 The position as Leader of SVV was booseted by Bircher's spells as President of the Swiss Officers Society (1931-7) and editor of the official Swiss Army newspaper (1934–42).An influential figure in society, Bircher numbered the federal councillors Marcel Pilet-Golaz, Giuseppe Motta, Eduard von Steiger, Philipp Etter, Walther Stampfli and Ernst Wetter amongst his close political associates.Bircher sought a close relationship between Switzerland and Nazi Germany and it has even been alleged that he funded Adolf Hitler in his early years (although no conclusive evidence has as yet been provided), and his biographer rejects this claim outright.