Total Resistance (book)
Encyclopedia
Total Resistance is an official Swiss manual for resistance to enemy occupation of Switzerland (presumably in a Soviet general occupation of all central Europe) that was issued in 1957-1958.
It was written by Hans von Dach
of the Swiss military and is a crash course in irregular resistance by ordinary civilians, rather than a plan for resistance by defeated soldiers operating as guerrillas within their homeland. It notably presumes a form of irregular resistance involving nothing beyond rifles, hand grenades, and mines that very much resembles the Iraqi insurgency 50 years after the book was written.
There are various editions of the book, ranging from 64 through 287 pages. The book was originally written for wide dissemination to the Swiss population via the SUOV (Schweizer Unteroffiziersverband, i.e. Swiss NCO
association) during a time when there was a public perception that Switzerland needed to be prepared to resist external aggressors. As of 2007, at least one of von Dach's books (on chemical weapons) ships with sealed pages and the instruction "NUR BEI KRIEGSMOBILMACHUNG OEFFNEN" ("open only in case of mobilization").
The book contains advice on how to defend Switzerland
through stay-behind
guerrilla warfare
in case of an enemy invasion. Detailed information on how to organize small "armies" and resistance groups is given; the readers are also taught on how to build explosives (which earned the book a ban in several countries, even though often claimed, it is legal in Germany
).
Summarized in a few words, the book explains:
Views of the book as an obsolete legend due to today's technological standards, as it studies old cases like the German Wehrmacht
occupying Warsaw
and the Soviet intrusion into Prague
and Budapest
, have been disproven in Iraq today. Iraq's insurgency very much resembles the doctrines taught in the book. That the book doesn't cover today's internet and readily available message encryption
like PGP
has been proven irrelevant in Iraq's insurgency today; and the book's not covering newer weapons similarly has been proven irrelevant in the Iraq insurgency. Another points are that this combat manual only addresses how to organize the resistance locally, but not how to deter the occupation of a whole country. The fact that the book focuses on the situation that prevails in Switzerland (hilly and mountainous landscape) has not kept its doctrines from being successfully used by Iraq's insurgents.
It was written by Hans von Dach
Hans von Dach
Swiss Army major Hans von Dach is the author of several army manuals, including the seminal stay-behind warfare book Der totale Widerstand: Eine Kleinkriegsanleitung für Jedermann , which first appeared 1957...
of the Swiss military and is a crash course in irregular resistance by ordinary civilians, rather than a plan for resistance by defeated soldiers operating as guerrillas within their homeland. It notably presumes a form of irregular resistance involving nothing beyond rifles, hand grenades, and mines that very much resembles the Iraqi insurgency 50 years after the book was written.
There are various editions of the book, ranging from 64 through 287 pages. The book was originally written for wide dissemination to the Swiss population via the SUOV (Schweizer Unteroffiziersverband, i.e. Swiss NCO
Non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...
association) during a time when there was a public perception that Switzerland needed to be prepared to resist external aggressors. As of 2007, at least one of von Dach's books (on chemical weapons) ships with sealed pages and the instruction "NUR BEI KRIEGSMOBILMACHUNG OEFFNEN" ("open only in case of mobilization").
The book contains advice on how to defend Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
through stay-behind
Stay-behind
In a stay-behind operation, a country places secret operatives or organisations in its own territory, for use in the event that the territory is overrun by an enemy. If this occurs, the operatives would then form the basis of a resistance movement, or would act as spies from behind enemy lines...
guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
in case of an enemy invasion. Detailed information on how to organize small "armies" and resistance groups is given; the readers are also taught on how to build explosives (which earned the book a ban in several countries, even though often claimed, it is legal in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
).
Summarized in a few words, the book explains:
- the operative, tactical, technical and psychological basics of guerrilla warfare
- how to build-up, organize and command a guerrilla warfare
- how to build-up and command a civilian resistance movement
- the enemy's methods of suppressing and combating guerrilla warfare
- explosives techniques, with the focus on placing the charges, optimizing the effects, and knowledge of the various types of explosives
Views of the book as an obsolete legend due to today's technological standards, as it studies old cases like the German Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
occupying Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
and the Soviet intrusion into Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
and Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, have been disproven in Iraq today. Iraq's insurgency very much resembles the doctrines taught in the book. That the book doesn't cover today's internet and readily available message encryption
Encryption
In cryptography, encryption is the process of transforming information using an algorithm to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a key. The result of the process is encrypted information...
like PGP
Pretty Good Privacy
Pretty Good Privacy is a data encryption and decryption computer program that provides cryptographic privacy and authentication for data communication. PGP is often used for signing, encrypting and decrypting texts, E-mails, files, directories and whole disk partitions to increase the security...
has been proven irrelevant in Iraq's insurgency today; and the book's not covering newer weapons similarly has been proven irrelevant in the Iraq insurgency. Another points are that this combat manual only addresses how to organize the resistance locally, but not how to deter the occupation of a whole country. The fact that the book focuses on the situation that prevails in Switzerland (hilly and mountainous landscape) has not kept its doctrines from being successfully used by Iraq's insurgents.