Switzerland's neutrality

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The neutrality is one of the main principles of the foreign policy of Switzerland . It means that Switzerland does not take part in armed conflicts between other states. In principle , Swiss neutrality is self-chosen , permanent and armed . It is not seen as an end in itself, but has always been understood as an instrument of Swiss foreign and security policy. The content and scope of Swiss neutrality, on the other hand, have changed significantly over the course of history.

The Federal Constitution mandates the Swiss government and the Federal Assembly the task of taking measures to safeguard Switzerland's external security, independence and neutrality .

However, Switzerland's neutrality was de facto narrowed back in 1994 when it joined the Partnership for Peace and Swisscoy operations .

History of origin

The modern "permanent neutrality" of Switzerland goes back to the Congress of Vienna of 1814/1815. For the major powers involved, a neutral Switzerland proved to be a sensible solution within the framework of the comprehensive reorganization of the borders and political relationships in Europe, after various other proposals for the territory of the Old Confederation had previously been made. Both France and Austria would have liked to rule Switzerland as a satellite state , Prussia wanted to incorporate Switzerland into the German Confederation , and even the establishment of a kingdom in Switzerland was discussed. The historian Andreas Suter attributes it to this "multitude of overlapping and mutually exclusive plans" that ultimately no power was able to prevail and Switzerland's independence was retained, especially since opinions on the solutions discussed in Switzerland also differed greatly. According to André Holenstein (2014), the great powers wanted “to avoid repeating the experience of the years 1798 to 1813 at all costs”, when a single great power, France, had brought the area of ​​Switzerland under their control. The Geneva politician Charles Pictet de Rochemont campaigned for a neutral Switzerland at the Congress of Vienna .

As a result, the signatory states of the treaty with Switzerland in the Second Paris Peace of November 20, 1815 - England , Russia , France , Prussia and Austria - with the Declaration of the Puissances portant reconnaissance et garantie de la neutralité perpétuelle de la Suisse et de l ' inviolabilité de son territoire guarantees to respect the inviolability and independence of Switzerland within the borders established in 1815. In return, Switzerland pledged to remain neutral in future conflicts. The neutrality was also extended to Haute Savoie , which belonged to the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont .

Earlier portrayals of Swiss neutrality as a tradition that goes back centuries and at least goes back to the battle of Marignano , are receding into the background in recent history. This interpretation had its roots in the 1895 history of Swiss neutrality by the Zurich state archivist and historian Paul Schweizer . This work is to be read in the context of foreign pressure in connection with socialist and anarchist refugees in Switzerland: After Russia, Austria and the German Reich threatened in 1889 to withdraw the status of permanent neutrality defined at the Congress of Vienna, Paul "invented" Paul Swiss and other personalities have a federal tradition of neutrality, as Andreas Suter records with reference to Eric Hobsbawm's concept of the invented tradition . In his work, Schweizer tried to show that Switzerland did not owe its neutrality to the powers that be. His thesis was later adopted and further developed by Edgar Bonjour , whose nine-volume history of Swiss neutrality , published from 1946 to 1975, had a formative effect for a long time.

The practical implementation of military neutrality took place in the 19th and 20th centuries through the so-called " border occupation " in military conflicts near Swiss territory. B. 1866, 1871, see also Savoy trade (1859/1860). The last border occupation took place at the beginning of the Second World War. Later in the war, the border occupation was supplemented in the form of the Réduit strategy .

Neutrality law and neutrality policy

Professional officers of the Swiss Army visiting the NATO headquarters in Belgium (2009)

When speaking of neutrality, it is important to distinguish between the law of neutrality and the neutrality policy.

The law of neutrality is recognized under international law and codified in the Hague Agreement on Neutrality since 1907 and is applied in the event of an international armed conflict. Essentially, the law of neutrality contains the duty of impartiality and non-participation as well as the right of the neutral state to remain unmolested by the conflict.

The neutrality policy is applied in peacetime and is intended to ensure the credibility and effectiveness of neutrality. The neutrality policy is flexible and can be adapted to external circumstances. In the course of its history, Switzerland has always seen neutrality as a means to an end and has adapted neutrality to the respective foreign and security policy environment.

Functions of Swiss neutrality

According to Riklin, neutrality traditionally has the following functions:

  1. Integration: this means the internal function of neutrality for the cohesion of the country;
  2. Independence: neutrality should serve to ensure the independence of Swiss foreign and security policy;
  3. Freedom of trade;
  4. Equilibrium: neutrality was Switzerland's contribution to stability on the European continent;
  5. Good offices .

Discussion and criticism

During the time of National Socialism , neutrality was at times exposed to the strains of propaganda under the aspect that all Germans should come together to form a single Greater Germany. The German-Swiss should have gone under the wing of the neighboring country. However, this approach was no longer pursued when Adolf Hitler declared in a conversation with former Federal Councilor Edmund Schulthess on February 23, 1937 that he wanted to respect Switzerland's neutrality.

At the end of the Second World War , Switzerland's neutrality was criticized from many quarters. During the Cold War , Switzerland unofficially participated in economic and technology sanctions against the Eastern Bloc ( Coordinating Committee on Multilateral Export Controls ), which was very questionable in terms of neutrality policy.

Some of the traditional functions have been controversial, particularly since the end of the Cold War. Since then, there have been repeated discussions in Switzerland as to whether neutrality is still appropriate and how it should be implemented today. For example, participation in economic sanctions or joining international organizations and the European Union (EU) is very controversial , which is out of the question for a completely neutral state. Critics therefore see neutrality as an international isolation.

Other neutral countries

In Europe, the Principality of Liechtenstein , the Vatican State , Austria , Sweden , Finland , Ireland , Malta and Monaco are also considered neutral.

literature

  • Paul Schweizer: History of Swiss Neutrality. Huber, Frauenfeld 1895 ( digitized version ).
  • Edgar Bonjour: History of Swiss neutrality: short version. Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel 1978.
  • Edgar Bonjour: History of Swiss Neutrality. Four centuries of federal foreign policy . Helbing & Lichtenhahn, Basel 1965–1976 (9 volumes).
  • Hadrien Buclin: "Anti-Comunist Policies in a Neutral Country", Journal of Cold War Studies, 2017/4, pp. 137-167.
  • Hanspeter Kriesi: Le système politique suisse. 2nd Edition. Economica, Paris 1998, ISBN 2-7178-3694-2 .
  • Robert Chr. Van Ooyen: Swiss neutrality in armed conflicts after 1945. Frankfurt a. M./Bern u. a. 1992.
  • Rita Stöckli: The beginnings of federal neutrality in historiography. A text and impact analysis of the neutrality stories by Paul Schweizer and Edgar Bonjour. Historical Institute of the University of Bern, Bern 1997.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Article 185 of the Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation.
  2. ↑ Article 173 of the Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation.
  3. ↑ Andreas Suter: Neutrality. Principle, Practice and Awareness of History . In: A little history of Switzerland . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt a. M. 1998, ISBN 3-518-12079-4 , pp. 159 .
  4. ↑ a b c Andreas Suter: Neutrality. Principle, Practice and Awareness of History . In: A little history of Switzerland . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt a. M. 1998, ISBN 3-518-12079-4 , pp. 160 .
  5. ↑ a b André Holenstein: In the middle of Europe. Intertwining and demarcation in Swiss history . Here and now, Baden 2014, ISBN 978-3-03919-323-3 , p. 158 .
  6. ↑ Déclaration des Puissances portant reconnaissance et garantie de la neutralité perpétuelle de la Suisse et de l'inviolabilité de son territoire, Paris, le 20 November 1815
  7. ↑ Andreas Suter: Neutrality. Principle, Practice and Awareness of History . In: A little history of Switzerland . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt a. M. 1998, ISBN 3-518-12079-4 , pp. 163 .
  8. ↑ Andreas Suter: Neutrality. Principle, Practice and Awareness of History . In: A little history of Switzerland . Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt a. M. 1998, ISBN 3-518-12079-4 , pp. 167 .
  9. ^ Alois Riklin: Functions of Swiss neutrality. In Passé pluriel. En hommage au professeur Roland Ruffieux. Editions universitaires, Freiburg 1991, pp. 361–394.
  10. ↑ Olivier Pauchard: The day on which Switzerland became neutral . In: SWI | swissinfo.ch . March 20, 2015 ( swissinfo.ch [accessed July 26, 2018]).