For tactical reasons, Adolf Hitler repeatedly assured before the outbreak of World War II that Germany would respect the neutrality of Switzerland during the war years in Europe. In February 1937, he announced that "under all circumstances we will respect the integrity and neutrality of Switzerland" in front of Swiss Federal Councilor Edmund Schultess, repeating this promise shortly before the Nazi invasion of Poland.
These were, however, purely political maneuvers designed to guarantee the passivity of Switzerland. Nazi Germany planned to end Swiss independence after first defeating its main enemies on the Continent. The history described in this article refers to the unrealized operations of World War II.
Hitler's opinion
In August 1942, Hitlerdescribed Switzerland as "a pimple on the face of Europe" and as a state that no longer had the right to exist, denouncing the Swiss people as "an uninitiated branch of our people." He also believed that the independent Swiss state had come about because of the temporary weakness of the Holy Roman Empire, and now that his power had been restored after the National Socialist takeover, the country was obsolete.
Despite the fact that Hitler despised the democratically minded Swiss Germans as a "wayward branch of the German people", he still recognized their status as Germans. In addition, the openly all-German political goals of the NSDAP demanded the unification of all Germans in a Greater Germany, including the Swiss people. The first goal of the 25-point National Socialist program was: "We (the National Socialist Party) demand the unification of all Germans in a Greater Germany on the basis of the people's right to self-determination." The city of Bern (Switzerland) reacted to this statement with concern.
Grossdeutschland
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 (now Gdansk) to Krakow. Ignoring Switzerland's status as a sovereign state, these maps often depicted its territory as a German Gau. The author of one of these textbooks, Ewald Banse, explained: “It is quite natural that we consider the Swiss an offshoot of the German nation, as well as the Dutch, the Flemings,Lorenians, Alsatians, Austrians and Bohemians…
The day will come when we rally around a single banner, and anyone who wants to divide us, we will destroy! Various Nazis spoke of Germany's intention to expand the borders to the furthest reaches of the old Holy Roman Empire and even beyond. However, unrealized plans Hitler has sunk into oblivion.
Geopolitical aspect
Although the geopolitician Karl Haushofer did not belong directly to the Nazis, he advocated the division of Switzerland between neighboring countries and substantiated this in one of his works. He called for the transfer of Romandy (Welschland) to Vichy France, the Ticino region to Italy, Central and Eastern Switzerland to Germany.
An increase in Swiss defense spending has been approved, with an initial contribution of 15 million Swiss francs (out of a total multi-year budget of 100 million francs) directed towards modernization. With Hitler's rejection of the Treaty of Versailles in 1935, these costs jumped to 90 million francs. In 1933, the K31 became the standard infantry rifle and surpassed the German Kar98 in ease of use, accuracy, and weight. By the end of the war, about 350,000 of them will be produced. It is also worth noting that Hitler's name is under every document with the German military plan, including the Tannenbaum plan.
Features
Switzerland has a unique form of generalization. In peacetime, there is no officer with a rank higher than that of a corpkommandant (three-star general). Nevertheless, during the war and in "need"The Bundesversammlung elects a general to command the army and air force. On August 30, 1939, Henri Guisan was elected with 204 votes out of 227 cast. He immediately took charge of the situation.
Background
The Wehrmacht's invasion of Poland two days later forced Britain to declare war on Germany. Guisan called for a general mobilization and issued Schefsbefel No. 1, the first of what was to be a series of developing defensive plans. He distributed the three existing army corps to the east, north and west, with reserves in the center and south of the country. Guisan reported to the Federal Council on 7 September that by the time the United Kingdom declared war "our entire army had been in its operational positions for ten minutes". He also ordered the Chief of the General Staff to increase the age of recruitment from 48 to 60 (men of this age formed the Landsturm units in the rear echelon) and to form an entirely new army corps of 100,000 men.
Germany began planning an invasion of Switzerland in the victorious summer of 1940, the day France surrendered. At that time, the German army in France consisted of three army groups with two million soldiers in 102 divisions.
Switzerland and Liechtenstein were surrounded by occupied France and the Axis powers, and so Guisan issued a complete revision of the existing Swiss defensive plans: the fortress of Saint-Maurice, the Gotthard Pass in the south and the fortress of Sargany in the northeast would serveline of defense, the Alps will be their stronghold; the Swiss 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Army Corps would have to fight delaying operations on the frontier, while everyone who could would have to retreat to the Alpine refuge. However, all settlements were located on the plains of the north. They will have to be left to the Germans for the rest to survive.
Plan to take over Switzerland
Hitler wanted to see plans to invade Switzerland after the armistice with France. Captain Otto-Wilhelm Kurt von Menges of the OHX submitted a draft invasion plan. In his plan, Menges noted that Swiss resistance was unlikely and a non-violent Anschluss was the most likely outcome. In connection with "the current political situation in Switzerland," he wrote, "she can agree to ultimatum demands by peaceful means, so that after the military crossing of the border, a rapid transition to peaceful penetration of troops must be ensured." Such was the planning of Nazi Germany's invasion of Switzerland.
Revisions
The original plan called for 21 German divisions, but this figure was reduced to 11 by the OKH. Halder himself studied the frontier regions and concluded that "the Jura frontier offers no favorable base for attack. Switzerland rises in successive waves of wooded terrain along the axis of attack. There are few crossing points of the Doubs and the frontier, the Swiss frontier is strong." He opted for an infantry feint in the Jura to draw out the Swiss army and then cut it off in the rear, as had been done in France. With 11 German divisions and about 15Italians ready to move in from the south expected an invasion of somewhere between 300,000 and 500,000 men.
Why didn't Hitler attack Switzerland?
The Fuhrer never gave his approval for reasons that are still unclear. It is widely believed that in neutral Switzerland it would be useful to hide the Axis gold and provide a safe haven for war criminals in the event of a defeat. This also became a possible reason for maintaining neutrality. The more general reasoning is that there was little strategic benefit in conquering the country, especially given the likelihood of a protracted and costly mountain war that could ensue.
These costs of conquest, outweighing the benefits, are key for a medium power like Switzerland to maintain independence in the face of a much stronger national power. Although the Wehrmacht feigned moving towards Switzerland on the offensive, it never attempted to invade. Operation Tannenbaum was suspended and Switzerland remained neutral throughout the war.
Goals
Germany's political goal in the expected conquest of Switzerland was to bring back most of the "racially fit" Swiss population and direct them to join the German Reich directly, at least its ethnic German parts.
Heinrich Himmler discussed the suitability of various people for the position of Reichskommissar of occupied Switzerland after its "reunification" with Germany. It was an extremely important task. This one is not yetthe elected official would have to contribute to the complete unification (Zusammenwachsen) of the populations of Switzerland and Germany. Himmler further tried to expand the SS into Switzerland, forming the German SS in 1942. But nothing really happened. Why didn't Hitler occupy Switzerland? Perhaps because he did not want to shed excess German blood.
A document called Aktion S was also found in Himmler's archives (with full Reichsführer-SS, SS-Hauptamt, Aktion Schweiz letterhead). It details the planned process of establishing Nazi rule in Switzerland from its initial conquest by the Wehrmacht to full consolidation as a German province. It is not known whether this prepared plan was approved by any high-ranking members of the German government.
Further developments
After the second armistice at Compiègne in June 1940, the Reich Ministry of the Interior issued a memorandum on the accession of a strip of eastern France from the mouth of the Somme to Lake Geneva, intended as a reserve for post-war German colonization. The planned division of Switzerland would be in line with this new Franco-German border, effectively leaving the French-speaking region of Romandy attached to the Reich despite the linguistic difference. This is considered one of the reasons why Hitler did not attack Switzerland.
Germany's wartime ally, Italy under Benito Mussolini desired the Italian-speaking areas of Switzerland to be part of its irredentist claims in Europe, especially in the Swiss canton of Ticino. During the tourin the Italian Alpine regions, Mussolini announced to his entourage that "the new Europe cannot have more than four or five large states; the small ones [will] have no reason to exist and will have to disappear."
The country's future in Axis-dominated Europe was further discussed at a round table conference in 1940 between Italian Foreign Minister Galeazzo Ciano and German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop. Hitler was also present at the event. Ciano proposed that, in the event of the collapse of Switzerland, it should be divided along the central chain of the Western Alps, since Italy wanted the areas south of this demarcation line to be part of its own military objectives. This would leave Ticino, Valais and Graubünden under Italian control.
National Redoubt
The "Swiss National Redoubt" (German: Schweizer Reduit; French: Réduit national; Italian: Ridotto nazionale; Romansh: Reduit nazional) was a defensive plan developed by the Swiss government from the 1880s in response to invading foreigners. During the early years of the war, the plan was expanded and refined to deal with a potential German invasion that was planned but never carried out. The term "National Redoubt" primarily refers to the fortifications begun at the end of the 19th century, which provided protection for central Switzerland in the mountainous countryside, providing shelter for the retreating Swiss army. Without these fortifications, the country would be underconstant risk of occupation. Why didn't Hitler touch Switzerland? Some believe it is because of this defensive plan.
The "National Redoubt" included a widespread set of fortifications along a common east-west line across the Alps, centered on three main fortress complexes: the fortresses of Saint Maurice, Saint Gotthard and Sargans. These fortresses primarily protected the Alpine crossings between Germany and Italy and excluded the industrial and populous heart of Switzerland. The Swiss central regions were protected by the defense of the "border line", and the "army position" was a little further.
Although not seen as an impenetrable barrier, these lines contained significant fortifications. On the other hand, the "National Redoubt" was conceived as an almost impregnable complex of fortifications that would prevent the passage of the aggressor through the Alps, controlling the main mountain passes and railway tunnels running from north to south through the region. This strategy was aimed at completely preventing the invasion by depriving the aggressor of Switzerland's critical transport infrastructure.
The "National Redoubt" was the subject of controversy in Swiss society, many of its fortifications were decommissioned by the beginning of the 21st century.
Background
The strengthening of the Swiss Alpine region gained momentum after the construction of the Gotthard railway. Forts similar to the projects of the Belgianmilitary engineer Henri Alexis Brialmont, were built at Airolo, the Oberalp Pass, the Furka Pass and the Grimsel Pass, all in the central Alps. Additional posts have been built in the Saint Maurice area using mining and tunneling techniques in the steep mountainsides of the glacial valley.
History
After the Great War, the phlegmatic Swiss were not interested in further strengthening their borders. However, in the 1930s, France built the Maginot Line from the Swiss border to Belgium, and Czechoslovakia built Czechoslovakian border fortifications. Switzerland has revised its need for a fixed defense. At the same time, job creation programs became necessary as a result of the worldwide Great Depression. By 1935, design work began, and in 1937, construction began on the extended Alpine fortifications, the border line, and army line fortifications.
Guisan proposed a strategy of delay on the rough terrain of the frontiers to keep the invasion force out of the open ground on the central plateau as long as possible, allowing an orderly retreat to the defended alpine perimeter. Once the retreat to the Alps is complete, the Swiss government may be in hiding for a long time.
Accordingly, the border fortifications have been improved through major programs along the Rhine and at Vallorbe in the Jura. The strategic Alpine nodes of Saint Maurice, Saint Gotthard and Sargan were identified as the main points of access to the Alpine redoubt for a potential aggressor. Whilejust as St. Gotthard and St. Maurice had previously been fortified, the Sargans area was once again vulnerable thanks to a program to drain the former wetlands along the Rhine, which would now provide easy access to the eastern Alpine gate at Sargans.
Strategy
The "National Redoubt" strategy was underlined on May 24, 1941. Until that time, only about two-thirds of the Swiss army had been mobilized. After the rapid capture of the Balkan countries by German troops in April 1941, when the relatively low mountains turned out to be a small barrier for the Nazis, the entire army was mobilized. The Swiss, lacking a significant armored force, concluded that withdrawing to the Redoubt was the only reasonable course.
The start of the war in Europe
The capital of Switzerland, Bern, was one of the last bastions of free Europe. The "National Redoubt" gained a lot of importance for the Swiss in 1940, when they were completely surrounded by Axis forces and therefore effectively at the mercy of Hitler and Mussolini. The "National Redoubt" was a way to keep at least part of Swiss territory in the event of an invasion. And the Tannenbaum plan became one of the most mysterious failed operations of World War II.
The politicians of this small country have got their way. That's why Hitler didn't attack Switzerland. Switzerland's wartime cost-cutting strategy was essentially its own deterrent. The idea was to make it clear to the ThirdReich that an invasion would have a high cost. Despite this, it is clear that Hitler, whose name was then superstitiously awe even among the brave Swiss, intended to eventually invade the country, and that the landing of the Allies in Normandy, as well as the difficulties faced by the Nazis in invading Russia, were decisive value for simple intrusion delay. The concessions included a national power outage and the destruction of a secret German radar system.
However, the plan was abandoned. And, as you already understood, there are many answers to the question why Hitler did not attack Switzerland.
