Why Did Hitler Leave Switzerland and Sweden Alone?

Why did Hitler leave Switzerland and Sweden alone? He conquered Poland, Denmark, Norway, Holland, Belgium and France — yet two small neutral countries, completely surrounded, were never invaded. Was it the Alps? The Swiss army? Fear? Luck? The real answer is far stranger: Nazi gold, Swedish iron ore, ball bearings and secret trains through neutral territory. In this animated WW2 history documentary we cover Swiss pilots fighting the Luftwaffe in their own Messerschmitts, General Henri Guisan's National Redoubt (the Réduit), the Gotthard and Simplon tunnels, Operation Tannenbaum — Hitler's real plan to invade Switzerland — the Swiss National Bank's gold deals, Kiruna iron ore and the Narvik route, German soldier trains through Sweden, the Midsummer Crisis, SKF ball bearings, the rescue of Danish Jews, Raoul Wallenberg, Allen Dulles in Bern, and how neutrality really worked in World War II. Smart, lucky, or guilty? Tell us in the comments. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00 Swiss vs German pilots, June 1940 0:34 Switzerland and Sweden surrounded 1:08 Why not these two? 1:34 General Guisan at the Rütli meadow 2:08 The Réduit: Switzerland's mountain fortress 2:35 The Gotthard and Simplon tunnels 2:57 Operation Tannenbaum 3:33 Nazi gold and the Swiss franc 4:35 Interned airmen and the Schaffhausen bombing 5:41 Sweden's iron ore: Kiruna 6:03 Luleå, Narvik and the invasion of Norway 6:56 German soldier trains through Sweden 7:20 The Midsummer Crisis 7:55 Ball bearings: Germany's quiet supplier 8:30 Rescuing Denmark's Jews and Wallenberg 9:05 Switzerland's refugee record 9:34 Bern: the spy capital of Europe 9:52 Neutrality means leaning 10:36 The cold calculation 11:10 Tannenbaum in the drawer 11:31 Cowardice or the only sane choice? 📚 More history, told from all sides — subscribe to Two Sides History. #WW2 #Switzerland #Sweden #History #Hitler #Neutrality #AnimatedHistory