How did Switzerland fare during the Twilight War?

[raketenjagdpanzer]

(v1.0, plz).

Just curious.

[RN7]

Probably better than everyone else. I don't think Switzerland was targeted by any nuclear strikes, but it has the the best civil defense system in the world, with blast shelters for all its citizens.

By law every inhabitant must have a protected place that can be reached quickly from his place of residence, and apartment block owners are required to construct and fit out shelters in all new dwellings. Most Swiss buildings built since 1963 have a fallout shelter, and many Swiss houses and apartment have concrete doors around 40 cm thick deep in the basement with an air supply system. Although most people use them for other purposes there is a legal requirement that a shelter/bunker must be cleaned up and returned to emergency condition within 24 hours, with beds in place, bare walls, no oxygen depleting carpet, and necessary food, water and medicine. In 2006 there were 300,000 shelters in Swiss dwellings, institutions and hospitals, as well as 5,100 public shelters, providing protection for 114 per cent of the population.

Switzerland also had the largest civil defence project in the world. 20,000 people could take refuge in the Sonnenberg tunnel in Lucerne. On the seven floors above the tunnel were a hospital, an operating theatre, a prison, night and day lights, a radio broadcasting studio and a control centre. Massive air filters were installed to supply the inhabitants with 192 cubic metres of non-radio-active air each day. However flaws and doubts about its logistical and engineering capabilities after some organising difficulties led to it being scaled down to accomodating 2,000 people in 2005.

Swiss tunnels and key bridges are also built with tank traps. Some are primed with demolition charges to be used against invading forces. Permanent fortifications are established in the Alps, as bases from which to retake the fertile valleys after a potential invasion. They include underground air bases which are adjacent to normal runways.

Swiss forces are also augmented by a militia system, were conscript citizens man 95% of the positions in the armed forces. The Swiss government also arms its citizens and the militia system stipulates that militia soldiers keep their personal weapons at home.

So basically you have a country which has nuclear shelters and facilities for all of its population and a few hundred thousand refugees, has an armed forces that can bomb every bridge and tunnel in Swizerland at a moments notice, has underground air bases and a government that gives military grade weapons to all of its adult citizens. How does anyone think the Swiss did in the Twilight War?

[WallShadow]

I keep seeing the Swiss having "relief-missions-in-force" to reconnoitre their poor, suffering next-door neighbors, and to scope out what sort of markets are open to Swiss-made goods.

[Legbreaker]

I see the infrastructure surviving fairly well, however the people will suffer rather badly once they are forced to leave their shelters.
Although not nuked, it's a sure bet the country would still be irradiated with fallout and potentially have attracted attention from both sides of the war to deny their facilities to the enemy (as indicated in canon has happened to neutral countries).
Food production may be down, imports will be non-existant and therefore population is likely to dive.
Another issue will be refugees attempting to enter what they see as a safe haven. The country is indeed set up rather nicely to repel invaders, but could they stop hordes of the disposessed? This may become a major political issue and cause the government to fall if they don't walk the fine line between the demand from their people to assist, and the other half demanding they turn everyone away.

To conclude, Switzerland is in a bad way, but still better off than almost anywhere else on the planet. They have some serious issues to work through, but provided they don't make too many misteps, they should be generally ok.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

A couple of thoughts spring to mind...

I think things would get very ugly on the Swiss border. I think you'd have friends and families trying to get "guests" from abroad into Switzerland and it would create a horrible humanitarian crisis - the refugee camp scene we've seen all over Africa and southeast Asia and occasionally in southeastern Europe now in the heart of Europe itself.

The Swiss government would harden it's heart: allowing that flow of refugees in would likely create a host of problems. Firstly, and most importantly, stressing out the resources. Secondly, bringing in disease. Thirdly, suddenly finding yourself a transportation hub and therefore a target of enemy (in Switzerland's case, everyone would be an enemy during the Twilight War) action.

I can see the relatively undamaged French making the Swiss an offer they can't refuse (much as they did Belgium), or alternately the Swiss turning to a very nasty sort of legion e'tranger - send out agents, hire freelance ex-Bundeswehr and ex-USAEUR x years of service to keep the "rabble" off the border in exchange for citizenship.

The Swiss AF would be flying a few F/A-18s (they were license built between 1996 and 1999; I think we can safely assume construction would crawl to a halt after the nukes fly) and a lot of F5s (50+) - they only have a few hundred miles to fly across the entire country so rather like France they'd still have an operational AF to keep refugees from trying to sneak over the border in light aircraft, or to "escort" the occasional French probing flight back across. They also have a not inconsiderable number of Vampires, Hawker Hunters and DeHavilland Venoms to use for observation, reconnaissance and ground attack.

Swiss ground forces equate to - when all reserves are called up - something on the order of eight to ten NATO pre-war divisions (200,000 +/- personnel). They're broken down into brigades. It's an armor-heavy army. Switzerland operates (at the time of the Cold War) 380 "Pz 87" PzKpfw Leopard IIa4's, 580 M113 (build unknown probably to A6 standard). Deliveries of CV90/CV2000 started in 1993; the Swiss purchased 186. They also built 515 MOWAG Piranhas for themselves. They have some 330 MOWAG Eagles (up-armored midrange semi-trucks for armored recon work), a whopping 224 M109A6 SPHs and 120 Piranha TOW-II vehicles.

This is fairly formidable, moreso when you consider all of this can use NATO ammunition.

What Switzerland does not have is oil. The Swiss would quickly find their pristine, untouched armored and air forces nearly unusable except in the most dire circumstances unless they cut a deal with the French for POL. Would they give up their own neutrality? That's an interesting question.

[RN7]

I don't think the Swiss would have anywhere near a full strength army and air force during the Twilight War, parts would become scarse and the effects of EMP blasts around them in other European countries would probably degrade some of their equipment. But they would still be among the strongest in the world, and the use of mercenaries on the borders is a possible development. It would keep the hordes of refugees at bay, and be out of sight of the swiss population who would remain comfortably shielded from the chaos engulfing the rest of the world by the Swiss armed forces who man all the bridges and tunnels into the Switzerland.

[WallShadow]

Somehow, having _hostile_ refugee camps on one's border seems counterproductive. I could see a policy of "Making the borders green" by helping contiguous populations back on their feet with a Zapomoga-type program to give the grateful refugees/relocants a hand-up--which is a reason to keep the peace and establish a safe zone that could be expanded outward, offering a potential early renaissance to their respective countries. This is known as enlightened self-interest, where both parties gain from an aidful action.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

I don't think the Swiss would have anywhere near a full strength army and air force during the Twilight War, parts would become scarse and the effects of EMP blasts around them in other European countries would probably degrade some of their equipment. But they would still be among the strongest in the world, and the use of mercenaries on the borders is a possible development. It would keep the hordes of refugees at bay, and be out of sight of the swiss population who would remain comfortably shielded from the chaos engulfing the rest of the world by the Swiss armed forces who man all the bridges and tunnels into the Switzerland.

If anything the Swiss military would be larger. Less mechanized, without a doubt. But they'd call up all reserves "for the duration of the emergency". I think they'd probably have the second largest army in being in Europe during the Twilight War even if they didn't see direct fighting.

[Legbreaker]

It's unlikely they could keep an enlarged military in the field all that long though given that food production is going to be a very high priority once imports dry up.
As for relocating refugees, it seems doubtful they'd have the resources to spare on charity cases - better to lock the doors and try to keep the riff raff outside. Some will sneak in over the mountains but unless they are supported by groups within Switzerland, chances are they would be soon rounded up and those without vital skills, deported.

[Panther Al]

A couple of thoughts spring to mind...
*snippage*

a whopping 224 M109A6 SPHs

*snippage*


At one point they had a lot more than that. I don't have the source available, but over time, and if memory serves (I could be wrong), purchased almost 800 of them. Which made them the second largest user around. They was also, and this I am sure of, all the very early models with at best, the 33 calibre tube. Over the years they replaced them with much more capable guns, and placed the old ones into new build artillery bunkers - as a suppliment to all the already existing bunkers (Which also was getting upgraded as of 92)

So yeah, anyone who wants to invade the swiss is gonna be doing it under a steady rain of shells like no one can imagine. :)

[James Langham]

At one point they had a lot more than that. I don't have the source available, but over time, and if memory serves (I could be wrong), purchased almost 800 of them. Which made them the second largest user around. They was also, and this I am sure of, all the very early models with at best, the 33 calibre tube. Over the years they replaced them with much more capable guns, and placed the old ones into new build artillery bunkers - as a suppliment to all the already existing bunkers (Which also was getting upgraded as of 92)

So yeah, anyone who wants to invade the swiss is gonna be doing it under a steady rain of shells like no one can imagine. :)

Switzerland is also quite low tech at the same time. The last cavalry regiment with a combat role was disbanded in the 1970s and bicycles are still common for reservists (there are some references in my article about cavalry).