Swiss War Materiel and Arms Exports

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Cannons for the fascist General Franco

Goods category: War materiel

Francisco Franco, around 1930.

Public Domain laut Commons (anonymes historisches Werk)

After Switzerland banned exports of war materiel to belligerent states on 29 September 1944, Spain under the fascist dictator Francisco Franco became the largest buyer of Swiss weapons. Oerlikon-Bührle supplied cannons to the regime. Spain’s rearmament met with international opposition. On 11 June 1946, the Federal Council imposed a general ban on exports of war materiel, which also covered deliveries to Spain.

Effect of the proposed War Materiel Act revision

Under the new Article 22b, the Federal Council could depart from all the licensing criteria in Article 22a under vaguely defined ‘exceptional circumstances’. The public would not have to be informed. For Spain, as a current Annex 2 state, Article 22a paragraph 2bis would remove the exclusion criterion based on participation in an armed conflict and make approval the rule. The Federal Council could refuse a licence only in exceptional cases.

Countries

Companies

Time period

1944–1946

Sources

  • Bund, 30.09.1944
  • swissinfo.ch, 18.04.2023: Kriegsmaterialhandel: Die Schweizer Neutralität als Geschäftsmodell
  • tagesanzeiger.ch, 11.03.2023: Die Schweizer Rüstungsexporte: Eine Geschichte mit Skandalen, Vertuschungen und Übertreibungen (Rico Bandle)
  • SonntagsZeitung, 12.03.2023, S. 8: Skandale, Vertuschungen, Übertreibungen (Rico Bandle)