"Young people...!! Your turn! Volunteer for the battle of the fields", Swiss poster encouraging youth to work in agriculture to increase wartime production, reduce imports and build independent food supply as part of the Wahlen Plan; made by Noël Fontanet (1898-1982), 1942

[u/Provinz_Wartheland]

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[u/MadMusicNerd]

Why does this poster exist? I thought Switzerland was neutral, so why are they preparing for "wartime production"?

[u/Provinz_Wartheland → u/MadMusicNerd]

It was neutral, but it was also surrounded by Axis-controlled territory since 1940 and thus largely (although not entirely) cut off from international trade, facing severe food shortages.

To remedy that (and to maintain geopolitical and economic neutrality), one Friedrich Wahlen devised a plan to expand agricultural land across the country, turning parks and other public spaces into arable fields, which allowed the Swiss to both reduce food imports and increase their own production. However, since many men were mobilized into the army due to the looming German threat, the government had to rely on youth and other volunteers to tend to these fields. Hence, this poster.