Can't see empty trailer when backing down boat launch, 1960s? New framing occasionally makes loud popping sound when walking upstairs. According to the German historian Stefan Schfer who wrote a famous book on the subject named Hitler und die Schweiz or Hitler & Switzerland, it was more complex than people think. Why do so, causing massive destruction of the country, when Swiss businesses and banks were making Germany their primary trading partner anyways. They would be interned by the Swiss for a few months, until an agreement was reached for their repatriation to France in early 1941. They were friends. What was the real reason Switzerland was never invaded in WW2? Bring on the National Redoubt. For some, including President Pilet-Golaz, this meant Erneuerung and Anpassung (Renewal and adaptation), or that is to say, coming to terms with the new European order and attempting to find Switzerlands place in it. But dont worry, the Swiss speak great English too. By Today I Found Out Updated on Oct 22, 2020 1 minute read SUMMARY The tiny mountainous country of Switzerland has been in a state of "perpetual neutrality" since the major European powers of the time declared it as such during the Congress of Vienna after the end of the Napoleonic wars in 1815. The neutral powers were countries that remained neutral during World War II. How Did Switzerland Avoid Ww2? - Czech Heritage Just to highlight one particular duty, the IRC kept a catalog in Geneva of literally hundreds of thousands of POWs being held by the warring powers, and IRC delegates visited POW camps to check on conditions and facilitate communication home. The historian in me is wondering what would have happened if France and Britain hadn't declared war, or if Britain had folded after the fall of France Now, Sweden With Norway held by Germany, and Finland still free, Sweden was not under threat. Now, there are multiple reasons, lets discuss them in further detail. Something went wrong. Why was one of Nazi Germanys best tank commander, Erwin Rommel, sent to Africa instead of being sent to lead in Barbarossa? Mix this with the upper hand of the mountains and raised positions, it was a recipe for disaster if Hitler was to attack. No, the controversy in Swiss conduct comes from three major factors. Although the Swiss profited greatly from this, apparently, it did not prolong the war. Disgraceful, yes. Lets start with the French & German ceasefire. There was also an ideological base for it. As I said at the beginning, trade in war goods was happening from both sides, even if the Germans got the bulk. When looking into troop placement, the mountains were an incredible asset for the Swiss. Finally, Switzerland also provided Germany with economic incentives not to invade, but these were arguably of a less important influence on the decision not to invade. As is the case of Spain, Germany would much rather have a friendly neutral than an outright enemy. They basically controlled the major mountain crossings and railway connections. By clicking Accept all cookies, you agree Stack Exchange can store cookies on your device and disclose information in accordance with our Cookie Policy. I hear that many people with power have money in swiss banks, is that factor or not? Please click the link in the e-mail to activate your account. But probably worst of all for the Swiss was the international condemnation involving the countrys beloved Gold Vreneli. Apparently, millions of the golden 20-franc coin with a cute girls head, which is invariably given as a gift for baptisms, confirmations, and weddings, were made after the war from stolen Nazi gold. Trade with Germany quickly increased three-fold simply because other trading partners had dried up. Why were there no Hitler statues in Nazi Germany? Almost finished We need to confirm your email address. To This Day, The Myth Still Abounds: Why Didn't The Germans Invade Actually, Hitler REALLY wanted to invade Switzerland. world-war-two war world-war-one switzerland Share Improve this question Follow edited May 16, 2013 at 11:05 Elrond The plan would of course mean turning over much of the country to the invader, and laying waste to it as well denying use of infrastructure by the occupier, but also crippling the Swiss themselves were they to retake the land but at least, they hoped, they could cost whoever chose to violate their neutrality dearly. In fact, even a United States mail ship going to Italy was embargoed by the British on some pretext. Interestingly, the 8th Air Force was allowed to send a small group of maintenance men to review the planes in mid-1944, as well as give instruction to the Swiss in how to maintain them. A confirmation e-mail has been sent to your address. Switzerland and Germany already had a beneficial trading partnership which helped Germany's war effort. The schedule of attacking Denmark and Norway was something that had to be done quickly in order to have time to redeploy for a crushing attack on France and the Low Countries (and Britain) as early as possible in 1940. Why?-------------------------------------------- WATCH THE VIDEO OF THE CHANNEL: \"MILITARY MIGHT\" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FVJp4JlhrE @KorvinStarmast: Over the many years I have delved into WWII history, I found there is a significant reluctance to give the Nazis any credit for actually having. For one thing, it would have been far too costly in terms of manpower and materials to conquer the mountainous region. Although Switzerland was not a primary target, it was a strategic one. - Quora. It wasnt just soldiers though. I think that is due to people latching on to "Nazis" and not "Germans" as whom they are discussing. As mentioned before, refugees were sometimes refused entry, and sometimes allowed, and as various powers suffered setbacks, troops retreated over the border, where they were placed into internment camps as required by international law not just with the French in 1940, but also happening with the Italians in 1943 (a preferable fate to many than German POW camps, or being forced to fight for the Salo Republic), and the Germans beginning in mid-1944. With the mass call up in 1939 though, the retirement age was temporarily pushed back to 60, and new inductees now underwent a four month course, and those who had been called up began training on a full time basis. To this day, the myth still abounds in this small Alpine nation that the Swiss Army would have repelled the Nazi invader had they attacked. "The Swiss tend to believe that they survived the Second World War because the country supplied Germany with the hard currency necessary for its war effort," says Schaefer. Sweden was already trading with Nazi Germany. At the risk of further downvotes from people who don't think historical wargames are well researched, I will say that of a dozen or more WW2 historical strategy games I've seen, almost all assume the war starts with Germany invading Poland, leading automatically to war with England and France. Was Switzerland really impossible to invade during WW2? Attacking Sweden would have disrupted the supply for no real gain. Of course, such a declaration meant very little. They were happy to co-exist with other countries that were friendly, such as Sweden. What next? It stopped in 1943 or so. Updated: May 31, 2023 | Original: July 12, 2016 copy page link Getty Images / scibak For centuries, the tiny Alpine nation of Switzerland has adhered to a policy of armed neutrality in global. As a result, Germany was able to buy strategic raw materials from Spain and Portugal. During World War II, the Swiss were neutral and generally speaking maintained that position, meaning that they did not declare war or offer military assistance to either power, and while they traded, even in goods that had military purposes, they did not openly favor one side over the other (which would have given them non-belligerent status, such as in the case of Sweden and Finland in 1939-1940). The fact is that, by the end of the Second World War, over 50,000 refugees had reached a safe haven in the Alps. The Bergier Commission report is available for free online, in English. You can see how strategically the country is located and also understand why Switzerland has 3 official languages! Grappling and disarming - when and why (or why not)? Germany didn't invade Switzerland for two reasons: -Switzerland was a conduit tothe outside world-Sitzerland maintaned embassies from all the warring powers, and it was usefull to communicate through them. It was simply more lucrative to have an independent Switzerland for financial purposes. Germany primarily attacked countries that were either outright enemies, or were expected to become enemies in the near future. Switzerland was different. As long as they played along, an invasion of the country was not worth the investment in manpower and materials. And add that to your question? This situation has been clear in all of the World War II strategic wargame representations I have played, such as Third Reich, Hitler's War, or even the simplistic Strategic Command, all of which do let you invade Sweden for an advantage to production, but also in all of them, it's almost certain that doing so will mess up your ability to deploy quickly in strength against France and/or Russia, which is pretty clearly more important. As a result, many Jewish descendants have received their rightful dues in the form of money deposited by their forebears. Also, invading and occupying a country requires time and many resources, and can have various negative results, both immediately and indirectly. Now, if Sweden refused to supply Germany's resource needs, then that would probably have increased the likelihood of an invasion; but Swedish leaders cooperated with Hitler. France (via the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg), the most direct threat to Germany and its industrial heart, the Ruhr area. Both countries had access to the North Sea, and their economies were more or less aligned with the Reich. If they couldnt pay, the Swiss later sent bills to the governments of France and Belgium and the Netherlands for the cost after the war). Why didn't Soviet Jews flee east ahead of the advancing Nazis? Even worse, it was suggested that the concentration camp barracks had the mark made in Switzerland upon them. In the case of the USAAF, 150 B-24s and B-17s were forced down, as well as a small number of other aircraft. Switzerland still remains neutral and has the oldest policy of neutrality in the world. After in-depth historical research into the subject, Schfer concludes that one of the main reasons why Switzerland was not invaded was due to a ceasefire between France and Germany. Because the allies controlled the seas, Scandinavia was Germany's main source of good quality iron. The Swiss actually purchased a small merchant fleet, which would buy food from the Allies (peanuts from India for example) and then send it by rail through Vichy, but it sometimes could take 6 months to arrive! But Hitler did not need Switzerland for his campaign against France. Consequently, they were willing to do what was necessary to keep Switzerland free. It was because there was no STRATEGIC reason for Hitler to attack Sweden. According to Schfer, a historian from the Martin Luther University in Germany, one of the main reasons why Switzerland was not invaded was because of the ceasefire between France and Germany. There wasnt much outright Nazi sympathies in Switzerland, and while many might have understood the pragmatic requirements given Switzerlands location, sympathies were generally with the Allies. During World War II, Switzerland's position was of great interest to the Germans and other countries involved in the War. Required fields are marked *, Copyright 2023 SwitzerlandAdvisor | Powered by Astra WordPress Theme. Whatever their sympathies, the Swiss were surrounded by the Axis and her puppets. Germany certainly loomed as a threat in some respects, and they considered whether or not to invade, but in the end, it there is little evidence to suggest such an action was imminent, and plenty to point to the idea that Germany was better off with a free, but cooperative Switzerland than one they controlled but had suffered the ravages of war. Neutral powers during World War II - Wikipedia By June, 1940, Sweden was surrounded to the north and west by occupied Norway and Denmark, to the south by Germany itself, and to the east by pro-German Finland. Switzerland was indeed on Hitler's To-Do list but the geographical layout of the land (namely the Alps) between Germany and Switzerland, plus the tremendous number of Swiss . There had been some build up, but it was just an exercise, although the purpose may have been to make the French think that was the intent so as to divert forces south. The second set was mostly defensive in nature ("defensive" in a very lose definition of the word): Securing his back, flanks, and access to crucial resources. However, as it turned out, France capitulated after six weeks. Despite the fact that Switzerland was located within striking distance of both France and Germany, it never came under attack during World War II. Sweden was a vital source of iron ores to Germany, an important strategic resource for her war effort. 13,000 Polish soldiers also ended up there, having been serving in France, but they were not repatriated during the war, and instead interned for the duration at several camps. As a neutral power, Switzerland was entitled to trade with the Allies, and still did, but only at a trickle. The US, Britain and France all made their currency inconvertible to Deutschmarks as early as 1936. Why did the How Hitler Almost Invaded Switzerland | The National Interest That figure is a far cry from the historically tolerant country that was the preferred destination for Huguenots fleeing the aftermath of Louis XIVs edicts about 300 years earlier. Prior to that German pressure was of course dominant. Can you take a spellcasting class without having at least a 10 in the casting attribute? It sounds all nice and romantic, and the sentiment existed from the very start of the war see the earlier mention of Guisans speech and remained (remains even) an enduring part of the Swiss self-image even today, although in recent decades there has been more self-evaluation of the conduct during the war. This content was published on July 14, 2001, Your enhanced Profile Data is being used once you start to contribute to the community. It took diplomatic pressure and a high profile lawsuit for the Swiss to finally pay out a 1.25 billion dollar settlement in 2000, with the money going to Holocaust survivors and heirs of the victims. More so though, the completion of the German invasion of France meant that the immediate threat of invasion was lessened. Teen builds a spaceship and gets stuck on Mars; "Girl Next Door" uses his prototype to rescue him and also gets stuck on Mars. Later in the war though, it was usually the Allies overflying Switzerland, and at least when possible, the Swiss continued to force errant planes to land. Denmark, Norway, the Low Countries and France were not even. The IRC was vitally important to the health and well being of millions of civilians and soldiers during the war, and the work done by it really cant be praised enough. Hitler's target -- "the plan", as early as 1925 -- was the Soviet Union. That is where the second set of invasions and occupations comes in. Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been. After the invasion of France, the most notable instance of this policy in action occurred during the test flight of a new Bf 110 nightfighter, equipped with Germanys state of the art radar system, and the new slanted music system of upward firing cannons. (Hitler had hoped France and England would remain neutral even as he went on to attack Russia; Russia was the opponent he was always most concerned with.). Why did Hitler not invade Switzerland? - History QA I was wondering why since it seems like a much better strategic move than invading Russia. So now he had to fortify France, fought the Battle of Britain (crippling the Luftwaffe), and had to help his ally Italy in North Africa, and handle the situation on the Balkans -- to deny England access and secure the supply of Romanian oil. Many US corporations didn't even cut-off relations with Nazi Germany after Pearl Harbor. It is often said \"Switzerland wasn't invaded because it was neutral.\" But what does that really mean? Besides, the Swiss were far too useful as an independent country. Precision instruments, vital to the Allied war effort, were allowed to be sold to the Allies, who in turn sent important material such as copper and rubber to the Swiss. The Swiss themselves went through some serious reevaluation of their wartime role in the past two decades, with the creation of the Bergier commission in 1996, and the final report, published in 2002, was quite critical of many aspects of Swiss conduct in the period, especially compared to the Swiss-self image in the decades after. Let us know what topics you would like to discuss with fellow SWI readers. Your data is used to pre-fill some form fields. How was Sweden going to trade with the UK through the. I did mention that Hitler anticipated war with Russia. It only takes a minute to sign up. Want to know more about this amazing country, check out our article 10 Things That Switzerland is Known For! Why wasn't Switzerland involved in WW2? All this was a severe strain on available forces, and crucially delayed the attack on Soviet Russia. They now were in the active reserve (Miliz) until the age of 48, which required that they took a three-week refresher course every year, after which they retired to the inactive reserve (Meaning they werent going to be immediately called up, and didnt need to do the refresher, but still expected to in time of great need). Ive written an article on the languages of Switzerland and some simple words you can learn before you travel; check it out here. He had to consider cost vs. benefit. In 1941 when war was declared all vestigial business that the US was doing with Germany through third parties was ended. Why didn't Hitler invade Middle East for resources first before invading Soviet Union? Get notified about exclusive offers every week! These insane defenses allow Switzerland to remain neutral Those actions, while reprehensible at times, dont exactly make Switzerland into not a neutral country either. Almost every country in the world participated in World War II.Most were neutral at the beginning, but only a relatively few nations remained neutral to the end. The date for the offensive was kept under the strictest military security as the Germans aimed to use the element of surprise to break Swiss resistance as swiftly and effectively as possible.The Nazis aimed to destroy the Swiss Confederation army and invade the central part of Switzerland, which was important for strategic and economic reasons. This is blatantly untrue: "In the 1930s many countries, including the United States, Britain and France, cut off commercial ties with Germany, which meant that Germany could not trade or do banking in those countries". Had Switzerland been strategically useful or part of the Nazi ideology, as stated in Mein Kampf, then Adolf Hitler would have had no qualms in breaking his promise, just as he broke the Nazi-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact with the invasion of the Soviet Union. Thousands upon thousands of refugees, including French Jews, also were making their way to the border. I also explain about how Switzerland's economy was one factor, and what are the secrets behind their military strategy. During World War I and World War II, Switzerland maintained armed neutrality, and was not invaded by its neighbors, in part because of its topography, much of which is mountainous. Gold. This policy is self-imposed and designed to ensure external security and promote peace. Germany held the whip hand over Sweden, as over Switzerland, since both depended on Germany for their supplies of coal." I think pointing at one single country as being "to blame" for a war is usually rather short-sighted. Your email address will not be published. Why did Hitler only get 5 years in prison (9 months served) for trying to overthrow the Government? Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Swiss neutrality is one of the main principles of Switzerland's foreign policy which dictates that Switzerland is not to be involved in armed or political conflicts between other states. Although not the same as the Swiss government of course (so this is something of an aside), the International Red Cross was headquartered there, and staffed by Swiss. If you want to find out all the details about how Switzerland managed to stay neutral in World War 2, do. Possibly even more damaging to Germany business-wise, was not the economic blockade, but the financial blockade. When the war began on 1 September 1939, the fate of Sweden was unclear. He goes on to say that if the offensive was maintained and that there was no ceasefire that Switzerland would have been dealt a full military offensive. Throughout the war air men also found themselves in Switzerland for various reasons, which Ill cover later. On the flurried outbreak of World War II in 1939, Switzerland mobilized its army in three days. But why did Adolf Hitler spare the Swiss? Switzerland during the World Wars - Wikipedia If Napoleon managed to conquer the Swiss Confederates, then Hitler, with his overwhelming might, would have been able to do the same. The Germans allowed this since they too needed Swiss goods, which couldnt be made without that raw material! There was nothing to be gained from invading Sweden, and the German forces did not have the resources to spare anyway. Your email address will not be published. Furthermore, due to the lack of invasion, Switzerlands old towns are in incredible condition; in fact, some of the buildings throughout Zurich and Geneva are still in their original condition from hundreds of years ago. Anyways though, just what sort of trading are we talking about of course? To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you. How Switzerland do it and should we learn from them? But saying that "Britain started two world wars" is ridiculous. At one point, Switzerland mobilized 850,000 soldiers. Germany was a threat and Switzerland built a powerful defense. History tells us that there are multiple reasons why Hitler didnt invade Switzerland, lets dive into them in no particular order. Nothing came to pass of this. If you have questions. There had been some build up, but it was just an exercise, although the purpose may have been to make the French think that was the intent so as to divert forces south. How did Switzerland not get invaded? Foroglio Switzerland: Stunning Village and Waterfall, Switzerland Gun Ownership: Facts and Regulations, Traditional Dress of Switzerland: A Visual Guide, Best Wineries in Switzerland: Your Guide to Swiss Wine, Moving to Zurich, Switzerland? Simply looking at the map won't tell you anything. 28. Has there been an occasion where ranged weapons were available but not used? Had he been given the choice, he'd rather have done without all this. Under the newly elected Four-Star General Henri Guisan, the Swiss also started their preparations. Over 400,000 men of the militia-based Swiss Army had reported to their post within 48 hours of Germany crossing the Polish border, quicker than either France or the UK! History Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for historians and history buffs. No need for Hitler to conquer it. Swiss business with Nazi Germany is well documented, and at many times quite unsavory, but must of course be tempered in judgement by the reality of their position not that it excuses many of the things they did. I am not sure why this answer didn't get more upvotes. How one can establish that the Earth is round? The Swiss are the mortal enemies of the new Germany., In August 1942, Hitler further described Switzerland as a pimple on the face of Europe and as a country that no longer had a right to exist. What else did Switzerland provide the Nazis? Your subscription could not be saved. When the Germans in fact launched Fall Gelb through the Low Countries to the North instead, Switzerland hardly breathed a sigh of relief. It only was revealed many decades later that tens of thousands of bank accounts owned by Holocaust victims had been sitting idle for decades, and the Swiss had done nothing to locate the rightful owners, and even refused to help possible heirs trying to locate the assets. It was a great piece of political theater if nothing else, and a major boost to restore Swiss confidence.
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