@jimineuropa @alexandreafonso @SevaUT @_gabriel_U I agree on few points here but strongly disagree on other. I'll elaborate later
@jimineuropa @alexandreafonso @SevaUT @_gabriel_U The idea Hitler didn't invade Switzerland because Switzerland collaborated with the Nazi is attractive and has been discussed to death but it clashes with some fact 1/
@jimineuropa @alexandreafonso @SevaUT @_gabriel_U First, it'san idea that makes sense in retrospective but that gives to the Nazi leadership a business acumen they never really showed (at least not at the too level) 2/
@jimineuropa @alexandreafonso @SevaUT @_gabriel_U Hitler detested Switzerland and the Swiss for many reasons (including racial nonsense) and discussed his views extensively with both Mussolini and Ciano (who recorded them his in own diary) 3/
@jimineuropa @alexandreafonso @SevaUT @_gabriel_U The first option Hitler had toward Switzerland was always an invasion from two sides (with Mussolini's involvement). There was extensive planning on it (operation Tannenbaum) and much discussions with Mussolini, particularly in Rome during the 1938 summit) 4/
@jimineuropa @alexandreafonso @SevaUT @_gabriel_U Mussolini had a very contradictory view of the Swiss status and did alternate between enthusiasm for the possibility to annex Canton Ticino and uneasiness about Germany dismembering a potential buffer state 5/
@jimineuropa @alexandreafonso @SevaUT @_gabriel_U In 1940 the Swiss Army was in a very poor state and indeed it's unlikely they could have resisted a determined German invasion. The 1940 invasion didn't happen for a series of reasons but mainly because of German strategic focus elsewhere and Italian reluctance 6/
@jimineuropa @alexandreafonso @SevaUT @_gabriel_U Switzerland did also buy some time acquiescing to some German request and playing Italy vs Germany. It was mostly however an afterthought more than anything systemic and it was clear the solution of "Swiss Problem" had been just postponed 7/
@jimineuropa @alexandreafonso @SevaUT @_gabriel_U In September 1940 Alberto Pirelli (who had been sent by Mussolini as a plenipotentiary for Germany) reported renewed German pressures to initiate "Tannebaum". At this point Mussolini was focused on Greece and he sent Hitler a message stating that 8/
@jimineuropa @alexandreafonso @SevaUT @_gabriel_U Switzerland was a "British outpost" and had to be eliminated, basically greenlightning an invasion. The catastrophic results of Italy's invasion of Greece and the beginning of Barbarossa's planning put the Swiss invasion back in the fridge for a while 9/
@jimineuropa @alexandreafonso @SevaUT @_gabriel_U Swiss continued with a policy of acquiescence with both sides of the conflict that was (however) untenable in the long term. In 1943 the situation changed again with Italy's collapse and with Germany demonstration of weakness in mountain operations (Yugoslavia/Caucasus etc) 10/
@jimineuropa @alexandreafonso @SevaUT @_gabriel_U In September 1943 Germany briefly considered again to violate Swiss neutrality in the context of Alaric, Italy's invasion planned by Rommel. The lighting pace of Alaric's success and the slow down of Allied advance in the south made the idea unpractical and not useful 11/
@jimineuropa @alexandreafonso @SevaUT @_gabriel_U Plans to invade Switzerland were however NEVER abandoned and again revived in summer 1944. At this point it was clear that 1) Germany had not enough strenght to invade Switzerland 2) Wehrmacht did not well in Alpine terrain 3) Switzerland had a better chance to defend and 12/
@jimineuropa @alexandreafonso @SevaUT @_gabriel_U over the years Switzerland had enough control of Germany's immaterial assets to become a problem. This said, in 1944 and with the war going badly, it's not clear how much of a real problem this was for Hitler 13/
@jimineuropa @alexandreafonso @SevaUT @_gabriel_U Summing it up: yes, Switzerland acquiescence in financial and logistic matter was one of the elements that helped prevent the invasion (but not the only one) but no, this was not a strategic decision taken by Hitler, more a sum of contingences /end
