History of Switzerland
From Wikinfo
According to many historians, the history of Switzerland began in 1291 on a meadow called [[R�tli]] with a contract, known as the Bundesbrief ("Letter of Alliance") between leaders of regions called Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden in what is now Central Switzerland. The Bundesbrief united them in the struggle against the Habsburgs who coveted the countries controlling the Gotthard pass. At the battles of Morgarten in 1315 and Sempach 1375, the Swiss defeated the Habsburg army and secured independence from local princes as the Swiss Confederation. Within the next century, towns like Lucerne, Zug, Zurich and Berne joined the confederation, which was still a loose alliance of independent confederates (which even waged war among themselves at times) which belonged nominally to the medieval German empire.
A victorious war against the rich prince Charles the Bold of Burgundy in the 15th century gave the Swiss confederates a reputation of strong warriors who also served as mercenaries, especially in the wars of renaissance Italy.
During the Reformation, the alliance almost broke, half of the cantons (mainly the cities) joining the Zurich reformation of Huldrych Zwingli, the other half remaining Catholic. Religious strife ultimately led to civil war in 1531.
Legal independence was achieved at the Peace of Westphalia. In 1648, were defeated by the French in the Thirty Years' War which involved almost all of middle Europe (Austria, Bohemia, Sweden, France, Denmark). The Swiss managed to keep out of the war, and as part of the settlement, the Swiss Confederation was granted complete independence from the Holy Roman Empire after being nominally independent since the Suebian war in 1500.
During the French Revolutionary Wars, the revolutionary armies boiled eastward, enveloping Switzerland in their battles against Austria. In 1798 Switzerland was completely overrun by the French and became the Helvetic Republic. It lost the territory of Valtellina. The Helvetic Repiblic encountered severe economic and political problems. In 1798 the country became a battlefield of the Revolutionary Wars.
In 1803 Napoleon's Act of Mediation partially restored the sovereignty of the cantons, and the former tributary and allied territories of Aargau, Thurgau, Grisons, St.Gallen, Vaud and Ticino became cantons with equal rights.
After the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, the Congress of Vienna once again affirmed Switzerland's independence and the Great Powers of Europe agreed to permanently recognise Swiss neutrality, a promise that has not been broken.
The cantons Valais, [[Canton of Neuch�tel|Neuch�tel]] and Geneva joined the Swiss Federation, giving Switzerland the boundaries that it has maintained up till the present day.
Unlike most nations, Switzerland was not swept by revolutions in 1848, but fear of liberal revolutionary elements drove the Swiss government to establish a constitution which established federal responsibility for defense, trade, and legal matters, leaving all other matters to the cantons. The constitution was amended extensively in 1874, fine-tuning the system so none of the many minorities could be overwhelmed by any majority. Since then, Switzerland has developed into a socially, politically, and economically stable European state.
No doubt a large degree of that stability is due to Switzerland's guarantee of perpetual neutrality, which was honored by the rest of Europe. Switzerland was not militarily involved in either of the two World Wars (World War I nor World War II). However, the political and economic integration of Europe over the later 20th century, as well as Switzerland's role in many United Nations and international organizations, helped to mitigate the country's concern for neutrality. In 2002, Switzerland was officially ratified as a member of the United Nations - the only country joining after agreement by a popular vote.
In the 19th century, the Neolithic and Bronze Age pile dwellers were seen as forebears of the Swiss as well.
- See also: Switzerland
References
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "History_of_Switzerland" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Switzerland, used under the GNU Free Documentation License
