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First: Quite a few small countries were neutral at the starting point of war... by the way... the USA were neutral, too, until the 7th of December 1941 when the Japanese attacked directly pearl harbor, then US entered war...

Denmark i.e. was on Germany's way to move towards Norway on the 9th of April 1940... where the landing of british divisions should be stopped and the north be controlled. So... nobody knows every fact about why... or why not, but in the case of Denmark... it was probably just on the way. As was Belgium... if I'm not wrong... when Germany took on to France.

These days many are blaiming countries like Sweden or Switzerland for producing war material for Germany (but they sold it to allies, too), or for bank accounts allowing to Germany to continue international trading.

The case of Switzerland would be one of those that nobody can really tell nowadays why it wasn't attacked - as Hitler had planned doing that. The general mobilisation in Switzerland - just some days before the war started - contained about 600'000 soldiers defending the border. It was probably by chance that Germans didn't invade during their invasion in France... as they continually violated the Swiss border including several air-clashes between German and Swiss fighters.

Obviously some Swiss bankers and industrials did some secret deals with Germany... getting rich themselves. On the other hand the population and politicians were mainly strict anti-Hitler. You see, there's no "it's because of this or that... (anyone doing that is telling lies).

Swiss army leaders planned a reduced Switzerland - the "réduit" - withdrawing all armed forces (in case of a German attack) back into the alps, covered with secred ground fire, tank-stoppers, etc, etc. And they gave order to blow up any brigde or tunnel crossing north-south.

Looking at this... Switzerland wasn't a threat for Germany... it was possibly the best for Germany to wait... the saying goes like "we hunt the little pig, when we're back from Russia". As you know... Russia was never taken. History is complex.

Vic

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Q: During World War 2 why did some countries manage to stay neutral eg Switzerland and others were occupied by the Axis powers eg Denmark?
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Related questions

What countries made an effort to remain neutral during the war?

Switzerland and Spain, Denmark and Norway were neutral but Hitler brought them into the war


What countries were neutral in World War 2 including Switzerland Iceland denmark Finland....?

Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Turkey, Switzerland, Iceland and Andorra


What country did Germany occupy during the war?

Countries in Europe not occupied by German In WWII: Britan (Allied) Iceland (Allied) Switzerland (Neutral) Sweden (Neutral) Ireland (Neutral) Spain (Neutral)


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What countries in Europe chose not to get involved in World War 2?

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Were any countries besides Switzerland neutral during World War 1?

Spain, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and other countries were neutral. See link below.


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What country was never occupied by Germany because it was neutral other than Switzerland?

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