I always wanted a Swiss Army knife when I was growing up. It was a pretty handy tool and eventually that dream came true. While it was handy, I never thought about the Swiss Army being fearsome.
I was wrong on that one. It’s been said that man-for-man, the Swiss Army is one of the best in the world, and Time magazine said in World War II that it was the second best army in Europe. Every male between the ages of 18 and 34 is required to serve part time in the military.
The country practices “armed neutrality,” which is not the same thing as pacifist. There are other “neutral” countries throughout the world — Ireland, Costa Rica, Austria, but no one yells those names out when their friends are arguing.
The Swiss first made a move towards neutrality in 1515 when they were crushed by France in the Battle of Marignano. They decided to focus on self-preservation at that point, and it worked well until Napoleon invaded in 1798. However, after the Little Emperor went down at Waterloo, the Allies decided that Switzerland would make a nice buffer between France and Austria and made agreements to ensure Swiss neutrality.
During World War I, the Swiss remained neutral and took in refugees. The League of Nations was formed after the war and headquartered in Geneva. It remained neutral during World War II, but as was later revealed, they continued to trade with the Nazis.
The Germans and Italians both had a plan to invade Switzerland, but thought better of it. It was called Operation Tannenbaum and it should be noted that the Swiss mobilized an army of over 600,000 men and women in just three days. Bern was a city of spies during the war.
Both German and allied planes were shot down for violating Swiss airspace. Some men were killed and those captured were imprisoned. Because the Swiss continued to trade with Germany — in part to prevent an invasion — the Allies bombed the town of Schaffhausen.
Of course, Switzerland is known for banking and has the highest nominal wealth per person in the world.
The Swiss never joined NATO or the European Union and only joined the United Nations in 2002.
Sources:
History.com “Why is Switzerland a neutral country?”
Time “Switzerland Takes a Side for Neutrality”
Warhistoryonline “How did Switzerland manage to remain neutral during WWII?”