Why is Switzerland Always Neutral?

whenever we think of Switzerland a lot of people instantly associate one thing with it the country that's always neutral so let's find out why that is the first registered war that Switzerland as a nation if you will was involved in was the Battle of Morganton against the Austrian Archduchess which the Swiss won and this was in the year 1315 and five hundred years later in 1815 they were done with Wars five centuries of battles were sufficient for the Swiss this last war in 1815 was against the first French Empire along with a coalition which counted with world powers like the UK Russia Sweden and Spain on the side of Switzerland there was also a brief Swiss internal war in November of 1847 which had to do with the transformation of Switzerland into a federal state but we can say that Switzerland hasn't technically been at war with any foreign nation since 1815 that's over 200 years ago when the Treaty of Paris was signed at the end of the war against France that I just mentioned so why is this so it isn't like in the last 200 years there haven't been any wars for them to be a part of especially in Europe so why was Switzerland always neutral and why does it remain so Swiss neutrality is one of the main principles of Switzerland's foreign policy which dictates that the country is not to be involved in armed conflicts between other states they have the oldest policy of military neutrality in the world however they differ from a few other examples of neutrality in other countries especially in the fact that they are armed in order to ensure internal security and promote peace and Switzerland seems to be a peaceful country at its core the way the territory is set up is a demonstration of peaceful coexistence between the Canton's that are sometimes different it's a direct democracy commonly using referendums as a way to decide things and it recognizes four official languages the main point that defines with new quality is the Treaty of Paris of 1815 however the viewing of Switzerland as a neutral territory started before that the earliest move towards Swiss neutrality dates back to 1550 it's weird because it's always in the 15s and this was when the Swiss Confederacy suffered a big loss to the French at the Battle of Marek nan-oh following the defeat the Confederacy abandoned its expansionist policies and looked to avoid future conflict in the interest of self-preservation a while later there was a period in 1648 called the Peace of Westphalia essentially it was a number of peace treaties that ended a number of wars in Europe that had to deal with religion in this piece of Westphalia it was determined that other countries were not allowed to go through Swiss territory and that the Swiss Confederation became legally independent from the Holy Roman Empire thus not being necessarily involved in its Wars that laid the groundwork for Swiss neutrality which became definitive in 1815 and it's incredible that they were able to maintain this policy with everything that happened around them since then especially because before that in medieval times the Swiss had a big reputation for soldiery not only for their country but as mercenaries in the service of others they were considered the most effective mercenary force of the 15th century but Swiss mercenary services stopped being so popular in 1515 the battle against the French that I mentioned their pikes and spears weren't enough to BP French and Venetian artillery and armored cavalry despite this their work abroad continued and even in peacetime many European countries maintained Swiss regiments often as whale guards or guards at court they were known for their loyalty to their employers and they usually played a decisive role in many battles the Swiss Guard is still responsible for the security of the Vatican City and of the Pope himself in fact it's the only foreign military service allowed by the Swiss States remaining one of the oldest military units in the world estab in 1506 and also being the smallest but despite this they were able to maintain neutrality since 1815 even in modern times First World War one in which it shared borders with the two sides of the conflict it still remained neutral in fact it even contributed to their desire of promoting peace in 1917 a Swiss politician traveled to Russia to attempt to negotiate a separate peace between the Russians and the Germans although this didn't really pleased the Anton's but their neutrality was kept and throughout the war served as ground for diplomats and negotiators after the war the predecessor of the UN the League of Nations reaffirmed Swiss neutrality and even chose Geneva in Switzerland as the location for its headquarters they exempted the Swiss from military contributions but they did demand that they should participate in economic sanctions the Swiss agreed at first but eventually reverted back to absolute neutrality in world war ii they were once again white in the middle of the conflict but managed to stay out of it repeating their role of taking in people who were trying to escape the war as well as serving as a place for diplomacy the Germans had a plan to invade Switzerland operation Tannenbaum and this led the Swiss to prepare their defence they mobilized over 850,000 soldiers and created their National redoubt plan to defend against an invasion but this operation never took place and the Swiss weren't called to fight to the fender sovereignty however this didn't mean that they weren't to suffer from the war it was all around them in fact in 1944 a province of Switzerland was accidentally bombed by the Allies being mistaken for a part of Germany at this point the Swiss were pretty lenient on each side using their airspace as long as no fighting took place but after a few of these incidents they declared a zero tolerance policy for airspace usage even stating that Swiss military was authorized to shoot any aircrafts there's also a popular idea that a Swiss held a lot of money and gold for the Germans and this is why they weren't invited while partially true this isn't the only reason the defense plan of the Swiss would have made any invasion extremely costly extremely long as well as kind of useless the plan of the Swiss was to retreat into the mountains and they would have guarded the most strategic passes of the country making them useless to the enemies in 1942 Time magazine wrote an article on Switzerland entitled alone little and tough and in it they described the plan they said against attack the Swiss have aces to play they would destroy the three great Alpine tunnels they have built in the Alps a defense which an army thrice the size of theirs might need valuable months to crack after the war full neutrality was totally recovered however this also meant a bigger participation in international matters in 2002 they finally joined the UN and began participating in international security initiatives but always staying true to its neutral nature for instance refusing to join NATO Switzerland has therefore sort of become a symbol for peace an example of that is the creation of the Red Cross by a Swiss man or the holding of the Geneva Conventions which determined somewhat civil rules for warfare something that demonstrates the Swiss commitment to defend itself despite its neutrality is the fact that they have a mandatory part-time military service from all people aged 18 to 34 so to sum up Switzerland has been able to keep its neutrality because it would gain very little in going to war and because other countries especially its neighbors would also gain very little by invading it ever since 1815 and until today their recipe seems to have worked well they have not advocated militarization and they have always assured that they can defend themselves if need be but outside Wars have not been their interests obviously we can raise the question of moral duty of helping one's neighbors and historical friends or fighting force slash against an ideal in times of crisis but that's a matter for another video and for personal opinion in the official Swiss government website they define their policy as eminent neutrality being a principle of Swiss foreign policy it is a generating source of peace and stability in Europe and beyond it ensures the country's independence and in viability of their territory according to the law of neutrality Switzerland must not participate in a war between States and some of the main rules of this policy or because of episodes we've spoken about in this video one they will not engage in war two they will ensure their own defence three they will ensure equal treatment for belligerent States in respect of trade four they will not supply mercenary troops and five they will not allow belligerents to use Swiss territory across the world there aren't many countries like Switzerland but some have similar stories of historical neutrality and others have maybe tried to mimic the Swiss policy according to Wikipedia the following countries have declarations of neutrality Switzerland Panama Costa Rica Finland Sweden Ireland Austria and Turkmenistan so in a summarised way that is why Switzerland is neutral why it began being so and how it maintained that status throughout history avoiding so many conflicts and being successful in being at peace since 1815 until today thanks so much for watching this video subscribe if you want to catch future ones and leave a comment below with your opinions and suggestions for future topics I will see you next time for more general knowledge you

Channel: General Knowledge

Views: 231,511

Rating: 4.9314222 out of 5

Keywords: generalknowledge, funwithflags, countriesthatdon'texist, swiss neutrality, why is switzerland always neutral, Morgarten, swiss cantons, treaty of paris 1815, swiss guard, why does the pope have a swiss guard, Marignano, peace of westphalia

Id: MjjyJLHN33k

Length: 10min 29sec (629 seconds)

Published: Fri Nov 08 2019