Switzerland is known as much for its neutral stance in international affairs as for its banking,
chocolate and Alpine scenery. Indeed, in Europe, Switzerland and Sweden have been at the top of the list of first neutral nations for a very long time.
In modern terms, both countries became neutral states after the Napoleonic Wars of 1814-1815. Sweden gradually joined international organizations and became a member of NATO in March 2024. And Switzerland joined the UN only in 2002 after a heated debate and has so far resisted any attempts to join institutions such as the European Union or NATO.
But what is the story behind Switzerland's staunch neutrality?
Swiss neutrality: from military power to neutral state
The Swiss were not always neutral. In fact, the Old Swiss Confederation was considered one of the most warlike states of early modern Europe. According to
Douglas Miller and
Jerry Embleton, their military successes had many admirers, including the Italian Renaissance philosopher
Niccolo Machiavelli, who nicknamed the Swiss the "
New Romans." However, the Swiss were not destined to create a new
Roman Empire.
For example, the Battle of Marignano in 1515 seriously damaged Swiss military power. Before Marignano, the Swiss had expanded their territory into several regions of Northern Italy. However, the bloody battle near Milan ended in a Franco-Venetian victory over the Swiss. After the battle, the Swiss Confederation adopted neutrality. The Peace of Westphalia in 1648, which marked the end of the devastating Thirty Years' War, officially recognized Switzerland's neutrality.
Although the Confederation maintained a neutral stance in international conflicts, this did not prevent the Swiss from fighting. Thus, many Swiss continued to pursue military careers either alone in foreign armies or as part of mercenary units bought by foreign rulers.
For example, the ill-fated Swiss Guard of King
Ludovic XVI of France during the French Revolution and the Vatican's Swiss Guard are two of the most famous examples of Swiss soldiers in foreign service.
The French Revolution and Napoleonic Switzerland
Neutrality could not stem the tide of the French Revolution, which reached Switzerland. In the late 1790s, the armies of the French Revolutionary Republic fought Austrian and Russian opponents throughout Switzerland, turning the country into a battlefield.
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General Andre Massena's victory over a combined Russian and Austrian army at Zurich in September 1799 consolidated French influence in Switzerland.
Revolutionary France also led the creation of the Helvetic Republic in 1798, which the Swiss enthusiastically supported. However, this did not guarantee Swiss support for French interests.
In fact,
Napoleon believed that the Swiss represented a challenge to French interests, especially with regard to access to Italy. As
Andrew Roberts notes, in September 1802 Napoleon wrote that either a new pro-French Swiss government should be formed or "
There will be no Switzerland".
As a result, in 1803 Napoleon announced the Mediation Act. Alexander Grab explains that this act transformed Switzerland, creating a fragile central government and nineteen cantons. The following month, in October 1803, one of Napoleon's future marshals, Michel Ney, led an army through Switzerland to impose French rule.
For example, Andrew Roberts writes that Ney's army quickly occupied Zurich and suppressed a revolt in Bern. At the same time, Ney oversaw the establishment of a pro-French government in the Swiss capital, Bern. Moreover, Ney charged the government a huge sum of money to pay for this military operation.
Although Switzerland officially remained a neutral country, it was a satellite of France. Switzerland provided Napoleon's army with thousands of soldiers. Alexander Grab states that 9,000 Swiss soldiers served in Napoleon's army during the invasion of Russia in 1812 alone. Only about 700 of these soldiers returned from Russia.
Resumption of Swiss neutrality
Swiss support for Napoleon ended after the Battle of Leipzig in 1813. The following year, Austrian Chancellor Clemens von Metternich was furious that the Swiss had decided to adopt neutrality rather than fight Napoleon. The end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1814-1815 led to radical changes in the map of Europe.
After the Napoleonic Wars, Switzerland underwent significant territorial and political changes.
These changes were consolidated at the Congress of Vienna, organized by the so-called Great Powers that defeated Napoleon, namely Austria, Great Britain, Prussia and Russia.
The recognition of Switzerland's neutrality was one of many events that resulted from the Congress of Vienna. The great powers of Europe, which included post-Napoleonic France, recognized Switzerland's neutrality thanks largely to the diplomatic efforts of the Geneva-based Charles Pictet de Rochemont.
New Switzerland in the revolutionary 1840s
For decades after the Napoleonic Wars, Switzerland experienced internal turmoil and conflict within the various cantons. Indeed, during the 1830s and 1840s, much of Europe was experiencing economic, social, and political turmoil. Political and religious divisions in Switzerland eventually led to a brief civil war in 1847.
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Although Otto von Bismarck called it nothing more than "a barnyard fuss", this short war was of great importance to Switzerland. Although it lasted less than thirty days, the fighting resulted in a new constitution in 1848.
The new Swiss government established after the civil war was a federal system that retained traditional privileges and powers for the country's various territories, called cantons.
Switzerland became known as a neutral state and a major center of debate on international humanitarian law. The founding in 1863 of the Geneva-based Henry Dunant organization that would later become the Red Cross further strengthened Switzerland's reputation as a neutral power.
Dunant lobbied for international agreements concerning sick and wounded soldiers. This led to the adoption of the first Geneva Convention in 1864. For his role in organizing the Red Cross and the Geneva Conventions, Dunant was one of the recipients of the first Nobel Peace Prize in 1901.
Neutrality has been put to the test
Switzerland's geographical position and external events continued to put the country's neutrality to the test well into the twentieth century. For example, the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914 shook Switzerland as well as the rest of Europe. Many Swiss volunteered to join one of the opposing armies.
Today, memorials to Swiss soldiers who served and died in the two world wars can be found all over Switzerland. However, the country remained neutral and helped organize Red Cross initiatives. Moreover, Swiss troops sometimes took part in border clashes.
The interwar years (between World War I and World War II) strengthened Switzerland's neutral and international image. For example, Swiss cities such as Lausanne hosted important treaty negotiations, such as the negotiations that ended the Greco-Turkish War in 1923.
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In November 1920, Geneva became the headquarters of the forerunner of the United Nations, the League of Nations.
Switzerland's neutral status and these interwar international peace initiatives did not prevent it from becoming a possible target during World War II.
However, the army commander, General Henri Guisan, was determined to defend Swiss neutrality. In June 1940, Swiss sovereignty and neutrality were seriously threatened. The entry of Fascist Italy into the war and the conquest of France by Nazi Germany meant that the country found itself virtually surrounded by the Axis powers.
According to Regula Ludi, in July 1940, Gisan gathered high-ranking Swiss officers for an elaborate ceremony at the Rutli Meadow in central Switzerland.
Rutli is the place in Swiss lore where the first Swiss Confederation originated in the 13th century.
At Rutli, Gisan declared his intention to defend the country in the event of an attack. The symbolism was obvious: a Swiss commander announcing his determination to save Switzerland from foreign invaders on the very spot where the country's history began.
Contradictions
Gisan's declaration made him a national hero. His plan, known as Reduit national, called for the concentration of more than 400,000 Swiss troops in impregnable positions deep in the Alps. However, General Gisan's efforts did not completely isolate Switzerland from the violence and destruction of World War II. For example, several Swiss towns, including Schaffhausen, were bombed. It has long been debated whether the bombing of Swiss territory was deliberate or accidental.
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In addition, the war generated a great deal of controversy over Swiss neutrality. Indeed, by the end of the war, Swiss neutrality had become a serious diplomatic problem for the country. Regula Ludi explains that the Swiss ignored Allied warnings about Nazi looting as early as 1942.
Even more damaging, according to Regulus Ludwig, was Switzerland's refusal to sever ties with Nazi Germany even after the latter had ceased to pose a military threat to Switzerland. The most enduring wartime dispute, however, concerned the extent of Switzerland's cooperation with Nazi Germany. The refusal to sever diplomatic relations with the Nazis only opened further questions at the international level about Switzerland's role in World War II.
Lawsuits against several leading Swiss banks, filed in the 1990s by organizations such as the World Jewish Congress, attracted international attention, revived scholarly interest, and led to a historic settlement. As Regula Ludi notes, both Swiss banks and the country's image as a neutral power suffered as a result.
Researchers found that Swiss banks and Swiss authorities failed to follow through on a promise to identify the assets of Holocaust victims left uninherited and transfer those funds to Jewish recovery organizations, as agreed to in 1946.
It also revealed how much the Swiss authorities during the war had suppressed information that they believed could cause controversy within the country, including reports of Nazi atrocities. Eventually, in the summer of 1998, the World Jewish Congress' lawsuit was upheld.
Legacy
After the Second World War, Switzerland maintained its neutral and international character. It became the center of international organizations, as it had been in previous decades.
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For example, today Geneva is home to one of the four main offices of the United Nations. The UN building is the former headquarters of the League of Nations. Regula Ludi notes that Switzerland's history of neutrality and economic prosperity has given rise to the myth of the Sonderfall Schweiz, or "Switzerland of Special Occasion".
Based on this view, it is argued that Switzerland and its national history stand apart from the rest of Europe, mainly due to its long history of neutrality and support for humanitarian initiatives.
However, scandals in the 1990s involving Swiss banks and the assets of Holocaust victims have called this history into question. Moreover, according to Ludi, the controversy helped prompt a broader reexamination of various European governments' relationship with Nazi Germany during World War II.
It becomes clear that while Switzerland's experience of many important events may differ from others, its history remains closely linked to the history of Europe. In other words, the Swiss do not remain aloof from the history of Europe, be it the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars, the two World Wars and other events.