General Henri Guisan

Author : Willi Gautschi
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 872 pages
Book Rating : 4.10/5 ( download)

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Download or read book General Henri Guisan written by Willi Gautschi and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 872 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During its darkest hour Switzerland was surrounded by aggressive fascist armies, with no allies within reach, its politicians quavering, and its people beginning to lose hope of retaining their freedom. General Henri Guisan stepped into this miasma of growing despair. In July 1940, he assembled the entire Swiss officer corps at the Rutli Meadow, the spot where pike-wielding herdsmen had formed the Swiss Confederation in 1291. Invoking the spirit of their medieval forebears, he informed his officers that Switzerland would fight back against any invader, and if they ran out of ammunition they would use the bayonet. Switzerland, he declared, would never surrender. Guisan lit a torch that would guide the Continent's only remaining democracy until the end of the war. The key to his military strategy was shifting the main strength of the Swiss Army to the Alps. This controversial policy conceded population centers but it also negated German superiority in armor and aircraft. If the Nazis invaded they would only open a bleeding sore that they would not be able to close. Though the Wehrmacht drew up numerous invasion plans, it never took the gamble. As a military man who became the spiritual leader of his country, Guisan was a rarity in the history of democratic nations. His guidance, along with the Swiss system of universal male conscription, meant that the Germans, had they invaded, would have been fighting not just an army but a people. This definitive biography of General Guisan not only describes a man of great complexity and courage, but a fascinating aspect of World War II. WILLI GAUTSCHI is the author of numerous works, including "The National Strike of 1918" and "Lenin as an Emigrant in Switzerland." Having retired from teaching history at the University of Zurich, he currently lives in Baden.

Author : Stephen P. Halbrook
Publisher : Da Capo Press
ISBN 13 : 0786751185
Total Pages : 336 pages
Book Rating : 4.81/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Target Switzerland written by Stephen P. Halbrook and published by Da Capo Press. This book was released on 2009-08-05 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fascinating and enlightening explanation of the dilemma Switzerland found itself in during the 1930's and 1940's. --Publishers Weekly

Author : Georges André Chevallaz
Publisher : Lexington Books
ISBN 13 : 9780739102749
Total Pages : 312 pages
Book Rating : 4.45/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Challenge of Neutrality written by Georges André Chevallaz and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2001 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Prominent historian and former President of the Swiss Confederation Georges-Andr Chevallaz begins his study of Swiss neutrality during World War II with two essential questions: Why, in the face of German imperialism ”with its authoritarian, totalitarian, and racist ideology ”did Switzerland declare neutrality? Why did it not join the "camp of democracies," or the other European nations who resolved to hold firm against the Germans? Chevallaz's provocative and insightful book, presented here for the first time in English, attempts to answer these questions. Chevallaz further offers an even-handed reevaluation of the role of the principal actors in Swiss politics of the time, notably Marcel Pilet-Golaz, head of the Department of Foreign Affairs, and General Henri Guisan.

Author : Neville Wylie
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
ISBN 13 : 9780521643580
Total Pages : 396 pages
Book Rating : 4.89/5 ( download)

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Download or read book European Neutrals and Non-Belligerents During the Second World War written by Neville Wylie and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2002 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive English-language survey of neutral and non-belligerent states during the Second World War.

Author : Georg Kreis
Publisher : Psychology Press
ISBN 13 : 0714650293
Total Pages : 394 pages
Book Rating : 4.96/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Schweiz und Der Zweite Weltkrieg written by Georg Kreis and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2000 with total page 394 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This collection of essays sheds light on the history of Switzerland during World War II, covering such topics as: trade; financial relations; gold; refugees; defence; and foreign relations. It also touches on official post-war measures to suppress Switzerland's involvement in the war.

Author : Peter Fritzsche
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 0465057748
Total Pages : 378 pages
Book Rating : 4.40/5 ( download)

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Download or read book An Iron Wind written by Peter Fritzsche and published by . This book was released on 2016-10-25 with total page 378 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From a prize-winning historian, a vivid account of German-occupied Europe during World War II that reveals civilians’ struggle to understand

Author : Stephen Halbrook
Publisher : Casemate
ISBN 13 : 1612000290
Total Pages : 547 pages
Book Rating : 4.99/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Swiss and the Nazis written by Stephen Halbrook and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2006-05-19 with total page 547 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The award-winning author of Target Switzerland uses “a wide breadth of research to attempt to answer why Switzerland escaped the Nazi onslaught” (Daly History Blog). While surrounded by the Axis powers in World War II, Switzerland remained democratic and, unlike most of Europe, never succumbed to the siren songs and threats of the Nazi goliath. This book tells the story with emphasis on two voices rarely heard. One voice is that of scores of Swiss who lived in those dark years, told through oral history. They mobilized to defend the country, labored on the farms, and helped refugees. The other voice is that of Nazi Intelligence, those who spied on the Swiss and planned subversion and invasion. Exhaustive documents from the German military archives reveals a chilling rendition of attack plans which would be dissuaded in part by Switzerland’s armed populace and Alpine defenses. Laced with unique maps and photos, the book reveals how the Swiss mobilized an active “spiritual defense” of their country—including the use of the press and cabaret as weapons against totalitarianism—and explores the role of women in the military and economy, the role of Jewish officers in the highest levels of the Swiss army, and the role of Switzerland itself as America’s window on the Reich. “Halbrook succeeds not only in achieving a thorough analysis of Switzerland’s armed neutrality, but also in revealing through their own voices the willingness of ordinary citizens to accept total war in order to preserve their freedom.”—Swiss American Historical Society Review

Author : John McPhee
Publisher : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
ISBN 13 : 0374708533
Total Pages : 162 pages
Book Rating : 4.35/5 ( download)

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Download or read book La Place de la Concorde Suisse written by John McPhee and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2011-04-01 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: La Place de la Concorde Suisse is John McPhee's rich, journalistic study of the Swiss Army's role in Swiss society. The Swiss Army is so quietly efficient at the art of war that the Israelis carefully patterned their own military on the Swiss model.

Author : Reinhard Doerries
Publisher : Enigma Books
ISBN 13 : 1936274132
Total Pages : 409 pages
Book Rating : 4.30/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Hitler's Intelligence Chief: Walter Schellenberg written by Reinhard Doerries and published by Enigma Books. This book was released on 2009-10-01 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By a world renowned specialist in intelligence history. The best and definitive book on the subject.

Author : J.E. Kaufmann
Publisher : Pen and Sword Military
ISBN 13 : 1399002759
Total Pages : 474 pages
Book Rating : 4.52/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Fortress Europe written by J.E. Kaufmann and published by Pen and Sword Military. This book was released on 2022-06-02 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A few of the fortifications and fortified lines of the world wars are well known and have often been written about, illustrated and studied. But they tend to distract attention from the wide range of fixed defenses constructed across Europe on an enormous scale after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71, during a period of insecurity and aggression. That is why this new, highly illustrated study, which covers the entire continent, is so valuable. The authors examine the major fortified positions and describe their strategic purpose, their design and construction, and the role they played in military planning and operations. The outstanding contribution of the major military architects of the time is a key theme. The work of Séré de Rivières, Brialmont and others had a major influence on the course of the First World War and on the fortifications built before and during the Second World War. Their approach is visible in the designs for the Maginot Line, the East and West walls of Germany, the Vallo Alpino in Italy, the Soviet Stalin and Molotov lines, the Mannerheim and Salpa lines of Finland, the Greek Metaxas Line, the Beneš Line of Czechoslovakia as well as the defenses built by the Dutch and Scandinavians. The breadth of the coverage, the degree of detail and the numerous illustrations make the book essential reading and reference for anyone who has a special interest in the world wars and the history of fortifications.