History Main / NeutralityBacklash

* While northern Ireland, as part of Great Britain, joined the Allies during WorldWarII, the independent state of Ireland declared itself neutral and maintained this stance throughout the war, with the Taoiseach even offering his condolences upon Hitler's death. Despite this, Ireland was "accidentally" bombed by the Axis powers, their ships were attacked on several occasions with and one Irish ship, the ''Kerlogue'', was fired on by both sides. Following the war, Ireland was barred from entering the United Nations for nearly a decade.

* The [[VorkosiganSaga]] has Komarr. When Barrayar was rediscovered, [[TheEmpire Cetaganda]] saw it as an area ripe for expansion. The Komarrans, who occupy the only route to Barrayar, let the Cetagandans through in exchange for protection and trade rights. The Barrayarans [[LaResistance fought off]] the Cetagandans, and proceeded to attack Komarr in revenge, making a colony of their empire.

[[AC: Folklore]]

* ''{{Silverwing}}'' has the same premise as Aesop's fable. Many years ago there was a battle between the birds and the beasts. Because of the bats' actions in the war (the bats claim they didn't choose a side, the birds claim they switched sides) all bats are banished to the night.

[[AC: Real Life]]

* In film version of ''TheTwoTowers'', Treebeard initially doean't want to take side in the Middle-Earth conflict since nobody actually cares for trees. That is, until Pippin and Merry show him quite clearly that if Saruman wins, the forests wilpl be felled altogether.

* Vichy France was this played straight. It still controlled a large empire and navy and the Allies stomped on it several times, either because it happened to be in the way of planned operations or because its possessions were perceived as a threat. After Operation Torch the Germans got in on this, finally subjugating Vichy. In essence Vichy was everybody's ChewToy.
* Belgium attempted to be neutral during the opening years of WorldWarII, even refusing the Allies to build any defence lines inside their borders or let them to land on their beaches, so of course when Germany invaded Belgium, they didn't have anyone to help them defend their country from German conquest.

* Genn Greymane, the king of [[WorldOfWarcraft Gilneas]], refused to support the Alliance against the Horde and bricked up his entire city behind a giant wall. [[FromBadToWorse Then the werewolves came...]]

* Genn Greymane, the king of [[WorldOfWarcraft Gilneas]], refused to support the Alliance against the Horde and bricked up his entire city behind a giant wall. [[ItGotWorse Then the werewolves came...]]

Compare with NoPointsForNeutrality and {{AlienNon-InterferenceClause}}. Can overlap with the GoldenMeanFallacy, StupidNeutral and SomebodyElsesProblem.

* Switzerland averted the trope in both World Wars, mostly because both sides respected the strength of the Swiss military and because Switzerland's geography would make any invasion of the country very difficult to accomplish. As such, Switzerland remained neutral throughout both wars, and while they did suffer some collateral damage, they were never seriously attacked by anyone and emerged largely unscathed.
* While northern Ireland, as part of Great Britain, joined the Allies during WorldWarII, the independent state of Ireland declared itself neutral and maintained this stance throughout the war, with the Taoiseach even offering his condolences upon Hitler's death. Despite this, Ireland was "accidentally" bombed by the Axis powers and one Irish ship, the Kerlogue, was fired on by both sides. Following the war, Ireland was barred from entering the United Nations for nearly a decade.
** The Kerlogue was not the only Irish ship attacked during WorldWarII, it just has the distinction of being attacked by ''both'' sides.

* NiccoloMachiavelli explicitly advises against taking the neutral position: you'll only end up as a prize for the winner. Better to be winners together, or even losers together (you'll support each other) than someone's ''dessert''.

* Vichy France was this played straight. It still controlled a large empire and navy and the Allies stomped on it several times, either because it happened to be in the way of planned operations or because its possessions were perceived as a threat. After Operation Torch the Germans got in on this, finally subjugating Vichy. In essence Vichy was everybody's ChewToy.

* One of the Phantom Stranger's possible origin stories is this. An angel in Heaven, the Stranger refused to pick a side in the war between God and Lucifer. As a result, he was cast out of Heaven ''and'' Hell once the war ended, cursed to walk the Earth as a stranger to everyone.

* [[TheWatcher Uatu the Watcher]] from the Marvel Universe usually averts the trope. When he maintains his {{AlienNon-InterferenceClause}} he's generally fine. He's far more likely to come to harm, or run afoul of his people's laws, when he gets involved in Earth affairs. Or stands too close to the RedHulk.

* In Creator/MelisaMichael's ''Skyrider'' series, although they admire her skill, a lot of belters don't trust Skyrider because she tried to remain neutral in the last war. On the other hand, a lot of Earthers don't trust her because she's a belter.

-->-- Brannigan, Begin Again, ''{{Futurama}}''

-> "He who is neither one thing nor the other has no friends."
-->-- Aesop

-> '''Zap Brannigan''': "I hate these Neutrals, Kif. With enemies you know where they stand, but with Neutrals, who knows? It sickens me."
-->-- Brannigan, Begin Again, ''{{Futurama}}''

There was a great war, between two mighty nations, that absorbed the entire planet in its terrible fury. Every living man, woman, and child chose a side...

...except ''that'' prick. And when the war was over, boy, did ''he'' get it.

This trope is what happens when someone refuses to choose a side in a conflict, and it ends up biting them in the ass. Perhaps they spend the war sitting on their hands, or maybe they try to play up to both sides. Regardless, at some point one side or the other will come calling for revenge, if LaserGuidedKarma doesn't catch them first.

Contrast WithUsOrAgainstUs, NeutralNoLonger, where the neutral party is forced to pick a side during the war, either because they got conquered by that side during the conflict, or because one side's atrocities drove them into the other side's camp.

Compare with NoPointsForNeutrality and [[{{AlienNon-InterferenceClause}} Alien Non-Interference Clause]]. Can overlap with the GoldenMeanFallacy, StupidNeutral and SomebodyElsesProblem.

----
!!Examples:

[[AC: Anime]]

* In ''GundamSEED'', the Orb Union was a small island nation that tried to maintain a neutral stance between ZAFT and the Earth Federation during the First Bloody Valentine War. In the end, it evacuated the island and set fire to its military bases rather than join either side. It averted the trope in the following war, where it voted to join the Earth Alliance.

[[AC: Comics]]

* One of the Phantom Stranger's possible origin stories is this. An angel in Heaven, the Stranger refused to pick a side in the war between God and Lucifer. As a result, he was cast out of Heaven ''and'' Hell once the war ended, cursed to walk the Earth as a stranger to everyone.
* ''MouseGuard'' takes the fable about bats, beasts and birds as history, and shows the long-term consequences: bats will [[BerserkButton go berserk]] if you imply they are untrustworthy. To be fair, [[UnreliableNarrator the bats claim]] that they weren't neutral in the old war, but that they were rejected by both sides because of their appearance.
* Not all of the {{Transformers}} on Cybertron joined the Autobots or the Decepticons. This rarely worked out well for them.
** The neutral town of Yuss in the Stanix region of Cybertron was a frequent target for relieving the boredom of Decepticons stationed in the area.
** During the evacuation of Altihex, twenty to thirty Neutrals took control of a building, arguing for both Autobots and Decepticons to end the war, renounce their allegiances, and unite. Skywarp took a moment to consider whether or not to take advantage of their idealism... then decided to slag them.

* [[TheWatcher Uatu the Watcher]] from the Marvel Universe usually averts the trope. When he maintains his [[{{AlienNon-InterferenceClause}} Alien Non-Interference Clause]] he's generally fine. He's far more likely to come to harm, or run afoul of his people's laws, when he gets involved in Earth affairs. Or stands too close to the RedHulk.

[[AC: Film]]

* In ''{{Dogma}}'', Azrael was a {{Muse}} who stayed neutral in the war between Heaven and Hell. Unlike the Phantom Stranger above, he ended up in Hell. [[SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum He is less than happy about this.]]
* Zeus spends most of ''Film/{{Immortals}}'' trying to keep his fellow gods from getting involved in a mortal war, going so far as to [[spoiler: kill Ares for interfering]]. As a result, Hyperion succeeds in [[spoiler: unleashing the god-killing Titans]], something Zeus or any other god could have easily prevented.

[[AC: Folklore]]

* One of the many origins Europeans gave to fairies was that they were neutral angels who refused to pick a side when the Devil revolted against God and Heaven. Rather than be turned into demons and get cast into Hell, they were left to their own devices on Earth without ever returning to Heaven since they were neither good nor evil. Whether this is actually a punishment from their point of view is debatable.

[[AC: Literature]]

* The ''MagicTheGathering'' novel ''The Prodigal Sorcerer'' inverts the trope. A sorcerer from an order of [[{{AlienNon-InterferenceClause}} true neutral]] sorcerers comes down from his mountain to bring a quick end to a long-running three-way war. While he succeeds in this, attempts to forge a permanent peace in the aftermath go ''very'' badly and the sorcerer is manipulated by outside forces into nearly letting a foreign army in to curbstomp ''everyone''. Arguably all sides, and especially the mage, would have been much better off if he'd just stayed out of it.
* In ''[[DrSeuss The Sneetches]]'', Sylvester [=McMonkey=] [=McBean=] offers his services to both the star-bellied Sneetches and those without indiscriminately. He ends up averting the trope completely, walking off with all of the Sneetches's money and laughing about how silly they are. This probably also qualifies him for MagnificentBastard status.
* One of AesopsFables, ''The Bat, the Birds, and the Beasts'', tells of a Bat who refused to take sides in a coming war between the Birds and the Beasts. The war is avoided at the last moment, but when the Bat tries to join in the revelry, both sides threaten to tear him apart. Probably the UrExample of this trope.
--> "He that is neither one thing nor the other has no friends."
* ''{{Silverwing}}'' has the same premise as Aesop's fable. Many years ago there was a battle between the birds and the beasts. Because of the bats' actions in the war (the bats claim they didn't choose a side, the birds claim they switched sides) all bats are banished to the night.
* In the ''SwordOfTruth'' series, the nation of Galea withdrew from a war against the [[EvilEmpire Imperial Order]] after a new queen came to power, declaring itself neutral. It had previously been allied with the Order's enemies. To absolutely no one's surprise (except apparently the queen's), the Order quickly conquers Galea.
* Briefly discussed in ''Mariners of {{Gor}}'' when there's a mutiny on board a ship. The narrator and some of his friends consider just staying out of the conflict altogether, but then they realize that whichever side wins will punish them for not taking their side, so they arm themselves and fight on the side of the established authority.

[[AC: Tabletop Games]]

* Because [[{{Warhammer40000}} Warhammer 40,000]] is a [[CrapsackWorld crapsack universe]], this trope is rarely in play. Most Imperial citizens don't get the option of staying neutral or even picking a side. If someone does stay neutral in a conflict, the ''best'' outcome they can expect is summary execution once the fighting is over. Generally everyone knows this and is not stupid enough to tempt fate. Of course there have been exceptions.
** During the early days of the HorusHeresy, the planet Bastion declared itself neutral and invited representatives from Horus and the Emperor to make a case for which side the planet should join. Horus's representative ''blew up Bastion'' as an example to any other neutral planets: ''Ally with the Imperium and die.''
** Some suspect the Dark Angels stayed out of the HorusHeresy to wait and see which side won. The truth is more complicated, but it's one of many things that have raised suspicions about the Chapter's motives.

[[AC: Video Games]]

* Genn Greymane, the king of [[WorldOfWarcraft Gilneas]], refused to support the Alliance against the Horde and bricked up his entire city behind a giant wall. [[ItGotWorse Then the werewolves came...]]
* In ''{{Civilization}} 4'', if you try to remain neutral and not ally with other countries involved in a war with each other, they'll get mad at you. Your points with the countries will go down.
* In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn]]'', Dragon King Dheginsea stubbornly tries to have the country of Goldoa remain neutral for 1,000 years [[spoiler:to satisfy the terms of the covenant with the goddess Ashera.]] He ends up having one of his children killed and another one forced into exile because of his insistence on neutrality.
* Grand Cleric Elthina of ''DragonAgeII'' insists on remaining neutral in the conflict between the mages and the [[MageKiller templars]], believing that peace and middle ground are possible and necessary. [[spoiler: She is killed when a fanatical mage supporter blows up the Chantry in order to break the stalemate between the two sides and bring about revolution and freedom for the mages.]]

[[AC: Webcomics]]

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', Therkla the half-orc falls in love with Elan while on an assignment from her master, Lord Kubota, to kill Hinjo (whom Elan is bodyguarding). She tries her best to protect Elan while still serving Kubota, and in the end tries to convince Elan and Kubota to simply let each other be. Unfortunately Kubota believes in WithUsOrAgainstUs and fatally poisons Therkla. Doubly painful in that Elan was never going to reciprocate Therkla's love.

[[AC: Real Life]]

* NiccoloMachiavelli explicitly advises against taking the neutral position: you'll only end up as a prize for the winner. Better to be winners together, or even losers together (you'll support each other) than someone's ''dessert''.
* The Neutral Nation was a group of Native North American tribes of the Iroquoian branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock that occupied territory along the northern shore of Lake Erie. The French gave the Neutral Nation its name because of its neutrality in the Iroquois-Huron wars. They were able to remain neutral because they controlled flint grounds useful for making for spear and arrowheads. Once gunpowder was introduced into the conflict, and once the Neutral Nation absorbed the remnants of the Hurons, the Iroquois practically destroyed them. Possibly doesn't count because of the influx of Hurons, although the Neutral Nation would certainly have been better off allying with the Iroquois early on.
* Switzerland averted the trope in both World Wars, mostly because both sides respected the strength of the Swiss military and because Switzerland's geography would make any invasion of the country very difficult to accomplish. As such, Switzerland remained neutral throughout both wars, and while they did suffer some collateral damage, they were never seriously attacked by anyone and emerged largely unscathed.
* While northern Ireland, as part of Great Britain, joined the Allies during WorldWarII, the independent state of Ireland declared itself neutral and maintained this stance throughout the war, with the Taoiseach even offering his condolences upon Hitler's death. Despite this, Ireland was "accidentally" bombed by the Axis powers and one Irish ship, the Kerlogue, was fired on by both sides. Following the war, Ireland was barred from entering the United Nations for nearly a decade.

** In the current IDW comics, [= NAILs =] (Non-Aligned Indigenous Life-forms) are Cybertronians who left the planet during the war, wishing to have nothing to do with it. They've recently returned to Cybertron now that the war is "over" and the planet is inhabitable again. While they haven't been slaughtered outright ''yet'', they've already managed to annoy both the Autobots and the Decepticons.

* In ''OrderOfTheStick'', Therkla the half-orc falls in love with Elan while on an assignment from her master, Lord Kubota, to kill Hinjo (whom Elan is bodyguarding). She tries her best to protect Elan while still serving Kubota, and in the end tries to convince Elan and Kubota to simply let each other be. Unfortunately Kubota believes in WithUsOrAgainstUs and fatally poisons Therkla. Doubly painful in that Elan was never going to reciprocate Therkla's love.

* One of the many origins Europeans gave to fairies was that they were neutral angels who refused to pick a side when the Devil revolted against God and Heaven. Rather than be turned into demons and get cast into Hell, they were left to their own devices on Earth since they were neither good nor evil. Whether this is actually a punishment from their point of view is debatable.

* Vichy France was this played straight. It still controled a large empire and navy and the allies stomped on it several times either because it happend to be in the way of planned operations or because it's possessions were perceived as a threat . After Operation Torch the Germans got in on this, finally subjugating Vichy. In essence Vichy was everybodies ChewToy.

** The Kerlogue was not the only Irish ship attacked during WorldWarII, it just has the distinction of being attacked by ''both'' sides.

** This is probably more an inversion of NeutralNoMore.

Contrast with NeutralNoLonger, where the neutral party is forced to pick a side during the war, either because they got conquered by that side during the conflict, or because one side's atrocities drove them into the other side's camp.

* In ''OrderOfTheStick'', Therkla the half-orc falls in love with Elan while on an assignment from her master, Lord Kubota, to kill Hinjo (whom Elan is bodyguarding). She tries her best to protect Elan while still serving Kubota, and in the end tries to convince Elan and Kubota to simply let each other be. Unfortunately Kubota believes in WIthUsOrAgainstUs and fatally poisons Therkla. Doubly painful in that Elan was never going to reciprocate Therkla's love.

Compare with NoPointsForNeutrality and [[{{AlienNon-InterferenceClause}} Alien Non-Interference Clause]]. Can overlap with SomebodyElsesProblem.