Switzerland is located in one of the most contentious regions that have seen constant fighting throughout its history. Situated in the confluence of western, central, and southern Europe, Switzerland is a neutral nation and has taken a non-interventionist policy in European Wars since 1815.
But how were they able to do so? Even at the height of two world wars, Switzerland stayed neutral.
But first, some background.
The defeat of the Swiss Confederacy, which was an alliance among the valley communities of the Central Alps by France and the Republic of Venice in the Battle of Marignano in 1515, seriously curtailed any expansionist policies the Swiss had. The confederacy had a reputation for being an invincible force after they had taken control of Milan at the Battle of Novara(1513), but the defeat at the hands of combined French and Venetian forces was a major blow to their psyche. The Swiss wouldn’t take part in any major war after that.
Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo(1815) was another major turning point for the Swiss. Switzerland had been conquered by revolutionary France led by Napolean in 1798 and was renamed the Helvetic Republic, a client state of France.
After Napoleon’s defeat, the major European powers decided to create a buffer neutral zone in Switzerland to avoid any further European conflicts (it didn’t turn out well, did it). So in the Congress of Vienna, a declaration was signed by all major players affirming Switzerland’s “perpetual neutrality” in any future conflicts.
WWII – the greatest threat to Swiss Neutrality
The greatest threat to Swiss Neutrality came during the Second World War when it was surrounded by the Axis powers after the fall of France in 1940. Hitler made no inhibition of the fact that he wanted to conquer Switzerland. The German Reich had planned an invasion as early as 1940, code-named Operation Tannenbaum. Switzerland was fully aware of this fact, and they adopted a policy of ‘armed neutrality’, where they would accept refugees from the neighboring countries, but any attempt to change the status quo of Switzerland would be met with armed hostility by Swiss forces.
Even after the end of the Second World, Switzerland continued to build bunkers in their mountains and equip their roads and tunnels with high-level explosives, which were to be detonated during an invasion to slow down the hostile forces, and the Swiss could retreat to the highly fortified mountains in the South.
Swiss pride in their neutrality, and it is part of their proud culture not to take sides in any conflict. It resulted in quite a controversy when the Swiss still had formal relations with apartheid South Africa even after the boycott by the world community. Switzerland isn’t part of the EU and was one of the last nations to join the United Nations in 2002.
Switzerland was not the first nation to bear Nazi aggression; learn more about how Austria became part of the German Reich here.
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