Just a quick warning: there's always some people screaming NAZI GOLD!!!! (rather like "France fell without firing a shot") and citing articles written by the organisation who shook the Swiss down in the 90's for $1.25 bn dollars. Two inquiries, the Volcker commission in the US (which cost $300M) and the Bergier commission in Switzerland concluded that the amounts in play were: [this section updated on 16.06.19 after double-checking the Volcker Commission Report] about CHF 24M in unclaimed bank accounts (1999 values), which took an inquiry costing $300M to determine... this is around $16M in 1999 prices (assuming 1.5 CHF to the USD) which *probably* belonged to holocaust victims (53,886 accounts, so about CHF 445 on average per account in 1999), and 12 (yes, exactly 12, we have the serial numbers) gold bars, 3 of which were related to holocaust victim gold, the remaining 9 of which may have contained some undeterminable quantity of victim gold, under 120kg total gold weight for all 12 bars. Of which, aside from the first 3 bars, we cannot know the proportion of the remaining 9 bars which was related to victim gold (Bergier Commission report, English version, pages 249-250). Due to the way the gold was refined, it is impossible to know where the individual atoms of holocaust victim gold physically ended up (Ibid.). Taking the total weight of the 12 bars at the gold price of the era, this works out at CHF 0.14, or about half an egg's worth of dried, powdered egg per Swiss resident at late war prices. Or at present prices, about CHF 0.50 per current Swiss resident. Hardly the vast riches of myth and legend... In any case, the Swiss National Bank could not possibly have known at the time that these bars contained / possibly contained victim gold, since the Holocaust was only confirmed very late/post war - you need to appreciate such matters on what was known at the time, not what's known now. Now what the SNB *did* know was that some of the gold they were buying from Germany (note - buying) contained bullion looted from Belgian, Dutch and French bank stocks. Their approach to this was totally amoral, very "pecunia non olet". This is rather something to reproach them for... Anyhoo, if all you know is the propaganda from the 90's shakedown era, it should go without saying that I've done far more research, benefiting notably from Bergier and Volcker. Here's some very basic sources to read before you comment: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Jewish_Congress_lawsuit_against_Swiss_banks en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcker_Commission en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergier_commission www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/089526238X/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (which details the WJC lawsuit in great detail, but makes some basic errors on e.g. Swiss rationing). And some more detailed work: www.uek.ch/en/schlussbericht/synthesis/ueke.pdf (the Bergier report itself)
Bloke on the Range Switzerland made the situation worse by dragging their feet on resolving the dormant accounts. The biggest problem was the paper trail proving ownership was destroyed during the war and reconstruction was difficult.
+Ian Anderson That doesn't make sense. Banks don't trade in pawn shop gold items like what you described, only in internationally recognized bars of bullion. If you're talking about individual depositors opening accounts in Swiss banks, any non-currency items would require a safe deposit box, in which case the banks would have no more right to ask what was going in the box than they would when you rent a safe deposit box today. Also, nations don't go broke in the same way that individuals do; even if a sovereign state can no longer service it's debt or support its currency, the ruling government always retains some assets of value while they are in power (especially as many potential trading partners will start to demand hard value items if that country's currency is dodgy). The idea of SS officers sneaking across the border in civilian clothes with crated paintings and sacks of gold fillings in order to deposit them with complicit Swiss bankers doesn't appear to have much evidence behind it. As for continuing to trade with Germany even in the late war period, I think Bloke illustrated the situation very well. Cash broke or not, Germany still controlled most of the ingress routes to Switzerland and had raw materials that the Swiss needed. The Germans were also perfectly capable of enacting scorched earth measures (blowing up the railway tunnels, shelling Swiss infrastructure) at the end out of pure spite from Hitler, like he had his forces do in Scandinavia and even in Germany proper.
Yeah. They probably "drug their feet" because of all of the "survivors". They somehow seem to continuously multiply yearly. The event which no one can criticize nor question in Europa has very little proofs to back it up.
Wow, amazing view. BTW Bloke -- I can't speak for other viewers but I actually really like the military history videos you do. I think they're some of your strongest videos. Some of the technical shooting vids are not so interesting for me personally because I don't do any of that stuff, but all the history stuff I find really valuable. I'd love to see more vids like this oriented on military history (if they involve weaponry too, all the better!)
Another side of neutrality is that the Swiss had to turn over or turn back defectors and escapees etc. Which put the Swiss in quite a moral delima with the Jews. But all the movie talk of getting to Switzerland was just that...talk, because if you were caught or discovered by the Swiss, they had to send you back. On the defensive front, I had the luck one year in Switzerland of seeing their citizen/defensive army on maneuvers, encountering soldiers riding public transportation on their way to or from duty, in full kit, including armaments, seeing tanks and apc's on alpen roads and hearing gun and cannon fire, as they practice home defense. Thanks BotR for this educational and interesting historical perspective!
Bloke, this has got to be on of the most interesting videos I have watched. I loved the political and economic intrigue Thank you so much for this one.
Extremely interesting and not the least bit dull. I had a full tutorial on Swiss neutrality and debunked many previously held falacies of WWII. Danke, Merci, Multo Grazie!
Hello again! Regarding the Swiss food supply, there is 1816, the Year Without Summer, which led to mass starvation in (mainly German speaking) Switzerland in 1817.
You do great work mate, I would love too see more of the swiss military history from the world wars, especially the strategic defence positions, very well planned country, and stubborn in a positive way....all the best from oz
Great video, I know Neuchatel well having worked there several times. I find it ironic too as I come from Newcastle (Neu Chatel) in the UK! We will be filming in Switzerland soon. Perhaps we can meet up for a beer? Vic
Excellent video. Interesting to note for the viewers that we (the Swiss) even transformed public squares into agricultural surfaces. At the time, Switzerland only had something like 3 million inhabitants.
I watched this video a few weeks ago and at the time I was unable to comment because I was watching it while driving a vehicle (before anyone gets too bent out of shape, I routinely 'watch' long form videos like this while driving because a video of this type, while the visual component certainly helps, can really be taken in as an almost purely spoken lecture, and that's what I do). Anyway, this video was very, very good. One of the best I've seen in a while. This sort of work is really something I love and is a great example of the kind of content which made me decide to sub on Patreon.
Have only deep respect for a country like Switzerland for what they are, what they have been and how they have worked and struggled to become what they are now. Nation building is hard, maintaining it is equally as hard- only in a longer perspective. Love this channel.
Excellent! Would like to see more of these type videos. Despite being stationed in Bavaria for 3 years in the 70's, I never got a chance to visit Switzerland, so I had little idea of how the geography affected its strategic situation. Always got the "its just all mountains" explanation you mentioned. And, I can't help but to notice your "rambling" style (which I enjoy---it adds a lot) is like Lindybeige's. Is this a Brit thing?
I agree with others that this is one of the most interesting videos I've ever seen from your or any other channel. Never realized the Swiss position was so utterly dependent on German goodwill. Rather does give pause for thought. Great video Bloke. Hope to see you carry on the tradition. - Peter.
Bloke, not to worry about the tangents. They are always just as interesting as and complementary to the main subject. I know nothing of Swiss history so all is gratefully received.
Excellent overview of the Swiss situation in both wars. Often it is not pointed out the Swiss had a similar food problem as Britain did in both wars as a net importer of food. Thus it is possible under the right conditions to starve both into submission or impotency. What many accusations of the Swiss actions in WWII ignore is the Swiss government had limited leverage with the Germans and a big enough blunder could make for a massive economic mess for the Swiss. People need to remember the Swiss government had a responsibility to the Swiss to avoid economic disaster if possible even if it meant having to make deals they did not like or want with the Germans. The fact they pulled it off says something about the competence of the Swiss leadership.
Brilliant video, love all the economics, geography and history. I hope you will do some more about the formation of Switzerland and Swiss life through history. The immense tunnels never cease to impress!
I love the incidental yodel at the end of the video! Also, wow! 24 minutes with a jump cut is pretty awesome! Thank you for this video because I've never researched that far into Swiss neutrality so I found this video facinating!
Thank you bloke for bringing those of us in the US some of the most beautiful landscape shots, oh and awesome information and stuff that no one brings up. So nice, and so much appreciated.
What about the agreements of transport, something about people could travel by rail between the various countries through Switzerland as long as they're not uniformed soldiers (or something along those lines; not certain about accuracy)? That neither the Swiss nor the Germans wanted that trade route cut-off because then the Germans wouldn't be able to leverage Switzerland, and Switzerland didn't want to starve/freeze, but because it was a vital link that passes through Switzerland, everyone was keen about keeping the route open.
I enjoyed this video immensely! Generally, in America we are taught a very "stylized" version of Swiss neutrality and the part they played during WWII. Honestly, it never dawned on me that the Swiss were net importers of food and energy. I had always assumed that Switzerland had large coal reserves like Germany, and, if need be, could close their country off and feed themselves. Your talk was really eye opening. Thanks very much for the education, it makes me want to delve a little deeper into this seldom talked about sideshow of WWII. Can you recommend any good books on the subject?
The two by Stephen Halbrook here are good: www.amazon.com/s?k=target+switzerland&ref=nb_sb_noss_2 This one is rather heavier and focuses more on the intelligence aspects: www.amazon.com/Secret-Channel-Berlin-Masson-Schellenberg-Intelligence-ebook/dp/B004E9TOEQ/
Fascinating, very well done, especially the "tangents". I discovered your channel whilst intensely researching FALs, and I'm glad I did. We need to get you to the US, you can teach history for your day job!
It's great hearing all the 'goings on' from different perspectives on the workings in Europe during all that kerfuffle. Thanks, great vid! Now, when are you getting a drone to do some aerial work to cut into your vids? That would be AWESOME!
Actually,France also had the fear of anti-war sentiment among the populace,at least with offensives and Brits were against full on conflict back then(Chamberlian administration). But that is not all...British literally hoped and waited for Reich and USSR to colide,as they hoped that would hope during Polish invasion (again,fault of Chamberlian policies,that no one talks nowdays). Funny part ,that did not happen,just like USSR's hope of Reich not attacking until it settles in Europe a bit more. As for Brits and agriculture...Their agriculture was also dependent on others,so that is why there was such a low % in agriculture.This was increased in WWII and many of those that lived inside towns and city suburtbs started to garden to meet the needs(and were still dependent).Thou if one watched the WWII farming in Britain show,it showed they were insanely developed when it comes to agriculture and having a lot of modern equipment,unlike many.
Regarding Swiss neutrality and tensions with Germany, check out the David Frankfurter murder in Davos. There was a Swiss movie made about it, which I saw in Canada over 40 years ago de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konfrontation_(Film) However, no one I've ever met in Switzerland has ever heard of the incident or of the movie. There is a recent book published in French about it, which I read, and which goes over the incident and the subsequent trial, also mentioning Herschel Grynzpan which led to Krystalnacht.
An excellent video! Very informative and well presented (despite the wind). Have you ever considered collaborating with Bernhard from Military History Visualised? I'm sure that together, you could conjure up something truly spectacular! PS: (Practically) Swiss chaps collaborating with an Austrian man? There must be a topical joke in there somewhere...
The Irish had a similar agreement with the British in case the Germans would try to invade Ireland. The Irish army would have engaged the Germans first, and the British would have come from Northern Ireland to assist them. For this the Irish army changed their uniforms, away from the German WW1 style helmets they wore in the 1920s and 30s to British style "Battle bowler" Mk 2 helmets. Also most of their equipment and weaponry was British.
Génial Y'aurait t'il une chance que tu visite les fortifications de vallorbe ?? Il y a un bunker massif qui garde le val de travers se serai genial en video
Excellent video, but might I suggest next time cutting to a map display filmed inside? Not for the whole video, just for the bits in which you need lines on the map, without things getting blown about.
The zoning and development rules to get farmland increased by 99% over a decade must have been impressive. A lot of countries with varying political systems have tried to do that and failed.
@@BlokeontheRange I forgot about how close the first world war was to the second. Both the younger officials and the older ones would all remember rationing. And I imagine trading with Germany was seen as a necessary evil to be reduced as much as possible for reasons of both ideology and national defense.
The big presumption all around was that WW2 was be another prolonged France/UK vs. Germany spat, so the less reliance on either of the warring parties or overseas for food the better.
Cheers for this very informative. I'm afraid I was guilty of assuming the worst of Switzerland in WW2. This has certainly informed me otherwise, it's not like they had much choice if they were dependent on food and fuel imports.
well Oerlikon traded all with everyone Solothurn arms manufacture was bought up by Germany SIG built trains , trucks , optics , motors , AA guns , anti tank opstacles, massive ammounts of mecanical and chemical time fuses for varying types of granades, bombs, mines, mortar granades - almost 60% of all german timefuse AA granades for heavey AA guns had the clock mecanism for the timefuse/the whole fuse from the swiss replacement machinegun barrels ,oxygen, hydrogen and acetylene gasses chemicals like nitric acid and sulfuric acid as well as battery acid , mills and lathes and grinders as well as electric bords and electric motors (for example for the U-Boats)and smaller Generators that helped the germans when the bigger powerplants were bombed to dezentralize the manufacture and keep up electricity for most parts til the bitter end
This is one reason why I'm rarely impressed with countries that mandate bunkers in the event of nuke wars. If you're dependent on imports to survive you're still in a lot of trouble. Since no one is gonna care for your needs postnuke.
Yes, it was a very good lesson on how Geography affects the lives of the people who live in changing times. It was also entertaining enough to encourage the viewers to continue.
After something you said in your last video, I looked up the use of force against both German and Allied aircraft circumnavigating or mistakenly targeting Swiss territory. That lead me to a story about a prison camp, Wauwilermoos, and its apparently pro-Nazi commandant, Andre Beguin. Apparently, he was court martialed after the war for fraud and corruption but not for his treatment of the prisoners. How is this incident viewed in Switzerland or is it not well known. No criticism either way. Just curious.
Not well known. Béguin was convicted for what they could prove post-war. The whole thing was a complete embarassment for everyone, particularly since it came at a time when the USAF was accidentally bombing Swiss cities (Basel, Schaffhausen and Zürich mostly). Post-war, the Allied men who'd be there had been told to STFU by their chain of command, and the Eastern Europeans (particularly Russians) had disappeard into the Gulag / had been shot like so many other returnees, so weren't going to be coming back to Switzerland as witnesses.
Learned about the geography, learned that 80% of the population lived/lives in a valley that was easily accessible to German Invasion from both Vichy France and Bavaria.. Leaned that the (Myth) of every Swiss man being a trained Marksman behind a K31 and the "Mountainous Terrain" struck so much fear and terror into the hearts of the German command is what kept the Swiss from being invaded.. Now I know that is a completely debunked lie..
The gold (and GBP/USD/securities) in the banks if they decided this was more important than limited access to the CHF as hard currency, the free (rather than restricted and essentially not-directly-war-related) use of the Alpine tunnels to Italy, their monopolisation of the Swiss arms and precision manufacturing industries (rather than limited access theretoimplicitly consent to them working for the Allies too), and the unification of the entirety of what they saw as Das Deutsche Volk into that famous Ein Reich under that infamous Ein Führer. Plus "cos they could". The latter two are mostly underestimated.
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Just a quick warning: there's always some people screaming NAZI GOLD!!!! (rather like "France fell without firing a shot") and citing articles written by the organisation who shook the Swiss down in the 90's for $1.25 bn dollars. Two inquiries, the Volcker commission in the US (which cost $300M) and the Bergier commission in Switzerland concluded that the amounts in play were: [this section updated on 16.06.19 after double-checking the Volcker Commission Report] about CHF 24M in unclaimed bank accounts (1999 values), which took an inquiry costing $300M to determine... this is around $16M in 1999 prices (assuming 1.5 CHF to the USD) which *probably* belonged to holocaust victims (53,886 accounts, so about CHF 445 on average per account in 1999), and 12 (yes, exactly 12, we have the serial numbers) gold bars, 3 of which were related to holocaust victim gold, the remaining 9 of which may have contained some undeterminable quantity of victim gold, under 120kg total gold weight for all 12 bars. Of which, aside from the first 3 bars, we cannot know the proportion of the remaining 9 bars which was related to victim gold (Bergier Commission report, English version, pages 249-250). Due to the way the gold was refined, it is impossible to know where the individual atoms of holocaust victim gold physically ended up (Ibid.). Taking the total weight of the 12 bars at the gold price of the era, this works out at CHF 0.14, or about half an egg's worth of dried, powdered egg per Swiss resident at late war prices. Or at present prices, about CHF 0.50 per current Swiss resident. Hardly the vast riches of myth and legend...
In any case, the Swiss National Bank could not possibly have known at the time that these bars contained / possibly contained victim gold, since the Holocaust was only confirmed very late/post war - you need to appreciate such matters on what was known at the time, not what's known now. Now what the SNB *did* know was that some of the gold they were buying from Germany (note - buying) contained bullion looted from Belgian, Dutch and French bank stocks. Their approach to this was totally amoral, very "pecunia non olet". This is rather something to reproach them for...
Anyhoo, if all you know is the propaganda from the 90's shakedown era, it should go without saying that I've done far more research, benefiting notably from Bergier and Volcker. Here's some very basic sources to read before you comment:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Jewish_Congress_lawsuit_against_Swiss_banks
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcker_Commission
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bergier_commission
www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/089526238X/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (which details the WJC lawsuit in great detail, but makes some basic errors on e.g. Swiss rationing).
And some more detailed work:
www.uek.ch/en/schlussbericht/synthesis/ueke.pdf (the Bergier report itself)
Bloke on the Range Switzerland made the situation worse by dragging their feet on resolving the dormant accounts. The biggest problem was the paper trail proving ownership was destroyed during the war and reconstruction was difficult.
lies, you found the Nazi gold and are keeping it for yourself 😉
munt Cutting it a bit fine but leaving it stand presuming sarcasm.
+Ian Anderson That doesn't make sense. Banks don't trade in pawn shop gold items like what you described, only in internationally recognized bars of bullion. If you're talking about individual depositors opening accounts in Swiss banks, any non-currency items would require a safe deposit box, in which case the banks would have no more right to ask what was going in the box than they would when you rent a safe deposit box today.
Also, nations don't go broke in the same way that individuals do; even if a sovereign state can no longer service it's debt or support its currency, the ruling government always retains some assets of value while they are in power (especially as many potential trading partners will start to demand hard value items if that country's currency is dodgy). The idea of SS officers sneaking across the border in civilian clothes with crated paintings and sacks of gold fillings in order to deposit them with complicit Swiss bankers doesn't appear to have much evidence behind it.
As for continuing to trade with Germany even in the late war period, I think Bloke illustrated the situation very well. Cash broke or not, Germany still controlled most of the ingress routes to Switzerland and had raw materials that the Swiss needed. The Germans were also perfectly capable of enacting scorched earth measures (blowing up the railway tunnels, shelling Swiss infrastructure) at the end out of pure spite from Hitler, like he had his forces do in Scandinavia and even in Germany proper.
Yeah. They probably "drug their feet" because of all of the "survivors". They somehow seem to continuously multiply yearly. The event which no one can criticize nor question in Europa has very little proofs to back it up.
Wow, amazing view. BTW Bloke -- I can't speak for other viewers but I actually really like the military history videos you do. I think they're some of your strongest videos. Some of the technical shooting vids are not so interesting for me personally because I don't do any of that stuff, but all the history stuff I find really valuable.
I'd love to see more vids like this oriented on military history (if they involve weaponry too, all the better!)
Pro tip : you can watch series on Flixzone. Me and my gf have been using it for watching lots of of movies during the lockdown.
@Joel Brandon Definitely, have been watching on Flixzone} for years myself :)
Another side of neutrality is that the Swiss had to turn over or turn back defectors and escapees etc. Which put the Swiss in quite a moral delima with the Jews. But all the movie talk of getting to Switzerland was just that...talk, because if you were caught or discovered by the Swiss, they had to send you back.
On the defensive front, I had the luck one year in Switzerland of seeing their citizen/defensive army on maneuvers, encountering soldiers riding public transportation on their way to or from duty, in full kit, including armaments, seeing tanks and apc's on alpen roads and hearing gun and cannon fire, as they practice home defense.
Thanks BotR for this educational and interesting historical perspective!
Bloke, this has got to be on of the most interesting videos I have watched. I loved the political and economic intrigue Thank you so much for this one.
thanks!
Extremely interesting and not the least bit dull. I had a full tutorial on Swiss neutrality and debunked many previously held falacies of WWII. Danke, Merci, Multo Grazie!
Hello again! Regarding the Swiss food supply, there is 1816, the Year Without Summer, which led to mass starvation in (mainly German speaking) Switzerland in 1817.
Rambling and tangents keeps things from becoming dry and dusty.
You do great work mate, I would love too see more of the swiss military history from the world wars, especially the strategic defence positions, very well planned country, and stubborn in a positive way....all the best from oz
Great video, I know Neuchatel well having worked there several times. I find it ironic too as I come from Newcastle (Neu Chatel) in the UK!
We will be filming in Switzerland soon. Perhaps we can meet up for a beer?
Vic
Excellent video. Interesting to note for the viewers that we (the Swiss) even transformed public squares into agricultural surfaces. At the time, Switzerland only had something like 3 million inhabitants.
Nicely explained. Part of war I knew little about before watching your channel
I watched this video a few weeks ago and at the time I was unable to comment because I was watching it while driving a vehicle (before anyone gets too bent out of shape, I routinely 'watch' long form videos like this while driving because a video of this type, while the visual component certainly helps, can really be taken in as an almost purely spoken lecture, and that's what I do).
Anyway, this video was very, very good. One of the best I've seen in a while. This sort of work is really something I love and is a great example of the kind of content which made me decide to sub on Patreon.
Thanks. Took a lot of effort to prepare and lots of fun wrestling the map with the wind!
Have only deep respect for a country like Switzerland for what they are, what they have been and how they have worked and struggled to become what they are now. Nation building is hard, maintaining it is equally as hard- only in a longer perspective. Love this channel.
Excellent! Would like to see more of these type videos. Despite being stationed in Bavaria for 3 years in the 70's, I never got a chance to visit Switzerland, so I had little idea of how the geography affected its strategic situation. Always got the "its just all mountains" explanation you mentioned. And, I can't help but to notice your "rambling" style (which I enjoy---it adds a lot) is like Lindybeige's. Is this a Brit thing?
Must be a British thing. He's much better at it than I am though :D
you notice that every tangent teaches more of the detail of the greater story as a whole.
Bloke on the Range Lindy Beige is much more British. This is coming from a Canadian who has met several British people so... pay attention
Excellent history lesson. Beautiful country.
You seem to take great pride in your adopted home.
I agree with others that this is one of the most interesting videos I've ever seen from your or any other channel. Never realized the Swiss position was so utterly dependent on German goodwill. Rather does give pause for thought. Great video Bloke. Hope to see you carry on the tradition.
- Peter.
Bloke, not to worry about the tangents. They are always just as interesting as and complementary to the main subject. I know nothing of Swiss history so all is gratefully received.
Excellent overview of the Swiss situation in both wars. Often it is not pointed out the Swiss had a similar food problem as Britain did in both wars as a net importer of food. Thus it is possible under the right conditions to starve both into submission or impotency. What many accusations of the Swiss actions in WWII ignore is the Swiss government had limited leverage with the Germans and a big enough blunder could make for a massive economic mess for the Swiss. People need to remember the Swiss government had a responsibility to the Swiss to avoid economic disaster if possible even if it meant having to make deals they did not like or want with the Germans. The fact they pulled it off says something about the competence of the Swiss leadership.
Brilliant video, love all the economics, geography and history.
I hope you will do some more about the formation of Switzerland and Swiss life through history.
The immense tunnels never cease to impress!
thanks!
I love the incidental yodel at the end of the video! Also, wow! 24 minutes with a jump cut is pretty awesome! Thank you for this video because I've never researched that far into Swiss neutrality so I found this video facinating!
Excellent video, love the detail and the tangents too
Thank you bloke for bringing those of us in the US some of the most beautiful landscape shots, oh and awesome information and stuff that no one brings up. So nice, and so much appreciated.
Fantastic sound quality in the wind. What microphone is that ?
It's an Apurture with its pre-amp, plugged into the camera.
Very interesting, Thanks for covering an otherwise uncovered subject. The Swiss position during WW2 was a real eye opener.
Fascinating, informative, interesting, and very well done.
Excellent video. I LOVE long, drawn out detailed videos. I'm immune to the new short attention span syndrome.
What about the agreements of transport, something about people could travel by rail between the various countries through Switzerland as long as they're not uniformed soldiers (or something along those lines; not certain about accuracy)? That neither the Swiss nor the Germans wanted that trade route cut-off because then the Germans wouldn't be able to leverage Switzerland, and Switzerland didn't want to starve/freeze, but because it was a vital link that passes through Switzerland, everyone was keen about keeping the route open.
Great! thanks for taking the time to make this video......Len
Most interesting. Part of my family came out of Switzerland in the long, long ago and far away times.
I enjoyed this video immensely! Generally, in America we are taught a very "stylized" version of Swiss neutrality and the part they played during WWII. Honestly, it never dawned on me that the Swiss were net importers of food and energy. I had always assumed that Switzerland had large coal reserves like Germany, and, if need be, could close their country off and feed themselves. Your talk was really eye opening. Thanks very much for the education, it makes me want to delve a little deeper into this seldom talked about sideshow of WWII. Can you recommend any good books on the subject?
The two by Stephen Halbrook here are good: www.amazon.com/s?k=target+switzerland&ref=nb_sb_noss_2
This one is rather heavier and focuses more on the intelligence aspects: www.amazon.com/Secret-Channel-Berlin-Masson-Schellenberg-Intelligence-ebook/dp/B004E9TOEQ/
Splendid video. Hope you make more of them.
Fascinating, very well done, especially the "tangents". I discovered your channel whilst intensely researching FALs, and I'm glad I did. We need to get you to the US, you can teach history for your day job!
It's great hearing all the 'goings on' from different perspectives on the workings in Europe during all that kerfuffle. Thanks, great vid! Now, when are you getting a drone to do some aerial work to cut into your vids? That would be AWESOME!
Awesome video. These history things are wonderful.
Enjoyed the strategic history lesson! Thanks
Always love your random tangents.
Actually,France also had the fear of anti-war sentiment among the populace,at least with offensives and Brits were against full on conflict back then(Chamberlian administration). But that is not all...British literally hoped and waited for Reich and USSR to colide,as they hoped that would hope during Polish invasion (again,fault of Chamberlian policies,that no one talks nowdays). Funny part ,that did not happen,just like USSR's hope of Reich not attacking until it settles in Europe a bit more.
As for Brits and agriculture...Their agriculture was also dependent on others,so that is why there was such a low % in agriculture.This was increased in WWII and many of those that lived inside towns and city suburtbs started to garden to meet the needs(and were still dependent).Thou if one watched the WWII farming in Britain show,it showed they were insanely developed when it comes to agriculture and having a lot of modern equipment,unlike many.
Bloke is a true history pimp! Keep it up brah!
Summary: lots of leveraging going on. Excellent video.
I find these history videos really interesting. All the more so given I know very little about Switzerland
Very very informative. Thank you very much for putting this video up and keep them coming . Awesome job man, awesome job
really interesting and very informative thanks very much
Top work, man. More of this please!
Thanks for that good analysis, Bloke!
Regarding Swiss neutrality and tensions with Germany, check out the David Frankfurter murder in Davos. There was a Swiss movie made about it, which I saw in Canada over 40 years ago de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konfrontation_(Film) However, no one I've ever met in Switzerland has ever heard of the incident or of the movie. There is a recent book published in French about it, which I read, and which goes over the incident and the subsequent trial, also mentioning Herschel Grynzpan which led to Krystalnacht.
An excellent video! Very informative and well presented (despite the wind). Have you ever considered collaborating with Bernhard from Military History Visualised? I'm sure that together, you could conjure up something truly spectacular!
PS: (Practically) Swiss chaps collaborating with an Austrian man? There must be a topical joke in there somewhere...
Very interesting. Thanks.
The Irish had a similar agreement with the British in case the Germans would try to invade Ireland. The Irish army would have engaged the Germans first, and the British would have come from Northern Ireland to assist them. For this the Irish army changed their uniforms, away from the German WW1 style helmets they wore in the 1920s and 30s to British style "Battle bowler" Mk 2 helmets. Also most of their equipment and weaponry was British.
The Swiss had to supply the Locomotives to transport the import goods from Marseile. Iron ore from Gonzen and Herznach went to germany for refining.
Excellent overview Bloke. IIRC Britain was swapping rubber for optics with the Germans in Switzerland during the war. WW1 I think.
British cement ended up in German WW1 frontline bunkers via the Dutch. The Brits were unimpressed, as you can imagine!
Thank you for the very good and educational Video. As always good Research going on. Wie immer grossartig! Merci!
Oooooh, I get it! Bloke on the MOUNTAIN range :D
Now, now. Bloke debunked that stereotype. Switzerland is only 60% mountainous. :)
Sound quality was great.
Génial
Y'aurait t'il une chance que tu visite les fortifications de vallorbe ??
Il y a un bunker massif qui garde le val de travers se serai genial en video
Peut-être. J'ai un contact là-bas qui a accès à des fortins.
I want to make a kite. Can you tell me where you got your map?
Ordered online. I think this one was Orell Füssli.
And he doesn't even mention Lichtenstein when mentioning countries bordering Switzerland...
thats because lichtenstein is less of a country and more of a slightly seperate extremely tax haveny canton of switzerland.
@@Genesis23OPB Whose number one manufacturing industry is false teeth.
@@kevinlove4356 Not exactly, it’s HILTI en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilti
Thank you. This was very informative.
Excellent video, but might I suggest next time cutting to a map display filmed inside? Not for the whole video, just for the bits in which you need lines on the map, without things getting blown about.
Super interesting, thank you
The zoning and development rules to get farmland increased by 99% over a decade must have been impressive. A lot of countries with varying political systems have tried to do that and failed.
It's amazing how the risk of war and knowing you'd screwed the pooch on agriculture in the last one can rather focus the mind and get things done :)
@@BlokeontheRange I forgot about how close the first world war was to the second. Both the younger officials and the older ones would all remember rationing. And I imagine trading with Germany was seen as a necessary evil to be reduced as much as possible for reasons of both ideology and national defense.
The big presumption all around was that WW2 was be another prolonged France/UK vs. Germany spat, so the less reliance on either of the warring parties or overseas for food the better.
loved the tangents!
Oh, a video, perfect timing!
Cheers for this very informative. I'm afraid I was guilty of assuming the worst of Switzerland in WW2. This has certainly informed me otherwise, it's not like they had much choice if they were dependent on food and fuel imports.
well Oerlikon traded all with everyone
Solothurn arms manufacture was bought up by Germany
SIG built trains , trucks , optics , motors , AA guns , anti tank opstacles, massive ammounts of mecanical and chemical time fuses for varying types of granades, bombs, mines, mortar granades - almost 60% of all german timefuse AA granades for heavey AA guns had the clock mecanism for the timefuse/the whole fuse from the swiss
replacement machinegun barrels ,oxygen, hydrogen and acetylene gasses
chemicals like nitric acid and sulfuric acid as well as battery acid ,
mills and lathes and grinders as well as electric bords and electric motors (for example for the U-Boats)and smaller Generators that helped the germans when the bigger powerplants were bombed to dezentralize the manufacture and keep up electricity for most parts til the bitter end
i wonder if you might have some prenapolionic history somewhere around there?
Thank you very much Bloke! I love the history lessons! Keep them coming!
It's like a school field trip with Mike :)
Very interesting - thanks
I would have loved having the Bloke as my high school history teacher. Hehehe...
Just the right length IMHO
Amazing stuff. Keep it up ^_^
Panoramique de Chaumont?
This is one reason why I'm rarely impressed with countries that mandate bunkers in the event of nuke wars. If you're dependent on imports to survive you're still in a lot of trouble. Since no one is gonna care for your needs postnuke.
Great (whoa) video bloke. Your (wey) hat must be on (whoops) tight!
For a minute there, I thought that the chap behind you was the Chap!
Great vid
Excellent! Clean it up, automate the maps and you are as good as any of the History Sources...Geoff Who notes better than most already!
thanks!
Yes, it was a very good lesson on how Geography affects the lives of the people who live in changing times.
It was also entertaining enough to encourage the viewers to continue.
Cool video ty for that =D
how many stop lines were there?
Why on earth did you do this outside?
11:51 "brief summary"
I suggest mounting the map in a shadow box with LED lighting.
Ticket To Ride Switzerland makes up 90% of my knowledge of Swiss geography.
Love it could you pick a more windy place lol
Mike looking like a civilian from Arma 3
Forget about the Swiss defense in the World Wars. The guy with the big scary pointed teeth is right behind you!
i'm so triggered by your bag sling i m just staring at it wishing I can twist it to the right position
After something you said in your last video, I looked up the use of force against both German and Allied aircraft circumnavigating or mistakenly targeting Swiss territory. That lead me to a story about a prison camp, Wauwilermoos, and its apparently pro-Nazi commandant, Andre Beguin. Apparently, he was court martialed after the war for fraud and corruption but not for his treatment of the prisoners. How is this incident viewed in Switzerland or is it not well known. No criticism either way. Just curious.
Not well known. Béguin was convicted for what they could prove post-war. The whole thing was a complete embarassment for everyone, particularly since it came at a time when the USAF was accidentally bombing Swiss cities (Basel, Schaffhausen and Zürich mostly). Post-war, the Allied men who'd be there had been told to STFU by their chain of command, and the Eastern Europeans (particularly Russians) had disappeard into the Gulag / had been shot like so many other returnees, so weren't going to be coming back to Switzerland as witnesses.
It's basically Nepal in Europe. Geographically, that is. That food problem is easily a problem when surrounded by India & get this... China.
Hello Bloke - aktually 70% of Switzerland is mountainous - 60% Alps, 10% Jura, 30% "flat" or foothills
Most of the Jura is farmable though ;)
Yes, and you could actually breed brontosaurs there, if you'd find a pair to raise a stock :o)
Learned about the geography, learned that 80% of the population lived/lives in a valley that was easily accessible to German Invasion from both Vichy France and Bavaria.. Leaned that the (Myth) of every Swiss man being a trained Marksman behind a K31 and the "Mountainous Terrain" struck so much fear and terror into the hearts of the German command is what kept the Swiss from being invaded.. Now I know that is a completely debunked lie..
a strimmer indeed! #whatiststrimmer?
20 seconds in, and there is already a geography student joke..
Great video. Just FYI, Jura is pronounced “you-rah” with a soft j.
Not in French it's not. Which is the language spoken there :p
to poom - To Point Out On (a) Map
You look like Brian from RCR :p
I'll all for more videos on Swiss history or country side, just please no more wigs.
Germany had no interest in taking a country that they would end up having to feed and heat. And for what?
The gold (and GBP/USD/securities) in the banks if they decided this was more important than limited access to the CHF as hard currency, the free (rather than restricted and essentially not-directly-war-related) use of the Alpine tunnels to Italy, their monopolisation of the Swiss arms and precision manufacturing industries (rather than limited access theretoimplicitly consent to them working for the Allies too), and the unification of the entirety of what they saw as Das Deutsche Volk into that famous Ein Reich under that infamous Ein Führer. Plus "cos they could". The latter two are mostly underestimated.
Their were some Swiss who supported the nazis but they were few and far between as far as I can tell.
To paraphrase Ms Rice Davis, they would say that now, wouldn't they.
Léman, not Lake Geneva grrr
Laurent Belkacem It’s a devils choice. Most Anglophone non-Swiss (our main audience) will know it, incorrectly I agree, as Lake Geneva.
Laurent Belkacem Der Genfer See!
tommihommi1 I raise you “Il lago lemàno”
I see your "genfer see" and raise again to "ze woter ofer terr, were ze kindas are plantsching"
Sings: "We all went out to Montreux, on the Lake Geneva shoreline"
There's value in using the normal name in the language you're speaking ;)