It may have been easy for America to stay neutral in both World Wars as there is a little puddle dividing us from Europe called the Atlantic Ocean. However, despite being completely surrounded by Germany during ww2, Switzerland managed to stay neutral through the whole thing.
Switzerland had many moments to defy Germany, moments including the invasion of Scandinavia, however, they always chose a very non-aggressive reactive stance when it came to the powers of Europe. Their politics was based on accepting Germany and being as middle as middle can go. A majority of their trade was with Germany anyway, with Iron being their greatest export. They were very reliant upon them for one thing which helped contribute to their stance.
Not only this, but they also knew not to poke the bear. Switzerland had seen many nations in Europe fall to their Germans, with Poland, Norway, and France to name a few. If all these nations fell, then so would Switzerland if Germany was provoked.
For these reasons, Switzerland chose not to defy Germany. Swiss refugee policy was also strained in this time. The Swiss were forced to be extremely harsh and strict when it came to immigration, emigration, and the refugees of Europe. Refugees like Jews were often barred or let in with low frequency, although all groups were too, but Jews especially. It is easy to see the parallels between Switzerland's refugee policy and their attempts to not rile the German high command up.
While Switzerland was in no position to fight the Germans, they weren't in the worst position to defend. The terrain of Switzerland is a very treacherous mountainous affair, it is one of the hardest places to invade next to the highlands of Afganistan. There was no way the Germans were going to profit from attacking Switzerland as the cost would be higher than the payoffs.
It was for these reasons that Switzerland was able to dodge a massive bullet. Their diplomacy, terrain, and neutral nature allowed them to be untouched by Germany, which left the Swiss very grateful at the end of the war.
Sources:
http://history-switzerland.geschichte-schweiz.ch/switzerland-neutrality-world-war-ii.html
https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/domestic_politics_and_neutrality_switzerland
I've always wondered how Switzerland stayed neutral over these years, so I find it interesting that there so many things that I didn't know about their neutrality. I feel that Switzerland's natural terrain played a much larger role than anything else in how they stayed neutral, as any foreign country bent on invasion would face heavy casualties. All of these various conditions prove to show that even today has one of the oldest military neutrality policy in the world.
ReplyDeleteI think that the game that Switzerland played was very smart, and they're lucky they're a mountainous, landlocked country. They wouldn't be super useful in a war because they're so isolated, and cant exchange supplies quickly and efficiently. However, they had to everything they could to not provoke Germany, including going along with their anti-semetic views. Though they remained neutral, Germany had a lot of influence over them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the fact that Switzerland had an advantage on defense. But, I wonder why they were still restricted to making Germany happy. If their terrain was really that hard to cross, then I think they would have been able to defend from the Nazis, with the help of the allies, from an invasion. This would have at least worn out the Nazi army more for the allies. However, I can also understand why they considered not aggravating Germany because they were highly dependent on trade with them, as you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting point of view to explore. Being a nation that was trying to stay neutral like the united states, gives some perspective on the different decisions that the US could have made to stay neutral.
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