Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > History
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 07-26-2008, 09:14 AM
 
Location: Wheaton, Illinois
10,261 posts, read 21,668,076 times
Reputation: 10454

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by bluepacific View Post
I am inclined to agree with you here Tom. Ireland had no love for the Brits, and I don't really think they had much of any kind of historical conflict with the Gerries. Was that WWI or WWII where the 40,000 volunteered?

But I would have to say Ireland was more neutral than most.

Cheers
WW II. In the Great War over 300,000 Irish fought and about 50,000 were killed. Of course during the Great War Ireland was part of the UK but there was no draft in Ireland, all volunteered.

The Irish have a complex relationship with Britain and at one time half the rankers in the British army were Irishmen. Before Ireland got it's independence there were many Irish regiments in the British army and non Irish regiments also had many Irish in the ranks including Scottish Highland regiments.

My Grandfather couldn't get a good job in Belfast because he was Catholic so he became a British soldier in 1908, a regular. He was in the 1st Batt. of the Royal Irish Fusiliers, a regiment which had two regular battalions. During the Great War the regiment expanded to 17 battalions. My Grandpa's battalion was sent to Belgium in August 1914, he was an Old Contempible. During the course of the war he was wounded three times, the last time at Ypres in 1917; after that he served in the rear and thus he avoided the destruction of his battalion in the German Spring 1918 offensive. Good thing for me eh?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 07-26-2008, 11:11 AM
 
8,726 posts, read 7,363,849 times
Reputation: 12612
Turkey
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-28-2008, 08:34 AM
 
3,728 posts, read 4,855,211 times
Reputation: 2293
Quote:
Originally Posted by bluepacific View Post
I just wanted to generalize here about ALL the countries in Europe that claimed to be neutral during World War II. I don't believe any were , but I don't want to specifically pick on just the one I'm residing in at the moment, which is SWEDEN. I believe Switzerland , Spain & Portugal were equally guilty, but some more than others. I'll post more in a few moments.

Cheers,
Switzerland was pretty damn neutral. They were literally surrounded by Axis powers and any attempt to fight them would have proven destructive. Although it should be noted that Switzerland remaining neutral in many ways proved a benefit for the Allies. The Nazis had to go around Switzerland when the Allies invaded Italy, several German planes were actually shot down trying to pass through Swiss territory, Switzerland provided a handy base for Allied intelligence services (which the Swiss turned a blind eye to), and they also accepted a lot of Jewish refugees.

A lot is made of Swiss banks doing business with the German government and with companies that used slave labor, but in many ways they were kinda like the Oskar Schindler of European nations.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-28-2008, 09:05 AM
 
2,255 posts, read 5,385,048 times
Reputation: 800
Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank_Carbonni View Post
Switzerland was pretty damn neutral. They were literally surrounded by Axis powers and any attempt to fight them would have proven destructive. Although it should be noted that Switzerland remaining neutral in many ways proved a benefit for the Allies. The Nazis had to go around Switzerland when the Allies invaded Italy, several German planes were actually shot down trying to pass through Swiss territory, Switzerland provided a handy base for Allied intelligence services (which the Swiss turned a blind eye to), and they also accepted a lot of Jewish refugees.

A lot is made of Swiss banks doing business with the German government and with companies that used slave labor, but in many ways they were kinda like the Oskar Schindler of European nations.
And yet they still opted for materialism over principal, just like Sweden. There have been many a documentary about the billion$$$ they also made off the Nazi Death Machine. Court cases and landmark decisions against Swiss Banks making payment to those condemned and wealth looted and sent to Switzerland.

What's more, they have been in bed with every dirty dictator since WWII and it's apparent they will never learn their lesson.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 07-28-2008, 09:47 AM
 
3,728 posts, read 4,855,211 times
Reputation: 2293
Quote:
Originally Posted by bluepacific View Post
And yet they still opted for materialism over principal, just like Sweden. There have been many a documentary about the billion$$$ they also made off the Nazi Death Machine. Court cases and landmark decisions against Swiss Banks making payment to those condemned and wealth looted and sent to Switzerland.

What's more, they have been in bed with every dirty dictator since WWII and it's apparent they will never learn their lesson.
Being neutral in the strictest sense means amorality.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > History

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top