I haven't found the start of this "conversation" - but ignorance never stopped me before ...

Not quite correct, The use of Swiss mercenaries was forbidden by the treaty of Utrecht? Westphalia? can't remember. All this meant was that national regiments were formed, for instance there was a British regiment from Trinidad or Jamacia was pretty much 100% Swiss. The 1848 constitution forbade Swiss citizens from serving in foreign armies. I know somebody who served his time in the Swiss army, the FFL and then in a Swiss prison. The British army has never been hesitant about accepting foreigners in its ranks, the post-revolutionary French felt it necessary to create a foreign legion. The crucial difference is that between a republic and a monarchy. in the latter you actively declare your allegiance to the wearer of the crown. In the former you are part of a nation and are obliged to show allegiance to everything including the weather - thats why the Irish "national" regiments in the French army were disbanded after the (French) revolution whereas they weren't in Spain, Portugal, and England.

Well it was a collection of independent states that withdrew its allegiance from the Hapsburg empire. Bern came pretty close to becoming an empire in its own right. Well Blocher does think Switzerland is great

Well that is wrong - there are many roads to Paris and the Channel from Berlin that don't involve running accross Belgium. The fact of the matter is that Germany, as a new entrant to power in Europe, didn't feel it necessary to respect the concept of neutrality, which would have applied to Switzerland as well. Switzerland's geography saved it from WWI. In fact the (German) commander of the Swiss army (Wille?) actively recomended Switzerland joining in on the German side should the Germans be seen to be in danger of loosing the war

Actually France and Germany have more laws than Switzerland, the OR is a neat little volume. German law is geared towards rule by law, which is why the Chinese are basing their legal system to a large part on German preccedence, and yes, that comparison was supposed to be unfavourable - Swiss law is explicitly based on the responsibility of the people and is, of course, founded on the explicit will of the people.

The neutrality of Switzerland was part of the resolutions of the Wiener Kongress of 1815, the prohibition of any mercenaries however of the Battle of Solferino in 1859 which lead to the start of the Red Cross by Henri Dunant.


You in fact are completely wrong in so far as you claim that those dealings were the reason for THE prosperity of Switzerland today which they very clearly are not. People like Arthur Conan Doyle, the rich tourists of the late 19th and early 20th Century however WERE a heavy part of the success of inbound-tourism, which still brings more real income to Switzerland than banking. And if you want to mention foreigners, mention British Engineer Brown and Italian Engineer Boveri (ABB) or the German Engineer Sulzer, or the German specialist Nestle (from Baden-Württemberg), or the Italian specialist Mr Maggi, who together with local entrepreneurs established the Swiss industry on which the country depends. If you want to mention some other foreigners, I recommend Mr Pestalozzi of Italian origin, who promoted modern education, Mr Baur who built two luxury class hotels in Zurich (Baur-au-Lac + Baur-en-Ville Savoy) or Mr Orelli who together with the local Mr Füssli built up Orell Füssli. These folks mentioned here not only made themselves rich but also made Switzerland a rich country. And that BEFORE WWII. You might establish the Austria-origin Escher family, who brought industry, insurance and banking to Zurich, and who made Zurich into a modern city. True, Alfred von Escher established the SKA/CS and brought SBG + SBV (now merged into UBS) to Zurich, beside establishing the university and bringing the ETH and the operational HQ of the National Bank to Zurich AND most importanty establishing Zurich as a railways-hub with his Hauptbahnhof. He however was not a banker but a business tycoon.

Germany became a country as Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation (962-1806). This Empire changed its name and its structure many times, but always had a Kaiser / Emperor (until 1919 of course). And retained its name Deutsches Reich even after 1919 (as the Versailles morons apparently were not aware of the fact that Reich in German language hints to an emperor. This was the reason why Reichskanzler (Imperial Chancellor) Adolf Hitler after the death of Reichspräsident Marschall Hindenburg declared himself to be successor and Führer des Deutschen Reichs which defacto was a kind of Kaiser, whenever not hereditiary for the time being). Emperor Rudolf II still had his main logdings on the Castle HABSBURG in the Canton of Aargau and often was in Zürich. His son, Albrecht I, however grew up in Aachen and in 1290 cancelled the autonomy of some lands in the Alps (Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden), and this lead to rebellion and secession, plus the killing of several local imperial governors and the destruction of their castels. This was the basis for the famous novel of Mr Friedrich Schiller Wilhelm Tell . Possibly one of the most successful novels of modern times . When the leaders of the empire got the notion that the City of Luzern had, in the Battle on the Morgarten, sided with the rebels, they went to punish Luzern, which resulted in the Battle of Sempach, and the secession of Luzern from the empire and its joining the union of the rebels. And when the Empire folks wanted to rob Zurich and Berne of their ranks as Free Imperial City and place them under the rule of a bishop or thelike, the two cities had local revolutions in 1351 and 1353, seceded from the Empire and joined the union. The union of those times was a federation of independent republics with different currencies, measurements, armies, foreign relations, etc.


If you care and look at the map, you can see that Belgium is between Germany and the English Channel and also between North Germany and France, and happened to be north of the Maginot Line.


Both were Germans. This is what I said. I doubt that either of them did much writing after having "entered" their graves. And being in exile somewhere does not make you a national of that country.


YES you said this. You may refer now to conventions regulations notions it would all remain the same, or even work against you, depending on exact aspects. You to that may even add Italy. The second husband of the mother of a schoolfriend was Italian and lived in Torino, but as a businessman with his own music management company as a first step changed his legal domicile and finally became Swiss in order to reduce red tape.

And, where did the Code Napoléon come from ? From Luzern ?

[QUOTE=HTD;770922]I haven't found the start of this "conversation" - but ignorance never stopped me before ...


The original moves against mercenari-ism started much earlier, and as Solferino was only in 1859, it is obvious that the resulting total ban was not in the original one of 1848 but in the revised issue of 1874.


That collection was loosely "united" in that "Confederation". Berne successfully conquered lands up to the Lake of Geneva (beside most of what now is Aargau). Blocher declares Switzerland to be great but of course means by great himself


The point is that the German Army in 1940 circumvented the Maginot Line through Belgium and then went into Northern France.

Back to WWI. It is important to realize that a majority of Swiss had their sympathies then clearly on the German side, and that Ulrich Wille had been educated at the General Staff Academy in Berlin, beside being a German from his father side.

Clear is that Germany in both WWs could have invaded Switzerland successfully, but at a crazy expense. This was in WWII the compromise reached, meaning that the German Railways (DB) were allowed to run transit-trains with weaponry through Switzerland to Italy, generally at night, upto 20 trains per night on each the Basel-Gotthard and the Schaffhausen-Gotthard route.


Interesting is that Mustafa Kemal took over the ZGB from Switzerland but the company law from Germany.

Interesting also what the above mentioned Torino gentleman once told me about Italy. I had asked him what was so ugly about laws in Italy. His reply was that these laws often consisted of after lawbook regulations issued by parliament, often on a "provisional basis" but valid for eternity, and that older laws were not phased out by the newer ones but that the newer ones only got "overruling" etc etc etc

While I respect your extensive historical knowledge Wolli, I do sometimes think you miss the point...but as I've said before, you mean no harm, and I salute you for that

Paris is rude only if you don`t speak french.
Is that so in Germany too?
Cause so far I found the germans to be the rudest.

[everyone has his own favorite I guess ]

I cannot tell you how rude French and German cities are as I happen to speak the two languages. Simple fact is that both Germans and French take a command of their languages for granted. And while Germans may get "direct", the French often get pedantic. I still remember, when many years ago I was on visit with a friend who pronounced the place named Porte de la Villette as "por de ..." when entering the bus, the bus driver pretended not to understand and when I snapped at the man "porttttt de la Villette naturellement ! ou avez vous ici un port ? " was almost shocked and sheepishly apologized.

But I also remember a German woman in Waldshut who right outside a shop where I had been told a young black African (black yes, but ...) that he should learn to be honest, and that Germans were always honest. I approached the woman and told her that "the history of the 20th Century is of course testimony to the honesty of German people", and before she recovered from the shock, an old Waldshut local intervened and clearly stated to the women that "we Germans should NOT at any time talk about honesty for a century to come.... you are a shame to our nation indeed ....." and I departed before the old man had ended his lecture !

So what ? You presumably can find morons of the kind mentioned in many or most places