it, Generale
rm, Generale , image = CHE OF9 General.svg , image_size = 80px , alt = , caption =

Dress uniform Full dress uniform, also known as a ceremonial dress uniform or parade dress uniform, is the most formal type of uniforms used by military, police, fire and other public uniformed services for official parades, ceremonies, and receptions, ...

shoulder strap with the rank of General , image2 = OF-9 - Général.png , image_size2 = 80px , alt2 = , caption2 =

Battledress A combat uniform, also called field uniform, battledress or military fatigues, is a casual type of uniform used by military, police, fire and other public uniformed services for everyday fieldwork and combat duty purposes, as opposed to dress ...

rank insignia of General , image3 = Kepi General.jpg , image_size3 = 100px , alt3 = , caption3 =

Kepi The kepi ( ) is a cap with a flat circular top and a peak, or visor. In English, the term is a loanword of french: képi, itself a re-spelled version of the gsw, Käppi, a diminutive form of , meaning "cap". In Europe, this headgear is most ...

of General , country = , service branch = , abbreviation = GEN , rank group =

General officer A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

, rank = Four-star , NATO rank = , Non-NATO rank = OF-9 , pay grade = , formation = 1512 as

Old Swiss Confederacy The Old Swiss Confederacy or Swiss Confederacy ( Modern German: ; historically , after the Reformation also , "Confederation of the Swiss") was a loose confederation of independent small states (, German or In the charters of the 14th centur ...

1849 as

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, abolished = , higher rank = , lower rank =

Lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on th ...

, equivalents = , history = The General (german: Der General, french: le général, it, il generale, rm, il general) is an office and

rank Rank is the relative position, value, worth, complexity, power, importance, authority, level, etc. of a person or object within a ranking, such as: Level or position in a hierarchical organization * Academic rank * Diplomatic rank * Hierarchy * ...

in the armed forces of

. It is held by the commander-in-chief of the

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

in time of war only. Under the

Swiss Constitution The Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation (SR 10; german: Bundesverfassung der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft (BV); french: Constitution fédérale de la Confédération suisse (Cst.); it, Costituzione federale della Confederaz ...

, he must be elected by the Federal Assembly, assembled as the

United Federal Assembly The Federal Assembly (german: Bundesversammlung, french: Assemblée fédérale, it, Assemblea federale, rm, Assamblea federala), also known as the Swiss parliament (''Parlament'', ''Parlement'', ''Parlamento''), is Switzerland's federal legi ...

, specifically for the purpose of taking on the war-time responsibilities.

Role

Outside of wartime, the rank of "General" is not used in the Swiss military. Indeed, none of the ranks of general officer contain the word "general". In peacetime, the Chief of the Swiss Armed Forces is granted the rank of // (equivalent to Lieutenant-General). The general is elected by a

joint session A joint session or joint convention is, most broadly, when two normally separate decision-making groups meet, often in a special session or other extraordinary meeting, for a specific purpose. Most often it refers to when both houses of a bicamer ...

of the Federal Assembly, known as the

, wherein both the 200-seat National Council and 46-seat Council of States join together on a "one member, one vote" basis. The Federal Assembly retains the sole power to dismiss the General, but the General remains subordinate to the Federal Council by the Council's ability to demobilise and hence making the position of General redundant. Swiss law does not establish the precise conditions when a General is to be elected, merely that the Federal Assembly may do so "as soon as an important number of troops are to be mobilised." The General is, however, permitted to adapt the internal structure of the Armed Forces in response to the strategic imperatives.

History

Prior to the establishment of Switzerland as a federal state in 1848,

Guillaume Henri Dufour Guillaume Henri Dufour (15 September 178714 July 1875) was a Swiss military officer, structural engineer and topographer. He served under Napoleon I and held the Swiss office of General four times in his career, firstly in 1847 when he led the ...

was nominated by the Swiss Diet to serve as general in response to the invasion of

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

during the

Sonderbund War The Sonderbund War (german: Sonderbundskrieg, fr , Guerre du Sonderbund, it , Guerra del Sonderbund) of November 1847 was a civil war in Switzerland, then still a relatively loose confederacy of cantons. It ensued after seven Catholic canton ...

. As a consequence of that civil war, the structure of the Swiss Confederation was revised and a new constitution was promulgated in 1848, creating the modern Swiss government. During the 1850s, Dufour was called upon three more times to serve as General on behalf of the entire federal government: in 1849 to prevent possible incursions into Swiss territory during the

Baden Revolution The Baden Revolution (german: Badische Revolution) of 1848/1849 was a regional uprising in the Grand Duchy of Baden which was part of the revolutionary unrest that gripped almost all of Central Europe at that time. As part of the popular libera ...

; in 1856, to pre-empt Prussian military intervention in the

Neuchâtel Crisis The Neuchâtel Crisis (1856–1857) was the result of a diplomatic question between the Swiss Confederation and the King of Prussia regarding the rights of the Royal House of Prussia to the Principality of Neuchâtel. The Principality of Neuch� ...

; and finally in 1859, to keep belligerents in the Franco-Austrian War from entering Switzerland. No other individual has held the position of general of the Swiss Armed Forces more often. The Sonderbund War marked the last time that a General was nominated for Switzerland to assume command of forces directly involved in armed conflict. Since then, the Swiss Armed Forces have been mobilised to safeguard the integrity of Swiss territory in times of European conflict or crisis. Such was also the case for the Franco-Prussian War, the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The mobilisation of the armed forces was a demonstration of the principle of "

Armed Neutrality A neutral country is a state that is neutral towards belligerents in a specific war or holds itself as permanently neutral in all future conflicts (including avoiding entering into military alliances such as NATO, CSTO or the SCO). As a type of ...

". Nowadays, the general staff of the armed forces comprises officers with the ranks of ''

Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. ...

'', (

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of ...

), (

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on th ...

) and, although not currently held, General. The Chief of the Swiss Armed Forces is given the rank of , which may be held by other senior officers as well. A common misconception would hold that a Swiss "general" serves as the head of the Swiss delegation to the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission at the DMZ on the Korean Peninsula. Although the head is addressed as

for the duration of his mandate, this is a courtesy translation of the rank designation of , used within the Swiss Armed Forces.

List of generals

The following Swiss officers have held the rank of General as the leaders of the Army in time of war:

Notes

References

{{Portal bar, War, Switzerland Military ranks of Switzerland