Switzerland ‘repeating mistake of the 1930s’, warns historian

Switzerland has initiated armaments efforts too late, according to historian Georg Kreis. Keystone-SDA

Switzerland has initiated armaments efforts too late, according to historian Georg Kreis. “We’re about to repeat the mistake of the 1930s,” he said in an interview with the Tamedia newspapers.

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Defence Minister Martin Pfister had already drawn similar comparisons this week. “In the first half of the decade, Switzerland also suppressed the threat of war at the time. It was only in the second half that preparations began,” Pfister said in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung on Thursday.

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According to Kreis, this comparison is valid. Switzerland had reacted too late to the threat posed by Nazi Germany. Politicians had cut back on armaments loans and even cancelled recruit schools after the First World War. “Switzerland collected what is now known as the peace dividend,” Kreis told Tamedia.

On Friday the army announced that the Federal Armaments Office had been commissioned to procure new drone defence systems. Army chief Thomas Süssli emphasised the urgency of providing these systems in the Schweiz am Wochenende.

“Time is of the essence. We’re therefore working directly with start-ups. We’re also adapting the procurement processes in order to develop or evaluate and introduce the system as quickly as possible,” Süssli said.

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Swiss financial hub

Kreis went on to explain in an interview with Tamedia that the seriousness of the situation has now been recognised. “An external threat can be unsettling, of course. But it can also strengthen the will to defend ourselves. I believe that is exactly the case at the moment.”

Former Air Force Chief Bernhard Müller’s warning that Russian President Vladimir Putin could launch exploratory attacks on Switzerland to test the NATO response was also discussed.

For Kreis, a direct attack on Switzerland does not seem very plausible. Although exploratory attacks to test a NATO response are conceivable, Switzerland is likely to be more important to Russia “as a financial hub than as a military target”.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

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