Hans Senn (1918–2007) was a

general officer A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

of the

Swiss Army The Swiss Armed Forces (; ; ; ; ) are the military and security force of Switzerland, consisting of land and air service branches. Under the country's militia system, regular soldiers constitute a small part of the military and the rest are ...

. Senn was born in

Zofingen Zofingen () is a city in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It is the capital of the district of Zofingen. Zofingen is a walled city and home to an ancient monastic settlement. History In ancient times Zofingen was a settlement of the Celtic ...

and, as a young officer, studied at the Ecole Supérieure de Guerre in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. As Army head of operations he unsuccessfully advocated a policy of

nuclear armament Nuclear proliferation is the spread of nuclear weapons to additional countries, particularly those not recognized as nuclear-weapon states by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the ''Non-Proliferation Tr ...

as a deterrent against the

Warsaw Pact The Warsaw Pact (WP), formally the Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance (TFCMA), was a Collective security#Collective defense, collective defense treaty signed in Warsaw, Polish People's Republic, Poland, between the Sovi ...

in the 1960s. Switzerland eventually ratified the

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperatio ...

. As

Chief of the General Staff The Chief of the General Staff (CGS) is a post in many armed forces (militaries), the head of the military staff. List * Chief of the General Staff (Abkhazia) * Chief of General Staff (Afghanistan) * Chief of the General Staff (Albania) * C ...

, holding the rank of

Korpskommandant The ranks of the Swiss Armed Forces have changed little over the centuries, except for the introduction, in 2004, of a new set of warrant officers. The ranks are worn on shoulder boards with the appropriate background colour. Designations are g ...

( NATO: OF-8), Senn was Switzerland's most senior military officer from 1977 to 1980. After his retirement, he authored two standard works about Swiss defence efforts during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

References

* * Swiss generals 1918 births 2007 deaths {{Switzerland-mil-bio-stub