Sortie scolaire au Musée Fort de Chillon : la guerre froide et la Suisse entre deux blocs (introduction pour la classe)

School trip to the Fort de Chillon Museum: the Cold War and Switzerland between two blocs (introduction for the class)

The Cold War pitted two blocs against each other without the use of weapons. On a school trip to the Fort de Chillon museum, discover how Switzerland experienced this period of tension.

A divided world: East versus West

After 1945, the world entered the Cold War: two superpowers faced off, the United States at the head of the Western bloc and the USSR at the head of the Eastern bloc. Europe was divided in two, symbolized by the Iron Curtain and, from 1961, by the Berlin Wall. Switzerland, a neutral country, remained outside military alliances such as NATO and the Warsaw Pact, but found itself geographically and politically between these two blocs.

The nuclear threat

The threat of nuclear war loomed large throughout this period, particularly after the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Switzerland developed a policy of “armed neutrality,” maintaining a large militia army, building civil defense shelters, and modernizing its Alpine fortifications. The fort at Chillon, part of the Saint-Maurice fortress system, remained in service during the Cold War and was adapted to new conflict scenarios.

In connection with the Fort de Chillon Museum

The Fort de Chillon Museum provides a concrete insight into the Cold War: the fort's architecture, the soldiers' lives, exercises and equipment illustrate the preparations for a conflict that never broke out. Interactive displays help students understand the East/West tensions, the fear of nuclear war and the special position of a neutral country like Switzerland.

For teachers

This article serves as a basis for preparing for a school trip to the Fort de Chillon Museum and does not claim to be exhaustive. It can be supplemented in class by studying the National Redoubt, the militia army, and Switzerland's role in 20th-century Europe.