114-767: Operation Tannenbaum ("Fir Tree"), known earlier as Operation Grün ("Green"), was a planned invasion of Switzerland and Liechtenstein by the Axis Powers during World War II . Before the outbreak of the Second World War, Adolf Hitler made repeated assurances that Germany would respect Swiss neutrality in the event of a conflict in Europe. In February 1937, he assured the Swiss Federal Councillor Edmund Schulthess that "at all times, whatever happens, we will respect
228-521: A monetary and customs union with Switzerland that effectively guaranteed its independence. In 1920, Switzerland joined the League of Nations . In 1934 the Swiss Banking Act was passed. This allowed for anonymous numbered bank accounts , in part to allow Germans (including Jews) to hide or protect their assets from seizure by the newly established Third Reich . In 1936 Wilhelm Gustloff
342-634: A sealed train to Petrograd , where he would shortly lead the 1917 October Revolution in Russia. While the Dada art movement was also an anti-war organization, Dadaists used art to oppose all wars. The founders of the movement had left Germany and Romania to escape the destruction of the war. At the Cabaret Voltaire in Zürich they put on performances expressing their disgust with the war and with
456-807: A German Gau . The author of one of these textbooks, Ewald Banse , explained "Quite naturally we count you Swiss as offshoots of the German nation, along with the Dutch, the Flemings, the Lorrainers, the Alsatians, the Austrians and the Bohemians ;... One day we will group ourselves around a single banner, and whosoever shall wish to separate us, we will exterminate!" Various Nazis were vocal about
570-483: A Swiss political party with Nazi sympathies (which never had more than 4,000 members out of a population of 4.2 million people, less than 0.1%) to effect a unification with Germany failed, largely as a result of Switzerland's sense of national identity and tradition of democracy and civil liberties. The Swiss press criticized the Third Reich, often infuriating its leadership. In turn, Berlin denounced Switzerland as
684-413: A call for help and incorporate the country into Germany. However, this plan failed as the marchers were stopped by opposing parties before they could reach Vaduz and Hitler blocked any invasion into Liechtenstein following intervention by Alois Vogt . Despite this, the coup was only prevented by Hitler due to his desire to avoid provoking a war with Switzerland, as Switzerland and Liechtenstein had been in
798-429: A customs union since 1924. Liechtenstein was intended to be invaded alongside Switzerland and be included in the partitioning, where Liechtenstein would be annexed into Germany. The Swiss government approved an increase in defense spending, with a first instalment of 15 million Swiss francs (out of a total multi-year budget of 100 million francs) to go toward modernization of the armed forces. With Hitler's renunciation of
912-556: A disability that would negate their further military service or have been interned over 18 months with deteriorating mental health. The wounded were transferred from prisoner of war camps unable to cope with the number of wounded and sat out the war in Switzerland. The transfer was agreed between the warring powers and organised by the Red Cross . One potential result of World War I was an expansion of Switzerland itself during
1026-625: A genuine national cleansing of Nazism by targeting key ideological figures in Switzerland's Nazi movement. Many Swiss volunteers in the Waffen-SS were tried on lesser charges, including desertion, dereliction of duty, and unauthorized border crossing. In 1953, Johannes Pauli, a dual-national with German citizenship, stood trial for crimes committed at the Bisingen concentration camp. He was one of only seven Nazi war criminals to be convicted by Swiss courts, three of whom were tried in absentia. All of
1140-439: A government address, Catholic-Conservative Councillor Philipp Etter urged a defence of Swiss culture. Geistige Landesverteidigung subsequently exploded, being featured on stamps, in children's books, and through official publications. At the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Switzerland immediately began to mobilize for a possible invasion . The transition into wartime was smooth and caused less controversy than in 1914;
1254-685: A lesser extent Sweden and the United States, performed these roles for both sides. When the US entered the war in late 1941, Switzerland took over its mandates. In terms of major roles Swiss diplomats had the mandate to protect Germany's interest in Britain, the United States, Yugoslavia, Turkey, and Dutch Indonesia. Switzerland protected British interests in Germany, France, Italy, Hungary, Romania and Japan. It protected Vichy France's interests in Britain,
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#17327978571521368-512: A loose synonym. "Romandy" is not an official territorial division of Switzerland any more than there is a clear linguistic boundary. For instance, substantial parts of the canton of Fribourg and the western canton of Bern are traditionally bilingual, most prominently in Seeland around the lakes of Morat , Neuchâtel and Bienne (Biel). French is the sole official language in four Swiss cantons : Geneva , Vaud , Neuchâtel , and Jura ; and
1482-609: A medieval remnant and its people renegade Germans. Swiss military strategy was changed from one of static defence at the borders to a strategy of attrition and withdrawal to strong, well-stockpiled positions high in the Alps known as the National Redoubt . This controversial strategy was essentially one of deterrence. The idea was to render the cost of invading too high. During an invasion, the Swiss Army would cede control of
1596-536: A neutral state bordering Germany, Switzerland was relatively easy to reach for refugees from the Nazis. Switzerland's refugee laws, especially with respect to Jews fleeing Germany, were strict and have caused controversy since the end of World War II. From 1933 until 1944 asylum for refugees could only be granted to those who were under personal threat owing to their political activities only; it did not include those who were under threat due to race, religion or ethnicity. On
1710-574: A prisoner for looting and ordering the executions of two other prisoners without trial, and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Pauli was released from prison in 1961, and died in 1969. According to historian Martin Faust, the participation of Swiss citizens in Nazi war crimes is "a topic that has so far been dealt with almost completely by German historiography and only insufficiently by Swiss historiography." Nazi Germany repeatedly violated Swiss airspace. During
1824-578: A warlike border crossing a rapid transition to a peaceful invasion must be assured." The German plan continued to undergo revision until October, when the 12th Army submitted its fourth draft, now called Operation Tannenbaum. The original plan had called for 21 German divisions, but that figure was downsized to 11 by the OKH. Halder himself had studied the border areas, and concluded that the " Jura frontier offers no favorable base for an attack. Switzerland rises, in successive waves of forest-covered terrain across
1938-661: Is a regional dialectal variant of roman (modern French romain , i.e. "Roman"); in Old French used as a term for the Gallo-Romance vernaculars. Use of the adjective romand (with its unetymological final -d ) in reference to the Franco-Provençal dialects can be traced to the 15th century; it is recorded, as rommant , in a document written in Fribourg in 1424 and becomes current in
2052-717: Is full." At the beginning of the war, Switzerland had a Jewish population of between 18,000 and 28,000 and a total population of about 4 million. By the end of the war, there were over 115,000 refuge-seeking people of all categories in Switzerland, representing the maximum number of refugees at any one time. A refugee help network operated from the Polish embassy in Bern ; the Ładoś Group . This initiative saved thousands of Jews from certain death by issuing them with Latin American identity papers. Not all efforts were successful though, and
2166-720: Is known as Röstigraben (lit. " rösti ditch", adopted in Swiss French as barrière de rösti ). The term is humorous in origin and refers both to the geographic division and to perceived cultural differences between the Romandy and the German-speaking Swiss majority. The term can be traced to the WWI period , but it entered mainstream usage in the 1970s in the context of the Jurassic separatism virulent at
2280-702: Is known as Welschland or Welschschweiz , and the French-speaking Swiss as Welsche , using the old Germanic term for non-Germanic speakers also used in English of Welsh (see * Walhaz ). The terms Welschland and Welschschweiz are also used in written Swiss Standard German but in more formal contexts they are sometimes exchanged for französischsprachige Schweiz ("French-speaking Switzerland") or französische Schweiz ("French Switzerland"). Simple Westschweiz "western Switzerland" may also be used as
2394-435: Is mountainous. Germany was a threat, and Switzerland built a powerful defense. It served as a "protecting power" for the belligerents of both sides, with a special role in helping prisoners of war. The belligerent states made it the scene for diplomacy, espionage, and commerce, as well as being a safe haven for 300,000 refugees. Switzerland maintained a state of armed neutrality during the first world war. However, with two of
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#17327978571522508-710: Is not known whether this plan was endorsed by any high-level members of the German government. After the Second Armistice at Compiègne in June 1940, the German Interior Ministry produced a memorandum on the annexation of a strip of eastern France from the mouth of the Somme river to Lake Geneva , intended as a reserve for post-war German colonisation. The planned dissection of Switzerland would have accorded with this new French-German border, annexing
2622-570: Is supported by Radio Télévision Suisse and the universities of Geneva , Fribourg , Lausanne and Neuchâtel . Historically, most of the Romandy has been strongly Protestant, especially Calvinist ; Geneva was one of the earliest and most important Calvinist centres. However, Roman Catholicism continued to predominate in Jura , Valais , and Fribourg . In recent decades, due to significant immigration from France and Southern European countries, Catholics can now be found throughout
2736-540: Is that Nazi Germany was too preoccupied with other military matters. Although the Wehrmacht feigned moves against Switzerland in its offensives, it never attempted to invade. After D-Day , Operation Tannenbaum was put on hold. Germany's political objective in the expected conquest of Switzerland was to regain the bulk of the " racially suitable " Swiss population for the German people , and aimed at direct annexation into
2850-478: The Léman , Simplon and Mont-Terrible départements , respectively). Suisse romande is used in contrast to Suisse alémanique ("Alemannic Switzerland") the term for Alemannic German speaking Switzerland. Formed by analogy is Suisse italienne ("Italian Switzerland"), which is composed of Ticino and of a part of Grisons . In Swiss German , French-speaking Switzerland
2964-526: The Bundesversammlung elects a General to command the army and air force . On 30 August 1939, Henri Guisan was elected General , with 204 votes out of 227 cast. He immediately began preparations for war. When, two days after his election, the Wehrmacht invaded Poland and World War II began, Guisan called for a general mobilisation and issued Operationsbefehl Nr. 1, the first of what
3078-534: The Battle of France in 1940, German aircraft violated Swiss airspace at least 197 times. In several air incidents, the Swiss shot down 11 Luftwaffe aircraft between 10 May and 17 June 1940, while suffering the loss of three of their own aircraft. Germany protested diplomatically on 5 June and with a second note on 19 June which contained explicit threats. Hitler was especially furious when he saw that German equipment
3192-644: The Bolsheviks and the Dadaists , would bring lasting changes to the world. The Bolsheviks were a faction of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party , centered around Vladimir Lenin . Following the outbreak of the war, Lenin was stunned when the large Social Democratic parties of Europe (at that time predominantly Marxist in orientation) supported their various respective countries' war efforts. Lenin, believing that
3306-716: The Central Powers ( Germany and Austria-Hungary ) and two of the Entente Powers ( France and Italy ) all sharing borders and populations with Switzerland, neutrality proved difficult. Under the Schlieffen Plan , the German General Staff had been open to the possibility of trying to outflank the French fortifications by marching through Switzerland in violation of its neutrality, although
3420-551: The Grimm–Hoffmann Affair erupted. Robert Grimm , a Swiss socialist politician, travelled to Russia as an activist to negotiate a separate peace between Russia and Germany, in order to end the war on the Eastern Front in the interests of socialism and pacifism . Misrepresenting himself as a diplomat and an actual representative of the Swiss government, he made progress but had to admit to fraud and return home when
3534-583: The Treaty of Versailles in 1935, this spending jumped to 90 million francs. The K31 became the standard-issue infantry rifle in 1933, and was superior to the German Kar98 in ease of use, accuracy, and weight. By the end of World War II, nearly 350,000 would be produced. Switzerland has a unique form of generalship. In peacetime, there is no officer with a rank higher than that of Korpskommandant (3-star-general). However, in times of war and in 'need',
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3648-433: The U.S. State Department lodged protests against the Swiss government and eventually secured their release. The American military attaché in Bern warned Marcel Pilet-Golaz , Swiss foreign minister in 1944, that "the mistreatment inflicted on US aviators could lead to 'navigation errors' during bombing raids over Germany". Switzerland, surrounded by Axis-controlled territory , also suffered from Allied bombings during
3762-730: The Unterengadin region of Graubünden . While the German -speaking majority in Switzerland generally favored the Central Powers, the French - and, later, Italian -speaking populations sided with the Entente Powers, which would cause internal conflict in 1918. However, the country managed to keep out of the war, although it was blockaded by the Allies and therefore suffered some difficulties. Nevertheless, because Switzerland
3876-879: The interwar period . In a referendum held in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg on 11 May 1920, over 80% of those voting supported a proposal that the state join the Swiss Confederation. However, this was prevented by the opposition of the Austrian Government , the Allies , Swiss liberals , the Swiss-Italians and the Swiss-French . However, the Principality of Liechtenstein managed to exclude itself from Austria in 1918 and signed
3990-495: The pan-Germanist Neuordnung doctrine, detailed invasion plans were drawn up by the German military command , such as Operation Tannenbaum , but Switzerland was never attacked. Switzerland was able to remain independent through a combination of military deterrence, economic concessions to Germany and good fortune as larger events during the war delayed an invasion. Attempts by the National Movement of Switzerland ,
4104-691: The 17th and 18th centuries in Vaud and Fribourg; it was adopted in Geneva in the 19th century, but its usage never spread outside of what is now French-speaking Switzerland. The term Suisse romande has become widely used since World War I; before World War I and during the 19th century, the term Suisse française "French Switzerland" was used, reflecting the cultural and political prestige of France (the canton of Vaud having been created by Napoleon out of former Bernese subject territories, while Geneva, Valais and Jura were even briefly joined to France, as
4218-480: The Allies found out about the proposed peace deal. The Allies were placated by the resignation of Arthur Hoffmann , the Swiss Federal Councillor who had supported Grimm but had not consulted his colleagues on the initiative. During the war Switzerland accepted 68,000 British, French and German wounded prisoners of war for recovery in mountain resorts . To be transferred, the wounded had to have
4332-591: The Alpine refuge known as the Réduit national . The population centres were, however, all located in the flat plains in the north of the country. They would have to be abandoned to the German forces in order for the rest of the country to survive. After the armistice with France, Hitler demanded to see plans for the invasion of Switzerland. Franz Halder , the head of the Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH), recalled: "I
4446-802: The Anschluss of Austria, the Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle , in connection with the German National Movement in Liechtenstein (VDBL) , a Nazi organization in Liechtenstein, planned for the VBDL to be democratically elected into power via funding from Germany, then it would end the customs union with Switzerland and align towards Germany, leading to an eventual annexation of Liechtenstein into Germany. The plans were reportedly supported by Joseph Goebbels . However, it
4560-692: The Axis Powers, Guisan issued Operationsbefehl Nr. 10, a complete overhaul of existing Swiss defensive plans. In this plan, the Fortress Saint-Maurice , the Gotthard Pass in the south, and the Fortress Sargans in the northeast would serve as the defence line. The Alps would be their fortress. The Swiss 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Army Corps were to stage delaying actions at the border, while all who were able were to retreat to
4674-475: The Duce that he would have to discuss this with the Führer." In August 1942, Hitler further 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 "a misbegotten branch of our Volk ." From a Nazi viewpoint, Switzerland, as a small, multilingual, decentralized democracy where German-speakers felt more of an affinity with their French-speaking fellow Swiss citizens than towards
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4788-473: The French-speaking region of Romandy into the Reich despite the linguistic difference. Germany's wartime ally Italy, under the rule of Benito Mussolini , desired the Italian-speaking areas of Switzerland as part of its irredentist claims in Europe, particularly the Swiss cantons of Ticino and Grisons . In a tour of the Italian alpine regions, Mussolini stated to his entourage that "the New Europe ... could not have more than four or five large states;
4902-521: The General Staff increase the upper service eligibility age from 48 to 60 years (men of these ages would form the rear-echelon Landsturm units), and ordered the formation of an entirely new army corps of 100,000 men. Germany started planning the invasion of Switzerland on 25 June 1940, the day that France surrendered. At this point, the German army in France consisted of three groups with two million soldiers in 102 divisions. Recognizing that Switzerland and Liechtenstein were surrounded by Occupied France and
5016-536: The German Reichsbank sold 1.3 billion francs (approximately 18 billion francs adjusted for inflation to 2019) worth of gold to Swiss banks in exchange for Swiss francs and other foreign currency, which were used to buy strategically important raw materials like tungsten and oil from neutral countries. Hundreds of millions of francs' worth of this gold was monetary gold plundered from the central banks of occupied countries. A total of 581,000 francs' worth of "Melmer" gold taken from Holocaust victims in eastern Europe
5130-407: The German Reich of at least its ethnic German parts. With this purpose in mind, Heinrich Himmler in September 1941 discussed with his subordinate, Gottlob Berger , the suitability of various people for the position of Reichskommissar for the 'reunion' of Switzerland with Germany. This yet-to-be-chosen official would have had the task of facilitating the total amalgamation ( Zusammenwachsen ) of
5244-519: The German intent to "expand Germany's boundaries to the farthest limits of the old Holy Roman Empire, and even beyond." Although the geopolitician Karl Haushofer was not politically aligned with the Nazis, his ideas offered them ideological support. In his work, he advocated for the partition of Switzerland among its surrounding countries, such that the Romandy ( Welschland ) would be awarded to Vichy France , Ticino to Italy, and Northern, Central , and Eastern Switzerland to Germany. Shortly after
5358-451: The German speaking people living across the border, was the antithesis of the racially homogeneous and collectivised " Führer State ". Hitler also believed that the independent Swiss state had come into existence at a time of temporary weakness of the Holy Roman Empire , and now that German power had been re-established after the National Socialist takeover , the independent country of Switzerland had become obsolete. Although Hitler despised
5472-454: The High Alps again, separating the Val d'Anniviers from the Mattertal . Historically, the linguistic boundary in the Swiss Plateau would have more or less followed the Aare during the early medieval period, separating Burgundy (where the Burgundians did not impose their Germanic language on the Gallo-Roman population) from Alemannia ; in the High Middle Ages , the boundary gradually shifted westward and now more or less corresponds to
5586-412: The Red Cross (ICRC), the SIAP provided over half a million books to prisoners of war during World War II, and organized educational opportunities and study groups in prison camps. Switzerland's trade was blockaded by both the Allies and by the Axis . Each side openly exerted pressure on Switzerland not to trade with the other. Economic cooperation and extension of credit to Germany varied according to
5700-399: The Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers outlined in the Hague Conventions . The rest were foreign civilians and were either interned or granted tolerance or residence permits by the cantonal authorities. Refugees were not allowed to hold jobs. Of the refugees, 60,000 were civilians escaping persecution by the Nazis. Of these 60,000, 27,000 were Jews. The official Swiss narrative on this subject
5814-405: The Swiss Jura participate in the Frainc-Comtou dialect spoken in the Franche-Comté region of France. Since the 1970s, there has been a limited amount of linguistic revivalism of Franco-Provençal dialects, which are often now called Arpitan (a 1980s neologism derived from the dialectal form of the word alpine ) and their area Arpitania . The cultural identity of the Romandy
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#17327978571525928-407: The Swiss and German populations. Himmler further attempted to expand the SS into Switzerland, with the formation of the Germanische SS Schweiz in 1942. A document named Aktion S , found in the Himmler files, detailed at length the planned process for the establishment of Nazi rule in Switzerland from its initial conquest by the Wehrmacht up to its complete consolidation as a German province. It
6042-487: The Swiss borders about 1,000 times, with some of these incidents occurring around the Dreisprachen Piz (Three Languages Peak), near the Stelvio Pass . Switzerland had an outpost and a hotel (which was destroyed as it was used by the Austrians) on the peak. During the war, fierce battles were fought in the ice and snow of the area, with gunfire coming on to Swiss territory. The three nations made an agreement not to fire over Swiss territory, which jutted out between Austria (to
6156-401: The Swiss had only 38,000 men in the army. This number increased during the winter of 1916–17 to over 100,000 as a result of a proposed French attack that would have crossed Switzerland. When this attack failed to occur the army began to shrink again. Because of widespread workers' strikes, at the end of the war the Swiss army had shrunk to only 12,500 men. During the war, belligerents crossed
6270-515: The Swiss journalist Léon Savary retrospectively denounced in this sense "the occult influence of Hitlerism on the Swiss people during the Second World War, which they were not conscious of being under". Swiss military law provided for capital punishment for treason and certain other military offenses, such as desertion in the face of the enemy. During World War II, 33 people were sentenced to death for spying for Nazi Germany, 15 of them in absentia. Seventeen of those condemned were executed before
6384-500: The United States, Italy, Egypt and Brazil. It protected Italy's interest in Egypt and Brazil. It protected the United States interest in Germany, France, Italy, Japan, China and Denmark. It protected Japan's interest in Britain, the United States, Egypt and Argentina. The diplomats arranged travel permissions, helping tens of thousands of people to return to their home countries after being trapped in an enemy nation. Swiss diplomats also supervised closed enemy embassies. Of special importance
6498-400: The attack. Leeb himself personally reconnoitered the terrain, studying the most promising invasion routes and paths of least resistance. Menges noted in his plan that Swiss resistance was unlikely and that a nonviolent Anschluss was the most likely result. With "the current political situation in Switzerland," he wrote, "it might accede to ultimatum demands in a peaceful manner, so that after
6612-520: The axis of an attack. The crossing points on the river Doubs and the border are few; the Swiss frontier position is strong." He decided on an infantry feint in the Jura in order to draw out the Swiss Army and then cut it off in the rear, as had been done in France. With the 11 German divisions and roughly 15 more Italian divisions prepared to enter from the south, the Axis plans were to invade Switzerland with somewhere between 300,000 and 500,000 men. For reasons that are still uncertain, Hitler never ordered
6726-460: The basis of this definition, Switzerland granted asylum to only 644 people between 1933 and 1945; of these, 252 cases were admitted during the war. All other refugees were admitted by the individual cantons and were granted different permits, including a "tolerance permit" that allowed them to live in the canton but not to work. Over the course of the war, Switzerland interned 300,000 refugees. Of these, 104,000 were foreign troops interned according to
6840-514: The cases were tried under the regular Swiss Criminal Code , but the special nature of the trials was made clear in their files. Swiss police had received word of Pauli, who'd fled to Switzerland to avoid prosecution, from the French in 1947. Pauli, who denied any involvement in war crimes, was initially released due to a lack of evidence. Over the next few years, however, prosecutors compiled evidence and witness testimony against him. In 1951, under questioning, Pauli finally admitted to his involvement in
6954-446: The central chain of the Western Alps, since Italy desired the areas to the south of this demarcation line as part of its own war aims. This would have left Italy in control of Ticino , Valais , and Graubünden . Switzerland during the World Wars#World War II During World War I and World War II , Switzerland maintained armed neutrality , and was not invaded by its neighbors, in part because of its topography, much of which
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#17327978571527068-435: The co-official language – along with German – in the cantons of Valais , Bern , and Fribourg , French speakers forming the majority of the population in the regions of Lower Valais , Bernese Jura and Fribourg francophone ("French-speaking Fribourg "). Bernese Jura is an administrative division of the Canton of Bern, whereas the two others are informal denominations. The linguistic boundary between French and German
7182-472: The communities of Morat and Fribourg . It divides the canton of Fribourg into a western French-speaking majority and an eastern German-speaking minority and then follows the eastern boundary of Vaud with the upper Saane/Sarine valley of the Bernese Oberland . Cutting across the High Alps at Les Diablerets , the boundary then separates the French-speaking Lower Valais from the Alemannic-speaking Upper Valais beyond Sierre . It then cuts southwards into
7296-410: The country began to rearm for war. BGB Federal Councillor Rudolf Minger , predicting war would come in 1939, led the rebuilding of the Swiss Army . Starting in 1936, he secured a larger defence budget and started a war bond system. The army was restructured into smaller, better equipped divisions and boot camp for conscripts was extended to 3 months of instruction. In 1937 a war economy cell
7410-405: The country was fully mobilized in only three days. Parliament quickly selected the 61-year-old career soldier Henri Guisan to be General and by 3 September 430,000 combat troops and 210,000 in support services, 10,000 of whom were women, had been mobilized, though most of these were sent home during the Phoney War . At its highest point, 850,000 soldiers were mobilized. During the war, under
7524-416: The democratically minded German Swiss as the "wayward branch of the German people", he still acknowledged their status as Germans. Furthermore, the openly pan-German political aims of the Nazi party called for the unification of all Germans into a Greater Germany , which included the Swiss people. The first goal of the 25-point National Socialist Program stated that "We [the National Socialist Party] demand
7638-487: The eastern and southern borders. This remained unchanged until May 1915 when Italy entered the war on the Entente side, at which point troops were deployed to the Unterengadin valley, Val Müstair and along the southern border. Once it became clear that the Allies and the Central Powers would respect Swiss neutrality, the number of troops deployed began to drop. After September 1914, some soldiers were released to return to their farms and to vital industries. By November 1916
7752-483: The economic heartland and population centres but retain control of crucial rail links and passes in the National Redoubt. In 1941, Franz Burri , the leading Nazi propagandist for Switzerland, sent a letter to Heinrich Himmler in which he discussed the importance of a Nazi coup for Switzerland. Burri said he and his colleagues were "ready for action at any time" and had a paramilitary of 1,800 men prepared for deployment in all German-speaking Swiss cantons. Switzerland
7866-477: The end of the war to April 1949, the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland held six trials against 102 Swiss citizens, who were charged with treason and undermining Swiss's neutrality and independence, for collaboration, of which 99 were convicted. Some of those convicted were tried in absentia. According to Martin Gutmann, the trials served as a way for the Swiss establishment to reinforce a convenient and simplistic myth over its wartime past. However, they constituted
7980-427: The end of the war. With the exception of one man from Liechtenstein , all of those executed were Swiss. Hundreds of others were also imprisoned for spying for Germany and acts against national security. In January 1946, the Swiss government published a report on collaboration which, in the words of Swiss historian Luc van Dongen, gave the public memory its memorial and ideology tone and also its clear conscience." From
8094-434: The executions of two prisoners. He was also one of the two main participants in the Offenburg massacre, in which SS men massacred 41 concentration camp prisoners who were too weak to walk in 1945, and had been the leader of a six-man Feldgendarmerie squad in Ukraine , where he was most likely involved in the Holocaust. However, neither of these things were known at the time. In 1953, he was found guilty of murder for executing
8208-527: The first American bomber was shot down near Bad Ragaz , with only three men surviving. The officers were interned in Davos and the airmen in Adelboden . The representative of the US military intelligence group based in Bern, Barnwell Legge (a US military attaché to Switzerland), instructed the soldiers not to flee, but most of them thought it to be a diplomatic joke and gave no regard to his request. As
8322-480: The hands of the Nazis". Switzerland also acted as a refuge for Allied prisoners of war who escaped, including those from Oflag IV-C (Colditz). In war time each belligerent nation relies on an independent neutral third party to protect its diplomatic interests through "mandates" as specified in international law especially the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 . In World War II, Switzerland, and to
8436-432: The high medieval period (see Walser ). Traditionally speaking the Franco-Provençal or Patois dialects of Upper Burgundy , the romand population now speak a variety of Standard French . Today, the differences between Swiss French and Parisian French are minor and mostly lexical, although remnants of dialectal lexicon or phonology may remain more pronounced in rural speakers. In particular, some parts of
8550-602: The interests that inspired it. By some accounts Dada coalesced on 6 October 1916 at the cabaret. The artists used abstraction to fight against the social, political, and cultural ideas of that time that they believed had caused the war. Dadaists viewed abstraction as the result of a lack of planning and of logical thought-processes. When World War I ended in 1918, most of the Zürich Dadaists returned to their home countries, and some began Dada activities in other cities. In 1917 Switzerland's neutrality came into question when
8664-421: The invasion. One theory is that a neutral Switzerland would have been useful to hide Nazi gold and to serve as a refuge for war criminals in case of defeat. This may also explain Germany's continued recognition of Switzerland's neutrality. One simpler explanation is that there would have been little strategic gain in conquering Switzerland, while a drawn-out and costly alpine war might well have ensued. Another
8778-531: The inviolability and neutrality of Switzerland", reiterating this promise shortly before the German invasion of Poland . These were, however, purely political maneuvers intended to guarantee Switzerland's passivity. Nazi Germany planned to end Switzerland's independence after it had defeated its enemies on the continent. In a meeting held with Fascist Italy 's leader, Benito Mussolini , and foreign minister, Galeazzo Ciano , in June 1941, Hitler stated his opinion on Switzerland quite plainly: "Switzerland possesses
8892-579: The leniency the Swiss had shown toward Allied airspace violations. Eventually, the problem became so bad that they declared a zero-tolerance policy for violation by either Axis or Allied aircraft and authorized attacks on American aircraft. Victims of these mistaken bombings were not limited to Swiss civilians but included the often confused American aircrews, shot down by the Swiss fighters as well as several Swiss fighters shot down by American airmen. In February 1945, 18 civilians were killed by Allied bombs dropped over Stein am Rhein , Vals , and Rafz . Arguably
9006-611: The most disgusting and miserable people and political system. The Swiss are the mortal enemies of the new Germany." In a later discussion, the German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop directly alluded to the possibility of dividing Switzerland between the two Axis powers : "On the Duce 's query whether Switzerland, as a true anachronism, had any future, the Foreign Minister smiled and told
9120-458: The most notorious incident came on 4 March 1945, when Basel and Zürich were accidentally bombed by American aircraft. The attack on Basel's railway station led to the destruction of a passenger train, but no casualties were reported; a B-24 Liberator dropped its bomb load over Zürich, destroying two buildings and killing five civilians. The crew claimed they believed that they were attacking Freiburg in Germany. As John Helmreich points out,
9234-477: The network was eventually discovered and dismantled by the Swiss authorities. Switzerland's treatment of Jewish refugees has been criticized by scholars of the Holocaust. In 1999 an international panel of historians declared that Switzerland was "guilty of acting as an accomplice to the Holocaust when it refused to accept many thousands of fleeing Jews, and instead sent them back to almost certain annihilation at
9348-442: The north) and Italy (to the south). Instead they could fire down the pass, as Swiss territory was around the peak. In one incident, a Swiss soldier was killed at his outpost on Dreisprachen Piz by Italian gunfire. During the fighting, Switzerland became a haven for many politicians, artists, pacifists, and thinkers. Bern , Zürich , and Geneva became centers of debate and discussion. In Zürich two very different anti-war groups,
9462-568: The northern border of Switzerland throughout the war. Allied aircraft intruded on Swiss airspace throughout World War II. In total, 6,304 Allied aircraft violated Swiss airspace during the war. Some damaged Allied bombers returning from raids over Italy and Germany would intentionally violate Swiss airspace, preferring internment by the Swiss to becoming prisoners of war . Over a hundred Allied aircraft and their crews were interned in this manner. They were subsequently put up in various ski resorts that had been emptied from lack of tourists due to
9576-454: The peasants and workers of the proletariat were fighting for their class enemies , adopted the stance that what he described as an "imperialist war" ought to be turned into a civil war between the classes. He left Austria for neutral Switzerland in 1914 following the outbreak of the war and remained active in Switzerland until 1917. Following the 1917 February Revolution in Russia and the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II , he left Switzerland on
9690-527: The perceived likelihood of invasion, and the availability of other trading partners. Concessions reached their zenith after a crucial rail link through Vichy France was severed in 1942, leaving Switzerland completely surrounded by the Axis. Switzerland relied on trade for half of its food and essentially all of its fuel; however, the Swiss controlled vital trans-alpine rail tunnels between Germany and Italy and possessed considerable electrical generating capacity that
9804-572: The pilot and navigator, in choosing a target of opportunity, "missed the marshalling yard they were aiming for, missed the city they were aiming for, and even missed the country they were aiming for". The Swiss, although somewhat skeptical, reacted by treating these violations of their neutrality as "accidents". The United States was warned that single aircraft would be forced down and their crews would still be allowed to seek refuge, while bomber formations in violation of airspace would be intercepted. While American politicians and diplomats tried to minimize
9918-675: The plan's eventual executor Helmuth von Moltke the Younger selected Belgium instead due to Switzerland's mountainous topography and the disorganized state of the Belgian Armed Forces . From December 1914 until the spring of 1918, Swiss troops were deployed in the Jura along the French border over concern that the trench war might spill into Switzerland. Of lesser concern was the Italian border, but troops were also stationed in
10032-716: The political damage caused by these incidents, others took a more hostile view. Some senior commanders argued that as Switzerland was "full of German sympathizers", it deserved to be bombed. General Henry H. Arnold , Commanding General of the U.S. Army Air Forces , even suggested that it was the Germans themselves who were flying captured Allied planes over Switzerland in an attempt to gain a propaganda victory. From 1943 onwards Switzerland stopped American and British aircraft, mainly bombers, overflying Switzerland on nine occasions, six times by Swiss Air Force fighters and nine by flak. Thirty-six Allied airmen were killed. On 1 October 1943
10146-474: The same period Switzerland sold electric power to Germany equivalent to 6,077,000 tons of coal. Romandy Romandy ( French : Romandie or Suisse romande ; Arpitan : Romandia ) is the French-speaking historical and cultural region of Switzerland . In 2020, about 2 million people, or 22.8% of the Swiss population, lived in Romandy. The majority of the romand population lives in
10260-478: The size of the Swiss military into account in the years prior to 1914, especially in the Schlieffen Plan . Following the declarations of war in late July 1914, on 1 August 1914, Switzerland mobilized its army; by 7 August the newly appointed general Ulrich Wille had about 220,000 men under his command. By 11 August Wille had deployed much of the army along the Jura border with France, with smaller units deployed along
10374-409: The small ones [would] have no further raison d'être and [would] have to disappear". Switzerland's future in an Axis-dominated Europe was further discussed in a 1940 round-table conference between Italian foreign minister Galeazzo Ciano and German foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, also attended by Hitler. Ciano proposed that in the event of Switzerland's dissolution, it should be divided along
10488-567: The take-over of Salerno and the islands of Corsica and Sardinia . Despite the public and political attitudes in Switzerland, some higher-ranking officers within the Swiss Army had pro-Nazi sympathies: notably Colonel Arthur Fonjallaz and Colonel Eugen Bircher , who led the Schweizerischer Vaterländischer Verband . In Letters to Suzanne (French: Lettres à Suzanne , Lausanne, Switzerland, 1949),
10602-493: The time. The linguistic boundary cuts across Switzerland north-to-south, forming the eastern boundary of the canton of Jura and then encompassing the Bernese Jura , where the boundary frays to include a number of bilingual communities, the largest of which is Biel/Bienne . It then follows the border between Neuchâtel and Bern and turns south towards Morat , again traversing an areal of traditional bilinguism including
10716-679: The unification of all Germans in the Greater Germany on the basis of the people's right to self-determination." In their maps of Greater Germany, German textbooks included the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Bohemia-Moravia, the German-speaking parts of Switzerland, and western Poland from Danzig (Gdańsk in Polish) to Krakau (Kraków). Ignoring Switzerland's status as a sovereign state, these maps frequently showed its territory as
10830-423: The visit and stated that Hitler showed little interest in them and that it only took place in order to "flatter Hitler's ego". However, in the same month the VBDL staged a coup attempt in which it was planned for VBDL members to march on Vaduz and seize control of the government, which was hoped to cause clashes between them and the government. German troops from Feldkirch would then move into Liechtenstein after
10944-574: The war and held until hostilities ended. At least 940 American airmen attempted to escape into France after the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944 but Swiss authorities intercepted 183 internees. Over 160 of these airmen were incarcerated in a Swiss prison camp known as Wauwilermoos , which was located near Lucerne and commanded by André Béguin , a pro-Nazi Swiss officer. The American internees remained in Wauwilermoos until November 1944 when
11058-495: The war to nearly 6 million tons per year. No troops or "war goods" were supposed to be transshipped. Switzerland was concerned that Germany would cease the supply of the coal it required if it blocked coal shipments to Italy while the Allies, despite some plans to do so, took no action as they wanted to maintain good relations with Switzerland. Between 1939 and 1945 Germany exported 10,267,000 tons of coal to Switzerland. In 1943 these imports supplied 41% of Swiss energy requirements. In
11172-415: The war; most notably from the accidental bombing of Schaffhausen by American aircraft on 1 April 1944. It was mistaken for Ludwigshafen am Rhein , a German town 284 kilometres (176 mi) away; forty people were killed and over fifty buildings destroyed, among them a group of small factories producing anti-aircraft shells , ball-bearings , and Bf 109 parts for Germany. The bombing limited much of
11286-531: The western boundary of the Zähringer possessions, which fell under Bernese rule in the late medieval period, and does not follow any obvious topographical features. The Valais has a separate linguistic history; here, the entire valley, as far as it was settled, would have been Gallo-Roman speaking until its upper parts were settled by Highest Alemannic speakers entering from the Bernese Oberland in
11400-563: The western part of the country, especially the Arc Lémanique region along Lake Geneva , connecting Geneva , Vaud , and the Lower Valais . French is the sole official language in four Swiss cantons : Geneva , Vaud , Neuchâtel , and Jura . Additionally, French and German have co-official status in three cantons: Fribourg/Freiburg , Valais/Wallis , and Berne/Bern . The adjective romand (feminine romande )
11514-733: Was a base for espionage by both sides in the conflict and often mediated communications between the Axis and Allied powers by serving as a protecting power . In 1942, the United States Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was established in Bern . Through the efforts of Allen Dulles , the first US intelligence service in Western Europe was created. During the allied invasion of Italy , the OSS in Switzerland guided tactical efforts for
11628-608: Was assassinated at Davos ; he was the head of the Nazi Party 's "Auslands-Organisation" in Switzerland. The Swiss government refused to extradite the alleged assassin David Frankfurter to Germany. Frankfurter was sentenced to 18 years in prison but was pardoned in 1945. As European tension grew in the 1930s, the Swiss began to rethink their political and military situation. The Social Democratic party abandoned their revolutionary and anti-military stances, and soon
11742-474: Was centrally located, neutral, and generally undamaged, the war allowed the growth of the Swiss banking industry. For the same reasons, Switzerland became a haven for foreign refugees and revolutionaries. Following the organization of the army in 1907 and military expansion in 1911, the Swiss Army consisted of about 250,000 men with an additional 200,000 in supporting roles. Both European alliance-systems took
11856-469: Was constantly hearing of outbursts of Hitler's fury against Switzerland, which, given his mentality, might have led at any minute to military activities for the army." Captain Otto-Wilhelm Kurt von Menges in OKH submitted a draft plan for the invasion. Generaloberst Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb 's Heeresgruppe 'C (HGr. C), led by Generalleutnant Wilhelm List and the 12th Army would conduct
11970-403: Was established. Households were encouraged to keep a two-month supply of food and basic necessities. In 1938 Foreign Minister Giuseppe Motta withdrew Switzerland from the League of Nations , returning the country to its traditional form of neutrality. Actions were also taken to prove Switzerland's independent national identity and unique culture from the surrounding Fascist powers. This policy
12084-637: Was issued in 2002 and also documented Switzerland's role as a major hub for the sale and transfer of Nazi-looted art during the Second World War. Under pressure from the Allies, in December 1943 quotas were imposed on the importation and exportation of certain goods and foodstuffs and in October 1944 sales of munitions were halted. However, the transit of goods by railway between Germany, Italy and occupied France continued. North–South transit trade across Switzerland increased from 2.5 million tons before
12198-478: Was known as Geistige Landesverteidigung , or "spiritual national defence". In 1937, the government opened the Museum of Federal Charters. Increased use of Swiss German coincided with a national referendum that made Romansh a national language in 1938, a move designed to counter Benito Mussolini 's attempts to incite Italian nationalism in the southern Grisons and Ticino cantons. In December of that year in
12312-497: Was largely focused on Switzerland's generosity and tolerance, while refugees were portrayed as a burden. This attitude can clearly be seen in an article by Ella Maillart for the “Weekly” magazine in London, 1938. Between 10,000 and 24,000 Jewish civilian refugees were refused entry. These refugees were refused entry on the claim of 'dwindling supplies'. Of those refused entry, a Swiss government representative said, "Our little lifeboat
12426-418: Was personally blocked by Adolf Hitler himself on 18 March 1938 as he did not want to complicate relations with Switzerland. In March 1939, Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein along with Josef Hoop and his government paid an official visit to Berlin where they met Hitler and Ribbentrop to discuss safeguarding Liechtenstein's independence and ensuring good relations. Franz Joseph later reminisced on
12540-488: Was relatively safe from air attack. Switzerland's most important exports during the war were precision machine tools, watches, jewel bearings (used in bomb sights), electricity, and dairy products. Until 1936, the Swiss franc was the only remaining major freely convertible currency in the world, and both the Allies and the Germans sold large amounts of gold to the Swiss National Bank . Between 1940 and 1945,
12654-597: Was sold to Swiss banks. In the 1990s, a controversy over a class-action lawsuit brought in Brooklyn , New York , over Jewish assets in Holocaust-era bank accounts prompted the Swiss government to commission the most recent and authoritative study of Switzerland's interaction with the Nazi regime. The final report by this independent panel of international scholars, known as the Bergier Commission ,
12768-690: Was the protection provided prisoners of war, especially the sick and wounded. In 1939, the Service of Intellectual Assistance to Prisoners of War (SIAP) was created by the International Bureau of Education (IBE), a Geneva-based international organization dedicated to educational matters. In collaboration with the Swiss Federal Council , who initially funded the project, and the International Committee of
12882-473: Was to become a series of evolving defensive plans. This first plan assigned the existing three army corps to the east, north, and west of Switzerland, with reserves in the centre and south of the country. Guisan reported to the Federal Council on September 7 that by the time Britain declared war on Germany, "our entire army had been in its operational positions for ten minutes." He also had his Chief of
12996-517: Was used to shoot down German pilots. He said they would respond "in another manner". On 20 June, the Swiss air force was ordered to stop intercepting planes violating Swiss airspace. Swiss fighters began instead to force intruding aircraft to land at Swiss airfields. Anti-aircraft units still operated. Later, Hitler and Hermann Göring sent saboteurs to destroy Swiss airfields but they were captured by Swiss troops before they could cause any damage. Skirmishes between German and Swiss troops took place on
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