Part 2: Capitalism, Liberalism, & the Transition from Militia to Standing Army

Introduction

By studying the development of capitalism, we clarify why eradicating the capitalist state's army is essential. This analysis forms the basis for establishing the armed proletariat as a necessity within the workers’ state and its historical objective of building socialism-communism. To ground this argument, we begin with a focused examination of militia creation. Stephen P. Halbrook’s The Swiss Confederation in the Eyes of America’s Founders (7) offers insight into the origins of the people’s militia and explains why this concept became so deeply rooted, particularly notable given how selectively the militia has been invoked, despite its inclusion in the United States Constitution, reflecting broader shifts in political and economic contexts. 

The Swiss Militia Model

The history of the Swiss Confederation itself is characterized by accounts of small groups of modestly trained peasants, often lacking modern military equipment, achieving remarkable feats that blur the line between folklore and formal history—yet the impact of these stories remains unmistakable:

“The splendid victories of small numbers of armed Swiss citizens against huge standing armies were exploited by the English Whigs. Colonel John A. Martin, in his anonymous pamphlet A Plan for Establishing and Disciplining a National Militia in Great Britain, Ireland, and in All the British Dominions of America (1745), noted about proponents of standing armies: "prostitute wit, ever fawning upon power for the sake of luxury, has without shame joined in the general ridicule of a militia .... " Yet their influence was strong, as "they have been amazingly successful in establishing mercenary armies all over Europe, except in Switzerland," and those countries included France, Spain, Italy and Sweden.”

Halbrook notes that the Swiss Confederation’s strength rested on the universal arming of its citizens and their readiness to mobilize quickly. Drawing on Machiavelli’s observations from his Swiss travels, he illustrates how ordinary Swiss soldiers—often poor and lightly equipped—fought effectively using long pikes, swords, and minimal armor. Their reliance on foot soldiers rather than cavalry reflected both economic necessity and a commitment to defending their state against wealthier powers.

Halbrook cites the 17th-century English political writer Marchamont Nedham, who in The Excellencie of a Free State argued that "true liberty” depends on keeping the militia in the hands of the people and ensuring they are continually trained in arms. Drawing on Aristotle’s philosophy, Nedham maintained that those who bear arms ultimately hold political power. Halbrook highlights how these ideas, later endorsed by John Adams, helped shape the Founders’ vision of a bourgeois republic sustained by an armed citizenry rather than a standing army.

As the newly independent American states set out to build a government grounded in their ideals of (bourgeois) freedom and democracy, principles that had carried them through war against the world’s dominant power, they looked closely at the Swiss Confederation for guidance. The Founders studied Switzerland’s cantonal system and drew lessons from their attempts to balance local and federal authority. Intense debates emerged over how much power should rest with the central government versus the individual states, with both sides invoking Switzerland, either as a model to emulate or a cautionary example, depending on how it aligned with their own class-based visions for developing the USA.

Switzerland’s famed “neutrality”, often admired by the Americans, was, in reality, more complex than it appeared. Although the Confederation maintained no standing army, its soldiers served abroad, most notably as the papal Swiss Guard, giving the Swiss both political and economic leverage. Internally, however, the nation’s fragmented politics and limited economy hindered its ability to sustain growth or resolve emerging crises. When economic and political tensions escalated, Switzerland proved vulnerable to external powers: first falling to French invasion and revolutionary upheaval, and later facing incursions from Russia, Austria, and Italy, signaling the end of the old Swiss Confederacy. 

Modern Switzerland began to take shape after decades of conflict, culminating in the adoption of a federal treaty in 1815. This agreement created the foundation of a unified Swiss state and established its first formal military structure, requiring each canton to contribute 2% of its population to the federal army, while still maintaining the long-standing tradition of a citizen militia. Around this same period, Switzerland entered an era of industrial and financial growth, laying the groundwork for the nation’s modern economic identity.

Conclusion

To fully grasp the evolution of militias and standing armies, and their influence on both Switzerland and the emerging United States, it is essential to view them within their broader political and economic contexts. As Europe transitioned from feudalism, mercenary forces gave way to organized standing armies that served the interests of newly forming bourgeois-democratic states. These standing armies emerged as much of the capitalist world reorganized around conflicts between nation-states competing for territory and power. 

Switzerland’s standing army is not an anachronism or a relic of tradition; rather, it reflects the unique political and economic circumstances of a small state situated amid far larger and more powerful militaries. Swiss “neutrality” is about survival and thus its economic focuses, especially in global finance, are the ways it develops and grows its capitalist economy without having the same means as its neighbors. It provided a model that deeply informed American debates about liberty, governance, and the role of the citizen-soldier in a bourgeois republic, and how an emerging capitalist power would defend itself.