Tra neutralità e sicurezza collettiva: la Svizzera di fronte alla nascita della Società delle Nazioni

The idea of creating an international organization which could contribute to build peace and security in the years following the World War I induced Switzerland to play an active part in the constitution of what would become the League of Nations, although this contrasted with the condition of “permanent neutrality” of the country. This caused a general political discussion about the possible compatibility between Swiss international status and the duties and needs required by the statute of the future Organization. The difficulties the Swiss Government had to face in order to accomplish this task were hard and many and required determination, but at the end the efforts were successful: the principle that “collective security” and “permanent neutrality” were not incompatible was widely accepted. But this fact was to represent an element of internal weakness in the constitution of this international organization, made even worse by the decision of the United States not to join in.