This is not meant to raise temperatures, or "strong views" (so I'm sure it won't), just general intrigue and interest as I've got to say it's been fascinating just reading this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland_during_the_World_Wars#World_War_II Of which this was one thing I saw and particularly picked out: "Switzerland, surrounded by Axis-controlled territory, also suffered from Allied bombings during the war; most notably from the accidental bombing of Schaffhausen by American planes on April 1, 1944. It was mistaken for Ludwigshafen am Rhein, a German town 284 kilometres away, 40 people were killed and over 50 buildings destroyed, among them a group of small factories producing anti-aircraft shells, ball-bearings, and Bf-109 parts for Germany." Just because the planes were apparently 284km off course (and I have to say I wonder if it was actually a "mistake" or a "warning" after all?) But...also it says... "In total, trade between Germany and Switzerland contributed about 0.5% to the German war effort and did not significantly lengthen the war" To be honest I haven't yet read it all the way through, but it's certainly something I don't yet know much about i.e. it's interesting that: "The Swiss press vigorously criticized the Third Reich, often infuriating its leadership. In turn, Berlin denounced Switzerland as a medieval rudiment and its people renegade Germans." To be honest though I always thought that Switzerland would have been in Hitler's sights eventually and if anything they "probably did well" to make it in one piece - without being invaded - throughout the second world war. I guess this isn't where the "Von Trap" family went - as apparently they were not heading into Switzerland after all (or Bechtesgarden (Germany) - as in the film. ) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sound_of_Music_%28film%29#Historical_accuracy In the film, the von Trapp family hike over the Alps from Austria to Switzerland to escape the Nazis, which would not have been possible; Salzburg is over two hundred miles from Switzerland. The von Trapp villa, however, was only a few kilometers from the Austria–Germany border, and the final scene shows the family hiking on the Obersalzberg near the German town of Berchtesgaden, within sight of Adolf Hitler's Kehlsteinhaus Eagle's Nest retreat. In reality, the family simply walked to the local train station and boarded a train to Italy. Although Georg was an ethnic German-Austrian, he was also an Italian citizen, having been born in the Dalmatian city of Zadar, which at that time was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and later fell into Italian territory after World War I. From Italy, they traveled to London and ultimately the United States.[94] And Switzerland seems to have done quite well to remain on the whole "largely neutral" throughout. I guess that's what a "neutral" country should do in a time of such a "global" war, and if Hitler had invaded Switzerland would they have joined the allies? I suspect even if the allies had "invaded Switzerland" though (as we did Iceland afterall) they would not in fact have joined Germany though? All the best, Rm.
Switzerland, and in particular the Swiss Air Force, is a topic which I used to have a great interest in and I can tell you there are many great misconceptions over this country`s role during WW2. As has been stated, surrounded on all sides by Axis forces, its population suffered greatly as, although Hitler never invaded, Switzerland nonetheless had to maintain trading links with the Germans simply in order for its people to survive. Coal was one commodity which it continued to purchase from the Germans but it was in such short supply during some stages of the conflict that much of the Swiss population were almost freezing to death during some of the winter periods. It seems largely agreed that Hitler did not invade for several reasons but the most likely reason is that the German`s were probably aware that General Henri Guisan had developed a strategy of giving up the flatter land and pulling his forces into the "Alpine Redoubt"; should invasion occur. Here he, high in the Alps, he hoped his forces could fight a war of attrition against the Germans and indeed every valley and mountain pass was (is) networked with a mass of tunnels and guns which certainly would have made the Germans pay a heavy price to take this tiny nation. Aircraft shelters were also built into the mountain sides, a process which continued into the Cold War and continues today; although now refered to as "Caverns". Food, amunition and fuel would have been the limiting factor but, as during the later Cold War period, one assumes such reserves were stockpiled in the Redoubt.Cleary however, with overland routes via France, Austria and Italy with which to supply its forces, Germany played the waiting game and decided not to invade and as the war progressed priorities turned elsewhere. It is also a popular misconception that it favoured the Axis powers, usually this is assumed because of Switzerland`s many German sympathisers and German speakers to the north, but this is not so and indeed there are many instances of covert assistance given to the Allies. One clear instance of this was the supply of valuable information to the Allies of details obtained from a Bf-110 Night Fighter radar. After making a forced landing in Switzerland the Germans protested greatly that they wanted this aircraft returned but the Swiss initially secreted it away, interned the crew, then secretly stripped the FuG radar to find its secrets. After sometime they agreed to blow the aircraft up in front of a German deligation but by then it had been put back together and the secrets reportedly shared with the Allies. Although the aircraft was destroyed and the crew were returned, a tail section still survives in a Swiss museum to this day. As for interned Allied aircrew, most were treated extremely well, although the Swiss did get somewhat P.O. with those continually trying to escape from their internment camps. The instances of Allied bombing errors, such as at Schaffhausen, along with ever increasing numbers of Allied aircraft penetrating Swiss air space as the war progressed, saw the Swiss Air Force progressively take a more pro-active role in trying to stop these infringements as the war went on. If I recall correctly Col. James Stewart (the actor) conducted the court martial of the B-24 crew who bombed Schaffhausen; I seem to recall he goes into this in some length in his book. Recommended Reading are: Target Switzerland Refuge From The Reich Between The Alps and a Hard Place The Day We Bombed Switzerland A fascinating country who`s WW2 role is much understood, thanks in no small part to it`s financial indiscretions which still cause ripples today. John
Thanks CL1 and Owen for those two great threads, I scanned through them and there are some intriguing ideas / and interesting comments there. At the end of WW2, once the war was done things changed a lot. Oddly this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Nations ...only mentions "Switzerland" twice (once really if you don't count the ref at the end) and : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Nations#Demise_and_legacy "The motion that dissolved the League passed unanimously" - with not even the Swiss - apparently having voted to have it stay. Interestingly the "United Nations" seems to have been intended to work better, but now seems to have "inherited" a rather odd name, as where exactly is the unity of nations there now? I think the derivation was that the allied "United Nations" were formed against the axis no? and are nations united against evils now? For those that say that Switzerland was neutral in the war against Germany - just because Germany was so powerful it could have crushed Switzerland in a heartbeat, it's interesting to wonder whether this argument would have applied if Switzerland were not near Germany, i.e. in South America (for example) and danger was far away? Would the "distant" Swiss have declared war on Germany then (when Germany invaded so many other neutral lands? because they did not agree with Nazi behavior and their treatment of other Neutrals and see it as just a terrible threat to the world? Or after Germany was defeated if "given more time" would they have assisted in a war against Japan? had that war not ended before an invasion of Japan's home islands with the Atom bomb and USSR declaring war against Japan? If still "no" the Swiss would never fight then I'm not sure that the contention that Switzerland was neutral just because Germany could have so easily snuffed Switzerland out is totally valid, as the Swiss did not fight against states that were still rogue but could not so simply - by being near them - snuff them out. Neutrality was a choice (perhaps even one of conscience - and far too little is made in my opinion of the Swiss RED CROSS) and it only works for you if someone else is fighting for you when there is danger, to keep the wolf off of your back. Carrying a stretcher and offering aid, both food and medical as well as assistance for refugees is a big part of the Swiss effort and a way to improve things in the world. After all the lessons of WW2 I often wonder "what if" the Swiss had opted to abandon neutrality as a few other countries did and join the EU soon after it formed, but it took the UK a long time itself to join the EU (as we weren't sure what it was going to become?) : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union#Structural_evolution And once we were "willing": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Economic_Community#Enlargement_and_elections President Charles de Gaulle "apparently" saw British membership as a Trojan horse for U.S. influence and vetoed membership, ...and now, a bit like the UN, it seems more like we have all somehow lost the way, and don't know where we are heading or what we want in our future to do or to be. There's a nice mapping of all the complexities here though: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_integration Each time a new "monster" raises its head lots of countries still seem too ready to praise and accommodate as long as they can also make deals. The assumption always seems to be that "such and such" (insert terrible event from history) will never occur again, but it still seems to occur with some standard regularity and there's always room to praise or ignore another "terror" that just happens to have something that somebody wants or that is just somebody else's problem "over there". But I think that if you tried to react to everything in the world you'd end up a bit like a dog chasing its tail And even if you catch it it might not be good! and there might be painful consequences there... All the best, Rm.
The Challenge of Neutrality Diplomacy and the Defense of Switzerland By Georges André Chevallaz · 2001 The Challenge of Neutrality
There are a few other threads here, which I have added posts to usually after two week long tours of Swiss fortifications: 1) Post 74 post-war Centurion bunker: Buildings, Architecture and other Oddities 2) The camouflagued bunkers of Switzerland 3) Bombing of a small village in Switzerland February 1945 4) Post 25 Polish division after France's surrender become Swiss: Swiss camps One of them refers to the traitors / spies arrested and executed during WW2, not inconsiderable. Whilst I can understand the retreat / withdrawal to the National Redoubt from a political-military aspect I wonder if the Swiss state had considered the impact of leaving the vast majority of the civilian population behind (including soldier's families) and them living under German occupation. How would the state stop those civilians leaving home and heading to perceived safety.
Similarly... Switzerland in the eye of the storm... Edit - there are, of course ;-) quite a few youtubes that focus on questions such as "Why Switzerland was neutral during ww2" and "why didn't Hitler / the Nazis / Germany invade Switzerland during WW2"... One of the more recent ones...
