Word: swiss
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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SWITZERLAND in the middle ages had an image problem. The rest of Europe saw the Swiss as a backward, uncultured group. The only thing they seemed to be good at was slaughtering large portions of whatever nation's army happened to traverse their rocky frontiers. They were such good fighters, in fact, that in the days before chocolate and watches the confederation's main export was the mercenary armies they hired out to shore up the troops of nations that had given up trying to conquer the Swiss...
...couple of centuries after repelling their last would-be attacker Switzerland presents a different face to the world. Far from being backward, it is now one of the most modern and attractive nations in the world. From an economy based on exporting soldiers, the Swiss have diversified to become a provider of expensive manufactured goods as well as the world's premier bankers. If there was ever a nation that could be described as a bastion of capitalism, Switzerland...
...John McPhee explain in La Place de la Concorde Suisse, woe betide any nation that tries to change this. While Switzerland's economic fortunes have changed over the last half-millennia, its commitment to a strong defense has not. McPhee begins the book by noting that, "The Swiss have not fought a war for nearly five hundred years and are determined to know how so as not to." For the next 150 pages McPhee shows us just how they go about this. Most important are the frequent maneuvers that the Swiss army holds in the mountainous countryside. McPhee tagged along...
McPhee's first, albeit somewhat obvious, point is that whereas most nations pay lip service to the idea of armed deterrence, the Swiss pay military service: anywhere from 10 days to more than five months a year, from every male citizen who is physically capable. If you can imagine the United States National Guard being made compulsory for every American, you've begun to understand the Swiss system...
McPhee's account of his three week traipse through the Alps is nothing short of glowing (not entirely surprising coming from an author who is known to write paeans to the Rockies). If any nation had been planning to violate Swiss neutrality, reading La Place de la Concorde Suisse would be enough to make them scrap their battle plans and figure out another way to get through central Europe. Every bridge and railway track and alpine tunnel is mined and ready to blow up whenever needed. The army is scheduled to go into full mobilization in 48 hours. In practice...