> Neutrality is to appease all the rich that have stashed their fortunes.
How did you get to this conclusion?
* Switzerland has neutrality since the Vienna Congress 1814/1815, more than 200 years
* they weren't really rich back then
* instead, big powers of Europe feared that Switzerland will join one of their opponents, so it was dictated to Switzerland originally
* later, when Switzerland saw how the countries surrounding them got demolished again and again in each war, they actually adopted it. It is now in their constitution, article 185.
* the consitution can only be changed by the electorate of Switzerland (about 6 mio people), not the government or the parliament
So why would these 6 million people add / keep neutrality "to appease the rich" ? Not all swiss people are rich. In the southern french parts the risk to sink into poverty is even higher than in some parts of Germany!
Maybe a not-so-swiss centric view can shed more light on your (wrong) hypothesis:
In Europe Switzerland isn't the only (current) neutral country. We have Austria, Ireland and some smaller ones, like Liechtenstein. We used to have also Portugal, Sweden or Belgium in the neutral camp. Are they all known to "appease the rich" ? I doubt. Except if your idea of not appeasing rich people is having a government form like Soviet Russia, GDR, or Yugoslavia.
The neutrality is used for propagating "you and your money are safe here", which is true at first glance. They are ready to take it from you as soon your seat gets a bit too hot for your liking.
The 1814 neutrality was granted after Napoleon invaded the confederation and made it a republic, only to be saved by Russia, no less, so a different solution had to be found.
They were dirt poor back then.
No country was afraid of Switzerland doing anything, they had no military might whatsoever, the current militia model was introduced in fear of a Nazi invasion.
There is no poverty is switzerland, even the worst off are better off than us citizens on food stamps. The treasury returns so much money to the cantons, they could build a socialst utopia if they wanted, so long the economy as a whole is fine. They already have such a thing on a federal level, its just not called guaranteed minimum income. Its been in place for a while. This all is before corporate and income taxes and vat.
Say what you want, but soviet russia and yugoslavia and such, exepct for the communist elite did not give an iota about appeasing the rich.
Not saying it was the best way, but they stood their ground until they sank.
Switzerland will sell out 1000 times any day before that happens.
> This time around they went to the extent of refusing to sell ammo for their own weapons arguing they'd be used in a war.
Well, even Germany did this before 24st February 2022, and it never was neutral.
In the case of Switzerland, the neutrality is in their constitution. Neither the government nor the parliament can change it. It needs a public vote of the ca. 6 million people large electorate. Germany had it much easier, the "don't export to crisis regions" wasn't in constitution. And, truth be told, it was never followed through 100% (e.g. why would one export military ships to Saudi-Arabia, which is in war with Yemen?).
> They are outright destroying their arms industry
Yes, they do it. For me, this sounds that they like their neutrality more than money --- however, people usually assume more sinister motives. Like that Switzerland is somehow getting black money from russian Oligarchs.
To me, this sounds entirely implausible --- or if it happens, than in a similar scale as in EU countries. First, as said, the neutrality is in the hands of the electorate. Russian Oligarchs cannot smear 6 million people. Second, it is well known that Switzerland implemented all 9 sanction packets of the EU. They even seized russian assets, about 8 billion EUR. That is more than can be said of some EU countries!
So, if they still do business with Oligarchs, then only because these Oligarchs aren't in one of the 9 lists of sanctioned entities the EU created. In that case, we should blame both Switzerland and the EU.
Apropos "swiss liking neutrality": i read that in May 2022 there was a representative poll. It turned out that 85% of the swiss liked the neutrality and don't want it to change.
> It's kind of easy to be neutral when you're landlocked inside NATO
I guess you think that NATO is why the Swiss people added a neutrality clause to the constitution of the Swiss Confederation during the Restoration in 1815?
Switzerland has always been aggressively neutral to the extent of annoying the rest of Europe, not just during WW2 but all the way back to the Hundred Years War.
Well, if you wonder, I can help you. What you think might be plausible on first sight, but really isn't.
* the neutrality isn't "newfound", they have it since the Vienna Congress 1814/1815
* back then the big powers of Europe feared that Switzerland will join one of their opponents, so it was dictated to Switzerland originally
* but later, when Switzerland saw how the countries surrounding them got demolished again and again in each war, they actually adopted it. It is now in their constitution, article 185.
* Switzerland is a direct democracy. The constitution cannot be changed by the government. And not even by the parliament. Only a public vote of all the electorate can change it.
* the swiss electorate is about 6 million people large
* the swiss banking sector only employs about 89'000 people
So, what can we learn from this? Your postulation is, in all likelihood, wrong. Why would normal people, like Carpenters, Farmers, Teachers, Nurses vote for neutrality to "appease certain Russians" ? They have no benefit from this.
Also, Switzerland isn't the only (current) neutral country in Europe. We have Austria, Ireland and some smaller ones, like Liechtenstein. We used to have also Portugal, Sweden or Belgium there --- is any of these current or previously neutral countries linked with money laundering? I don't think so. Therefore we can even dismiss that somehow money laundering is linked to neutrality.
If anything, then something else in the swiss law system is responsible: their banking secret laws. One can still open an anonymous "number account" at swiss banks. It's not cheap, but that is just one more reason why it attracts tax evaders and criminals.
And finally, that today Switzerland is specially linked to Oligarchs needs a proof. Why? Simply because Switzerland implemented all of the nine sanction packets of the EU. Despite not being in the EU. So Switzerland, like any other EU country, sanctions the Russian state, certain russian companies, certain russian individuals. Including some people one would classify as "Oligarch". All of them? Probably not. But then again ... this would be a problem of the EU, by not adding them to the sanction lists yet.
> I wonder if this was at least a factor in Switzerland remaining neutral in both world wars
probably has more to do with 1515 (Marignano) and 1815 (Congress of Vienna, which secured Switzerland as an independent state, while enforcing neutrality).
If the world supports Ukraine, but Switzerland refuses to support them, no matter who the opponent is, then that is neutrality.
Knowing the Swiss system very well, it would surprise me if there have been nefarious intents and ideas behind this.
Do not underestimate their cleverness.
Small country, suddenly rich with no worthwhile exports, all the big corps incorporated there because they feel the rule of law is given and functional and the money safe and the institutions work.
Small country, if you go from the centre of zurich, you will see one corporation after the other for a 30 mile radius, shoulder to shoulder.
Its a remarkable amount of the liveable territory.
Really, do not underestimate their greed and cleverness.
Your initial assertion that Swiss is neutral to make money is not accurate. Historically it was to prevent casualties in wars between France and... whoever else. This has enabled it to be the bank of anyone trying to escape prying eyes - but that is a byproduct of their neutrality; not the purpose of it.
Switzerland has the unique advantage of having staid neutral since somewhat 500 years which means their wealth never got plundered or destroyed in one of the way too many wars that have plagued Europe since then. Their neutrality status, combined with a long tradition of utmost banking secrecy, also made Switzerland a perfect "safe harbor" for lots of foreign dark money of all kinds - from kingdoms, warlords and other dictatorships to seemingly "non-profit" corrupt entities such as FIFA, not to mention ordinary European rich wanting to hide their money from the taxman.
tl;dr: Switzerland got rich because of staying neutral and not asking questions about where incoming money originates from, not because of "free enterprise".
That's actually an important point though. The kind of isolationist neutrality that Switzerland has is only possible if you can make it seem like conquering you is impossible to justify. Switzerland will protect its neutrality by force if necessary. They also have a military industrial complex, so is that one a racket?
This comment feels like it’s more directed at the comment above mine than mine.
I’m not implying that is where Swiss neutrality comes from, more making a counter point that IF they are staying neutral (currently) to protect fortunes then it’s not just to protect Russians.
I wasn’t making a statement about its history. Banking in Switzerland I realize is fairly recent. I am not even saying that’s definitely what they are currently doing.
Switzerland has no real natural resources, no access to the sea for trade routes, it's mostly just mountains. Many many years ago, Swiss people were so dirt poor, that they had to sell their life to the highest bidder. Thus it fielded one of the largest mercenary armies in Europe.
Why Switzerland is kinda rich now, is thanks to Napoleon and the congress of Vienna in 1815. There it was decided that Switzerland shall stay neutral forever.
Thanks to that it didn't got destroyed in the last two wars like the rest of Europe.
So it is not like that the Swiss were not as poor as the rest of Europe back then, but everyone else got royally screwed in the wars, except the Swiss. In that time they could catch up quite a bit, because after the war, Switzerland still had fully functioning factories and manufacturing.
This also provides some context to the current discussion about 'neutrality' and why many people want to keep it. After all, this policy has proven to be very beneficial for 208 years already.
Switzerland is highly mountainous and 2 out of its 3 big neighbors historically could not agree with anything the others proposed, which most likely meant that at least 1 of them would support the Swiss against the other 2 (at most) invaders.
Scaling Swiss neutrality worldwide is unrealistic.
Most countries don't have these kinds of luxuries.
How did you get to this conclusion?
* Switzerland has neutrality since the Vienna Congress 1814/1815, more than 200 years
* they weren't really rich back then
* instead, big powers of Europe feared that Switzerland will join one of their opponents, so it was dictated to Switzerland originally
* later, when Switzerland saw how the countries surrounding them got demolished again and again in each war, they actually adopted it. It is now in their constitution, article 185.
* the consitution can only be changed by the electorate of Switzerland (about 6 mio people), not the government or the parliament
So why would these 6 million people add / keep neutrality "to appease the rich" ? Not all swiss people are rich. In the southern french parts the risk to sink into poverty is even higher than in some parts of Germany!
Maybe a not-so-swiss centric view can shed more light on your (wrong) hypothesis:
In Europe Switzerland isn't the only (current) neutral country. We have Austria, Ireland and some smaller ones, like Liechtenstein. We used to have also Portugal, Sweden or Belgium in the neutral camp. Are they all known to "appease the rich" ? I doubt. Except if your idea of not appeasing rich people is having a government form like Soviet Russia, GDR, or Yugoslavia.
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