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((Short description|Rank in the Swiss Armed Forces))
((About|the constitutional rank of 'General'|a list of army ranks|Military ranks of the Swiss Armed Forces))
((More citations needed|date=April 2016))
((Use dmy dates|date=July 2017))
((Use British English|date=July 2017))
((Infobox military rank
| name           = General
| native_name    = ((small|((lang-de|General))<br />((lang-fr|Général))<br />((lang-it|Generale))<br />((lang-rm|Generale))))
| image          = CHE OF9 General.svg 
| image_size     = 80px 
| alt            =
| caption        = [[Dress uniform]] shoulder strap with the rank of General
| image2         = OF-9 - Général.png
| image_size2    = 80px
| alt2           =
| caption2       = [[Battledress]] rank insignia of General
| image3         = Kepi General.jpg
| image_size3    = 100px 
| alt3           =
| caption3       = [[Kepi]] of General
| country        = ((flagu|Switzerland))
| service branch = ((army|Switzerland))
| abbreviation   = GEN
| rank group     = [[General officer]]
| rank           = [[Four-star rank|Four-star]]
| NATO rank      = 
| Non-NATO rank  = [[Ranks and insignia of NATO armies officers#Officers (OF 1–10)|OF-9]]
| pay grade      = 
| formation      = 1512 as [[Old Swiss Confederacy]]<br>1849 as [[Switzerland]]
| abolished      = 
| higher rank    = 
| lower rank     = [[Lieutenant general]]
| equivalents    = 
| history        = 
))

The '''General''' (((lang-de|Der General)), ((lang-fr|le général)), ((lang-it|il generale)), ((lang-rm|il general))) is an office and [[Swiss army ranks|rank]] in the armed forces of [[Switzerland]]. It is held by the [[commander-in-chief]] of the [[Swiss Army|Army]] in time of war only. Under the [[Constitution of Switzerland|Swiss Constitution]], he must be elected by the [[Federal Assembly of Switzerland|Federal Assembly]], assembled as the [[United Federal Assembly]], specifically for the purpose of taking on the [[Theater (warfare)|war-time responsibilities]].

== Role ==
Outside of wartime, the rank of "General" is not used in the Swiss military. Indeed, none of the ranks of general officer contain the word "general". In peacetime, the [[Chief of the Armed Forces (Switzerland)|Chief of the Swiss Armed Forces]] is granted the rank of ((lang|de|[[Korpskommandant]]))/((lang|fr|Commandant de corps))/((lang|it|Comandante di corpo)) (equivalent to Lieutenant-General).<ref name="mcphee19831031"/>

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 of Switzerland|National Council]] and 46-seat [[Swiss Council of States|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.<ref name=":0">((cite web|title=RS 510.10 Loi fédérale du 3 février 1995 sur l'armée et l'administration militaire (Loi sur l'armée, LAAM) |language=fr |trans-title=RS 510.10 Federal Act of 3 February 1995 on the army and military administration (Army Act, LAAM) |url=https://www.admin.ch/opc/fr/classified-compilation/19950010/index.html#id-5-4-2 |website=www.admin.ch |access-date=2020-05-09))</ref>

Swiss law does not establish the precise conditions when a General is to be elected, merely that the Federal Assembly may do so "as soon as an important number of troops are to be mobilised."<ref name=":0" /> The General is, however, permitted to adapt the internal structure of the Armed Forces in response to the strategic imperatives.<ref name=":0" />

== History ==
Prior to the establishment of Switzerland as a federal state in 1848, [[Guillaume Henri Dufour]] was nominated by the [[Tagsatzung|Swiss Diet]] to serve as general in response to the invasion of [[Canton of Ticino|Ticino]] during the [[Sonderbund War]].<ref name=":1">((cite web|title=Guillaume Henri Dufour (1787 – 1875) |website=Swiss Armed Forces |url=https://www.vtg.admin.ch/en/armed-forces.detail.news.html/vtg-internet/verwaltung/2019/19-11/guillaume-henri-dufour.html |access-date=2020-05-09))</ref> As a consequence of that civil war, the structure of the Swiss Confederation was revised and a new constitution was promulgated in 1848, creating the modern Swiss government.<ref>((cite web|title=Parliamentary History, Tuesday, 12 September 1848, Federal Constitution |website=www.parlament.ch |url=https://www.parlament.ch/en/%C3%BCber-das-parlament/parlamentsgeschichte/parlamentsgeschichte-detail?historyId=3 |access-date=2020-05-09))</ref> 

During the 1850s, Dufour was called upon three more times to serve as General on behalf of the entire federal government: in 1849 to prevent possible incursions into Swiss territory during the [[Baden Revolution]]; in 1856, to pre-empt Prussian military intervention in the [[Neuchâtel Crisis]]; and finally in 1859, to keep belligerents in the [[Second Italian War of Independence|Franco-Austrian War]] from entering Switzerland. No other individual has held the position of general of the Swiss Armed Forces more often.<ref name=":1" /> 

The Sonderbund War marked the last time that a General was nominated for Switzerland to assume command of forces directly involved in armed conflict. Since then, the Swiss Armed Forces have been mobilised to safeguard the integrity of Swiss territory in times of European conflict or crisis. Such was also the case for the [[Franco-Prussian War]], the [[World War I|First World War]] and the [[Second World War]]. The mobilisation of the armed forces was a demonstration of the principle of "[[Armed Neutrality]]". 

Nowadays, the general staff of the armed forces comprises officers with the ranks of ''[[Brigadier]]'', ((lang|de|Divisionär)) ([[Major General]]), ((lang|de|Korpskommandant)) ([[Lieutenant General]]) and, although not currently held, General. The [[Chief of the Swiss Armed Forces]] is given the rank of ((lang|de|Korpskommandant)), which may be held by other senior officers as well. 

A common misconception would hold that a Swiss "general" serves as the head of the Swiss delegation to the [[Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission]] at the DMZ on the Korean Peninsula. Although the head is addressed as [[Major General]] for the duration of his mandate, this is a courtesy translation of the rank designation of ((lang|de|Divisionär)), used within the Swiss Armed Forces.<ref>((cite web|title=Die Schweiz seit 60 Jahren im koreanischen Niemandsland |url=https://www.srf.ch/news/international/die-schweiz-seit-60-jahren-im-koreanischen-niemandsland |date=2013-07-27 |website=srf.ch |language=German |trans-title=Switzerland for 60 years at the korean No man's land |access-date=2018-03-17 |quote=Für den in Panmunjom stationierten Delegationschef des NNSC, Generalmajor Urs Gerber, ... |trans-quote=For the head of the NNSC delegation stationed in Panmunjom, Major General Urs Gerber, ...))</ref>

==List of generals==
The following Swiss officers have held the rank of General as the leaders of the Army in time of war:<ref name="mcphee19831031">((cite magazine |url=http://archives.newyorker.com/default.aspx?iid=16248&startpage=page0000103#folio=050 |title=La Place de la Concorde Suisse-I |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |date=1983-10-31 |access-date=22 July 2013 |last=McPhee |first=John |page=50))</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
! Portrait
! Name
! Election
! War
! ((abbrv|Ref.|References))
|-
| rowspan=4| [[File:Guillaume Henri Dufour (Irminger).png|90px]]
| rowspan=4| [[Guillaume Henri Dufour]]<br />((small|(1787–1875)))
| 21 October 1847((efn|Prior to the establishment of [[Switzerland as a federal state]]))
| [[Sonderbund War]]
| <ref>((cite web |last1=Langendorf |first1=Jean-Jacques |title=Dufour, Guillaume-Henri |url=http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/d/D3862.php |date=7 November 2005 |website=[[Historical Dictionary of Switzerland]] |access-date=16 January 2017 |language=de |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118032820/http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/d/D3862.php |archive-date=18 January 2017 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all))</ref>
|-
| August 1849
| [[Baden Revolution]]
| <ref>((cite web |url=http://www.e-periodica.ch/digbib/view?pid=mhv-001:1985:77::99#99 |title=Wyrsch-Ineichen, Paul: Die Schwyzer Truppen im Büsinger-Handel 1849 von 1985 in Mitteilungen des historischen Vereins des Kantons Schwyz |language=de |trans-title=Wyrsch-Ineichen, Paul: The Schwyzer troops in Büsinger trade 1849 from 1985 in communications from the historical association of the Canton of Schwyz |access-date=16 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170128233046/http://www.e-periodica.ch/digbib/view?pid=mhv-001:1985:77::99#99 |archive-date=28 January 2017 |url-status=live |df=dmy-all))</ref><ref>((HLS|8685|Aktivdienst|author= Hans Senn))</ref>
|-
| 27 December 1856
| [[Neuchâtel Crisis]]
| <ref>''Rapport sur l'armement et la campagne de 1857''. Revue militaire Suisse 1857</ref>
|-
| 1859
| [[Second Italian War of Independence|Franco-Austrian War]]
| <ref>''Toast à la Patrie.'' Revue militaire Suisse 1860</ref>
|-
| [[File:Hans Herzog.jpg|90px]]
| [[Hans Herzog]]<br />((small|(1819–1894)))
| 19 July 1870
| [[Franco-Prussian War]]
| 
|-
| [[File:General Wille - CH-BAR - 3237761 cropped.tif|90px]]
| [[Ulrich Wille]]<br />((small|(1848–1925)))
| 8 August 1914
| [[World War I|First World War]]
| 
|-
| [[File:Guisan Visp 1942 D2.8916.jpg|90px]]
| [[Henri Guisan]]<br />((small|(1874–1960)))
| 30 August 1939
| [[World War II|Second World War]]
| 
|}

== Notes ==
((noteslist))

== References ==
((Reflist))

((Military of Switzerland))
((Generals of Switzerland))
((Portal bar|Switzerland))

[[Category:Military ranks of Switzerland]]

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