As I understand there was some discussion by the Nazis about (I think it was called Anschluze, I don't know) adding Switzerland to the Fatherland (some ideal about Aryans and what) like they had with Czech, Austria, and Hungry. It was around the time before the English and French declared war on Germany. The Germans were trying to get their hands on as much as possible without declaring war because to be honest the Germans weren't ready for war, it wasn't till they got the Czechs did they have a solid manufacturing base for arms. They'd only gotten ahead of the curve by preparing for war before anyone else (much like they did in WWI when they had paid the English the patent fee for producing over 50,000 Maxims), while most of the European countries were screaming for peace at any price (that worked out well). Had the Russians had their act better together with having their KVIs and early T-34s in west as opposed to the east, with not having killed so many officers in the purges, better pushed the deployment of the SVT40 and PPSH40, and had a standing arm of professionals other than the NKVD (of course that probably would have invited a later uprising against Stalin) the Russians could have whooped the Germans in the first year of the war.
There was, as the story has been told by unreliable sources, that a German general in World War II (much like the Kaiser did in WWI) threatened taking ten armored divisions into Switzerland to which the Swiss General laughed and said that each man in the militia would line up, fire a few shots, and then be home before supper. Or something to that degree.
Our founding fathers, Henry Clay, Hancock, Jefferson, Franklin, regularly mentioned following the Swiss model for democracy and militia. And to a later degree about neutrality. But thankfully we weren't too neutral about letting the European powers keep messing around in North America and are where we are at (should have taken Mexico when we had the chance). I feel if we had followed the Swiss militia system we wouldn't quite have the serious deficits that we have in our society. There'd be more coherence between cultures, and while we are a heterogenous society we'd hail to a common purpose. Now we are a fractured people in the U.S., the weak outnumber the strong, and amass cowardice to destroy attempts at liberty, our culture is unduly feminized, and those men for whom once this nation was built upon and the lands settled, would be deemed monster, psychopaths, and criminals. "Once they would have hailed me Casear, but now I am but a mad man among sheep" (don't remember exactly where that is from).
But hey, love the Swiss, my deceased uncle left me a Swiss account which is my get to Israel (or former parts of the Yugoslav more likely) cache in case things go sour here in the states. And they keep turning out great guns, love the Sigs and hope to own a 225 one day (after more .44 mags, and 1911s, and snub nose .357s, and etc. etc. etc.). And I want me some K-31s one day, got my Nagants and Mausers a plenty but I gots to have me some K-31s.
