The only part I’d disagree with is Sweden’s defense. They got more and more serious about national defense in the run up to the war and were arming furiously by 1939-1940. They had mandatory mass conscription and a fairly well trained and equipped army shortly. They also demonstrated how they could quickly blow up the iron ore mines Germany depended on by way of deterrence.
Sweden’s real problem is they are a relatively small country. There is only so much resistance they could have offered before being overwhelmed by the Wehrmacht - especially after the invasions of Denmark and Norway.
Switzerland’s case is different. Their terrain makes Blitzkrieg impossible, renders air power of much more limited use and is ideally set up for Defense. It would be very easy to blow up roads, bridges, tunnels, dams etc....to hold the high ground and force the enemy to fight uphill only to retreat to the next mountain and make him do it all over again. Key war material and personnel could be protected in tunnels. Invading Switzerland would be a nightmare.
Don’t forget to include Switzerland’s male population all got basic military training and civilian marksmanship was encouraged on an ongoing basis for centuries. Schutzenfests there go back to the crossbow era in the 15th Century. It’s a serious, widespread tradition.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schützenfest#Switzerland
Getting sniped by people with serious shooting skills intimately familiar with the rugged terrain would not have been a fun time for an invader. A story, probably apocryphal, is told of the German defense minister asking his Swiss counterpart “How many men in your army?” “One million.” “What if we invade with two million men?” “Each of my men shoots twice.”
Denmark folded in four hours.
Hitler’s plan to invade Switzerland was called “Operation Christmas Tree”. The Swiss kicked out citizens who allied with the Nazis.
Who needs citizens who would cheer-on their country’s invaders?
Y’know, like Democrats?
Denmark folded in four hours.
Hitler’s plan to invade Switzerland was called “Operation Christmas Tree”. The Swiss kicked out citizens who allied with the Nazis.
Who needs citizens who would cheer-on their country’s invaders?
Y’know, like Democrats?