Spiritual national defence

The spiritual national defence[1] (German: Geistige Landesverteidigung; French: Défense [nationale] spirituelle) was a political-cultural movement in Switzerland which was active from circa 1932 into the 1960s.

The call for a spiritual defence of Swiss democracy against fascism through radio and film originated in left wing circles and became all the more relevant with the rise to power of Hitler in 1933.

This meant the overcoming of class antagonisms and the creation of a Swiss identity – a community of destiny – which would encompass the cultural differences and the four national languages.

The term “Helvetic totalitarianism”, as expressed by the Swiss historian Hans Ulrich Jost, falls short for it refers solely to the civil form of spiritual defence.

The so-called “Landigeist” (homeland spirit) flooded through the land and – coming shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War – gave people a feeling of an unbroken national will for independence against all the demands of Germany and the annexation of the German-speaking cantons into a Greater German Reich.

Echoing the anti-communist spirit of the times, emphasis was placed upon a constitutional democracy and welfare state, and the part-time ('militia-like') character of a powerful Swiss army.

The Federal Council continued to use the term spiritual defence in its vocabulary and pictorial language during the campaign leading up to the 1989 referendum to decide whether Switzerland should retain an army or become demilitarised.

The occasion of the 60th, diamond jubilee, was supposed to reawaken the spirit of the “active service generation” (those who had been mobilised during the Second World War) in advance of a ballot to decide on the procurement of new equipment for the army.

This happened during the referendum over the proposed adhesion of Switzerland to the European Economic Community in 1992 and in the campaign against Swiss participation in the 2005 Schengen Agreement and Dublin Regulation.