He had the means and resources to do so. Switzerland sticks out like a blot on the map.
--Michael D. Clarke
Switzerland presently has folk that make Hitler look like a choir boy.
shareBecause he read this first:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_neutrality
Hitler never cared about neutrality.
Hitler just disliked people who always say/ask the same fooleries. πβ
https://moviechat.org/general/General-Discussion/65abf32e83a6583919f057ac/Do-you-think-America-is-the-greatest-country-in-the-world?reply=65ac326283a6583919f05997
(michaelDclarke with always the same shit from his isolated island)
Didn't invade Sweden either. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden#World_War_I_and_World_War_II
shareSweden betimes breached its neutrality in favour of Germany and later the western Allies.
But that's a minor detail.
Oh, and Hitler didn't invade Vatikan City either. πβ
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vatican_City_during_World_War_II
He also didn't invade
Ireland
Portugal
Spain
Andorra
Liechtenstein
San Marino
USA.
Just to mention a few others. βΊ
Ireland
...
not close?
Liechtenstein remained officially neutralhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liechtenstein#20th_century:~:text=Liechtenstein%20remained%20officially%20neutral
Distance Berlin/Germany --> Liechtenstein around 780 km
Distance Berlin/Germany --> Sweden around 1,200 km
'Heroic' Sweden not close.
During World War II, San Marino (country!) remained neutral, although it was wrongly reported in an article in The New York Times that it had declared war on the United Kingdom.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Marino
Ireland -> neutral
Portugal -> neutral
Spain -> neutral
Andorra -> neutral
Liechtenstein -> neutral
San Marino -> neutral
USA -> not neutral, not close
All mentioned above are countries by their own. π€β
You wrote:
Hitler never cared about neutrality.https://moviechat.org/nm0386944/Adolf-Hitler/65ab44d383a6583919f05266/So-why-didnt-he-invade-Switzerland?reply=65ae286f100b964a7c4f7ee6
Armies aren't built for uphill battles. Mountain nations are difficult to conquer. Just look at Afghanistan for a recent example.
shareIt was pointless to waste resources on a neutral country full of Germans who silently supported him anyway. I hope you know that the Swiss are ethnically German and speak German.
shareI hope you know that the Swiss are ethnically NOT German and most speak French, Italian AND German.
shareI'm referring to the DNA of the majority, not their passport.
The majority of Swiss, about 65%, ethnically identify as German. The Germanic tribes were major forces in the Alps for a long time, and when the first Swiss Confederacy was formed, it was technically part of the German-controlled Holy Roman Empire.share
https://study.com/academy/lesson/switzerland-ethnic-groups.html
A lot of trouble for not much gain. The general staff did draw up a plan to do it though: Operation Green/Operation Tannenbaum.
shareThey were useful as their banking service allowed them doing foreign exchange trade via stooges. And yes, if he had wanted it, very likely Switzerland had shown in the end as much resistance as Austria did. But there was never a need, as both countries benefit a lot from the many restrictions Germany faced.
Germany never gave a fuck of neutrality, if its in their way. Belgium was neutral and Germany happily invaded them in WW1. Also Scandinavia was neutral, still Germany invaded them all. Finnland back then was kind of Ukraine today, as the Soviet Union failed to succesfully invaded them, showing the weakness of the Red Army and resulted in Hitler being convinced to initiate Unternehmen Barbarossa.
My own view of this Swiss Neutrality and why it's been respected is that Swiss banks provide numbered bank accounts with no questions asked as to where the money came from.
Another thing is those Swiss Army knifes are pretty powerful. The enemy approaches and you pull out that corkscrew, open a bottle of wine and everyone is happy.