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Switzerland is a federal republic composed of 26 cantons, with federal authorities based in Bern. Switzerland is one of the world's most developed countries, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.
La Svizzera (in tedesco Schweiz, in francese Suisse, in romancio Svizra), ufficialmente Confederazione Svizzera (in tedesco Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, in francese Confédération suisse, in romancio Confederaziun svizra) o Confederazione Elvetica (in latino Confœderatio Helvetica, abbreviata con l'acronimo CH), è uno Stato federale dell'Europa centrale, composto da 26 cantoni autonomi ...
- Confederazione svizzera
- Nessuna (de iure), Berna (de facto) (133 791 ab. / 31.12.2018)
- Early History
- Old Confederacy
- Napoleonic Period and Aftermath
- Modern Switzerland
- Order of Accession of The Cantons
- Bibliography
- External Links
Prehistory
Archeological evidence suggests that hunter-gatherers were already settled in the lowlands north of the Alps in the Middle Paleolithic period 150,000 years ago. Agriculture in Switzerland began around 5500 BC. By the Neolithic period, the area was relatively densely populated. Remains of Bronze Age pile dwellings from as early as 3800 BC have been found in the shallow areas of many lakes. Around 1500 BC, Celtic tribes settled in the area. The Raetians lived in the eastern regions, while the w...
Antiquity
In 58 BC, the Helvetii tried to evade migratory pressure from Germanic tribes by moving into Gaul, but were defeated by Julius Caesar's armies and then sent back. The alpine region became integrated into the Roman Empire and was extensively romanized in the course of the following centuries. The center of Roman administration was at Aventicum (Avenches). In 259, Alamanni tribes overran the Limes, putting the settlements on Swiss territory on the frontier of the Roman Empire. The first Christi...
Medieval period
Under the Carolingian kings, the feudal system proliferated, and monasteries and bishoprics were important bases for maintaining the rule. The Treaty of Verdun of 843 assigned Upper Burgundy (the western part of what is today Switzerland) to Lotharingia, and Alemannia (the eastern part) to the eastern kingdom of Louis the German which would become part of the Holy Roman Empire. In the 10th century, as the rule of the Carolingians waned, Magyars destroyed Basel in 917 and St. Gallen in 926. On...
Late Medieval period
On 1 August 1291, the cantons of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden united to defend the peace upon the death of Emperor Rudolf I of Habsburg, forming the nucleus of the Old Swiss Confederacy. By 1353, the three original cantons had been joined by the cantons of Glarus and Zug and the city-states of Lucerne, Zürich, and Bern, forming the "Old Federation" of eight states that persisted during much of the 15th century. The Holy Roman Empire built roads and bridges to connect the industrial region of...
Reformation
The Reformation in Switzerland began in 1523, led by Huldrych Zwingli, priest of the Great Minster church in Zürich since 1518. Zürich adopted the Protestant religion, joined by Berne, Basel, and Schaffhausen, while Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz, Nidwalden, Zug, Fribourg, and Solothurn remained Catholic. Glarus and Appenzell were split. This led to multiple inter-cantonal religious wars (Kappeler Kriege) in 1529 and 1531, as each canton usually made the opposing religion illegal, and to the formation...
Early Modern Switzerland
During the Thirty Years' War, Switzerland was a relative "oasis of peace and prosperity" (Grimmelshausen) in war-torn Europe, mostly because all major powers in Europe depended on Swiss mercenaries, and would not let Switzerland fall into the hands of one of their rivals. Politically, they all tried to take influence, by way of mercenary commanders such as Jörg Jenatsch or Johann Rudolf Wettstein. The Drei Bünde of Grisons, at that point not yet a member of the Confederacy, were involved in t...
French invasion and Helvetic Republic
During the French Revolutionary Wars, the French army invaded Switzerland and turned it into an ally known as the "Helvetic Republic" (1798–1803). It had a central government with little role for cantons. The interference with localism and traditional liberties was deeply resented, although some modernizing reforms took place. Resistance was strongest in the more traditional Catholic bastions, with armed uprisings breaking out in spring 1798 in the central part of Switzerland. The French Army...
Restoration and Regeneration
The Congress of Vienna of 1814–15 fully re-established Swiss independence and the European powers agreed to recognize permanent Swiss neutrality. At this time, Valais, Neuchâtel, and Geneva also joined Switzerland as new cantons, thereby extending Swiss territoryto its current boundaries. The long-term impact of the French Revolution has been assessed (by William Martin): 1. It proclaimed the equality of citizens before the law, equality of languages, and freedom of thought and faith; it crea...
Sonderbund War of 1847
The Radical-liberal-Protestant element charged that the Sonderbund violated the Federal Treaty of 1815, § 6 of which expressly forbade such separate alliances. Forming a majority in the Tagsatzung they decided to dissolve the Sonderbund on October 21, 1847. The odds were against the Catholics, who were heavily outnumbered in population; they were outnumbered in soldiers by 79,000 to 99,000 and lacked enough well-trained soldiers, officers, and generals. When the Sonderbund refused to disband,...
Industrialisation
As a consequence of the civil war, Switzerland adopted a federal constitutionin 1848, amending it extensively in 1874 and establishing federal responsibility for defense, trade, and legal matters, leaving all other matters to the cantonal governments. From then, and over much of the 20th century, continuous political, economic, and social improvement has characterized Swiss history. While Switzerland was primarily rural, the cities experienced an industrial revolution in the late 19th century...
World Wars
The major powers respected Switzerland's neutrality during World War I. In the Grimm–Hoffmann Affair, the Allies denounced a proposal by one politician to negotiate peace on the Eastern Front; they wanted the war there to continue to tie Germany down. While the industrial sector began to grow in the mid-19th century, Switzerland's emergence as one of the most prosperous nations in Europe—the "Swiss miracle"—was a development of the short 20th century, among other things tied to the role of Sw...
History after 1945
During the Cold War, Swiss authorities considered the construction of a Swiss nuclear bomb. Leading nuclear physicists at the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich such as Paul Scherrer made this a realistic possibility. However, financial problems with the defense budget prevented substantial funds from being allocated, and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treatyof 1968 was seen as a valid alternative. All remaining plans for building nuclear weapons were dropped by 1988. From 1959, the Federa...
The order of precedenceof the Swiss cantons given in the federal constitution follows the historical order of accession except for the three city cantons of Zürich, Bern and Lucerne placed at the top. Eight Cantons 1. 1291 founding cantons – Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden 2. 1332 – Lucerne 3. 1351 – Zürich 4. 1352 – Glarus, Zug 5. 1353 – Bern expansion t...
Balsiger, Jörg. Uphill Struggles: The Politics of Sustainable Mountain Development in Switzerland and California(2009)Bonjour, E., H. S. Offler, G. R. Potter. A Short History of Switzerland (1952) onlineBurnett, Amy Nelson and Campi, Emidio (eds). A Companion to the Swiss Reformation (Brill, 2016). ISBN 978-90-04-30102-3Church, Clive H., and Randolph C. Head. A Concise History of Switzerland (Cambridge University Press, 2013). pp 132–61 online1 giorno fa · Switzerland, federated country of central Europe. Switzerland’s administrative capital is Bern, while Lausanne serves as its judicial centre. Switzerland’s small size—its total area is about half that of Scotland—and its modest population give little indication of its international significance.
Geography of Switzerland; Continent: Europe: Region: Western/Central Europe: Coordinates: 47° N 8° E: Area: Ranked 134 • Total: 41,293.2 km 2 (15,943.4 sq mi) • Land: 95.8% • Water: 4.2%: Coastline: 0 km (0 mi) Borders: Total land borders: 1,852 km (1,151 mi) Italy: 734.2 km (456.2 mi) France: 571.8 km (355.3 mi) Germany: 345 ...
- Western/Central Europe
- Dufourspitze: 4,634 m
- Ranked 134
- Lake Maggiore: 193 m
Switzerland (German: Schweiz; French: Suisse; Italian: Svizzera; Romansh: Svizra; Swiss German: Schwiz) is a country in Western Europe. Switzerland is a federation of 26 cantons . The official name of Switzerland is Confoederatio Helvetica ( Swiss Confederation ).
Switzerland is a federal republic composed of 26 cantons, with federal authorities based in Bern . Switzerland is one of the world's most developed countries, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita.