61340 Vorabseiten_e - Unabhängige Expertenkommission Schweiz

But there was more to Swiss objectives than the mere survival of the nation in
dangerous times. Significant parts of the economic elite were instead thinking
further ahead and focusing on longer-term post-war prospects. Irrespective of
the outcome of the military trial of strength, these groups were working to keep
the export economy competitive and to gear it towards promising markets and
corporate structures. The Swiss aluminium industry supplied goods exclusively
to the Axis powers after 1940. There was a high level of demand there, and a
favourable pricing structure, so that it was not possible to meet the likewise
growing demand from the Swiss army and domestic industry. The machine
industry too, which exported goods important to the war effort, was able to
offset the loss of Britain and the USA easily by supplying the countries ruled by
the Axis. It was not a question of implementing a far-reaching transition aimed
at serving the massive needs of the war economy. Even though many companies
aligned their product range to new needs under the pull of demand from the
foreign war economies, the internationally focused major companies stood by
their existing recipe for success. A decisive factor was the continuation of
successful activities and the focus on innovative technological developments
which promised high added value and optimum employment opportunities for
a well-qualified workforce. Thus, for instance, the leading companies in the
chemical, metal and machine industries, as well as the electrical industry,
concentrated on the nascent high-tech niches. The board of directors of the
Brown Boveri Company (BBC) wrote in 1942 that the «most important preparation
for the peacetime ahead is to uphold the technological status of our
products». 7 As technology was a more important factor in the Second World
War than in 1914/18, such products offered excellent sales opportunities and it
was possible to reconcile dynamic and largely self-determined business growth
with the supply of products not only to German markets, but also to others.
In wartime conditions, commercial expansion strategies were ideally suited to
embracing the state interest in supplying the nation and securing jobs. Part of
the shortfall in exports – caused by the German counter-blockade – could also
be temporarily offset by the domestic market. BBC made up for its loss of
business with the Allies by producing almost half of its output for the domestic
market as early as from 1942 on. This focus on the domestic market was made
possible by the modernisation of the electricity companies, the electrification of
private homes, and the greater demand for rolling stock from the Swiss Federal
Railways. 8
The course of Swiss trade negotiations
After the beginning of the war, Switzerland tried to maintain its business links
with all countries, as in the First World War. But the reality was different: there
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