Neutral Powers

The Neutral Powers were those countries which remained neutral throughout World War II. Some of these countries had significant land holdings abroad or held substantial economic institutions. Spain had just been through its civil war, which ended on 1 April 1939 (five months prior to the Invasion of Poland) - a war involving several countries which would become belligerents of WW II.

During World War II, these countries took no official side during the war in their hopes to avoid being attacked. However, Portugal, Sweden and Switzerland all helped the Allied Powers by supplying "voluntary" brigades to Great Britain, while Spain avoided the Allies in favor of the Axis.

The Lateran Treaty signed in 1929 with Italy imposed that "The Pope was pledged to perpetual neutrality in international relations" made the Vatican City a neutral state.

Several other countries were invaded in spite of their efforts to maintain neutrality. These included Nazi Germany invading Denmark and Norway on 9 April 1940, then Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg on 10 May 1940, the same day on which the British invaded Iceland (whose occupying force was subsequently replaced by the then-neutral United States).

See also the histories of Afghanistan, Andorra, Guatemala, Liechtenstein, Saudi Arabia and Yemen during this period.