On September 1, 1939, the Nazi German army, led by the fallen art student Hitler, launched a military attack on Poland. Britain and France then declared war on Germany, and World War II broke out in full swing. The war swept through more than 60 countries and regions around the world, and at the beginning of the war, the German army was so strong that it could occupy a small European country in a matter of days. Even a traditional European power like France, the Germans defeated it in only 40 days!
So why is Switzerland at the heart of Europe's battlefield left alone? Why was Switzerland not invaded by Germany?
Switzerland, a small country in the center of Europe, has an area of just over 40,000 square kilometers and a population of about 4.2 million during World War II. Imagine France, with a population of more than 40 million, resisting Germany for only 40 days.
If the Germans were to attack Switzerland, wouldn't that be a piece of cake?
Some people say that Germany did not attack Switzerland at that time because Switzerland was recognized by the European powers as a permanent neutral country in 1815! Protected by international law!
Personally, I think this view is untenable, just imagine this is a world war, what international law? What treaty? What file? In the face of such a world war, these European powers themselves are unable to protect! Will you still have the energy to protect your 40,000 square kilometers of neutrality?
It is also said that although Switzerland is small, three-quarters of its land area is mountainous, and at that time Switzerland also had an army of more than 800,000! The German army did not dare to fight Switzerland, and the Swiss people were all martial and fierce!
Personally, I don't think this argument holds up! Imagine that France, with a depth of 500,000 square kilometers, was known as the first european army power at that time; and the impregnable Maginot Line was defeated by the German army in dozens of days, surrendered! Can Switzerland, with 40,000 square kilometers, an army of 800,000 people and a population of more than 4 million, stand up to Germany? Obviously not!
In fact, the most important reason why Germany did not attack Switzerland in World War II is because of The Swiss financial industry!
As the saying goes, a cannon is a golden cannon, especially in the face of mechanized blitzkrieg, raising soldiers needs money, aircraft cannons, tank fuel, gun bullets, everywhere need a lot of money!
With so much money, where does Germany come from? Of course, it was borrowed from Switzerland, the money bag next to it, because Switzerland at the time of World War II held one-third of the world's private wealth at that time.
Even the unsuccessful art students themselves have their own private deposits in Swiss banks!
In this way, Switzerland, as a permanent "neutral country", provided a large number of cash loans to the German army in World War II, as well as gold transactions!
It also provides Germany with electricity supply to ensure its industrial production; provides mineral resources and guarantees its energy supply! Later, Switzerland, which had precision machining technology, also did OEM processing for German weapon parts!
epilogue:
In fact, at the beginning of World War II, the art students who fell off the list thought of attacking Switzerland, and for this reason, they also formulated a "Christmas Tree" battle plan for attacking Switzerland. But because the battle line was stretched too quickly after the outbreak of World War II, Hitler was in great need of money and resources, coupled with the rapid response of Switzerland's "permanent neutral country" according to the war situation, so that Germany gave up attacking Switzerland!
Imagine such a friendly "permanent neutral country", how could the German army be willing to send troops to attack it? Who's going to attack their own little vault vault vault and right-hand man? Who would be foolish enough to cut off their arms to attack this safe "transit station" that absorbs the world's resources and wealth?