European Neutrals and Non-Belligerents during the Second World War

A comprehensive English-language survey of neutral and non-belligerent states during the Second World War.

Neville Wylie (Edited by)

9780521153621, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 24 June 2010

382 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm, 0.56 kg

Review of the hardback: '… the book is attractively presented. There are handy short identifications of the contributors and the notes are at the bottom of the pages …'. H-Diplo

This collection provides a comprehensive English-language survey of the conduct of neutral and non-belligerent states during the war. Instead of narrowly focusing on the few neutrals that survived the war intact, the volume broadens our understanding of neutrality, by including chapters on 'non-belligerents' and those neutrals of south-east Europe, such as Romania and Yugoslavia. The essays focus on how individual neutral governments perceived international developments and throw light on the domestic political circumstances that critically affected their response to the course of the war. They therefore provide the political context that has been overlooked in controversies surrounding their humanitarian and financial activities. While based on the authors' own research, the essays draw widely on secondary literature and provide invaluable analytical introductions to the large amount of historical writing on these countries.

List of contributors
Acknowledgements
Introduction: victims or actors? European neutrals and non-belligerents, 1939–45 Neville Wylie
Part I. The 'Phoney War' Neutrals: 1. Denmark, September 1939–April 1940 Hans Kirchhoff
2. Norway Patrick Salmon
3. The Netherlands Bob Moore
4. Belgium: fragile neutrality, solid neutralism Alain Colignon
Part II. The 'Wait and See' Neutrals: Map of South-East Europe and the Balkans, 1939–41
5. 'Where one man, and only one man, led': Italy's path from non-alignment to non-belligerency to war, 1937–40 Brian R. Sullivan
6. Treaty revision and doublespeak: Hungarian neutrality, 1939–41 Tibor Frank
7. Romanian neutrality 1939–40 Maurice Pearton
8. Bulgarian neutrality: domestic and international perspectives Vesselin Dimitrov
9. Yugoslavia Dragoljub R. Živojinovi?
Part III. The 'Long Haul' Neutrals: 10. Spain and the Second World War, 1939–45 Elena Hernández-Sandoica and Enrique Moradiello
11. Portuguese neutrality in the Second World War Fernando Rosas
12. Irish neutrality in the Second World War Eunan O'Halpin
13. Swedish neutrality during the Second World War: tactical success or moral compromise? Paul A. Levine
14. Switzerland: a neutral of distinction? Neville Wylie
Appendix
Index.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS], Second World War [HBWQ], European history [HBJD]