right in the middle of it all
During the German conquest of Western Europe in 1940 and the early months of 1941 one country remained untouched right in the centre of the fascists 'Fortress Europe'.
Click to enlarge
You could argue that Switzerland wasn't conquered by the Nazi's for the same reason they didn't invade Sweden, that being that Switzerland was neutral, but the difference is that Switzerland was directly in the middle of Europe, the Nazi's knew that Sweden being neutral would mean that if the Soviets attempted to attack their forces in Norway the Swedes would provide a large buffer to protect them.
Switzerland geographically didn't have a similar situation.
However towards the end of the war when the Americans were liberating Europe Swiss air space was violated several times by both Americas and Germany's respective air forces, in several incidents the USAAF (United States Army Air Force) 'accidentally' dropped bombs on Switzerland, on one occasion B-24 bombers bombed Zurich believing they were bombing the German city of Freiburg!
The Americans stated these incidents were navigational errors but several claim that it was a direct attempt to force Switzerland to end it's economic ties with Nazi Germany as the war was coming to an end.
Apart from Nazi gold among other things being in Swiss banks and the role of the bankers operating from a neutral country to finance both sides of that war would Switzerland have been worth invading?
It would have meant open air space across all of Western Europe for the Luftwaffe and Italian Air Force to operate in, apart from that not much else, and it could have done heavy damage to the German economy if they lost their assets in Swiss banks!
Apart from troops operating in harsh conditions the tactic of blitzkrieg that defeated Poland wouldn't have been properly put into effect considering certain parts of mountainous areas that armored columns wouldn't be able to operate in, apart from that Swiss resistance would have been very stubborn.
Click to enlarge
You could argue that Switzerland wasn't conquered by the Nazi's for the same reason they didn't invade Sweden, that being that Switzerland was neutral, but the difference is that Switzerland was directly in the middle of Europe, the Nazi's knew that Sweden being neutral would mean that if the Soviets attempted to attack their forces in Norway the Swedes would provide a large buffer to protect them.
Switzerland geographically didn't have a similar situation.
However towards the end of the war when the Americans were liberating Europe Swiss air space was violated several times by both Americas and Germany's respective air forces, in several incidents the USAAF (United States Army Air Force) 'accidentally' dropped bombs on Switzerland, on one occasion B-24 bombers bombed Zurich believing they were bombing the German city of Freiburg!
The Americans stated these incidents were navigational errors but several claim that it was a direct attempt to force Switzerland to end it's economic ties with Nazi Germany as the war was coming to an end.
Apart from Nazi gold among other things being in Swiss banks and the role of the bankers operating from a neutral country to finance both sides of that war would Switzerland have been worth invading?
It would have meant open air space across all of Western Europe for the Luftwaffe and Italian Air Force to operate in, apart from that not much else, and it could have done heavy damage to the German economy if they lost their assets in Swiss banks!
Apart from troops operating in harsh conditions the tactic of blitzkrieg that defeated Poland wouldn't have been properly put into effect considering certain parts of mountainous areas that armored columns wouldn't be able to operate in, apart from that Swiss resistance would have been very stubborn.
Labels: nazi germany, switzerland, world war II
posted by Paul Iddon @ 4:13 PM
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