Why did Switzerland say out of the war?

Question

My Grandad wants to know this, he has been pestering me for ages ad i have finally got round to asking. Please no daft answers like 'they can only fight with Swiss Army knives'. Thanks

Answer 1

Because the Swiss Army always has been one of the best in Europe. Where do you think the proverb "No money, no Swiss" comes from?

Add to that:

- very difficult terrain to attack/easy to defend

- more useful for doing business with

- no strategic location

And you got a winner! All the other European countries usually lacked somewhere in the above. Not least of all a cut down army.

Answer 2

All I can add is that Swiss have an impressive army.  All men get compulsory military training, and they usually have this renewed each year.  In case of war, massive tunnels are built to store food and other supplies in the mountains, enough to last a year.

Answer 3

They didn't want to take sides and make anyone mad at them. They didn't have a large military presence either.

Answer 4

They decided to stay neutral so that they didn't hurt their relations with any of the countries. It was better for their country, their economy, and their people.

And I like your example of a daft answer =)  

Answer 5

This link might help:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland...

Answer 6

Most of the world's bent money is in Switzerland and has been for many years. It wasn't in any of the protagonists interests to involve them.

The n***s lodged untold (& I mean untold cos it's still there!)  millions they looted from the Jews with them and they continue to lend it out at a profit of course!

Aren't we lucky that we have the Swiss to turn to in our time of need?

Personally, I'd build a fence around it, roof it over and cut off  imports. I can't think of any country I have more contempt for.

Answer 7

They have been neutral for 300 years , and did not want to be involved with a war that they could not win ,and would fractionalise there country into three Switzerland is made up from French Italian and Germans speaking peoples. So you can see there dilemia, and why they did not want to get involved.  

Answer 8

the swiss do not like war and prefer to stay out of any war

Answer 9

they were to busy making swiss rolls

Answer 10

Its where most of the worlds dodgy money went & still goes.

Who would want to kill the goose that lays golden eggs

Answer 11

Most nations in World War II were thrust into the war by enemy aggression. Since Switzerland was never attacked, it would have been a terrible strategic decision to go to war with Germany considering Switzerland was a small country in the middle of n**i-occupied Europe. Any Swiss advantages would have just helped to fight a delaying action. Switzerland would not have been able to defend itself for long.

Switzerland had little to gain from going to war, while a lot to gain economically by remaining neutral. They prospered from doing business with both sides. And its geography and special relationships with both the Axis and Allies made neutrality easy to maintain.

Not that Germany didn't have plans to invade Switzerland; The plan codenamed Operation Tannenbaum was approved but never given the go-ahead by Hitler. The plans may have even been implemented later on if the war had remained in the Axis' favor for longer. But for the time being it was easier to just bypass Switzerland. The German-speaking regions (about 2/3 of the country) would likely have been annexed into the Third Reich.

Plus if you look at European nations that were neutral in the war, you can see that they all had unique arrangements with the n***s (Spain, Switzerland, Sweden...) But unlike Sweden and Spain, the Swiss were not necessarily Axis-sympathetic and did not give volunteer divisions, resources, or use of land or military bases to the Axis. They handled n**i money and loot and they came out of the war with great profit. There is a lot of controversy over this financial relationship.

Answer 12

Swizerland was a centre of world banking, it is also very mountainous, and had a long term policy of neutrality. They would only have fought if Germany had attacked them. But the Germans were probably saving them for later.

If the Germans had won the war, they would have eventually moved into Switzerland regardless.

It should be noted that Sweden, Spain and Portugal were also neutral, as was Turkey until the last minute.

All Latin American countries also stayed neutral too, as did Mongolia.

The Spanish and some south American nations such as Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay had n**i leanings though.

Answer 13

Switzerland is a country of armed neutrality. Strangely the word 'armed ' seems unknown to those outside Switzerland.

Their bridges and tunnels are all mined. They only need the final charge.

They had an impressive tank defence system which protected those borders not protected by mountains.

There are Swiss who will tell you that the shape of Toblerone does not represent the Matterhorn, but copies these tank defences.

Whether the Swiss really maintained their neutrality or not is open to question. It is rumoured that wounded German soldiers were treated in Swiss hospitals and then allowed to return to Germany.

Was the bombing of Stein am Rhein just typical d**n bad shooting on the part of the USA, or was it retribution?

I've lived in Switzerland for more than half my life and World War II has been over for a long time, but it still irritates me when I hear Swiss saying things like: 'The war was awful, we couldn't get any coffee beans,' or 'My father stood on a bridge in Basel throughout the war.' Apparently he defended Switzerland against a German invasion single-handed.

Answer 14

Switerzerland,likes to think it's neutral,but they were and are pretty cowardly.They were waiting to see how things fared before declaring allegance,as did Ireland,and Spain,and Portugal,and loads of other countries.In fact britains poss allies had been invaded and britain was alone in fighting the germans.Poland then helped.America,like in the first WW came in right at the very end and claimed they had won the war

Answer 15

It wasn't in their best interests to fight in any world war. As bankers, they made money off of both sides.

Further, the terrain in Switzerland blocked any easy transport through. Essentially, Switzerland is the anti-Belgium. Belgium is flat and easy to travel through. It is also a strategic route for invasion of France or Germany. Switzerland in contrast, is mountainous and difficult. Any strategic advantage it had was lost by the terrain.

Finally, the Swiss had excellent snipers. And a lot of bunkers. By having such formidable natural and man made defense, they deterred any possible invasion.