Obviously, Swiss people hold diverse views, they are not one hive mind or monolith. Nevertheless, Switzerland has had the long-lasting policy of neutrality in war regardless of what the war is being fought for or who was the aggressor (recent example: trying its hardest to prevent Swiss stuff from being sent to Ukraine).
So what I’m wondering is - is it that Switzerland genuinely thinks there’s never a good side or a bad side - everyone’s always equally to blame, or rather, they do think there is good and bad, but think, “Meh, if evil wins, it’s fine, I’m chill with it?”
If they think conflict isn’t worth getting involved in, that’s one thing, but I get the impression sometimes that it’s the latter.
There’s a pretty big excluded middle in your argument. There are many reasons why believing that a neutral third party in conflicts is good for all parties.
I believe the question is not “When you see people fighting, do you always feel obliged to join the fight?”, but rather “When you see two groups fighting, do you never feel obliged to join the fight?”
A question that may or may not have bearing: Is the Swiss position on neutrality ideological or practical in nature? To expand on my question - is Swiss neutrality based on a belief that remaining neutral is the best, most correct, ideal thing to do? Or is it based on practical factors like small size, limited/nonexistent ability to project military power, and/or the perceived necessity of a third-party mediator in managing global conflicts? Or does it come from a third or a combination of factors?
Most nations are pragmatic about their alliances; we just dress it up in righteousness. The Swiss, surrounded on all sides by ambitious nations, have every reason in the world to embrace neutrality especially since a neutral Switzerland is one of the few things pretty much every nation agrees is advantageous.
I get a lot of crap from friends who make fun of my Swissiness. Banking/Laundering for the Nazis is the most common. “Look, they had the choice of being Nazis’ bankers or being Nazis.”
Me personally, I saw a lot of fights break out as a kid. Never felt compelled to join one.
You know what the fellow said…in Italy under the Borgias, they had 30 years of murder, bloodshed, and warfare, and they produced indigestible noodles, boring operas and the Fiat. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did they produce? The Swiss bank account, the best cheese in the world, and Heidi!
IIRC Switzerland is the only country whose borders haven’t changed since being established by the 1815 Treaty of Vienna. I can’t blame them for staying out of WW2, trying to fight Germany would have been suicidal.
After the fall of Napoleon, the victorious powers sort of demanded neutrality as a condition of restoring Switzerland’s independence. Before 1815, Switzerland’s biggest export was mercenary soldiers. The allies knew that, without a common enemy, their alliance would fracture, and they didn’t want their rivals recruiting Swiss soldiers.
