Introduction

Switzerland is often hailed as the world’s most neutral country, having remained in neutral in most every major conflict. However, the country is not recognized enough for its preparedness. It is easy to imagine that a nation of neutrality would want to avoid being invaded. Their defense strategy is rather unique.

Shelters

Switzerland has over 300,000 shelters and a law from 1978 states that every new building must have a bomb shelter. Their excessive number of shelters are enough to house all of the 7.6 million Swiss people and 1 million more. These regulations became commonplace during the Cold War, as Switzerland feared the nuclear threats from the Soviet Union and the US more than most other countries did. 

Rigged Infrastructure

Switzerland has a unique defense strategy in the case of invasion. Yes, they do have mandatory military service requirements, but they also have plans to implode almost every piece of infrastructure in the country. Almost every road, highway, and tunnel is rigged to implode and stop invaders from advancing into the country. The Swiss government has reported around 3,000 points of destruction – areas rigged to explode to stop invaders from using infrastructure to enter the country. 

Primacord fuses are built into every bridge and in cases when a highway crosses a railroad, a segment of the bridge is set up to fall onto the railroad. In many cases, hidden artillery is stationed on both sides to prevent the hypothetical enemies from clearing the area. Moreover, the country has an excessive number of hidden military bases and forts, most underground. Near the country’s border with Germany, every highway and railroad tunnel has been rigged to explode. 

The entire country is ready for invasion. If Switzerland were to be messed with, all of their citizens and more could flee to bunkers, military bases could be operated from most anywhere and continue to stay hidden, and almost every bit of infrastructure in the country could explode just to make the invasion more difficult. The Swiss military plans to flee from cities and use the Alps to their advantage if invaded, all while blocking their path by imploding infrastructure behind them. 

However, Switzerland’s ready-to-implode doctrine has not held up that well. Many of these rigged bridges, especially those near the German border, are having their “safety” features removed.