General (Switzerland)

This article is about the constitutional rank of 'General'. For a list of army ranks, see Military ranks of the Swiss Armed Forces.

General German: General French: Général Italian: Generale Romansh: Generale
Dress uniform shoulder strap with the rank of General
Battledress rank insignia of General.
Kepi of General.
Country	Switzerland
Service branch	Swiss Army
Abbreviation	German: GEN
Rank	Four-star
NATO rank	OF-9
Formation	1512 as Old Swiss Confederacy 1849 as Switzerland
Next higher rank	None
Next lower rank	English: Lieutenant general, German: Korpskommandant, French: Commandant de corps, Italian: Comandante di corpo, Romansh: Cumandant da corp

Comparative military ranks in English
Navies	Armies	Air forces
Commissioned officers
Admiral of the fleet	Field marshal or General of the Army	Marshal of the air force
Admiral	General	Air chief marshal
Vice admiral	Lieutenant general	Air marshal
Rear admiral	Major general	Air vice-marshal
Commodore	Brigadier or brigadier general	Air commodore
Captain	Colonel	Group captain
Commander	Lieutenant colonel	Wing commander
Lieutenant commander	Major or Commandant	Squadron leader
Lieutenant	Captain	Flight lieutenant
Lieutenant junior grade or sub-lieutenant	Lieutenant or first lieutenant	Flying officer
Ensign or midshipman	Second lieutenant	Pilot officer
Officer cadet	Officer cadet	Flight cadet
Enlisted grades
Warrant officer or chief petty officer	Warrant officer or sergeant major	Warrant officer
Petty officer	Sergeant	Sergeant
Leading seaman	Corporal or bombardier	Corporal
Seaman	Private or gunner or trooper	Aircraftman or airman
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The General (German: Der General, French: le général, Italian: il generale, Romansh: il general) is an office and rank in the armed forces of Switzerland. It is held by the commander-in-chief of the Army in time of war only. Under the Swiss Constitution, he must be elected by the Federal Assembly, assembled as the United Federal Assembly, specifically for the purpose of taking on the war-time responsibilities.

Contents

• 
  1 Role
  


• 
  2 History
  


• 
  3 List of generals
  


• 
  4 Notes
  


• 
  5 References
  

Role

Normally the word "general" is not used in the Swiss military, with three-star commandants de corps the highest-ranking officers in the army.^[1] Under the Constitution, the Federal Council, which acts as the country's head of state, can command only 4,000 soldiers, with a time limit of three weeks of mobilisation. For it to field more service personnel, the Federal Assembly must elect a General^[2] who is given four stars.^[1] Thus, the General is elected by the Federal Assembly to give him the same democratic legitimacy as the Federal Council.^[2]

The general is elected by a joint session of the Federal Assembly, known as the United Federal Assembly, 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.^[2]

History

Generals were appointed during the Baden Revolution, the Neuchâtel Crisis, the Franco-Austrian War, the Franco-Prussian War, the First World War and the Second World War, although Switzerland was militarily involved in none of them and the role of the army in these times was mainly to guard the border.^{[citation needed]}

All senior officers used to hold variations on the rank of Colonel (there were "Brigade Colonels", for instance). Nowadays, the general officer ranks are: Brigadier, Divisionär (Major General), Korpskommandant (Lieutenant General) and General (which is not currently used). The senior Swiss officer detached to the line of demarcation in Panmunjeom, South Korea, however, is given the courtesy designation of Generalmajor (Major General) for equality purposes.^[3]

List of generals

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

Name	Election	War
Guillaume Henri Dufour [4]	21 October 1847[a]	Sonderbund War
	August 1849	Baden Revolution
	27 December 1856	Neuchâtel Crisis
	1859	Franco-Austrian War
Hans Herzog	19 July 1870	Franco-Prussian War
Ulrich Wille	8 August 1914	First World War
Henri Guisan	30 August 1939	Second World War

Notes

1. 
   ^ Prior to the establishment of Switzerland as a federal state
   

References

1. 
   ^ ^ab McPhee, John (1983-10-31). "La Place de la Concorde Suisse-I". The New Yorker. p. 50. Retrieved 22 July 2013..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
   


2. 
   ^ ^abc Haltiner, Karl W. (2002). "The Swiss Security Sector: Structure, Control, Reforms" (PDF). Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces.
   ^{[permanent dead link]}
   


3. 
   ^ "Die Schweiz seit 60 Jahren im koreanischen Niemandsland" [Switzerland for 60 years at the korean No man's land]. srf.ch (in German). 2013-07-27. Retrieved 2018-03-17. Für den in Panmunjom stationierten Delegationschef des NNSC, Generalmajor Urs Gerber, ...
   


4. 
   ^ Langendorf, Jean-Jacques (7 November 2005). "Dufour, Guillaume-Henri" (in German). Historical Dictionary of Switzerland. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
   

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