Theneutral powers were countries that remainedneutral duringWorld War II. Some of these countries had largecolonies abroad or had great economic power.Spain had just been throughits civil war, which ended on 1 April 1939 (five months prior to theinvasion of Poland)—a war that involved several countries that subsequentlyparticipated in World War II.
During World War II, the neutral powers took no official side, hoping to avoid attack. However,Portugal,Sweden, andSwitzerland all helped theAllies by supplying "voluntary" brigades[1] to theUnited Kingdom,[2] while Spain avoided the Allies in favor of theAxis, supplying them with its own voluntary brigade, theBlue Division.Ireland generally favoured the Allied side, as with the United States. The United States remained officially neutral until 8 December 1941, a day following theattack by Japan on Pearl Harbor.
TheLateran Treaty between Italy and theHoly See, signed in 1929, required that the Pope maintain "perpetual neutrality in international relations". Accordingly,Vatican City was officially neutral throughout the war.
Several countries suffered invasions despite their efforts to be neutral. These includedNazi Germany'sinvasion of Denmarkand Norway on 9 April 1940—then Belgium,the Netherlands,and Luxembourg on 10 May 1940. On the same day, 10 May 1940, the British, having already invaded the Faroe Islands in April,invaded Iceland and established an occupying force (subsequently replaced by the then-neutral United States). The Soviet Unioninvaded Lithuania on 15 June 1940 andLatvia and Estonia on 17 June. In the Balkans, theItalo-Greek War began on 28 October 1940 andYugoslavia was invaded in April 1941. Iran was alsoattacked and occupied by Britain and the Soviet Union in August 1941 and later declared war on Nazi Germany.
See also thehistories of Afghanistan,Andorra,Guatemala,Liechtenstein,Saudi Arabia andYemen during this period.
Ireland — The policy ofIrish neutrality duringWorld War II was adopted by theOireachtas (Irish Parliament) at the instigation ofÉamon de Valera, theTaoiseach (head of government) upon the outbreak of hostilities in Europe. It was maintained throughout the conflict, in spite ofseveral German air raids andattacks on Ireland's shipping fleet by the Axis.De Valera refrained from joining either side, although he generally favored and aided the Allied powers by allowing access to their naval repair yards, as well as passing intelligence to the British and allowing Allied aircrews who crashed in Ireland to return to the United Kingdom (German airmen were interned). It is also notable that some membersIrish Republican Army (IRA), an Irish republican paramilitary, attempted to collaborate with Nazi Germany against Britain, but the efforts were ultimately unsuccessful.
Portugal — Portugal was officially neutral during World War II. However, it maintained a close relationship with the UK, due to thealliance it had for the last six hundred years, which is the longest lasting military alliance in history. TheEstado Novo sought neutrality in order to keep Spain neutral and prevent it from joining the Axis. Portugal allowed the United States to use a secret military base atSanta Maria Airport in theAzores through a military agreement signed on 28 November 1944. This violated its neutrality and rendered Portugal as a non-belligerent on the Allied side.
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Spain — Spain initially held to formal neutrality, but when Italy entered the war in June 1940,Francisco Franco changed Spain's status to that of "non-belligerent" and proceeded to occupyTangiers. From June 1940 until February 1941, the Francoist regime was greatly tempted by interventionism; a prominentGermanophile,Foreign MinisterRamón Serrano Suñer was highly influential in the government.[6] However, meetings with German officials, including theHendaye meeting between Franco and Hitler on 23 October 1940, did not bring formal entry of Spain into the war.
Sweden — Before the war, Sweden and the other Nordic countries announced their planned neutrality in any large European conflict. When Finland was invaded by the Soviet Union in theWinter War, Sweden changed its position to that of anon-belligerent, which was not defined by international treaties, thus freeing Sweden from the restrictions of neutrality. Among other things, it allowed the Swedish government to support Finland during theWinter War, allowed German soldiers on leave to travel through Sweden, and at one point allowed a combat division to travel from Norway to Finland through Sweden. Thetransit of German troops through Finland and Sweden andSwedish iron-ore mining during World War II helped the German war effort. Sweden had disarmed after World War I and was in no position to resist German threats militarily by 1940.
Switzerland — As in World War I, Switzerland maintained its historic neutrality. It depended on German coal, with 10 million tons imported during the war, comprising 41% of Swiss energy supplies.
Turkey was neutral until several months before the end of the war, at which point it joined the Allies. Prior to the outbreak of war, Turkey signed a Mutual Aid Pact with France and Britain in 1939. After the Germaninvasion of France, however, Turkey remained neutral, relying on a clause excusing them if military action might bring conflict with the USSR. In June 1941, after neighbouringBulgaria joined the Axis and allowed Germany to move troops through to invadeYugoslavia andGreece, Turkey signed atreaty of friendship with Germany.Winston Churchill and his military staff met the Turkish president on 30 January 1943 in theAdana Conference, although Turkey did not then change its position.
Andorra remained neutral throughout World War II.
Liechtenstein remained neutral throughout World War II. At the same time, Liechtenstein tied itself as closely as possible to Switzerland during the war in hopes of retaining the country's neutrality.[14][15] Just before the end of the war,Franz Joseph II granted political asylum toFirst Russian National Army pro-Axis pro-emperorVladimir White emigres led by GeneralBoris Smyslovsky, who were being cared for by theLiechtenstein Red Cross.[16][17] Liechtenstein refused to repatriate the Russians to the Soviet Union despite diplomatic pressure, being the only country to not do so.[17]
San Marino was briefly occupied by Germany on 17–20 September 1944. The occupation led the microstate to declare war on Germany on 21 September 1944.
Vatican City was remained neutral throughout World War II.
Afghanistan remained neutral throughout World War II.
Iran — In order to be safe from the Allied forces, it officially declared neutrality, but this strategic decision did not last and Iran was later occupied by the Allies (seeAnglo-Soviet invasion of Iran). Later, in 1943 — Iran declared war on Germany, however no Iranian troops saw combat but several Iranians joined Nazi Germany Wehrmacht'sFreiwilligen-Stamm-Division for anti-partisan operations against theFrench Resistance.
Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic contacts with Germany on 11 September 1939, and with Japan in October 1941. Although officially neutral, the Saudis provided the Allies with large supplies of oil. Diplomatic relations with the United States were established in 1943.King Abdul Aziz Al-Saud was a personal friend of Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Americans were then allowed to build an air force base nearDhahran.[18] Saudi Arabia declared war on Germany on 28 February 1945 and Japan on 1 April 1945, but no military actions resulted from the declaration.
Tibet remained neutral throughout World War II. Whilede factoindependent and under the rule of the Dalai Lama, it was internationally recognized as a regional province of the Republic of China. The Tibetan government received Allied (British and American) military officers inLhasa in 1943.[19] Following the end of World War II and the defeat of the Nationalists by the Communists led byMao Zedong in the Chinese Civil War, Tibet wasinvaded and annexed by China in 1951.
Yemen remained neutral throughout World War II.
Argentina — Before the start of World War II in1939,Argentina had maintained a long tradition of neutrality regarding European wars, which had been upheld and defended by all major political parties since the 19th century. One of the main reasons for this policy was related to Argentina's economic position as one of the world's leading exporters of foodstuffs and agricultural products, toEurope in general and to theUnited Kingdom in particular.[20] Thus, initially, even though the government of Argentina was sympathetic to theAllies[21] and provided economic assistance to the United Kingdom,[22] the country's political tradition of neutralism prevailed. Following the Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbor and the subsequentAmerican declaration of war upon Japan,American pressure forArgentine entry into the war begun to increase.[21] Relations worsened further following amilitary coup in1943, as the plotters were accused of holdingAxis sympathies.[22] Because of strong divisions and internal disputes between members of theArgentine military, the country would continue to remainneutral, even afterAmerican sanctions.[22] However, Argentina eventually gave in to the Allies' pressure, broke relations with the Axis powers on January 26, 1944,[22] and declared war on March 27, 1945.[22] Over 4,000 Argentine volunteers fought on the Allied side.[23]
United States — The United States remained neutral at the outbreak of World War II in compliance with the Neutrality Act of 1936 despite favoring the Allied side. However, the suddendefeat of France by Nazi Germany in the spring of 1940 led the country to significantly expand its armed forces through theSelective Training and Service Act of 1940. On 29 December of that year, PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt declared that the United States was to be the "Arsenal of Democracy" for the Allies by giving them supplies while the country remained neutral. The U.S. remained neutral until 8 December 1941, when itdeclared war on Japan in response to the surpriseattack on Pearl Harbor the previous day.Egypt achievedde jure independence in 1922. In practice, it remained effectively subject to British control through theAnglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936 which allowed a large British force to remain in the country. Egypt also shared control in theAnglo-Egyptian Sudan. The government ofAly Maher Pasha refused to declare war in 1939 even though Egypt would for much of the war remain a strategic staging-ground for British forces involved in theWestern Desert campaign. TheBattle of El Alamein took place on Egyptian territory.
Liberia remained neutral until 1944 although became increasingly dominated economically and politically by the United States.[24]
Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland held to the concept ofarmed neutrality, and continuously amassed soldiers to defend their nation'ssovereignty from potential invasion. Thus, they maintained the right to become belligerent if attacked while in a state of neutrality. The concept ofneutrality inwar is narrowly defined and puts specific constraints on the neutral party in return for the internationally recognized right to remain neutral. A wider concept is that ofnon-belligerence. The basic treaty coveringNeutral states is Convention V ofThe Hague Respecting the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers and Persons in Case of War on Land (1907). Aneutral country takes no side in a war between other parties, and in return hopes to avoid being attacked by either of them. Aneutralist policy aims at neutrality in case of an armed conflict that could involve the party in question. Aneutralist is an advocate of neutrality ininternational affairs. The concept ofneutrality in conflicts is distinct fromnon-alignment, i.e., the willful desistance frommilitary alliances in order to preserve neutrality in case of war, and perhaps with the hope of preventing a war altogether.
In a study of Spain, Switzerland, and Sweden during the Second World War, Eric Golson found that they engaged in economicrealpolitik, as they traded with both the Axis and the Allied Powers.[25]
