During the second half of the 1930s, Spain was ravaged by a civil war waged between fascists led by Francisco Franco (who ultimately prevailed in 1939) on one side and left-wing "Republicans" on the other. The battle against the potential rise of fascism in Spain inspired many Swiss citizens to join the fight and work with the Spanish Republican forces. There was one problem however. Switzerland, in addition to being frervently neutral, also barred its citizens from joining foreign military forces.
As history would illustrate, Franco's military forces defeated the Spanish Republicans (and their private Swiss allies). While Spain was ruled under Franco's dictatorship until the mid-1970s (with free elections taking place in 1977), the Swiss citizens who returned to their own country were met with hostility by their government for defying the law. As indicated in a recent BBC news article, many were imprisoned and stripped of their citizenship. The Swiss government feared that involvement of their private citizens in foreign militaries would diminish the state's long-held commitment to neutrality.
Switzerland's decision, although perhaps long overdue (there are apparently only a handful of Swiss fighters who fought against Franco's forces still alive), is still a welcome legitimization of resistance towards fascism and other oppressive forces. The efforts of these Swiss fighters is particularly poignant given the efforts to appease fascism and nazism which were on the rise during the 1930s. They are also striking given the hostility they would face from their own government, even though they were acting as private citizens rather than as state actors. By joining the Republican side, they were not only defying the fascists, but their own government's adamant neutrality.
Source Consulted:
BBC News, "Swiss pardon Spain war veterans" March 12, 2009, online: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7940963.stm
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