Hello, I dont live in Switzerland, but I was wondering.. everyone says that Switzerland is rich because they weren’t in world wars so they progressed while their neighbours were fighting… that’s probably right but I was wondering – even if Switzerland was in world wars Swiss personality wouldn’t change (punctual, workaholic (not everyone) organized, [saves money](https://www.expertmarket.com/credit-card-processing/countries-that-save-the-most-money) – due to the personality, wouldn’t they become rich anyway?

10 comments

  1. Switzerland became rich from very early adoption of industrialization, not from the world wars. Even before the First World War Switzerland was among the richest countries in Europe. Pre-industrial revolution we were an agricultural backwater and very poor. We didn’t fight in the wars, but we spent money on the military like we did, so as to try to avoid being invaded. So, I doubt the concept of not spending during the wars is factually correct.

  2. The corporations and the major banks situated here have all the money. The people on the other hand have to work hard to make a living and pay bills just like anywhere else in the world.

  3. It helps that the economy isn’t riddled with corruption.

    Wars can also be seen as a form of corruption.

    Escaping a major corruption event won’t harm your economy.

  5. Mostly we’re rich because for many years we were basically the bank of the world. We took everyone’s money without asking too many questions. We took high fees for keeping the money safe. It was mostly blood drenched, dirty, illegal money but that was not an issue for us.

  7. I don’t think there’s one reason that Switzerland became rich, but a lot of good/lucky decisions.

    Some would be:
    – not participating in major wars
    – not joining the EU
    – having a konkordanzregierung
    – living at a place where work life balance is easily obtainable
    – having a good mentality

    As you noticed, the last one is quite important. I tend to say, that it’s due to the fact, that Switzerland was historically a poor country and a hard place to survive.

  9. Switzerland became rich cause they used to be one of the strongest mercenary countrys. Many families earned a lot of money trading soldiers. Ever asked yourself why the pope has a swiss guard? The rest is its geographical situation being part of the so called blue banana. Almost all switzerland was covered being connected to all these strong economical regions starting from Liverpool till Milano. Trade Innovation, industry. Take a Look: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Banana

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