Talk:Neutral powers during World War II

message: This article seems to be full of errors.
1) Portugal was a participant in WWI, it did not militarily contribute to WWII. On the other hand it did offer basing rights to the Allies on some Atlantic islands. It should be noted that the Portuguese territory of East Timor was first occupied by the Allies (Australian troops in 1941), then by the Axis (Japanese invasion). Iirc Macau was also occupied by the Japanese.
2) Spain sent a volunteer division (250th Infantry Division, also known as the Blue Division or Division Azul, the division was disbanded on October 10 1943 (but a Spanish Legion remained in German service)) under German command to fight against the Soviet Union in WWII. Iirc Spain also granted the Allies basing rights late in the war.
3) Sweden while nominally neutral sent volunteers to fight in Finland (during the Winter War against the Soviet Union) and probably Norway (volunteers for Finland caught in Norway during the German invasion). This does not constitute Swedish troops fighting for the Allies (as the 1940 episode was very brief). On the other hand Sweden permitted German troop passage across their territory (to Finland and possibly occupied Norway) on several occasions. It should also be noted that there were also German plans to invade Sweden later in the war.
4) Switzerland, by interning troops of both sides violating their borders was acting exactly as a neutral nation should. This also includes shooting down aircraft violating their neutrality and that would not land when ordered to do so. So these events can't be considered a violation of swiss neutrality. On the other hand, Switzerland permitted passage of German trains transporting prisoners from Italy to German Concentration Camps. Though that was probably not a violation of Swiss neutrality.
Of course in addition to the above both Switzerland and Sweden made arms sales to both sides, but again that's not a violation of neutrality either.
In short this article as it currently stands is problematic and I'm not sure it's even needed. The choice not to include those neutrals that were invaded (Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands and Greece (I probably missed some)) by Germany is also problematic. Persia, occupied by Britain and the Soviet Union would probably also have to be listed. Yugoslavia would be another question as it was originally a non-belligerent ally (so not neutral) of Germany which was finally invaded by Germany.--Caranorn 11:48, 12 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Untitled 

message: I will be adding information about how all these countries were neutral in the coming days. --EricSRodrigues154 08:37, 16 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: More Additions to come

message: Why on earth are Ireland and Norway minor countries? And what about those states that were neutral for some of the war and not for others (i.e. a great many of them)? And how is the phrase "Neutral Powers" not original research? And none of the points raised above, initially have been satisfactorily answered. Slac speak up! 09:52, 5 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Still full of errors

message: The flags and coats of arms are anachronistic. --84.20.17.84 14:04, 10 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Coat of arms 

message: Needs a section added about why Ireland remained neutral and what the effects of this were.  RJFJR (talk) 15:30, 8 March 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Turns out we have (multiple) articles on this so I created a section (above Portugal to be alphabetical) and added . RJFJR (talk) 15:36, 8 March 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Ireland 

message: Is the line below about Portugal right? I can't find any source in either Portuguese or English confirming that.
In the case of Portugal, over 10,000 men were sent to battle the Germans in Northern France under the banner of the United Kingdom. 
PMLF (talk) 09:54, 20 September 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: There were Portuguese troops fighting in France in WW I.  But no such occurred during WW II.  Nor did either the Swiss or Swedes provide "voluntary" troops to either the Allies or Axis.  Swedish volunteers did serve in the Finnish army during the Winter War with the USSR.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.28.248.84 (talk) 00:11, 23 September 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Portugal 

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thread_title:  External links modified (February 2018) 

message: Iceland was sovereign at the time, and had declared neutrality before the outbreak of war and maintained the neutrality throughout the war and the UK/US occupations. Can someone add Iceland? Snooganssnoogans (talk) 23:59, 17 February 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: They didn't declare war but you aren't neutral if you are invaded and occupied. They didn't resist and they let the Allies use Iceland as a military base so they are counted as Allies. PrimeHunter (talk) 00:35, 18 February 2018 (UTC)
replies: text:  Two points: (i) Iceland's neutrality remained intact throughout the war. Iceland never declared war on the Axis (despite the US urging them to after 1941) or announced an end to the policy of neutrality. Iceland was also occupied by the US at a time when the US was neutral too. (ii) the Baltic states were also invaded and occupied, yet they are listed in the article. Snooganssnoogans (talk) 00:45, 18 February 2018 (UTC)

text:  Iceland's neutrality meant that it could not, unlike the other Allied nations, join the United Nations as a founder. The US encouraged Iceland to declare war on the Axis in the waning days of WWII to facilitate admission to the UN but Iceland refused. So, Iceland was not one of the Allied Powers. Snooganssnoogans (talk) 00:47, 18 February 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: I wouldn't call the Baltic states neutral either. They didn't join either side voluntarily but were occupied by both sides. The map :File:Map of participants in World War II.png shows them as grey with a dark green dot. The file page says: "Dark green dots represent countries that initially were neutral but during the war were annexed by the USSR". Their sections in the article also mention they were occupied. It's unclear what it means to have a section. United States has a section for being neutral in the start but many others don't, maybe because they are less important. Several South American countries which declared war in 1945 also have sections. I don't think politics involving the foundation of the UN after the war can be used to say who were neutral during the war. PrimeHunter (talk) 01:27, 18 February 2018 (UTC)
replies: text:  Perhaps we could add a sub-section within the article on states that were neutral for more than six months of the war and/or whose neutrality is disputed. The US, the Baltic states, DEN, NOR and Iceland could belong. Snooganssnoogans (talk) 11:26, 18 February 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Iceland needs to be added 

message: I find it REALLY hard to believe that the US can credibly be considered 'neutral' during World War II.  Why was the United States added?  - zfJames Please ping me in your reply on this page  (chat page , contribs) 00:09, 23 April 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: The US was technically neutral until Pearl Harbor, when they declared war on Japan, and Hitler declared war on the US. Beyond My Ken (talk) 23:35, 2 August 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  US Not Neutral During World War II 

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Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 23:07, 2 August 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  A Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion 

message: No idea how to edit this as it seems to appear correctly in browser on this page and on the image description page. However in the Mobile app the colors are reversed for dark and light green when viewing the image description. Gradvmedusa (talk) 20:43, 23 October 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  Image description is wrong when viewed in mobile app.