guarding goods and properties in a complex environment,
    3.     Security service for events,
    4. Control, detention or search of people, searches of Rooms or containers as well as confiscation of objects,
    5. guarding, caring for and transporting prisoners, operating prisons and providing assistance in the operation of camps for prisoners of war or interned civilians,
    6. operational or logistical support for armed forces or security forces, unless this is within the scope direct participation in hostilities in accordance with Article 8 takes place,
    7. operation and maintenance of weapons systems,
    8. advice or training for members of armed forces or security forces,
    9. intelligence activities, espionage and counter-espionage;

    b. Services associated with a private security service:
    1. Recruiting or training staff for private security services abroad,
    2. Placing or making available of staff for the benefit of a company that offers private security services abroad;

  82. ↑ a b . Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA: 2018 Activity Report on the Implementation of the Federal Act on Private Security Services Provided Abroad . Publication of the Security Policy Department of the Directorate of Political Affairs on August 14, 2019. Accessed: August 29, 2019.
  83. ↑ International code of conduct for private security service providers (PDF; 429 kB).
  84. ↑ Federal Act on Private Security Services Provided Abroad (BPS) of September 1, 2015:

    Art. 8 Direct participation in hostilities:
    1 It is forbidden:
    a. to recruit or train personnel in Switzerland for the purpose of directly participating in hostilities abroad;
    b. to mediate or make available personnel from Switzerland for the purpose of directly participating in hostilities abroad;
    c. to found, relocate, operate or manage a company in Switzerland that recruits, trains, mediates or provides personnel for the purpose of directly participating in hostilities abroad;
    d. control from Switzerland a company that recruits, trains, mediates or makes available personnel for the purpose of directly participating in hostilities abroad.

    2 Persons who have their place of residence or their habitual abode in Switzerland and who are in the service of a company that is subject to this Act are prohibited from directly participating in hostilities abroad.

  85. ↑ Federal Act on Private Security Services Provided Abroad (BPS) of September 1, 2015:

    Art. 9 Serious violation of human rights:
    It is forbidden:
    a. to provide private security services or related services from Switzerland which it can be assumed that the recipients will use them in the context of committing serious human rights violations;
    b. to found, relocate, operate or manage a company in Switzerland that provides private security services or related services that are likely to be used by the recipients to commit serious human rights violations;
    c. to control from Switzerland a company that provides private security services or related services that are likely to be used by the recipients in the context of committing serious human rights violations.

  86. ↑ a b Urs Amacher: Zurlauben, Beat Fidel. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . March 4, 2014 , accessed January 10, 2019 .
  87. ↑ Karin Marti-Weissenbach: May, Beat Emmanuel (from Romainmôtier). In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  88. ^ Christian Müller (2): Mülinen, Wolfgang Friedrich von. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  89. ↑ Hans Braun: Wattenwyl, Friedrich Moritz von. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  90. ↑ Olivier Meuwly: Valliere, Paul de. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .