Швейцария армиясының бас штабындағы Конрад Вилле

Swiss general (1848–1925)

Conrad Ulrich Sigmund Wille (5 April 1848 – 31 January 1925) was the General of the Swiss Army during the First World War. Inspired by the Prussian techniques that he had been able to observe at the time of his studies in Berlin, he attempted to impress the Swiss Army with a spirit based on instruction, discipline and technical control.

At the dawn of the First World War, Switzerland confirmed its will to remain neutral and to avoid the conflicts which were going to set Europe ablaze. However, Switzerland was divided between the German speaking Swiss who favored the Central Powers, and the French and Italian speaking Swiss whose opinions tended to support the Allied Powers. As a Germanophile, close to Kaiser Wilhelm II, Wille benefitted from the pro German current and the disparity within the Swiss Federal Council, which counted only one member from the French areas. In 1914, upon the outbreak of war, a general mobilization of all military forces was issued. Wille, then a Colonel, was named General of Switzerland by the Federal Parliament on 8 August 1914 with 122 votes, against 63 votes for the other candidate, Theophil Sprecher von Bernegg. Von Bernegg would soon assume the post of Chief of the General Staff and become a reliable partner of Wille's. The opponents of the general described him as "militarist" whereas his partisans saw in him a chief ready to manage an army in mobilization thanks to his pedagogical talents. Wille decided to concentrate the bulk of his forces (238,000 men and 50,000 horses) close to the borders, particularly in Ajoie and Engadine.

Ulrich Wille's family was from La Sagne in the Canton of Neuchâtel. One of his ancestors settled in Hamburg and altered the family name from "Vuille" to the more German "Wille". Ulrich's parents were journalist and politician François Wille (1811–1896) and novelist Eliza Wille Sloman (1809–1893). They were liberals and, after being disillusioned by the failed German revolutions of 1848–49, they left Hamburg for Switzerland with their newborn son Ulrich. They settled in Meilen in the Canton of Zürich, where Ulrich grew up in Mariafeld, the family estate. Wille was married to Countess Constanza Maria Amalia Clara von Bismarck (1851–1946), the daughter of Count Friedrich Wilhelm von Bismarck, a distant relative of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. His eldest son, also named Ulrich Wille, followed his father's footsteps in the military, ultimately becoming a Corps Commander. Wille Jr. also managed to keep his father's pro German tendencies throughout his career, including during the Second World War. This would contribute to his tensions with the next Swiss General, Henri Guisan. His daughter Renée Schwarzenbach Wille, who was married to silk tycoon Alfred Schwarzenbach, was an Olympic horsewoman and prolific photographer. His granddaughter was the renowned author, traveler, and photographer Annemarie Schwarzenbach.