# Why didn't Hitler take Switzerland ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 8, 2009, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-hitler-take-switzerland/509334 "2009-09-08T20:40:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-hitler-take-switzerland/509334/41 "2009-09-09T01:54:02Z")
> [@Kevbo](#): > > Yes Japan, in the same era. > . No. Japan surrendered. The Swiss would never surrender. There is a big difference when the enemy refuses to surrender - its really a soldiers worst nightmare. (…and I am guessing that Isreal has adopted the Swiss policy of no surrender) ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-hitler-take-switzerland/509334/42 "2009-09-09T01:59:54Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I don’t want to question the bravery of the Swiss reservist or their organizational capabilities, but do you really think that this would have been the deciding issue for Nazi Germany to not invade Switzerland? **At the time** , one hundred out of every one hundred German officers and leaders you polled, including Der Fuhrer himself, would have laughed themselves into convulsions if you’d told them Switzerland would be a tougher nut to crack than France. And France fell in five or six weeks. D’ya really think Switzerland scared Germany? Not a chance; there is absolutely no reason to believe Germany wouldn’t have happily squashed Switzerland had they had a reason to. The Nazis were not afraid of Swiss housewifes with rifles. > > They didn’t invade Switzerland because they had no reason to. The Swiss were their de facto allies. Especially considering the German Hehr fielded quite a few regiments of Gebirgsjäger (mountain troops) which were elite units trained extensively in the German Alps. They would have been at \*home \*in Switzerland. As for the “Switzerland had a policy of no surrender” bit… haw, haw, haw. Every country has a policy of no surrender. It’s one of the easiest policies to have in peacetime, really. Just ask any soldier : “Lad, suppose the enemy’s at the gate, what do you do ?” “Fight, sir ! To the death !”. And then the war begins, and local policies sort of shift dynamically… ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-hitler-take-switzerland/509334/43 "2009-09-09T02:09:37Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I don’t want to question the bravery of the Swiss reservist or their organizational capabilities, but do you really think that this would have been the deciding issue for Nazi Germany to not invade Switzerland? **At the time** , one hundred out of every one hundred German officers and leaders you polled, including Der Fuhrer himself, would have laughed themselves into convulsions if you’d told them Switzerland would be a tougher nut to crack than France. And France fell in five or six weeks. D’ya really think Switzerland scared Germany? Not a chance; there is absolutely no reason to believe Germany wouldn’t have happily squashed Switzerland had they had a reason to. The Nazis were not afraid of Swiss housewifes with rifles. > > They didn’t invade Switzerland because they had no reason to. The Swiss were their de facto allies. NO. Not true. First of all , Hitler hated Switzerland. “The fuher characterized Switzerland as the most despicable and wretched people and national entity. The Swiss were mortal enemies of the new Germany” (page 152) Target Switzerland Secondly, Hitler did not want the Swiss to be colonized, “the fuhrer believed that the Swiss would not be fit citizens of the Reich” Third, a later plan to invade Switzerland in July 1941, “Operation Wartegau” included not only paratrooper, panzer, and luftwaffe attackes, but also …hydroplanes which would land on lakes in Switzerland". The plan was presented by Colonel Adolf Heusinger to the Chief of the German Army Operations Department. (page 151) Target Switzerland The plan to invade Switzerland in July 1941 was NOT conumated…the german generals and Hitler did NOT , as you put it: “laugh themselves into convulsions”. In the final analysis, although Hitler hated the Swiss, although Hitler planned to invade Switzerland several times - his generals talked him out of it, because of Swiss no-surrender policy war with Switzerland would be unwinnable in the sense that nothing would be left to win, the Swiss not only maintained their neutrality but when Luftwaffe aircraft invaded Swiss airspace they came under attack and several were shot down by the Swiss, and in the end, Switzerland, was NOT invaded. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-hitler-take-switzerland/509334/44 "2009-09-09T02:14:48Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > As for the “Switzerland had a policy of no surrender” bit… haw, haw, haw. Every country has a policy of no surrender. .. NO they dont. A “no-surrender” policy is exceedingly rare in world history. To my knowlege, Switzerland, and possibly Isreal are the only ones that have such a policy. Why do you think a dozen arab countries were never able to conquer Isreal over the last 60 years? Do you really think Isreal will surrender to the arabs in a future war? ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-hitler-take-switzerland/509334/45 "2009-09-09T02:18:00Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > No. Japan surrendered. > > The Swiss would never surrender. This is complete speculation. Talk is cheap. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-hitler-take-switzerland/509334/46 "2009-09-09T02:40:28Z")
Originally Posted by Susanann View Post No. Japan surrendered. The Swiss would never surrender. > [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > This is complete speculation. Talk is cheap. The fact is, that japan DID!! surrender, but the Swiss, and for that matter, Israel… did NOT!!! Unlike every other european country, all Swiss citizens had a no surrender policy and were in fact prepared to fight to the end, and that was not “talk”. Facts are facts. Switzerland WAS NOT invaded. Switzerland WAS an island of peace and freedom in Europe. The 2 best books that I have in my library on why Hitler did not take Switzerland, are: “Target Switzerland”, by Stephen Halbrook, and “Total Resistance - Swiss Army Guide to Guerrilla Warfare and Underground Operations” by Major H. von Dach. ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-hitler-take-switzerland/509334/47 "2009-09-09T02:42:42Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > Originally Posted by Susanann View Post > No. Japan surrendered. > > The Swiss would never surrender. > > The fact is, that japan DID!! surrender, but the Swiss, and for that matter, Israel… did NOT!!! > > Unlike every other european country, all Swiss citizens had a no surrender policy and were in fact prepared to fight to the end, and that was not “talk”. > > Facts are facts. You’re right, I forgot about how Switzerland was invaded by Germany during the war and managed to fight them off through brave adherence to their no surrender policy, even after their cities were turned into smoldering craters. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-hitler-take-switzerland/509334/48 "2009-09-09T02:52:20Z")
Robert Harris’s excellent alt-history thriller _Fatherland_ touches on Switzerland’s usefulness to the Reich as neutral territory, banking provider and espionage center. No particular reason to invade, and several good reasons not to. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-hitler-take-switzerland/509334/49 "2009-09-09T02:59:42Z")
Switzerland was conquered by the French during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars; this notion that Switzerland is some uniquely unconquerable nation has no basis in reality. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-hitler-take-switzerland/509334/50 "2009-09-09T03:09:15Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > Switzerland was conquered by the French during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars; this notion that Switzerland is some uniquely unconquerable nation has no basis in reality. No nation is unconquerable. That being said, Switzerland has been neutral and had its neutrality recognized for most of its modern history, and the Swiss do have a reputation for being good soldiers. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-hitler-take-switzerland/509334/51 "2009-09-09T03:10:24Z")
One of the big factors that saved Switzerland was its use as a transit route between Germany and Italy. The majority of supplies that traveled between the two Axis allies were routed through Switzerland. And the Swiss made it clear that if Germany invaded they would blow up the tunnels and close these transit routes for the years it would take to rebuild them. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Kobayashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4af34b/32.png) [@Mr.Kobayashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Kobayashi)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-hitler-take-switzerland/509334/52 "2009-09-09T03:25:52Z")
See also [Operation Tannenbaum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Tannenbaum), the German plan for the invasion of Switzerland. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Seventh\_Deadly\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6bbea6/32.png) [@The\_Seventh\_Deadly\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Seventh_Deadly_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-hitler-take-switzerland/509334/53 "2009-09-09T03:27:02Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > Originally Posted by Susanann View Post > No. Japan surrendered. > > The Swiss would never surrender. > > The fact is, that japan DID!! surrender, but the Swiss, and for that matter, Israel… did NOT!!! > > Unlike every other european country, all Swiss citizens had a no surrender policy and were in fact prepared to fight to the end, and that was not “talk”. > > Facts are facts. Switzerland WAS NOT invaded. Switzerland WAS an island of peace and freedom in Europe. You say Switzerland wasn’t invaded because they’d never surrender. I say they never surrendered because they were never attacked. I’m sure the Swiss are very tough, resolute people. But so were the Japanese. It’s a little unfair to characterize Japan as a nation of sushi-eating surrender monkeys because they caved in the face of a demonstrated threat of nuclear holocaust. It’s easy for the Swiss to be brave while Zurich and Geneva are still standing, and not, say, annihilated by an ungodly-terrifying doomsday weapon. But your implication that the Japanese were a bunch of cowardly pussies who suffer greatly by comparison to the never-say-die Swiss is AT BEST totally unfounded speculation. We’ll never know for sure, of course, but taking credit for bravery in the face of an invasion which, conveniently, never materialized strikes me as a good deal more bluster than substance, if indeed the Swiss themselves (as opposed to just you) ever advanced this argument. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-hitler-take-switzerland/509334/54 "2009-09-09T03:50:11Z")
> [@The\_Seventh\_Deadly\_Finn](#): > > You say Switzerland wasn’t invaded because they’d never surrender. I say they never surrendered because they were never attacked. Sounds like you are saying the Swiss were bluffing. No. Its NOT!! a “he say”, “she say”. We do have what actually happened. In the final analysis, the Germans were convinced. The fact of the matter, is that the German generals, and Hitler, would not, and did not, take that chance, they believed Switzerland defense policy, and they scrubbed every Swiss invasion plan every time , no matter how much Hitler hated Switzerland, no matter how much he wanted to invade Switzerland, no matter how many times and how many invasion plans they made. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-hitler-take-switzerland/509334/55 "2009-09-09T04:05:35Z")
> [@Mr.Kobayashi](#): > > See also [Operation Tannenbaum](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Tannenbaum), the German plan for the invasion of Switzerland. Yeah, Operation Tannenbaum of 1940 was before the Operation Wartegau invasion scheduled in July of 1941. There was a third invasion plan, a total of at least 3 different and specific formal invasion plans of Switzerland, and each time it became obviously too foolish to try such a stunt. As it turns out, we see that Hitler considered invading Russia, as well as the declartion of war on the US, as being wiser choices of action instead of invading Switzerland, and I probably would agree with Hitler on that, certainly as far as the cost/benefits involved for all 3 fronts. Be that as it may, I am sure that Hitler never gave up “wanting” to invade Switzerland. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Seventh\_Deadly\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6bbea6/32.png) [@The\_Seventh\_Deadly\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Seventh_Deadly_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-hitler-take-switzerland/509334/56 "2009-09-09T04:09:02Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > Sounds like you are saying the Swiss were bluffing. > > No. Its NOT!! a “he say”, “she say”. Sure, whatever you say, lady. The Swiss are a race of untouchable _üntermenschen_ who annihilate all threats with a baffling onslaught of non sequiturs and misapplied punctuation. I don’t know how I ever could have doubted their unstoppable awesomeness. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-hitler-take-switzerland/509334/57 "2009-09-09T04:26:49Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > As it turns out, we see that Hitler considered invading Russia, as well as the declartion of war on the US, as being wiser choices of action instead of invading Switzerland, and I probably would agree with Hitler on that, certainly as far as the cost/benefits involved for all 3 fronts. Yeah, if Hitler had invaded _Switzerland_ then he probably would have wound up dead by his own hand, millions of his people dead along with him, and Germany itself in ruins, occupied and divided by the victors for at least a couple of generations. Fortunately for Germany, Hitler only chose to go to war with the USA and the USSR, thus accounting for the Reich’s glorious success in World War II. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-hitler-take-switzerland/509334/58 "2009-09-09T04:31:26Z")
You know who else Hitler was afraid to take on? Peru. Those llamas bite, you know. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-hitler-take-switzerland/509334/59 "2009-09-09T05:29:19Z")
This shit about the Swiss never surrendering is bullshit. They had surrendered before and would again if required to protect their profits. The behavior of the Swiss during WWII is nothing to brag about. The Swiss powers that be stole everything they could from their Jewish clients’ families in accounts and insurance policies. And they laundered money for the Nazis. That someone would come and post here about Swiss “bravery” makes me want to puke. The Swiss do have better things to brag about than bravery. They have made sincere and effective efforts at diplomacy and humanitarian relief. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2009, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-hitler-take-switzerland/509334/60 "2009-09-09T05:31:54Z")
> [@Raygun99](#): > > You know who else Hitler was afraid to take on? Peru. Those llamas bite, you know. _Cuidado! Hay llamas!_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-hitler-take-switzerland/509334.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-hitler-take-switzerland/509334.md?page=4)