How did countries afford to stay neutral in wars, primarily WW1 and WW2?

Question

In WW2 the likes of Spain, Portugal and Switzerland remained neutral, how could these countries stay neutral?

What stopped the Axis powers from invading these countries to add to their countries?

In: 278

Answer 1

When a country stays neutral, it’s betting that everyone else is too busy to be bothered invading them. For Switzerland, a heavily armed mountain country with nothing valuable, or Spain, a vast, war torn country, it’s a pain to invade with not much incentive. When you’re fighting a world war, you’re going to think twice before increasing the military and economic burden you’re under.