Part 1 of 5 · freeIntroduction
In the heart of Europe, one country came through both world wars without joining either, which seemed impossible. In Switzerland, neutrality is not a passing policy but an old doctrine: the Peace of Westphalia recognized the Confederation's independence in 1648, the Congress of Vienna its perpetual neutrality in 1815, and the Constitution of 1848 confirmed it.
Switzerland has never joined the European Union, and it only entered the Schengen Area, which eases border checks, in 2008. Above all, this country that refuses war keeps an army of conscripts, bunkers in the Alps and banks whose money has sometimes served other people's wars. How does the paradox hold?
The rest is in the Sophia app.The remaining parts, the open-book quiz and the full glossary. Free to start; Premium unlocks everything.
- 2Neutral, but not indifferent: Geneva and the Red Cross
- 3Conscription and bunkers: armed neutrality
- 4Bank money, the dark side of neutrality
- 5Facing NATO and the EU: a doctrine to redefine
Open-book quiz8 questions whose answers are in the text.
Glossary7 terms explained in a tap.
30 languagesThe same course, from French to Japanese.
