Henri Guisan
Henri Guisan | |
---|---|
Born | Mézières, Vaud, Switzerland | 21 October 1874
Died | 7 April 1960 Pully, Vaud, Switzerland | (aged 85)
Allegiance | Switzerland |
Years of service | 1894–1945 |
Rank | General |
Commands held | Swiss Armed Forces |
Henri Guisan (French pronunciation:
Early life
Henri Guisan was born on 21 October 1874 in
Early military career
Upon entering the Swiss military in 1894, Guisan was assigned to the field artillery as a lieutenant.[2] He was promoted to captain in 1904 and became captain of the General Staff in 1908.[2] In 1911, Guisan was promoted to major and was transferred to the infantry on the order of the Chief of the General Staff, Theophil Sprecher von Bernegg.[2] In 1916, he was made lieutenant-colonel of the General Staff in the "Operations" section in Bern, and in 1919 was simultaneously made chief of staff of the 2nd Division and commander of the 9th Infantry Regiment.[2]
Guisan reached the ranks of brigadier in 1921, divisional commander in 1927, and was made corps commander in 1932, the highest Swiss rank achievable during peacetime.
General
On 28 August 1939, shortly before the outbreak of World War II, the
In 1939 the Swiss military were able to muster 430,000 men, approximately 20% of the work force. At one point, up to 850,000 Swiss soldiers were mobilized.[9] However, Swiss military equipment was not on a par with that of the German military.[10] Guisan's command was dominated by conflict with the government.[11] Whereas the government preferred an understated and politically riskless neutrality, Guisan, charged with actually preventing invasion, opted to call for determined resistance. In May 1940 he ordered an investigation against 124 army officers suspected of Nazi sympathies.[2] After the Battle of France, Germany found documents in La Charité-sur-Loire proving that Guisan had been secretly making military preparations with France, despite Swiss neutrality.[2][12] The Swiss military would have been remiss in not pursuing contacts with the French based on their perception of a German threat.[11] Nonetheless, this was politically very risky, and represented a very typical example to be seized upon by Germany to justify aggression, such as occurred prior to the German invasion of the Netherlands in World War II.[citation needed]
On 25 July 1940, Guisan delivered a historic address to the entire Swiss Officer Corps assembled on the Rütli, a location charged with symbolism in Swiss Romantic nationalism by virtue of being identified as the site of the legendary Rütli Oath. He made it very clear that Switzerland would resist any Nazi invasion. If they ran out of bullets they were to resort to the bayonet. He said that Switzerland would defend itself against any invader and would never surrender.[11] Guisan became a symbol of resistance to Nazism that was widespread amongst the Swiss public.[12] At a time when military commanders remained distant, he rejected formalities and maintained contact with civilians and soldiers.[2]
In summer 1940, after the Battle of France, Guisan developed his famous
However, Guisan's and Switzerland's main strategy was deterrence rather than fighting, and Germany never risked invasion. Its 1940 planned invasion of Switzerland, codenamed Operation Tannenbaum, was soon abandoned as the Battle of Britain and later Operation Barbarossa became priorities.[15] On 20 August 1945,[16] Guisan left his command, considering his mission to be fulfilled.
Later life
Having become a national hero by successfully avoiding war,
Public image
In his life, Guisan heavily propagandized his public image, banning 5,600 images of himself from being printed from 1939 to 1945. Unlike General
Memorials
This section needs additional citations for verification. (February 2017) |
Guisan's former home Verte Rive in Pully is now used as Centre Général Guisan.[21] His office, living room and dining room are preserved as a museum.[22]
Memorials are at:
- Lausanne-Ouchy: equestrian statue by Otto Bänninger, financed following a public fundraising in 1960,[23] inaugurated on 27 May 1967 in the presence of 70,000 people
- Avenches: a bust, inaugurated in 1969
- On the main deck of the steamship Stadt Luzern: a memorial plaque with his relief by Franco Annoni commemorating his speech on Rütli in 1940, inaugurated by Georges-André Chevallaz in 1980, 40 years afterwards[24]
- Library am Guisanplatz, Bern: equestrian sculpture by Laurent Boillat, created in 1949[25] and installed in September 2008
- Powązki Cemetery, Warsaw, Plaque: plaque inaugurated in 2010[26][27]
- Schlossgarten, Interlaken: monumental sculpture
- Allmend, Zollikon: memorial with a relief
- Lägern above Regensberg: memorial plaque[28]
- Dentenbergstrasse, Gümligen/Muri bei Bern: Memorial
- Victoria-Jungfrau, Interlaken: plaque in the hotel
- General-Guisan Quai, Lucerne: plaque on the lakeshore[29]
Numerous cities and towns in Switzerland have streets named for him: General Guisan-Strasse in
Town squares and open spaces are named after him: Guisanplatz in Arosa, Berne, Grenchen and Thun; Guisanplatz/Place Guisan in Biel/Bienne; place Général-Guisan in Payerne and Pleigne; place du Général Henri-Guisan in Lausanne.
There is a quai du Général-Guisan on Lake Geneva in Geneva, General-Guisan-Quai on Lake Lucerne in Lucerne and Stansstad, on Lake Zurich in Zurich.[17]
A military march titled "General-Guisan-Marsch" was composed in 1939 by Stephan Jaeggi.
Asteroid 1960 Guisan has been named in Guisan's honour.[30]
The manga Alpen Rose by Michiyo Akaishi gives Guisan an important role in the story.
Bibliography
- Bonjour, Edgar (1978). "Swiss Neutrality During Two World Wars". In Luck, James Murray; Burckhardt, Lukas F.; Haug, Hans (eds.). Modern Switzerland. The Society for the Promotion of Science and Scholarship Inc. pp. 419–438. ISBN 0-930664-01-9.
References
- Heinrich Pestalozzi, and General Henri Guisan, whose service as commander-in-chief of the Swiss army in the Second World War has never been forgotten, finished in fourth position. In order of votes, they were followed by Le Corbusier, Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Alberto Giacometti.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Hervé de Weck: Henri Guisan in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, 10 February 2020.
- ^ "General Guisan – Did he save Switzerland in the war?" (PDF) . The Swiss Review. 3: 8. August 2010.
- ^ Dacey, Olivier Pauchard, Jessica. "Swiss national hero seen in a new light". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ISBN 9781851099696.
- Federal Assembly of Switzerland. Retrieved 4 April 2010.
- ^ Schom, Alan (1998). A Survey of Nazi and Pro-Nazi Groups in Switzerland: 1930-1945. Simon Wiesenthal Center.
- ^ "Guisan 1918, 1934, 1940: les constantes d'une mission – A l'encontre".
- ^ Bonjour 1978, p. 431.
- ^ Edgar Bonjour, Neutralität, Bd. IV, 1970, p. 379 quoted after Independent Commission of Experts Switzerland – World War II, final report, German edition, p. 92.
- ^ a b c Willi Gautschi, General Henri Guisan: Commander-In-Chief of the Swiss Army in World War II
- ^ a b Haltiner, Karl W. (2002). "The Swiss Security Sector: Structure, Control, Reforms" (PDF). Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help)[permanent dead link] - ^ The British Secret Service in Neutral Switzerland Archived 30 April 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Daniele Ganser, in Intelligence and National Security, Vol.20, n°4, December 2005, pp.553-580
- ^ Ganser, p.559
- ^ Walter Wolf: Adolf Hitler in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, 12 February 2008.
- Swissinfo. Retrieved 15 February 2017.
- ^ a b McPhee, John (31 October 1983). "La Place de la Concorde Suisse-I". The New Yorker. p. 50. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
- ^ Dacey, Olivier Pauchard, Jessica. "Swiss national hero seen in a new light". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ SFA, Swiss Federal Archives. "Memories of active service and réduit". bar.admin.ch. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
- ISBN 9783905252644.
- ^ "Centre Général Guisan – accueil". Generalguisan.ch. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
- ^ "Centre Général Guisan – Official site of the City of Lausanne". Lausanne.ch. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
- ^ "Aufruf An Das Schweizervolk" (PDF). Stiftungschweizerjugend.ch. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
- ^ Christoph, Hurni (28 September 2012). "Rütlirapport Gedenktafel während dem Aktivdienst im zweite…". Secure.flickr.com. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
- ^ "Il generale Guisan torna alla Guisanplatz di Berna". News.admin.ch. 23 September 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
- ^ "Hommage polonais à Guisan" [Polish tribute to Guisan]. Tribune de Genève [Geneva Tribune] (in French). Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
- ^ "Ehrung General Henri Guisan und General Bronislaw Prugar-Ketling in Warschau" (in German). Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2013.
- ^ "Photo of General Guisan Gedenkstein, Lägern oberhalb Regensberg". Panoramio.com. 24 April 2010. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
- ^ "General Henri Guisan Historical Marker". Hmdb.org. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
- ISBN 9783540002383.
External links
- Henri Guisan in the Dodis database of the Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland
- Centre Général Guisan—Biography and bibliography, in French and German.
- Hervé de Weck: Henri Guisan in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, 11 January 2005.
- Complete genealogy of the Général Guisan on the Geneva Genealogy Society website
- Henri Guisan (1874 – 1960), Swiss Armed Forces website