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And yet it is the Swiss who waged wars in all these countries - as mercenaries. The last two wars between the Swiss and their neighbours were in 1531 and durin
by aredox 1y ago
And yet it is the Swiss who waged wars in all these countries - as mercenaries.
The last two wars between the Swiss and their neighbours were in 1531 and during Napoleon - who in the end admired the Swiss confederacy and helped rebirth it in its modern form.
- lazide 1y agoBeing the source of mercenaries is literally the opposite of waging war as the country. That they weren’t waging war does result in excess men who someone else can pay to wage war for them though.
- euroderf 1y agoYoung men with nothing to do, no gainful employment, are the curse of many a nation. Civil unrest. Mercenaries outsource the problem.
- aredox 1y ago>Being the source of mercenaries is literally the opposite of waging war as the country. Patently wrong: Swiss Neutrality explicitely bans mercenary work by any Swiss citizen.
- lazide 1y agoMaybe in the modern era, specifically since 1848, but [https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_mercenaries https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_mercenaries]. “The young men who went off to fight, and sometimes die, in foreign service had several incentives—limited economic options in the still largely rural cantons; adventure; pride in the reputation of the Swiss as soldiers; and finally what military historian Sir Charles Oman describes as a pure love of combat and warfighting in and of itself, forged by two centuries of conflict.” Either way, being a mercenary is explicitly the opposite of ‘fighting for your country’, which is the point I was making.
- Telemakhos 1y agoIt does now, but Swiss mercenaries were a target of Thomas More’s satire in Utopia.
- amanaplanacanal 1y agoDoesn't the Vatican still have a Swiss guard? I wonder how that works
- palata 1y agoThere is an exception for them.
- palata 1y ago> Patently wrong No, but you just haven't understood that they were talking about the past :-).
- emmelaich 1y agoInteresting, considering the Vatican Swiss Guard. >The Swiss Guard is considered an elite military unit and highly selective in its recruitment: candidates must be unmarried Swiss Catholic males between 19 and 30 years of age,... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Guard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_Guard
- PicassoCTs 1y agoThats the fate of all mountainous countries with population surplus? They used to send children to work abroad in medieval times. They often were used as cannonfood armies and mercenaries. Same thing in Afghanistan. Should have introduced the canton system to the taliban. Much more reasonable model for that area. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_children https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_children
- mytailorisrich 1y agoMercenaries were very common at the time and Switzerland shares the languages of its neighbours, which probably makes it even easier to seek "employment".
- cowfarts 1y ago[dead]
- panick21_ 1y agoSwitzerland waged wars with all of these 'countries', before the were primary mercenaries.