Origins, Interpretations, and Uses of “Swiss Neutrality”

The Swiss neutrality, already evoked since the 17th century, was placed in the treaties of Vienna as a guarantee of the integrity and the inviolability of the Swiss territory. It would often serve, however, as a cover for the country’s questionable commercial, banking and political dealing with foreign countries. Chateaubriand had already lamented that “neutral towards the great revolutions of the environing countries, the Swiss were growing rich thanks to the misfortunes of the others and founded a bank on the human calamities”. Since the Great War, the principle of neutrality was raised to the rank of a myth of the national identity and was included amidst the fundamental values of the Swiss policy. Nevertheless, this myth is seriously contested by recent historical research, that reveals completely the Swiss sympathy for fascist Italy, Franco’s regime and Nazi Germany.