61340 Vorabseiten_e - Unabhängige Expertenkommission Schweiz

market became much more important as a consumer market for Swiss industrial
products in the period from 1941 to 1943. The capacity and readiness of Swiss
exporters to supply Germany did decline in 1943 and especially in 1944, but
trade relations between Switzerland and Germany remained at a comparatively
high level right up to the end of the war. 15
In general, imports exceeded exports. Switzerland’s balance of trade with
Germany tended to be negative (with the exception of 1943). Before 1942, and
again in 1944, far more goods came into Switzerland than were exported.
Economic relations with Germany went far beyond the relative levels of
ordinary foreign trade structures and could no longer be described as courant
normal. The above-mentioned clearing loans made it possible, despite the
Reich’s chronic shortage of foreign currency, for all economic relations – as well
as the trade in goods, there were also large volumes of «invisible exports»
favouring Swiss creditors in the service and financial sectors – to continue more
or less without difficulty until the end of April 1945.
The economic exchanges also gave Switzerland the opportunity for an understanding
with its powerful neighbour which minimised the risk of reactions
from those parts of the Swiss population with an anti-German attitude. Thus
Foreign Minister Marcel Pilet-Golaz explained at the end of July 1940 to Hans
Frölicher, the politically flexible Swiss ambassador in Berlin:
«We are pleased to hope that the conclusion of the trade negotiations
currently in progress will give us an opportunity to indicate our
willingness to adapt to the new situation on the continent, and to collaborate
with Germany in the field of business. Should this create the
impression of a détente – as we expect it will – it will be easier to find ways
of gaining sympathy in other areas without exposing ourselves to accusations
of servility which could come just as easily from Germany as from
Switzerland [...]». 16
The rapid defeat of the French army by the German Wehrmacht had caused
shock amongst the population at this time. Switzerland was surrounded. As
early as the day of the French capitulation, 21 June 1940, the authorities had
«moved heaven and earth» to «bring about the promotion of exports to
Germany down the line». 17 The Swiss President, Pilet-Golaz, promised in his
radio address on 25 June that the priority now was to create jobs «at all costs»
(«coûte que coûte»). The trade negotiators were working with notable determination
to achieve an economic understanding with the Axis powers. Heinrich
Homberger, a member of the negotiating team, wanted to avoid anything
which might create tension with Germany. However, there was a desire not to
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