61340 Vorabseiten_e - Unabhängige Expertenkommission Schweiz

1940, arms served as a valuable lever in negotiations and were exchanged for
urgently needed strategic imports of raw materials and foreign currency, which
is why potential enemy states were among Germany’s trading partners. 4 It was
not until summer 1940 that Germany started to leave international arms
trading to other countries and concentrated on importing arms and
ammunition. Suppliers, however, included only countries which granted
Germany export credit. After its military defeats in winter 1942/43, the
German demand for imported arms rose. The supply through blatant
plundering of newly occupied areas began to falter and had to be replaced by
more reliable supplies from a broad-based armaments industry. 5
Germany’s covert rearmament was successful because the leading members of
the League of Nations considered that the stipulations concerning disarmament
in the Treaty of Versailles were too stringent and wanted to maintain Germany
as a Western bastion against the Soviet Union. There was also a degree of selfdeception
in that political circles underestimated the explosiveness of the
readily available information concerning Germany’s covert efforts with regard
to industrial armaments technology. The chaotic disarmament of Germany
resulted in the releasing of many «comrades» from the German army and the
armaments industry, along with weapons manufacturers and armaments entrepreneurs.
Their strong convictions and will to remain active in their field either
at home or abroad had a radicalising effect. German military leaders encouraged
this development and steered it along a more effective path. Up until 1932,
covert rearmament activities involved research and development but not the
production of arms and ammunition. The aim was to prepare the way for mass
production of armaments for an army that, according to plans laid down in
1923, would number 102 divisions – as indeed the Wehrmacht disposed of in
1939. Much of the research, development and testing of new weaponry was
carried out outside Germany. It is well known that the German authorities
co-operated with the Red Army in their covert rearmament while implementing
the Rapallo agreement signed in 1922. 6 Very little research has been
done into the alternative production units set up on the initiative of the German
armaments firms concerned and located in other countries – some of which were
neutral – such as primarily the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland, but also
Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Italy. 7
Switzerland as an alternative location for development and production of
German armaments
Until it started developing an arms and ammunition industry specifically aimed
at supplying Germany, Switzerland had virtually no such industry with
technology of its own and in a position to export its wares. The Swiss army
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