The documents presented in Volume 20 of the Swiss Diplomatic Documents cover the period from April 1955 to February 1958. In this period the easing of tensions (détente) between the two blocks, which compete for hegemony in world policy, still continues. Both sides make extraordinary auspicious steps in the first phase of the treated period, so that the international public opinion starts to hope for lasting peace, based on the cooperation with the Great Powers. Some of these events open up new possibilities to Switzerland and its authorities for participating in world policy.
First of all there is the Four Great Powers Conference, that was being held in Geneva from 18 - 26 July 1955. This is where a number of summit conferences between the officers of the Great Powers started, which had never met all together on that level since the Potsdam Conference ten years before. This leads in August 1955 to an International Conference on peaceful use of nuclear energy. This meeting raises everybody’s hope of more international cooperation on shared use of new energy sources and technologies in favour of the entire world population.
Both conferences, which find publicity worldwide, demand a high disposability and specialized knowledge of the authorities in Geneva and Bern. The successful realization contributes to the fortification of the international role of Switzerland and particularly of the city of Geneva that initialized the conference on settlement of the conflicts in Korea and Indo-China the year before. In November 1955, the foreign ministers of the Great Powers get together in Geneva to dispute on the basic resolutions of July’s summit conference. The secretary general of the political department, Alfred Zehnder, states at the end of that conference: “So the spirit of Geneva is not a phantom, but a fertile idea. And like all ideas, the spirit of Geneva needs time to penetrate the policy of all the countries involved.” During the negotiations between East and West the German question is in the center of attention. The answer to this question, in terms of a reunification of the two Germanies, would be such a big concession for Moscow to Western demands that the Soviet Union would only accept it in exchange of a reliable guarantees of its influence in the area of the Warsaw Pact.
After this first phase of détente two big crises convulse world policy within the researched period and threaten to escalate into a grave confrontation between the blocks: the Suez Crisis and the Hungarian Crisis. The Swiss diplomacy is affected by these crises on different levels. On the one hand Swiss interests in Egypt, which are at risk because of nationalization measures of the Egyptian Government and because of the British-French-Israeli military intervention, must be protected. On the other hand the Egyptian Government attempts to capitalize on the Swiss financial market, both to protect its assets from British-French-Israeli Control and to process its international money transactions. After all, Switzerland's “good offices” come into effect on a third level. The secretary general of the UN approaches Switzerland requesting to take on the transport of troops of the United Nations with Swissair in order to secure the demarcation line between Egypt and Israel.
During the Hungarian Crisis, which breaks out during the Suez Crisis, the Swiss Government makes a generous gesture of humanitarianism by arranging the reception of thousands of Hungarian refugees. It even dares an unusual step - against the background of traditional reserve of Swiss foreign policy-: As the circumstances have become explosive because of the simultaneous escalation of the Suez Crisis and the Hungarian Crisis, the Federal Council appeals to the Four Great Powers on November 6, 1956, inviting them to tie in with the diplomacy of July 1955 in order to impede “the threat of a Third World War and a new trial of strength with all the tragic consequences for the mankind”. Bern offers to arrange a meeting on Swiss soil. It is evident however that the manner in which both crises are overcome, does not match the hopes of the years 1954 - 1955. The confrontation between the two blocks rises once again; that causes the freezing of the “German question” for decades. Meanwhile a situation of conflict arises in the Middle East, where Moscow and Washington interfere more and more, in which local and regional antagonisms increase in the long run.
The period between 1955 and 1958 is also strongly marked by the conflicts in the course of decolonization. Those conflicts affect important Swiss interests in different regions, particularly in North Africa. While Morocco and Tunisia achieve their independence, conflicts between the parties in Algeria come to a head. Consistently new Asian and African states become independent. So for Switzerland the question comes up, what kind of relations it should establish with those countries. It is debated how Swiss interests could be defended and enlarged, if possible. Interesting ideas for projects of technical cooperation shall be followed up bilaterally or multilaterally within the scope of the United Nations. In this context the head of the Political Department, Max Petitpierre, in January 1956, points out that the time of Swiss pioneers in developing countries is over. At the same time, he convicts the “conservative and antiquated methods” Swiss people applied in those ambitious countries. Apparently those considerations are affected by a lasting impression left by the conference of African-Asian solidarity that was held in Bandung in spring 1955. The strengthening of India on the diplomatic parquet and the emersion of communist China at this big congress announce a fundamental change in the balance of power, at the expense of the western block, which becomes more and more entangled in colonial and post-colonial conflicts.
The Swiss diplomats in charge allow for these new circumstances and capitalize on the argument of the Swiss non-colonial past in its relations to the representatives of the new Asian and African states and in respect of demands of the independence movement. The expectations on neutral Switzerland are often too high facing the limited cruising radius of Switzerland. The people in charge in Bern however try to capitalize on the possibilities given by such expectations. Petitpierre though feels repeatedly compelled to express his disappointment about not being able to mobilize sufficient resources, so that Switzerland could conquer a more significant position in general development in Asia and Africa.
Another development, which confronts Switzerland with tough choices, is the new drive in the European advances in 1955. It entails the signing of the Treaties of Rome in 1957, in which the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) are brought into being. While the six member states of the European Coal and Steel Community carry on negotiations, Switzerland participates in the intensive negotiations conducted at the same time in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The OECD should bring forth the creation of a large free trade area to endorse the common market of the six. Switzerland supports the idea of a large free trade area and makes its position clear: a division of Western Europe, which could lead to the creation of two rival economic groups, should definitely be avoided. Switzerland doesn’t want to be obliged to choose between two groups, mainly because there are important economic partners in both groups. Therefore Swiss efforts aim for the creation of a free trade area between the six and the other Western European countries. But the negotiations retard until the period of the next volume without any success.
Besides these multilateral problems, which are documented through several texts published in the present volume - and which are also visible on the complementary database -, it is most of all about the bilateral relations that a big part of the chosen documents provide various information on. Economic questions still dominate, although it often amounts to overlaps between politics and economy. The search of new markets indeed still appears on the agenda, but the growth of most European economics, in particular the one of the Federal Republic of Germany, leave strategies of development and investments in non-European countries behind. The future of a lot of African countries, which are in the middle of decolonization, seems to be in the air. At the same time, the political and social crises of a lot of Hispanic States like for example Argentina, where Switzerland defends its own very strong interests, keep Swiss business circles from further engagements.
Concerning the relations with the neighbours, political questions as well as economical problems or other aspects are very well documented. Therefore the exchange of ideas about the international situation and about the European policy between Swiss officers and diplomats as well as their French, Italian and Austrian partners is very active.
It partly gets down to serious frictions with France during the negotiations about the renewal of the expiring trade agreement. It proves to be difficult to find satisfactory modalities to adjust the very excessive balance of trade and payments, which is in favour of France. Swiss exports to this important partner country are strongly impeded by the measures of the French government to restrict the liberalization of the import quota. Other negotiations shape the period, especially the very technical ones about the status of French international commuters. New conditions of employment as well as of social security are negotiated. Another history of negotiation, written since the end of the Second World War, finally achieves its epilogue: it concerns the compensation of the charges, accrued for Switzerland from the internment of the Poles of the 45th Corps of the French Army, through France. Besides it amounts to long-winded spying affairs, eavesdropping and illegal exchange of information, which show the Swiss Federal Prosecutor, René Dubois, in a bad light. His suicide leads to agitation. After all the Swiss authorities observe the conflict in Algeria carefully, not only because they have to provide cover to the Swiss citizens living there, but also because the conflict has a drastic influence on the political, economic, financial and social situation in France.
It gets down to a lively political exchange of ideas with the Federal Republic of Germany. Most of all it is about the aid, which the Federal Republic wants to accord to the veterans of the Armed Forces in Switzerland, as well as about the compensation for the Swiss victims of Nazism. At the economical level extensive negotiations are necessary to arrange the cancellation of the clearing with the former Reich. Furthermore the status of the Swiss delegation at the Allied Control Council in Berlin is being questioned after being abolished. The Swiss delegate has to endeavour to get new recognition from all the Allied, as well as from the Russians.
Complex negotiations between Bern and Rome characterize the relations with Italy in this period: Finally it gets to compensation of the deficit, which Swiss individuals and companies suffered during the war. Even an important Swiss agricultural company, whose interests fell prey to the agrarian reform, is being compensated. The Italian State Railways get a credit of 200 million francs in return. A further disaccord, concerning the issuing of manufacturing licenses for pharmaceutical products in Italy, can be solved in the end after a repeated see-saw between the authorities and the affected companies. The relation between the two countries is also affected by an increasing number of Italian employees in Switzerland: the expulsion of some of them under the pretext of communistic agitation absorbs authorities on both sides. In addition it comes to discussions about possible improvements of the connections between the two countries, especially through the construction of a tunnel through Grand St. Bernhard or Mont Blanc.
The relations with Great Britain are characterized by very similar points of view concerning the future of European integration – mainly within the range of the OECD and the negotiations in view of the formation of an ample free trade area in Europe. The conferences of Geneva in 1955 admit the exchange of views on the international situation at the highest stage. But the main bilateral problem is the purchase of war material for the Swiss Army: agreements on the purchase of Centurion armors and the production of Venom planes are concluded. However it gets down to an embarrassing corruption scandal in connection with those contracts, in which even members of the British parliament are mixed up.
The exchange with the United States increases in all ranks, particularly in connection with Swiss policy of “good offices”, no matter if in terms of participation in Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission in Korea or in terms of participation in conferences of Geneva. At economical level it comes to tough negotiations on the conditions, under which Swiss watches may be brought on the US American market, which due to new customs duties has become difficult to access. Other negotiations regard the cooperation in the range of nuclear research and control modalities for the application of uranium, which Switzerland imports from the U.S. The economic relations between both countries become so important that the Federal Council decides to send an economical attaché to the Swiss Embassy in Washington. This equals an important innovation in the development of Swiss diplomacy. Above all, it reveals awareness of the increasing, if not already commanding influence of the United States in the range of sciences. In the end it comes to negotiations in a very different range: Swiss citizens that live in the USA and already have provided military service in Switzerland or are going to provide it, shall be exempted from service in the US American Army.
The bilateral relations with the Soviet Union can mainly be summarized as protocolary. The Swiss officers observe internal developments in the Soviet Union very carefully and their analyses, some of which are published here, are notably enlightening in respect of the ongoing Cold War. Although the economical and cultural exchange no longer follows the sample of the first phase of détente, experts of the Military Department and their superior, Minister Paul Chaudet, however plan to buy MIG-airplanes either directly in the Soviet Union or via the Czechoslovakia. The considerations around this purchase show so far unknown facets of the Swiss position concerning the two blocks. The relations with the other communistic countries depend very much on the decisions of Moscow, with the exception of the relation to Yugoslavia. At economical level primarily it comes to negotiations on the compliance of conditions about compensation payments as well as on the conditions of indemnification payments for Swiss citizens, whose belongings have been expropriated. As a matter of course, Bern watches with interest the internal crises of the Communist Regime that follow the Khrushchev’s report to the XX. Congress of the CPSU. The same period leads to occasional tensions with various Eastern European countries. Mostly they arise from spying affairs, in which certain diplomatic representations in Bern are mixed up with, or from anticommunist demonstrations, which irritate ambassadors of the criticized states.
Concerning the bilateral relations with the rest of the states only some extra interesting documents about the formation of diplomatic relations, about the negotiating of trade agreements or about specific problems like for example government crises, which affect Swiss interests in the concerned country, are published here. The relations with an increasing number of partner countries bring about a significant change on protocolic level: the Swiss legations in all the countries, which already dispose of an embassy in Bern, ascend to the rank of embassies. The same happens in countries, which promise to turn their representations in Switzerland into embassies as well. About twenty legations become embassies that way in 1957, whereby around twenty ministers obtain the title of an ambassador. This decision has been expected for years, but always been postponed by the Federal Council for reasons of economy.
Regarding multilateral diplomacy, Switzerland pays close attention to the controversies at the United Nations headquarters in New York and at the specialized organizations in Geneva. Switzerland is enquired by the United Nations Secretary-General and other institutions of the United Nations like for example the World Bank for services: the Federal Council issues a bond of 200 million francs to them in September 1956.
A wide range of selected documents dealing with all the aforementioned and documented questions, as well as many other topics not covered by this volume, can be retrieved from the electronic database DoDiS (www.dodis.ch). It provides information not only on the various general and international dossiers, but also on people, organizations and institutions.

Genève, août 2004 Antoine Fleury