[Official code name] "Christmas Tree" operation
Operation Tannenbaum
Invasion of Switzerland
[Secret level] Confidential
[Initiator] Nazi Germany
[Operational Process] June 25, 1940
Objective: Action plan for the invasion of Switzerland
Despite its neutrality, Switzerland cannot stop the evil thoughts of the outside world
【Background】
The Second World War, launched by Nazi Germany, was a huge invasion, occupation and annexation operation, and for the main opponents, the Germans planned more comprehensively, including the "Barbarossa" operation against the Soviet Union: the big man on the top, still could not change the fate of the head-scratching, the "blue" strategic offensive operation (also called "Brunswick" operation) in the southern part of the Soviet Union, the "sea lion" plan against britain, and so on.
But for the surrounding small countries, weak countries, the Germans also fully considered, such as the "white" operation against Poland, the "yellow" operation on the Western Front, the "sickle blitzkrieg" operation against France: the strange masterpiece of genius, the divergent reaction of the discerning and the confused egg, the "lilac" operation, the "red" operation, and so on.
Although Switzerland adheres to the principle of neutrality, this does not offset the stupidity in the hearts of the Germans, and it is very early on that a military occupation operation (Operation Green) code-named "Green" specifically designed for Switzerland was formulated. Even before the outbreak of war, Germany had every reason to expect an invasion of Switzerland.
After Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933, he proposed to various national socialist-leaning organizations in the German-speaking countries, especially austria and Switzerland. For tactical reasons, Hitler repeatedly assured before the outbreak of World War II that Germany would respect Switzerland's neutrality in the event of a military conflict in Europe.
Adolf hitler
In February 1937, Hitler declared, "Whatever happens, we will respect inviolability and will respect Switzerland's neutrality at all times." Germany solemnly declared itself to Edmund Schultes, the Swiss Federal Parliamentarian, and reaffirmed this commitment shortly before the German invasion of Poland ("Canned Goose" Operation: "Operation "False Flag", "Operation Himmler", the most reliable "Aryan" of the Aryans). Nazi Germany planned to relinquish the country's independence after defeating the continent's main enemy for the first time.
In June 1941, Hitler made his vision of Switzerland very clearly at a meeting with the fascist Italian leader Benito Mussolini and the Italian Foreign Minister, Galezzo Ciano: "Switzerland has the most repulsive and miserable people and political system. The Swiss were the sworn enemies of the new Germany. ”
Fascist Italian leader Benito Mussolini
In the ensuing discussion, German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop referred directly to the possibility of dividing Switzerland between the two Axis powers: "When the Principality asked whether Switzerland had a future as a real error of the times, the Reich Foreign Minister smiled and told the Principality that he had to discuss this issue with the Führer. ”
In August 1942, Hitler further described Switzerland as a on the surface of Europe and described it as a country that no longer had the right to subsistence, denouncing the Swiss people as a false branch of our collective action. ”
Switzerland is a small, multilingual, decentralized democracy, and Germany says here that from the point of view of National Socialism, the Republic has close ties and loyalties to its French-speaking Compatriots, rather than to the German "brothers" who cross the border, which is the entire antithesis of the homogeneous and collectivized "Führer State". Due to the temporary weakening of the Holy Roman Empire, an independent Swiss state was able to exist, and after National Socialism took over, Swiss power was re-established, and the country was outdated.
Although Hitler despised the democratic-minded German-Swiss as "a branch of the German people," he still recognized their status as Germans. In addition, the NDA's overt pan-German political goals call for the unification of all Germans into a larger Germany, including the Swiss people. The first objective of the "25-point National Socialist Program" ("Pulse of History" to be published immediately afterwards) was: "We [the National Socialist Party] demand the unification of all Germans in Greater Germany on the basis of the right of the people to self-determination." ”
In German maps and textbooks, Greater Germany included the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Bohemia-Moravia, the German-speaking region of Switzerland, and Danzig (present-day Gdańsk-Moravia) Krakow in western Poland. These maps often show it as German territory, completely disregarding Switzerland's status as a sovereign state. Ewald Banser, one of the authors of these textbooks, explains: "It is only natural that we consider Switzerland to belong to the branch of the German nation, branch like the Dutch, Flemishes, Lorraines, Alsaces, Austrians and Bohemians... One day we will gather [these people] under our own unified banner, and anyone who wants to separate us, we will wipe out! “
Nazi voices of all kinds were preaching about Germany's intention to "extend Germany's borders to the furthest, or even greater, of the old Holy Roman Empire." Despite ideological or political inconsistencies with the Nazis themselves and their intellectual support, the geopoliticalist Karl Haushofer advocated in his work the division of Switzerland as a periphery, with Romandi (Wales) being awarded vichy France, Ticino to Italy, central Switzerland and eastern Switzerland to Germany.
In view of this, Switzerland did not get by, the increase in defense spending was approved, and the first batch of 15 million Swiss francs (in the total multi-year budget of 100 million Swiss francs) was used for modernization. With Hitler abandoning the Treaty of Versailles in 1935, the expenditure increased to 90 million francs. In 1933, the K31 became the standard rifle for Swiss infantry, outperforming the German KAR98 in terms of ease of use, accuracy and weight. By the end of World War II, nearly 350,000 Swiss universal chariots will be produced. In peacetime, no officer had a higher rank than Kulpskomandan (three-star general). However, in times of war and "need", the Bundeswehr chose a general to command the army and air force. On August 30, 1939, Henry Gissan was elected by 204 out of 227 votes.
Two days later, the Wehrmacht invaded Poland, causing Britain to declare war on Germany. Gissan called the general mobilization and released Operations Befehl Nr. 1, the first in a series of evolving defense programs. The first assigns the existing 3 Army units to the east, north and west, with reserves in the central and southern parts of the country. Gisan reported to the Federal Council on September 7 that at the time of Britain's declaration of war, "our entire army was already in its operational position." He also asked his chief of staff to raise the age of eligibility for service from 48 to 60 (people of that age would form rear echelons of Marines) and ordered the formation of a new Army Corps of 100,000 men.
On June 25, 1940, the day of France's surrender, Germany began planning to invade Switzerland. At this time, the French German army consisted of 3 army groups, 102 divisions with 2 million soldiers. Switzerland and Liechtenstein were completely encircled by occupied France and the Axis powers, so Gissan issued Operations Befehl Nr. 10, which carried out a comprehensive defense plan inspection of the existing Swiss army – the South was st. Maurice and the Strait of St. Gotthhard, the Fortress of Sagan in the northeast would serve as a defensive line, and the Alps would be their fortress. The Swiss Second, Third and Fourth Armies will take a delaying action on the border, while all possible retreating people will withdraw to a refuge in the Alps, the "National Sanctuary". However, the population centers are all located on the plains of the north. In order to keep the rest alive, they had to be left to the Germans.
Hitler asked to see plans to invade Switzerland. Marshal Franz Holder, commander-in-chief of the Army, recalled: "I often heard Hitler's outrage at Switzerland, which, given his mentality, could lead to military activity in the army at any time. ”
Captain Otto William Kurt von Mongels submitted a draft plan of the offensive, with the "C" Corps and the 12th Army, led by General William Ritter von Leib, in charge of the main offensive. Leib himself surveyed the terrain himself, studying the most promising offensive routes and the paths with the least resistance. In his plan, Mongels noted that Switzerland was impossible to resist and that the most likely outcome was a nonviolent German annexation. "Given the current political situation in Switzerland, it is likely to accept the demands of an ultimatum in a peaceful manner, and therefore a rapid transition to a peaceful invasion must be ensured after the crossing of the belligerent border," he wrote. ”
The plan continued to be revised until October, when the 12th Army submitted a fourth draft, which is now known as "Christmas". Originally, the Christmas plan called for 21 German divisions, but the Army Command revised this number to 11. Holder himself had studied the border area and concluded that "the Chula border did not provide a favorable base for the offensive." Switzerland's terrain is undulating, traversing the axis of attack in a continuous forested terrain. There are few intersections between the Dubs River and the border, and the location of the Swiss border is also strong. ”
He decided to have an infantryman pretend at Chula to attract the Swiss army and then cut it off in the rear as he had done in France. With 11 German divisions and about 15 Italian divisions preparing to enter from the south, Switzerland is considering an invasion of about 300,000 to 500,000 men.
【Course of Action】
Although the Christmas operation changed drafts several times, Hitler never took the initiative – for reasons that remain uncertain.
Although the Wehrmacht pretended to attack Switzerland during the offensive, it never attempted to invade.
After D Day (June 6, 1944, The Day of Operation Overlord: Watch how the giant-like overweight fat man commanded thousands of troops), the operation was suspended.
D-Day Commemorates Pope
【Follow-up】
Germany's political goal in the expected conquest of Switzerland was to regain for Germany a large part of the "racially fit" Swiss population, and to directly annex the German Empire, at least a portion of the German nation.
In September 1941, different people were suitable for the position of mp for the "re-union" of Switzerland and Germany, and for the subsequent MPs, as well as for his subordinate Gotlob Berger. The calculus of the populations of Switzerland and Germany. When the German SS was founded in 1942, Heinrich Himmler also tried to expand the SS into Switzerland.
A document entitled "Aksin" S (with full-letter SS, SS, Aktin SS) was also found in the Himmler document. It details the planned process of establishing Nazi rule in Switzerland, from its initial conquest by the Wehrmacht to its complete consolidation as a German province. It is not known whether the prepared plan was supported by any senior members of the German government. In June 1940, after the Second Armistice at Combinje, the Interior Ministry of the Reich proposed a memorandum on the annexation of a strip of eastern France from the mouth of the Somme into the lake, intending to make Geneva a reservation for the post-war German colonies. The planned anatomy of Switzerland would conform to this new Franco-German border, which, despite linguistic differences, would actually allow the French-speaking Romanti regions to be incorporated into the German Empire.
During the war, Switzerland remained neutral.
Heinrich Himmler
【Relevance】
Operation Christmas Tree was a military strategic operation, and because the operation was not carried out and was not supported by clear tactical actions in the planning process, it was only an isolated plan.
However, this statement is not accurate because:
1. It has a certain deferred context, mainly the development of the original National Action Party's public "National Socialist 25 Points" plan and "green" action, which has a close internal relationship;
2. It is one of the many military strategic operations to conquer the weak and small neighboring countries, and has a strict strategic organization:
3. Triggered a series of military readiness operations for Operation Befer in Switzerland, although it did not escalate to a military confrontation operation.
【Impact】
Italy, Germany's wartime ally under Benito Mussolini, wanted Switzerland's Italian-speaking area to be part of its irrevocable claims in Europe, particularly the Swiss canton of Ticino. On a trip to the Italian Alps, he announced to his entourage, "New Europe ... There can be no more than four or five large countries; small states [will] have no further reason, and [will] have to disappear".
In 1940, Italian Foreign Minister Galezzo Ciano held a round table with German Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop (also present by Hitler) to further discuss the country's future in Axis-dominated Europe. Ciano proposed that if Switzerland disintegrated, it should be divided along the central line of the Alps, as Italy wanted the area south of the border line as part of its war objectives, which would give Italy control of Ticino, Valles and Granden.
Italy
【Comments】
Operation Christmas Tree was one of many stillbirths in Nazi Germany and had little effect on the overall course of the war.
【Code Name Description】
Operation "Christmas Tree", as well as the transliteration of "Tannenbaum" operation, "Tennenberg" operation, etc., the action is internally consistent.
However, this operation is called Operation Fir Tree in English, or simply "Operation Christmas Tree". In other words, the "Christmas Tree" operation actually originated from the English translation.
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