One quarter of Swiss would die for their country

Nearly one in four Swiss would be willing to give their life for their country, according to a survey conducted by Swiss Public Radio RTS and media partners around the world for the centennial of the outbreak of World War I this year.

In all, 70.6% of Swiss would be willing to give their lives for a particular cause. But among them, as well as among all European respondents, that was most likely to be “defending what’s mine”, followed by “my ideals”.

The Poles emerged as most likely to defend their country, with most saying they would be willing to die for it.

The percentage of Swiss willing to sacrifice themselves for their country is a bit higher than in France, Germany or Belgium, at 24.1%.

Survey respondents also said which values citizens in their country should hold themselves to, and in Switzerland, respect, solidarity and education were most valued. In France, ecology took the top spot, also followed by solidarity and education.

Germans and Canadians chose completely different values, such as liberty, peace and justice. In Poland, family, patriotism and belief in God were most important.

The survey was conducted online by RTS, Radio Canada, Radio France and other international media outlets. Twenty thousand respondents took part from countries around the world, including Switzerland, France, Poland, Belgium, Germany, Canada, Romania, Russia and Senegal.