A teacher recounts the feats of the Swiss army to his students. He begins with the Helvetians’ victory against the Romans, then mentions Guillaume Tell’s feats. The students are thrilled. He relates the battle of Sempach, Morat, and Marignano, then the Napoleonic occupation. The teacher ends his class by praising the generals Dufour and Herzog’s key role in the confederal construction of modern Switzerland.

Shadow theatre

All audiences

Switzerland

Geneva

Printed outline

Iconic battles

People and history

Capitulation

History lesson

Nationalism

Epic

Didactic

Shadow figure by Louis Dunki for L‘Armée suisse à travers les âges, published in Le Sapajou.

French

Teacher

Pupil

Leader

Roman

Guillaume Tell

Hermann Gessler

Swiss

Charles the Bold

Napoleon

Soldier

General

Classroom scene

Barker

Parade

Battlefield scene

L'Armée suisse à travers les âges

The Swiss army through the ages