Between the Alps & A Hard Place: Switzerland in World War II and Moral Blackmail Today (Hardcover)

~ Angelo M. Codevilla (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...Kritik am Verhalten der Schweiz im Zweiten Weltkrieg wurde primër mit Argumenten aus der moralisch-idealistischen Denktradition vorgetragen." -- Hans E. T³tsch, Neue Z³rcher Zeitung, 4 Oktober 2000

Product Description

What really happened to the billions of dollars worth of gold seized by Nazi Germany? What role did the Swiss government play and what are the implications of neutrality during wartime? The author addresses these questions, presents the case for and against Switzerland, and applies the lessons learned from World War II to the broader issue of companies--and countries--profiting during wartime.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 248 pages
• Publisher: Regnery Publishing, Inc.; 1 edition (November 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 089526238X
• ISBN-13: 978-0895262387
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #824,494 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well Worth Your Time, October 23, 2000

By	L. M. Hadacek "lhadacek" (IOWA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Lively and extremely readable, this is also a first-rate work of history, spanning two time periods-the Second World War and the Clinton Administration. Dr. Codevilla brilliantly analyzes the genuine crisis faced by Swiss politicians and military leaders during the Second World War-how to deter an invasion by Hitler's seemingly invincible Wehrmacht, which by 1940 had left the tiny country completely surrounded. How also to import enough food and coal to keep the Swiss population alive for the duration of the war? How to manage both of these tasks, without surrendering Swiss independence to the hated Nazi regime-which had been threatening invasion and calling for the liquidation of Switzerland since at least 1937? Using original sources, Codavilla answers these questions, and adds important historical perspective and moral nuance to the picture which Americans gained of Switzerland and her citizens during the late 1990s. He also addresses forthrightly the behavior of Swiss banks regarding unclaimed assets of Jews murdered by the Nazis, and the involvement of the Clinton Administration in the politicization of Holocaust accounts.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brillant, most informative, February 4, 2002

By	Enrico Riboni (CHEZARD Switzerland) - See all my reviews

The book is brillant. It does provide outstanding, clear but still concise explanations on 3 subjects:

1. The very nature of the Swiss nation

2. Swiss neutrality during World War 2

3. The so-called "Jewish Funds Affair" which deeply affected US-Swiss relations in the late 1990's

Having closely followed the "Jewish Funds Affair" in the 1990', an affair which I considered to be a disaster as it affected relations between two countries which shared a long and intesive friendship before the "Affair", I did not expect to learn much from the book. However, I did find a wealth of informations, and an outstanding synthesis of the all "Affair", its consequences on the US-Swiss relations, and, most interestingly, the most accurate description of the Swiss nation I had ever read.

Switzerland seems peculiar to most non-Europeans: while it is sorrounded by mono-ethnical nations such as Italy and Germany, it seems difficult to understand how this small multi-ethnical nation did not break up in the course of the 2 last centuries. Well, the book by Prof. Codevilla explains very accurately why, and explains what is peculiar about Switzerland, and why the Swiss Italian and French ethnical minorities never joined the neighbouring non-ethnical nations.

In short, the book is a must for all those who want to learn about Switzerland, its nature and its history during the 20th century.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Switzerland in WWII, a gratifying correction, June 4, 2001

By	Dr. C.B. Burckhardt (Muttenz, Switzerland) - See all my reviews

Codevilla's writing is excellent and fluent and full of insight. He gives an excellent capsule history of Switzerland in WWII. I very much liked his approach of looking at several aspects: power, politics, economics and the military. Some of it I already knew more or less but it was very interesting to have everything together. He does give an objective view of the Swiss at the time: neither all heroes or cowards, nor all virtuous or villain, but by determination, cleverness and a generous amount of good luck managed to avoid a German invasion. He gives a very good picture of the unsatisfactory state of the Swiss army at the beginning of the war. Rightly he emphasizes the crucial role of General Guisan in uniting the people in their resistance. His role cannot be overemphasized. He was immensely popular; his picture hanging in almost all public places, inns and in many homes. Yet after the war he made no use of his popularity; having done his duty he became an ordinary citizen again.

The recent political machinations of US pressure groups to extract money from Swiss banks are very revealing. I suspected something along these lines, but the details of it are very interesting, how monetary contributions to the Democratic party bought the power to extort much more money from the Swiss banks. As to the consequences Codevilla again is very insightful: the image of America abroad suffered. What the author only covers lightly (out of politeness?) are the role of the Swiss government, Swiss press and the Swiss Left. By ineptitude or intention they all contributed to the success of the American operation.

Codevilla also correctly states that all this contributed to the success of Christoph Blochers (extreme?)right wing party.

I very much liked Codevilla's references to Roman quotations and excerpts from Machiavelli. The rules of politics both in war and in peace have stayed much the same.

The only critique I have concerns a number of misspellings of "Schweiz", "Schweizer" and "Schweizerisch" in the reference list.