Jakob Tanner, professor emeritus of modern history at the University of Zurich, joins me to explore Switzerland’s role in World War II and what it really meant to be a “neutral” country surrounded by Nazi-occupied Europe.
Expect to learn what daily life looked like for Swiss citizens during the war, how the country balanced fear of invasion with domestic stability, and why the Reduit strategy focused on retreating into the Alps. Jakob also breaks down Switzerland’s trade and financial ties with Nazi Germany, including gold transfers and the country’s role as a safe haven for German assets.
If you’re curious about Swiss wartime diplomacy, military preparedness, or the controversies that followed, this conversation offers rare historical insight.
CONTACT Jakob
https://www.hist.uzh.ch/de/fachbereiche/neuzeit/emeritiert/tanner.html
CONTACT MIKE
https://howitticks.ch/contact-page/
TRANSCRIPT
https://howitticks.ch/podcast/switzerland-ww2-history-jakob-tanner/
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Refugee policies and Switzerland’s stance toward Jewish asylum seekers
06:00 The limits of direct democracy and why women didn’t get the vote until 1971
12:00 German invasion plans: Operation Tannenbaum and strategic miscalculations
18:00 Would the Reduit defense plan have worked? What was actually built?
24:00 Cultural and agricultural resistance within Switzerland during wartime
30:00 Post-war relations with Germany and the long road to historical reflection