Switzerland

Switzerland Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera, Svizra
Flag of the Swiss Confederation TAG = SWI
Politics
Capital	Bern (de facto)
Ruling Party	VMR
Head of Government	Hans Wyer
De Facto Country Leader	Federal Council
Diplomacy
Sphere	Italian Sphere
Foreign Alignment	Triumvirate Observer
Economy
GDP	$11.68B
Credit Rating	Fair
Market Type	Corporate Oligopoly

Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It borders Burgundy to the west, Germany to the north and east and Italy to the south. Geographically, Switzerland is divided into three: The Jura, the Plateau, and the Alps. While the Alps withhold 60% of the nation's territory, the Plateau holds 2/3rds of the population, especially in dense cities like Geneva, Basel and Zurich, while also hosting many of the country's economic powerhouses.

The country also has a rich history, with its origins in the Old Swiss Confederacy during the late Middle Ages, with its success from battles against duchies like Burgundy and Austria, with the foundation of a confederacy from a document named the Federal Charter of 1291, establishing an alliance between cantons. After the Thirty Years War, Swiss independence was formally recognized with the Treaty of Westphalia. Since then, Switzerland maintained a stance of armed neutrality and has never joined any wars since the Napoleonic era. However, during the present day, its neutrality has decayed after an economic crash caused by German sanctions, forcing the country to seek ties towards Italy to prevent further economic decline.

In the past, the Swiss economy was among the most developed countries in Europe, thanks to its policy of non-intervention and cooperation with foreign countries. This lasted until the Alpine Crisis, where although Germany was expected to execute Fall Tannenbaum, a betrayal within the Axis Powers by Mussolini led to its failure. But, due to German embargoes against Switzerland, this resulted in an economic meltdown, making the Swiss negotiate with the Italians and their newly-formed Triumvirate to cut their debts, but allowing foreign oligarchs to significantly influence the economy and eviscerating Swiss labour.

Despite Switzerland's many cultures and languages like French, German, Italian and Romansh, the country is considered very stable, with a united national identity, with origins from a historical background like the ideals of federalism, direct democracy and culture from the Alpine region. Due to its diversity, Switzerland has many names, like Schweiz (German), Suisse (French), Svizra (Romansh), Svizzera (Italian) and, although not used very often, Confoederatio Helvetica (Roman).

History

World War II

Switzerland, as it did previously during World War I, did not intervene in foreign affairs and wars and maintained its strict policy of armed neutrality. Even if Hitler criticized Switzerland and their political system, their harsh relations were eased with trade deals, railroad access, and access to Swiss banks, which the Germans used to store and sell gold from recently conquered countries.

But due to concerns of the Germans invading Switzerland, Henri Guisan, a Swiss general, was appointed commander-in-chief and ordered the general mobilization of the Swiss armed forces, and radically changed the Swiss military doctrines to defending the strategically important Alps and fortifying and reinforcing the region to retreat into the Alps preventing the Axis from pushing any further. This plan was called the Reduit, or the Swiss National Redoubt.

Defence lines of the Reduit

The Alpine Crisis

With the end of World War II, tensions between Germany and Switzerland spiked to an all-time high, with the Germans preparing for Fall Tannenbaum or the invasion of Switzerland. During the preparation, Germany cut off all diplomatic ties to the Swiss and embargoed them, sending their economy into a recession and their banks in freefall. However, due to Mussolini's suspicions of Hitler attempting to "isolate" Italy to invade it, the Italian Empire backed Switzerland with a guarantee of independence, enraging Germany and dividing the Axis powers into two. As a last insult, Italy opened their borders to Jewish refugees further angering the German Reich.

The Full Powers Regime

During World War II, the Swiss government authorized emergency powers towards the Federal Council, "temporarily" ceasing certain aspects of political participation of a Swiss citizen like referendums, elections, etc. As the war continued, this emergency power continued to last, and, with the Alpine Crisis crashing the economy, this only continued the Full Powers Regime until the economy recovered and tensions in Europe were low, which may never happen again.