Neither Friend Nor Foe: The European Neutrals in World War II

Examines the strategy of Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, and the Republic of Ireland during World War II and the Allies' charge that the desire of the neutral powers for self-protection led them, however unwittingly, to help the Nazi war effort.

Packard's assiduously researched study examines how the governments of Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal and Ireland reacted to pressures from the Axis to declare themselves either allies or enemies during WW II, and how events forced these nations to accommmodate first the Axis powers and then the Allied ones. Packard brings their plight into sharp focus: their neutrality depended more on Hitler's whims than on their own brave declarations. He credits Portugal's premier Antonio Salazar with materially influencing Francisco Franco to keep Spain out of the war. He shows how Sweden avoided German incursion by threatening to destroy the high-grade ore desperately needed to keep the Nazi war machine rolling, and how Switzerland vowed to block the tunnels linking Germany to Italy. Finally, Packard emphasizes that Eire (the 26 southern counties of Ireland) was the only one of the five neutrals to have risked invasion by both the British and the Germans. A professor of history at the University of Portland in Oregon, Packard ( Sons of Heaven ) writes elegantly and informatively of an important but long-ignored aspect of WW II.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Although it is generally known that Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, and Ireland remained neutral throughout World War II, few realize just how and at what price each nation maintained its precious status. Packard chronicles the perilous diplomatic path followed by each nation during the war, clearly defining the degree to which all were forced to accommodate the ever-increasing requests for war material, transport, and even military installations demanded by the belligerents. Based largely on memoirs and secondary sources, the work provides an excellent overview of the internal politics of the neutrals from the end of World War I through 1945. The sections on Spain, Sweden, and tiny Switzerland are especially strong, largely owing to Packard's superior biographical sketches on Francisco Franco, Per Albin Hansson, and Swiss General Henri Guisan. Although it would have been bolstered by a greater reliance on archival records, this is an excellent work suitable for all academic libraries with diplomatic or World War II collections.
- Joseph W. Constance Jr., St. Anselm Coll. Lib., Manchester, N.H.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.