Politics and Neutrality (Switzerland)

Neutrality is a fundamental problem in modern Swiss history and played a pivotal role in both world wars. During the Second World War the danger came from the outside, while during the First World War Switzerland was also threatened from within. From 1914 to 1918 a rift endangered Switzerland politically, as the western part of the country was concerned about the future of France, while the eastern part had strong ties to Germany. Several crises of neutrality made the situation during the war more difficult, amongst them an affair of two colonels from the General Staff and a peace mission by a federal councillor and a social-democrat member of parliament. The division within the country continued after the war, especially in relation to the creation of the League of Nations.