For tactical reasons, Adolf Hitler before the start of World War II repeatedly assured that Germany would respect the neutrality of Switzerland during the war in Europe. In February 1937, he announced that "under all circumstances, we will respect the integrity and neutrality of Switzerland" before Swiss Federal Advisor Edmund Schultess, repeating this promise shortly before the Nazi invasion of Poland.
These were, however, purely political maneuvers designed to guarantee Switzerland's passivity. Nazi Germany planned to end Swiss independence after it first defeated its main enemies on the continent. The story described in this article refers to unfulfilled operations of World War II.
Hitler's opinion
In August 1942, Hitler described Switzerland as "a pimple on the face of Europe" and as a state that no longer had a right to exist, denouncing the Swiss people as an "uninitiated branch of our people." He also believed that an independent Swiss state arose due to the temporary weakness of the Holy Roman Empire, and now that his power was restored after the National Socialist coup, the country is outdated.
Despite the fact that Hitler despised the democratically-minded German Swiss as "a wayward branch of the German people," he nevertheless recognized their status as Germans. In addition, the openly common German political goals of the NSDAP demanded the unification of all Germans into Greater Germany, including the Swiss people. The first goal of the 25-point National Socialist program was: "We (the National Socialist Party) demand the unification of all Germans in Great Germany on the basis of the people's right to self-determination." In the city of Berne (Switzerland), this statement was reacted with apprehension.
Great Germany
German textbooks included the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Bohemia-Moravia, the German-speaking parts of Switzerland and western Poland from Danzig (now Gdansk) to Krakow in their maps of Great Germany. Ignoring the status of Switzerland as a sovereign state, these maps often depicted its territory in the form of German Gau. The author of one of these textbooks, Ewald Banset, explained: “It is only natural that we consider the Swiss as an offshoot of the German nation, as well as the Dutch, Flemish, Lorraine, Alsatians, Austrians and Bohemians ...
The day will come when we will gather around a single banner, and everyone who wants to divide us, we will destroy! "Various Nazis spoke about Germany's intention to expand the borders to the farthest boundaries of the old Holy Roman Empire and even further. However, Hitler's unfulfilled plans have sunk into oblivion.
Geopolitical aspect
Although the geopolitical Karl Haushofer did not belong directly to the Nazis, he advocated the division of Switzerland between neighboring countries and justified this in one of his works. He called for the transfer of Romandia (Welshland) to Vichy France, the Ticino region - Italy, Central and Eastern Switzerland - Germany.
An increase in Swiss defense spending was approved, with the first installment of 15 million Swiss francs (out of a total multi-year budget of 100 million francs) aimed at modernization. With Hitler's refusal of the Versailles Peace Treaty in 1935, these expenses jumped to 90 million francs. In 1933, the K31 became the standard infantry rifle and surpassed the German Kar98 in ease of use, accuracy and weight. By the end of the war, about 350,000 will be produced. It is also worth noting that Hitler's surname is under each document with a German military plan, including the Tannenbaum plan.
Features
Switzerland has a unique form of generalization. In peacetime there is no officer with a rank higher than that of the corps commander (three-star general). However, during the war and in need, the Bundesversammlung elects a general to command the army and air force. On August 30, 1939, Henri Gisan was elected with 204 votes out of 227 cast. He immediately assumed responsibility for the situation.
Background
The invasion of the Wehrmacht in Poland two days later forced Britain to declare war on Germany. Gizan announced a general mobilization and published Chefsbeufel No. 1, the first of those that were to become a series of developing defensive plans. He distributed the three existing army corps east, north, and west with reserves in the center and south of the country. On September 7, Gizan reported to the Federal Council that by the time the United Kingdom declared war, "our entire army was in its operational positions for ten minutes." He also ordered the chief of the general staff to increase the age for admission to the service from 48 to 60 years old (men of this age formed landsturm units in the rear echelon) and form a completely new army corps of 100,000 people.
Germany began planning an invasion of Switzerland in the victorious summer of 1940, on the day of the surrender of France. At that time, the German army in France consisted of three army groups with two million soldiers in 102 divisions.
Switzerland and Liechtenstein were surrounded by occupied France and the Axis powers, and therefore Ghizan issued a complete revision of the existing Swiss defense plans: the St. Maurice fortress, the Gotthard pass in the south and the Sargany fortress in the northeast will serve as a defense line, the Alps will be their fortress; the Swiss 2nd, 3rd and 4th Army Corps must fight with the restraining operations at the border, while all who could would have to retreat to the alpine shelter. However, all settlements were located on the plains of the north. They will have to be left to the Germans for the rest to survive.
Switzerland capture plan
Hitler wanted to see plans for an invasion of Switzerland after a truce with France. Captain Otto-Wilhelm Kurt von Menges from OX presented a draft invasion plan. In his plan, Menges noted that Swiss resistance is unlikely, and nonviolent anschluss was the most likely result. In connection with the "current political situation in Switzerland," he wrote, "she can agree to ultimatum demands peacefully, so that after a military border crossing there must be a quick transition to peaceful penetration of troops." Such was the planning of Nazi Germany's invasion of Switzerland.
Revisions
The original plan included 21 German divisions, but this figure was reduced to 11 by OKH. Halder himself examined the border areas and came to the conclusion that "the Jura border does not offer a favorable base for an attack. Switzerland rises in successive waves of forested areas along the axis of attack. There are few crossing points of the Du River and the border, the Swiss border is strong." He chose an infantry feint in the Jura to draw out the Swiss army and then cut it off in the rear, as was done in France. With 11 German divisions and approximately 15 Italian divisions ready to enter from the south, an invasion of between 300,000 and 500,000 was expected.
Why didn't Hitler attack Switzerland?
The FĂĽhrer never gave approval for reasons that are still unclear. It is widely believed that in neutral Switzerland it would be useful to hide the Axis gold and arrange a refuge for war criminals in case of defeat. It also became a possible reason for maintaining neutrality. More general reasoning is that there was little strategic gain in conquering the country, especially given the likelihood of a protracted and costly mountain war that could ensue.
These costs of conquest, outweighing all the advantages, are a key aspect for a middle power, such as Switzerland, which maintains independence in the face of a much stronger national power. Although the Wehrmacht falsely moved towards Switzerland in the offensive, he never tried to invade. Operation Tannenbaum was suspended and Switzerland remained neutral throughout the war.
Goals
Germany’s political goal in the expected conquest of Switzerland was to return most of the “racially suitable” Swiss population and direct them to directly join the German Reich, at least its ethnic German units.
Heinrich Himmler discussed the suitability of different people for the post of Reich Commissioner of occupied Switzerland after her "reunification" with Germany. This was an extremely important task. This not yet elected official should have contributed to the full unification (Zusammenwachsen) of the population of Switzerland and Germany. Then Himmler tried to expand the SS in Switzerland, forming the German SS in 1942. But nothing really happened. Why did Hitler not occupy Switzerland? Perhaps because he did not want to shed excess German blood.
A document called Aktion S (with the full letterhead of Reichsführer-SS, SS-Hauptamt, Aktion Schweiz) was also found in Himmler’s archives. It describes in detail the planned process of establishing Nazi rule in Switzerland from its initial conquest by the Wehrmacht to full consolidation as a German province. It is not known whether this prepared plan was approved by any senior members of the German government.
Further developments
After the second armistice in Compiegne in June 1940, the Reich Ministry of the Interior issued a memorandum on the annexation of a strip of eastern France from the mouth of the Somme to Lake Geneva, intended as a reserve for post-war German colonization. The planned division of Switzerland would correspond to this new Franco-German border, effectively leaving the French-speaking region of Romandi annexed to the Reich, despite the linguistic difference. This is considered one of the reasons why Hitler did not attack Switzerland.
An ally of wartime Germany, Italy, under the rule of Benito Mussolini, wanted the Italian-speaking areas of Switzerland to be part of its irredentist claims in Europe, especially in the Swiss canton of Ticino. During a tour of the Italian Alpine regions, Mussolini announced to his entourage that "the new Europe cannot have more than four or five large states; small [will not] have any sense of existence, and they will have to disappear."
The future of the Axis-dominated country in Europe was further discussed at a 1940 round-table conference between Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano and German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. Hitler was also present at the event. Ciano suggested that in the event of the collapse of Switzerland, it should be divided along the central chain of the Western Alps, as Italy wanted the areas south of this line of demarcation to be part of its own military objectives. This would leave Italy under the control of Ticino, Valais and Graubunden.
National redoubt
The Swiss National Redoubt (German: Schweizer Reduit; French: RĂ©duit national; Italian: Ridotto nazionale; Romance: Reduit nazional) was a defensive plan developed by the Swiss government since the 1880s in response to the invasion of foreigners. In the early years of the war, the plan was expanded and refined to deal with a potential German invasion that was planned but never carried out. The term "National Redoubt" primarily refers to the fortifications that began at the end of the 19th century, which provided protection for the central part of Switzerland in the highlands, providing a sheltered shelter for the retreating Swiss army. Without these fortifications, the country would be at constant risk of occupation. Why did Hitler not touch Switzerland? Some believe that it is precisely thanks to this defensive plan.
The National Redoubt included a widespread set of fortifications on a common east-west line across the Alps, centered on three main castle complexes: the St. Maurice, St. Gotthard and Sargans fortresses. These fortresses primarily protected the alpine crossings between Germany and Italy and excluded the industrial and densely populated heart of Switzerland. The Swiss central areas were defended by the “border line” defense, and the “army position” was a little further.
Although these lines were not considered an impenetrable barrier, they contained significant fortifications. On the other hand, the National Redoubt was conceived as an almost impregnable complex of fortifications that would prevent the aggressor from passing through the Alps, controlling the main mountain passes and railway tunnels passing from north to south through the region. This strategy was aimed at completely preventing the invasion, depriving the aggressor of Switzerland's most important transport infrastructure.
The National Redoubt was a subject of controversy in Swiss society; many of the fortifications from it were decommissioned by the beginning of the 21st century.
Background
The strengthening of the Swiss Alpine region gained momentum after the construction of the Gotthard Railway. Forts, similar to the designs of Belgian military engineer Henri Alexis Brialmon, were built in Airolo, on the Oberalp passes, on the Fourka pass and on the Grimsel pass, all in the central Alps. Additional posts were built in the St. Maurice area using mining and tunneling techniques in the steep slopes of the mountains of the glacial valley.
History
After the Great War, the phlegmatic Swiss were not interested in further fortifications of their borders. However, in the 1930s, France built the Maginot line from the Swiss border to Belgium, and Czechoslovakia - the Czechoslovak border fortifications. Switzerland has revised its need for fixed defense. At the same time, job creation programs became necessary as a result of the worldwide Great Depression. By 1935, design work began, and in 1937, construction began on expanded Alpine fortifications, a border line, and army line fortifications.
Gizan proposed a strategy for deferring cross-country borders to keep the invasion forces out of the open area on the central plateau for as long as possible, allowing them to retreat orderly to the protected alpine perimeter. After the retreat to the Alps is completed, the Swiss government may be in hiding for a long time.
Accordingly, the border fortifications were improved thanks to large programs along the Rhine and in Vallorba in Jura. The strategic alpine nodes Saint-Maurice, Saint-Gotthard and Sargan were identified as the main access points to the alpine redoubt for the potential aggressor. While Saint-Gotthard and Saint-Maurice were previously fortified, the Sargans were again vulnerable thanks to a drainage program for former wetlands along the Rhine, which would now provide easy access to the eastern alpine gate in Sargans.
Strategy
The National Redoubt strategy was emphasized on May 24, 1941. Until that time, only about two-thirds of the Swiss army had been mobilized. After the swift capture of the Balkan countries by German troops in April 1941, when the relatively low mountains turned out to be a small barrier for the Nazis, the whole army was mobilized. The Swiss, lacking significant armored power, concluded that the withdrawal to Redoubt was the only reasonable course.
The outbreak of war in Europe
The capital of Switzerland, Bern, was one of the last bastions of free Europe. The "National Redoubt" gained great importance for the Swiss in 1940, when they were completely surrounded by the Axis forces and, therefore, were actually in the power of Hitler and Mussolini. The National Redoubt was a way to preserve at least part of Switzerland’s territory in the event of an invasion. And the Tannenbaum plan has become one of the most mysterious unfulfilled operations of World War II.
The politicians of this small country have achieved their goal. That is why Hitler did not attack Switzerland. Switzerland’s cost-cutting strategy during the war was essentially its deterrence measure. The idea was to make clear to the Third Reich that an invasion would be of high value. Despite this, it is clear that Hitler, whose surname then caused superstitious awe even among the brave Swiss, intended to ultimately invade the country, and that the Allied landings in Normandy, as well as the difficulties that the Nazis faced during the invasion of Russia, were decisive value for simple intrusion delay. Concessions included a national power outage and the destruction of a secret German radar system.
However, it was decided to abandon the plan. And, as you already understood, there are many answers to the question why Hitler did not attack Switzerland.