Ulrich Wille

Ulrich Wille
General Ulrich Wille (1914-1918)
Born	(1848-04-05)5 April 1848  Hamburg, Germany
Died	31 January 1925(1925-01-31) (aged 76) Meilen, Switzerland
Allegiance	Switzerland
Years of service	1867 - 1925
Rank	General
Commands held	Swiss Army
Battles/wars	World War I

Conrad Ulrich Sigmund Wille (April 5, 1848 – January 31, 1925) was the General of the Swiss Army during the First World War. Inspired by the Prussian techniques that he had been able to observe at the time of his studies in Berlin, he tried to impress the Swiss Army with a spirit based on instruction, discipline and technical control.

At the dawn of the First World War, Switzerland confirmed its will to remain neutral and to avoid the conflicts which were going to set Europe ablaze. However, Switzerland was divided between the German-speaking Swiss who favored the Central Powers, and the French and Italian-speaking Swiss whose opinions tended to support the Allied Powers.

As a Germanophile, close to Kaiser Wilhelm II, Wille benefitted from the pro-German current and the disparity within the Swiss Federal Council, which counted only one member from the French areas.

In 1914, at the outbreak of warfare, a general mobilization of all military forces was issued. Wille, then a Colonel, was named General of Switzerland by the Federal Parliament on August 8, 1914 with 122 votes, against 63 votes for the other candidate, Theophil Sprecher von Bernegg. Von Bernegg would soon assume the rank of Chief of the General Staff and become a reliable partner of Wille's. The opponents of the general described him as "militarist" whereas his partisans saw in him a chief ready to manage an army in mobilization thanks to his pedagogical talents. Wille decided to concentrate the bulk of his forces (238,000 men and 50,000 horses) close to the borders, particularly in Ajoie and Engadine.