Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The Swiss Guard is considered an elite military unit and highly selective in its recruitment: candidates must be unmarried Swiss Catholic males between 19 and 30 years of age, and at least 5 feet 8.5 inches (1.74 meters), who have completed basic training with the Swiss Armed Forces and hold a professional diploma or high school degree.
The earliest Swiss Guard unit to be established on a permanent basis was the Hundred Swiss (Cent-Suisses), which served at the French court from 1490 to 1817. This small force was complemented in 1616 by a Swiss Guards regiment. In the 18th and early 19th centuries several other Swiss Guard units existed for periods in various European courts.
In World War II, Switzerland, and to a lesser extent Sweden and the United States, performed these roles for both sides. When the US entered the war in late 1941, Switzerland took over its mandates. In terms of major roles Swiss diplomats had the mandate to protect Germany's interest in Britain, the United States, Yugoslavia, Turkey, and Dutch ...
The military history of Switzerland comprises centuries of armed actions, and the role of the Swiss military in conflicts and peacekeeping worldwide. Despite maintaining neutrality since its independence from the Holy Roman Empire in 1499, [1] Switzerland has been involved in military operations dating back to the hiring of Swiss mercenaries by foreign nations, including the Papal States.
Swiss Guard: Pope Julius II Papal States Vatican City: Although the Swiss Guard was founded in 1506 and is one of the oldest active military units presently in existence, they were disbanded and reorganized multiple times. The most recent iteration of the Swiss Guard began in 1814, after being disbanded in 1809. [62] [63] 1842 Engineer Regiment
The Vatican maintained three small forces of troops known as the Swiss Guard, the Palatine Guard and the Noble Guard. During World War II the Vatican's Swiss guards and other two armed regiments obtained additional submachine guns and gas masks to supplement the existing Vatican arsenal in the event of an attack. [36]
The Swiss military department maintains the Onyx intelligence gathering system, similar to but much smaller than the international Echelon system. The Onyx system was launched in 2000 in order to monitor both civil and military communications, such as telephone, fax or Internet traffic carried by satellite. It was completed in late 2005 and ...
Many of the higher-numbered units were divisions in name only, being in reality only small battlegroups (Kampfgruppen). As a general rule, an "SS Division" is made up of mostly Germans, or other Germanic people, while a "Division of the SS" is made up of mostly non-Germanic volunteers.