During World War II, the neutral powers took no official side, hoping to avoid attack. However, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland all helped the
Allies by supplying "voluntary" brigades[1] to the
United Kingdom,[2] while Spain avoided the Allies in favor of the
Axis, supplying them with its own voluntary brigade, the
Blue Division. Ireland generally favoured the Allied side, as with the United States. The United States remained officially neutral until 8 December 1941, a day following the
attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor.
The
Lateran Treaty between Italy and the Holy See, signed in 1929, required that the Pope maintain "perpetual neutrality in international relations". Accordingly,
Vatican City was officially neutral throughout the war.
Ireland – The policy of
Irish neutrality during
World War II was adopted by the
Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) at the instigation of
Éamon de Valera, the
Taoiseach (head of government) upon the outbreak of hostilities in Europe. It was maintained throughout the conflict, in spite of
several German air raids and
attacks on Ireland's shipping fleet by the Axis. De Valera refrained from joining either side, although he generally favored and aided the Allied powers by allowing access to their naval repair yards.
Portugal – Portugal was officially neutral during World War II. However, it maintained a close relationship with the UK, due to the
alliance it had for the last six hundred years, which is the longest lasting military alliance in history. The
Estado Novo sought neutrality in order to keep Spain neutral and prevent it from joining the Axis. Portugal allowed the United States to use a secret military base at
Santa Maria Airport in the
Azores through a military agreement signed on 28 November 1944. This violated its neutrality and rendered Portugal as a non-belligerent on the Allied side.
Spain – Spain initially held to formal neutrality, but when Italy entered the war in June 1940,
Francisco Franco changed Spain's status to that of "
non-belligerent" and proceeded to occupy
Tangiers. From June 1940 until February 1941, the Francoist regime was greatly tempted by interventionism; a prominent
Germanophile,
Foreign MinisterRamón Serrano Suñer was highly influential in the government.[6] However, meetings with German officials, including the
Hendaye meeting between Franco and Hitler on 23 October 1940, did not bring formal entry of Spain into the war.
Operation Barbarossa shifted the main theater of war away from the Mediterranean, lessening Spain's interest in intervention. The less-relevant Serrano Suñer was still able to create the
Blue Division,[7] made up of Spanish volunteers to fight for the Axis. With the conflict decidedly turning in favor of the Allies, Franco returned the status of Spain to one of "vigilant neutrality" on 1 October 1943.[8]
During most of the war, Spain had been a key provider of strategic
tungsten ore to Nazi Germany. Amid
heavy Allied diplomatic and economic pressure, Spain signed a secret deal with the United States and United Kingdom on 2 May 1944 to drastically limit tungsten exports to Germany and expel German spies from Spanish soil.[9]
Sweden – Before the war, Sweden and the other Nordic countries announced their planned neutrality in any large European conflict. When Finland was invaded by the Soviet Union in the
Winter War, Sweden changed its position to that of a
non-belligerent, which was not defined by international treaties, thus freeing Sweden from the restrictions of neutrality. Among other things, it allowed the Swedish government to support Finland during the
Winter War, allowed German soldiers on leave to travel through Sweden, and at one point allowed a combat division to travel from Norway to Finland through Sweden. The
transit of German troops through Finland and Sweden and
Swedish iron-ore mining during World War II helped the German war effort. Sweden had disarmed after World War I and was in no position to resist German threats militarily by 1940.
In 1943, the
Swedish Armed Forces were much improved, and all such deals with Germany were terminated. Hitler considered invading Sweden, but when Göring protested, Hitler dropped the plan. The Swedish
SKF company supplied the majority of ball-bearings used in Germany and was also important to Allied aircraft production.[10]
Swedish Intelligence cracked the German
Geheimschreiber cipher and shared decrypted information with the Allies. Stalin was informed well in advance of Hitler's planned invasion of the Soviet Union but chose not to believe the information.
Danish resistance worked with Sweden to carry out the 1943
rescue of the Danish Jews by shipping them to Sweden. During the
Liberation of Finnmark, Sweden sent
Norwegian "police" troops over the border to link up with
Allied forces. At the end of the war, Sweden was preparing to join the Allied invasion of Norway and Denmark if the occupying Wehrmacht forces rejected a general armistice.
Switzerland – As in World War I, Switzerland maintained its historic neutrality. It depended on German coal, with 10 million tons imported during the war, comprising 41% of Swiss energy supplies. The Swiss military often opened fire on Axis bombers invading its
airspace; Switzerland also shot down Allied planes over its territory on several occasions. Throughout the war, cities in Switzerland were
accidentally bombed by both Axis and Allied aircraft. The Axis did have plans for an
invasion of Switzerland, but Switzerland
had formed complex fortifications and amassed thousands of soldiers in the mountains to thwart any Axis invasion.
Turkey was neutral until several months before the end of the war, at which point it joined the Allies. Prior to the outbreak of war, Turkey signed a Mutual Aid Pact with France and Britain in 1939. After the German
invasion of France, however, Turkey remained neutral, relying on a clause excusing them if military action might bring conflict with the USSR. In June 1941, after neighbouring Bulgaria joined the Axis and allowed Germany to move troops through to invade
Yugoslavia and
Greece, Turkey signed a
treaty of friendship with Germany.
Winston Churchill and his military staff met the Turkish president on 30 January 1943 in the
Adana Conference, although Turkey did not then change its position.
Turkey was an important producer of
chromite, a
strategic material for metallurgy to which Germany had limited access. The Germans wanted it, and the Allies wanted to prevent them from getting it. So, chromite was the key issue in Turkey's negotiations with both sides. Turkey would backpedal on its agreement to supply Nazi Germany with chromite. After instead selling it to the rival nations the
United States and the
United Kingdom after the two allied nations agreed to also purchase dried fruit and tobacco from Turkey as well.[11] Turkey halted its sales to Germany in April 1944 and broke off relations in August. In February 1945, after the Allies made its invitation to the inaugural meeting of the United Nations (along with the invitations of several other nations) conditional on full belligerency, Turkey declared war on the Axis powers, but no Turkish troops ever saw combat.
Iran was initially neutral but was occupied by the Allies (see
Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran). It later declared war on Germany in 1943.
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic contacts with Germany on 11 September 1939, and with Japan in October 1941. Although officially neutral, the Saudis provided the Allies with large supplies of oil. Diplomatic relations with the United States were established in 1943.
King Abdul Aziz Al-Saud was a personal friend of Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Americans were then allowed to build an air force base near
Dhahran.[12] Saudi Arabia declared war on Germany on 28 February 1945 and Japan on 1 April 1945, but no military actions resulted from the declaration.
Tibet remained neutral throughout World War II. While de factoindependent and under the rule of the Dalai Lama, it was internationally recognized as a regional province of the Republic of China. The Tibetan government received Allied (British and American) military officers in Lhasa in 1943.[13] Following the end of World War II and the defeat of the Nationalists by the Communists led by
Mao Zedong in the Chinese Civil War, Tibet was
invaded and annexed by China in 1951.
Argentina – Before the start of World War II in
1939,
Argentina had maintained a long tradition of neutrality regarding European wars, which had been upheld and defended by all major political parties since the 19th century. One of the main reasons for this policy was related to Argentina's economic position as one of the world's leading exporters of foodstuffs and agricultural products, to
Europe in general and to the
United Kingdom in particular.[14] Thus, initially, even though the government of Argentina was sympathetic to the
Allies[15] and provided economic assistance to the United Kingdom,[16] the country's political tradition of neutralism prevailed. Following the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequent
American declaration of war upon Japan,
American pressure for
Argentine entry into the war begun to increase.[15] Relations worsened further following a
military coup in
1943, as the plotters were accused of holding
Axis sympathies.[16] Because of strong divisions and internal disputes between members of the
Argentine military, the country would continue to remain
neutral, even after
American sanctions.[16] However, Argentina eventually gave in to the Allies' pressure, broke relations with the Axis powers on January 26, 1944,[16] and declared war on March 27, 1945.[16] Over 4,000 Argentine volunteers fought on the Allied side.[17]
United States – The United States remained neutral at the outbreak of World War II in compliance with the Neutrality Act of 1936 despite favoring the Allied side. However, the sudden
defeat of France by Nazi Germany in the spring of 1940 led the country to significantly expand its armed forces through the
Selective Training and Service Act of 1940. On 29 December of that year, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that the United States was to be the "
Arsenal of Democracy" for the Allies by giving them supplies while the country remained neutral. The U.S. remained neutral until 8 December 1941, when it
declared war on Japan in response to the surprise
attack on Pearl Harbor the previous day.
Conclusion
Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland held to the concept of
armed neutrality, and continuously amassed soldiers to defend their nation's
sovereignty from potential invasion. Thus, they maintained the right to become belligerent if attacked while in a state of neutrality. The concept of neutrality in
war is narrowly defined and puts specific constraints on the neutral party in return for the internationally recognized right to remain neutral. A wider concept is that of
non-belligerence. The basic treaty covering
Neutral states is Convention V of The Hague Respecting the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers and Persons in Case of War on Land (1907). It is important to note that a neutral country takes no side in a war between other parties, and in return hopes to avoid being attacked by either of them. A neutralist policy aims at neutrality in case of an armed conflict that could involve the party in question. A neutralist is an advocate of neutrality in
international affairs. The concept of neutrality in conflicts is distinct from
non-alignment, i.e., the willful desistance from
military alliances in order to preserve neutrality in case of war, and perhaps with the hope of preventing a war altogether.
In a study of Spain, Switzerland, and Sweden during the Second World War, Eric Golson found that they engaged in economic
realpolitik, as they traded with both the Axis and the Allied Powers.[18]
^Jan Romein (1962). The Asian Century: A History of Modern Nationalism in Asia. University of California Press. p. 382.
^"Inside Tibet". National Archives and Records Administration via Youtube. 1943.
Archived from the original on 15 December 2021. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
^Allén Lascano, Luís C. (1977). Argentina y la gran guerra, Cuaderno 12. «La Soberanía», Todo es Historia, Buenos Aires
^Golson, Eric (2016). "Neutrality in War". Economic History of Warfare and State Formation. Studies in Economic History. Springer, Singapore. pp. 259–278.
doi:
10.1007/978-981-10-1605-9_11.
ISBN9789811016042.
Karsh, E. "Neutrality and Small States." 1989.
Gabriel, J. M. "The American Conception of Neutrality After 1941." 1989.