Hans von Dach

Hans von Dach (1927–2003) was a Swiss military theorist. He was the author of the influential seven-volume 1957 guerrilla warfare manual ''Total Resistance'' (), which made him the internationally best-known Swiss tactical theorist. In 1974, the Chief of the General Staff vetoed the publication of ''Total Resistance'', then very popular among officers, as an army manual, partly because of these concerns. Von Dach dismissed them; believing that the Soviet Union, which he considered the most likely occupying force during the Cold War, would have no regard for the legalities of war in any case. He did enjoy tacit support for his authorial work by his military superiors, because the implicit threat of a sustained defensive guerrilla warfare effort represented by his writings was considered to contribute to the overall Swiss defence strategy of deterrence (''dissuasion'').

In addition to ''Total Resistance'', von Dach authored more than a hundred publications about tactics, including army manuals, defence journal articles and books, such as ("Combat technique", various editions from 1958 to 1957), ("Combat examples", 1977) and ("Defensive combat techniques", 1959). A gifted draftsman, he illustrated many of his own works.

In his private life, von Dach was engaged in social work for the homeless as a member of the Salvation Army. Provided by Wikipedia