The Second World War caused the world public much grief and suffering: tens of millions of human lives, hundreds of thousands of crippled fates, economic and political depression, the fall of the strongest powers and empires ...
And this is not surprising, because sixty-two states, that is, approximately eighty percent of the world's inhabitants, took part in the conflict. The fighting took place on the territory of four oceans and three continents. In addition, during the military operations of 1939-1941, weapons of mass destruction in the form of atomic bombing were first used.
World War II contains many ambiguities and mysteries that may never be explained or made public. However, there are less mysterious secrets, the disclosure of which opens the veil over the incomprehensible and significant events of that period. One of these episodes is the participation of Switzerland in the Second World War.
Why did Hitler not attack this state? What was he afraid of? Was the country ready for an attack? What is the role of Switzerland in World War II? In our article we will try to understand these difficult and capacious issues.
But first of all, let's briefly get acquainted with the Swiss Confederation and the mournful events of that time.
A little about the country itself
To determine the true role of Switzerland in World War II, you need to learn more about the state itself and its history.
Switzerland is a small country located in western Europe and bordering Germany, Italy, Austria and France. The state covers an area of ​​just over forty square kilometers, with eight million inhabitants.
Despite the limited territorial and human resources, Switzerland is a highly developed industrial country, stable in economic and political relations.
Thanks to this, the state is famous for its reliable financial structures and institutions, which helps it to be a major exporter of world capital.
Position of neutrality
Since about forty percent of all world money is held in Swiss banks, the state itself is recognized as military and politically neutral. This state of affairs has been in effect since 1815, when the Vienna Congress adopted guarantees of the absolute neutrality of the country and the unconditional inviolability of its territory. Since then, Switzerland has not taken part in any fighting or civil strife, and its financial institutions have not been subjected to external influence or robbery.
In its foreign policy relations with other powers, the Swiss Confederation follows the principle of maintaining relations not between governments, but between countries, therefore, it allows itself to conduct dialogues with everyone, regardless of their political or ideological orientation.
So, we got acquainted with the general principles and views of the whole country. But before we find out how Switzerland participated in the Second World War, let's briefly look at the sad and woeful events of that period.
War of two coalitions
The Second World War was marked by the invasion of German troops in Poland, after which Great Britain, France and other Polish allied powers declared war on the aggressor. In a matter of minutes, the world divided into two warring camps: the “axis” countries and the anti-Hitler coalition.
Active participation in the Nazi bloc was taken by Germany (Adolf Hitler), Italy (Benito Mussolini), Japan (Hirohito), Hungary (Miklos Horthy), Romania (Ion Victor Antonescu), China (Wang Jingwei) and so on.
The side of the anti-fascist allies was actively represented by the United Kingdom with its dominions (Winston Churchill), the USSR (Joseph Stalin), the USA (Franklin Roosevelt), France (Charles de Gaulle, Albert Lebrun), Poland (Ignacy Moscitsky, Vladislav Sikorsky, Edward Osubka-Moravsky) , Greece (George II, Alexandros Korizis, Stefanos Sarafis), Norway, Denmark and others.
At a time when the world was swept by a wave of violence and hatred, when Europe was irrevocably divided into two radical camps, a small island was formed amid bloody feuds and military operations, which differs from all peaceful and loyal views - Switzerland. In World War II, this state maintained its position of absolute neutrality.
Did he really succeed? What happened in the country when the whole world was engulfed in hostility and terror? How did Switzerland circumvent World War II and its associated poverty and destruction? Let's find out.
Fascist ideology
Before determining whether fascist ideas influenced Switzerland during the Second World War, let's find out how the state as a whole reacted to Hitler’s agitation.
The spread of National Socialism in the neighboring countries of Germany and Italy aroused some Swiss interest in Nazi ideology, which would seem to be called to unite peoples and improve the life of the working class. Some prominent political, religious and military leaders of the state favorably spoke of Hitler and Mussolini, and more than two thousand Swiss nationals voluntarily joined the German army.
After some time, the freedom-loving civilian population of the country saw its true face behind the beautiful phrases of fascism. The widespread extermination of Jews, total control of power over all spheres of human life, aggressive foreign policy all pushed the Swiss away from Nazi ideology and forced them to turn to their spiritual values, which consisted of proclaiming tolerance, equality of rights, multi-party system, etc.
There was even a special state program aimed at popularizing this worldview among the local population. Fascism was no longer causing interest, but distrust and indignation.
What were the intentions of other states towards Switzerland during the second world war?
The intentions of the powers regarding the neutral zone
From the beginning of the declaration of war, the conflicting countries were in no hurry to carry out active hostilities among themselves. It was as if they were eyeing each other, as if gathering strength, as if they were developing battle plans for many months to come ...
Assuming to implement certain intentions, the Allies have always considered that Hitler might want to attack England or France through Switzerland and Belgium. Therefore, the French general Gamelin intended to introduce allied forces into Switzerland in order to unite its army with the anti-Hitler coalition.
Was the leader of the National Socialists going to capture Switzerland in World War II? History shows that such thoughts visited the German dictator. An operation to invade neutral territory was even developed, but the date of the attack was constantly changing, postponed and never realized. According to some reports, the Germans wanted to seize the Swiss lands later, after the victory over Eastern Europe.
How did a small independent power react to the unrest surrounding it?
Battle call
Switzerland in the Second World War acted as an armed neutral country. This was due to the fact that the state was afraid of a sudden and brutal attack from both the Allies and the Axis countries.
Throughout history, Switzerland has had professionally trained military personnel and first-class military equipment. According to tradition, the armed forces of a financial power were manned according to the police system. That is, virtually all male citizens aged nineteen years were constantly convened for short-term military training. According to the law, in case of alarm, all persons liable for military service were to be mobilized within forty-eight hours.
And so it happened. At the beginning of September 1939, the armed forces of the country reached four hundred and thirty thousand draftees.
The Swiss army in World War II consisted of the following units:
- The ground army, equipped with powerful tank guns in the amount of thirty units.
- Air defense, equipped with one hundred thirty-one machine guns and twenty-three anti-aircraft guns.
- Swiss Air Force, during the Second World War, having in its arsenal more than two hundred German and French fighters, as well as bomber aircraft of its own production.
To prevent the discontent of the mobilized, the government decided to pay them a salary of eighty percent of the previous salary.
Breaking borders
In the spring of 1940, with the beginning of the intensification of hostilities, cases of violation of Swiss air borders became more frequent. During the Second World War (in the early period), a neutral state without any problems forced the conflicting parties to comply with the Vienna Agreement.
As the air usurpation continued, the Swiss had to defend their borders with their own hands. Therefore, on June 4, pilots of the country's air force shot down several fascist fighters. Moreover, part of the battle takes place within France, where Swiss bombers were tricked.
This incident leads to aggression from the Fuhrer. The Tannenbaum plan is being developed, according to which Field Marshal Liszt was to capture neutral territory within a few days without damaging its main transport and railway junctions for the redeployment of Nazi troops to French lands.
However, this operation was never completed. The real reasons for this are unknown. Perhaps Hitler did not see Switzerland as his main adversary, concentrating all his forces on the larger “fish”: Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union. In addition, the Wehrmacht could be afraid of a protracted struggle with the army, which was trained and equipped better than the Germans.
On the other hand, Germany did not have to conquer Switzerland practically. In fact, it was already under Nazi rule, as it was located in the middle of the countries controlled by them.
Compromise agreement
However, the government of a neutral state could not foresee Hitler’s diplomatic decision, so the Swiss army in World War II continued to carry out activities to defend their lands.
For this, Commander-in-Chief Henri Gisan developed an unusual plan aimed at protecting the country. The adopted “Redoubt” was based on the idea of ​​making the seizure of territory costly and meaningless. For this, first-class partisan detachments were formed, all roads and tunnels in the mountains were mined, and the line of defense was conditionally shifted to higher ground.
Thus, during the seizure of the territory, the fascist aggressors would face completely destroyed infrastructure and the problem of establishing control over the mountainous terrain.
Soon, wise defensive tactics, as well as clever diplomatic methods, led to a compromise solution: the Nazi block was allowed to use the Swiss transport routes, as a result of which the state retained its integrity and independence.
Moreover, thanks to the August agreement, strong trade relations were established between the two countries, and Germany itself received a multi-million dollar money loan.
How did this affect the economic life of Switzerland during the Second World War?
Internal financial life
The years from 1939 to 1945 were a real test for the Swiss industry. Product imports fell from thirty percent to a disappointing nine. Export performance also plummeted from a favorable twenty-five percent to nine.
Trade relations had to be built with the Nazi countries, supplying them with tools, equipment, pharmacological and chemical products, in turn, purchasing from their neighbors the necessary coal, raw materials, oil and food.
This situation could not but affect the lives of ordinary citizens. A card system was introduced, which significantly reduced the standard of living of the civilian population.
In World War II, Switzerland limited its citizens to purchase such vital goods as cereals and pasta, flour and sugar, clothes and shoes, detergents and cleaning products, dairy products and meat, coffee and tea ...
This system lasted another three years after the end of the war.
Attitude towards refugees
Beginning in the mid-1940s, a large number of prisoners of war (about one hundred and four thousand) were inundated with the country. These were Soviet, English and French soldiers who were captured by the Nazis, as well as German and Italian troops of anti-Hitler movements, who escaped from concentration camps. The neutral state provided them with all possible assistance and protection.
Due to the lack of diplomatic relations between the USSR and Switzerland, the life of eleven thousand Soviet citizens in this country was not easy. The government treated the escaped prisoners outrageously biased and unkindly.
However, the Swiss government was more severely affected by civilian refugees. For example, German Jews were forbidden to cross the border, and those who illegally assisted in this were severely persecuted.
Only forty years later, they were rehabilitated, and the Swiss government apologized for intolerance towards German Jews.
Spy passions
Although Switzerland was neutral during World War II, several semi-legal espionage residences from the Soviet Union, the United States, and others were located on its territory.
New border violations
In the years 1944-1945, Switzerland was subjected to repeated air attacks from the United States, which the Americans attributed to elementary errors or bad weather conditions. Be that as it may, the Swiss government defended its right to inviolability with all its might, attacking violators and conducting negotiations at the diplomatic level.
This led to the fact that the United States was forced to pay four million dollars to the neutral state, and five years later they added another fourteen million to this amount.
After victory
After World War II, Switzerland quickly recovered economically and politically. She continued to pursue her policy of absolute neutrality, not joining the UN or the EU in 1940-1950.
However, this did not prevent the country from entering into diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, as well as being a part of some other international organizations on refugee issues, jurisprudence, agriculture, science, culture and education.
In accordance with the claims of the world community, the state was forced to pay one billion two hundred and fifty million dollars to the descendants of wealthy Jews, as well as other victims of the fascist genocide, of the total amount of so-called Jewish gold, which banks have been saving since 1940.
Conclusion
As you can see, the role of Switzerland during the Nazi aggression remains poorly understood and uncertain. Perhaps we will not know until the end of what reasons and considerations these or those decisions were made, and what motivated this neutral, financially stable state when it provided assistance to the Nazi bloc.
Be that as it may, recently a lot of previously lost and hidden documents, as well as memoirs, notes and works of art, telling about the activities of Switzerland in the Second World War, have come to light. Books and other materials accessible to a wide circle of readers only for a short time open a dense curtain of secrets and mysteries of that time. They help to learn more about world history and provide an excellent opportunity to learn from its bitter experience.