The Challenge of Neutrality: Diplomacy and the Defense of Switzerland - Hardcover

This account of Swiss endurance and survival is important, not least of all because Switzerland and the United States share many common values, including an abiding commitment to democracy, federalism, and the rule of law. . . . This readable translation of Councilor Chevallaz's book is valuable not only because it captures those shared ideals but, just as important, it gives the reader a more balanced and nuanced understanding of Switzerland during the war than has been presented to us of late.--Joseph E. Persico, coauthor with Colin Powell of My American Journey and author of Roosevelt's Secret War: FDR and World War II Episonage, from the

A study of Swiss neutrality during World War II. It asks two essential questions: Why, in the face of German imperialism - with its authoritarian, totalitarian and racist ideology - did Switzerland declare neutrality? Why did it not join the "camp of democracies" or other European nations who resolved to hold firm against the Germans? This insigh tful book attempts to answer these questions and offer an even-handed re-evaluation of the role of the principal actors in Swiss politics of the time, notably Marcel Pilet-Golaz, head of the Department of Foreign Affairs, and General Guisan.