Swiss military action during WWII

[Machjo]

You learn something new every day.

Though I'd known that Switzerland was officially neutral during WWII, I hadn't realized that Germany had in fact violated Swiss airspace numerous times, that the Swiss had shot down a few German aircraft for doing so, and that Hitler had threatened the Swiss on numerous occasions,with the Swiss standing firm throughout.

Switzerland during the World Wars - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It would appear that while the Swiss may have been neutral, they certainly weren't pacifists contrary to popular belief.

 

[Machjo]

YouTube - Die Schweiz im Zweiten Weltkrieg

 

[Goober]

You learn something new every day.

Though I'd known that Switzerland was officially neutral during WWII, I hadn't realized that Germany had in fact violated Swiss airspace numerous times, that the Swiss had shot down a few German aircraft for doing so, and that Hitler had threatened the Swiss on numerous occasions,with the Swiss standing firm throughout.

Switzerland during the World Wars - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It would appear that while the Swiss may have been neutral, they certainly weren't pacifists contrary to popular belief.

They are also on record as pushing the Germans to have a J stamped on German Passports - To prevent Jews coming to Switzerland - Esier to identify and turn away at border crossings -

 

[Bar Sinister]

Switzerland practiced what was called armed neutrality. During the war the country supplied arms to both Germany and its enemies as well as using its banking system to advantage. Hitler had his generals to investigate the possibility of invading Switzerland, and was told that it could be done, but only at the cost of catastrophic casualties and so he decided to put it off until later.

 

[relic]

The "good Guys" also "violated" swiss airspace,on their way to bomb the Fatherland.

 

[missile]

I have always wondered if the Germans hadn't had such a disastrous defeat after attacking Russia....would the Allies have won?

 

[#juan]

Switzerland practiced what was called armed neutrality. During the war the country supplied arms to both Germany and its enemies as well as using its banking system to advantage. Hitler had his generals to investigate the possibility of invading Switzerland, and was told that it could be done, but only at the cost of catastrophic casualties and so he decided to put it off until later.

I wonder if another reason was that high ranking Nazis didn't want to endanger all the ill begotten funds they had in Swiss banks.....

 

[Machjo]

To be fair to the Swiss though, they were harsher on German aircraft violating their airspace than they were on allied aircraft, in spite of allies having bombed one Swiss town by accident thinking it was a nearby German town.

Add to that that the Swiss had some internal issues too. Since a large portion of Swiss are in fact ethnically German, at least some of them were sympathetic towards Anschlus with Germany. The Swiss military kept such sympathisers under control by giving them more menial jobs to keep them out of key positions. Clearly under such conditions, going to war with Nazi Germany could have been risky as the loyalty of some of their own soliders was in question. Looking at it that way, the Swiss were in a fragile position, having to question the loyalty of some in their own country and even army, while at the same time eventually becoming surrounded by Nazi-occupied countries and being dependent on imports for food and especially petroleum.

To be fair to the Swiss, under such conditions, militarized neutrality and free trade was a wise decision under the circumstances. Over all though, unofficially the Swiss were hoping for an allied victory against the Nazis.

 

[Bar Sinister]

Sweden played a very similar game. With German troops on all of its borders it supplied Germany with whatever it wanted while at the same time maintaining a large military of its own. Interestingly, the Swiss and Swedish military model are very similar and their position of armed neutrality kept them out of both major European wars.

 

[jjaycee98]

The "good Guys" also "violated" swiss airspace,on their way to bomb the Fatherland.

Absolutely untrue. There was no need to cross Swiss airspace as allied space was available.

Why make things up? It sheds a degree of scepticism on all your posts to see something so patently false.

 

[Machjo]

Absolutely untrue. There was no need to cross Swiss airspace as allied space was available.

Why make things up? It sheds a degree of scepticism on all your posts to see something so patently false.

False. In one instance, the allies had even bombed a Swiss town by accident, thinking it was a nearby German town.

Also, damaged allied aircraft hose to crash or land in Switzerland rather than Germany since they were better treated by the Swiss than the Germans.

Just read up on it. The Swiss were officially neutral, but still hoped for an allied victory.