the state – indeed its primary duty – we wish to leave the spiritual defence of the nation primarily in the hands of the citizen. The state should have the necessary means at its disposal, and retain the right to oversee the use of these means. But apart from this, the spiritual forces of the nation should mobilise and deploy themselves in a common defensive front." National Socialism and the Second World War The call for a spiritual defence of Swiss democracy against fascism through radio and film originated in left wing circles and became all the more relevant with the rise to power of Hitler in 1933. The latter event completed the encirclement of Switzerland, for its neighbours, with the exception of France, were at that time all governed by authoritarian fascist regimes. In this first phase, spiritual defence had a definite anti-German tone: the specific Swiss character, as opposed to that of Germany, was to be given primary emphasis. A special form of spiritual defence was illustrated by the so-called 'Elvetismo' (cp. Helvetism) movement in Canton Ticino which opposed Italian Irredentism. Here the emphasis was placed on the specific character of Ticino as opposed to that of Italy. The central thrust of spiritual defence was the creation of an ethnic community in Switzerland. This meant the overcoming of class antagonisms and the creation of a Swiss identity – a community of destiny – which would encompass the cultural differences and the four national languages. The term “Helvetic totalitarianism”, as expressed by the Swiss historian Hans Ulrich Jost, falls short for it refers solely to the civil form of spiritual defence. From 1938, the term was adopted officially by the Swiss Federal Council. Federal Councillor Philipp Etter in a pivotal paper placed his primary emphasis upon the affiliation of Switzerland to the three dominant European cultural spheres: cultural diversity, the federal nature of democracy and the reverence accorded to the dignity and freedom of man. The Swiss National Exhibition held in Zurich in 1939 is regarded as the most effective expression of spiritual defence. The so-called “Landigeist” (homeland spirit) flooded through the land and – coming shortly before the outbreak of the Second World War – gave people a feeling of an unbroken national will for independence against all the demands of Germany and the annexation of the German-speaking cantons into a Greater German Reich. This was especially relevant