Swiss history: 4 most important dates

The Swiss are a distinctive nation with a unique historical destiny. There is no single language in Switzerland, as there are four nationally recognised languages - French, German, Italian and Romansh (codified in 1982). It also has a unique political system based on extensive federalism and direct democracy, where citizens are thoroughly involved in the life of their state. However, the most interesting feature of Switzerland is its long and fascinating history, which stretches back to the Middle Ages.

Importantly, this history is centred on territorial entities rather than major figures. The main stages in the formation of the nation are associated with cantons and towns, rather than with kings or warlords, as was the case in neighbouring countries. The sense of community and unity within the wider territory of medieval Germany was achieved while respecting the autonomy of each canton to make its own decisions and shared political values. This culture of compromise between representatives of different ethnic, linguistic and religious groups gradually led to the creation of a country whose very name varied greatly: for a long time the terms ‘leagues’, ‘cantons’ or ‘confederations’ were used. It was not until the 19th century that the name Switzerland was finally established.

Before looking at the key stages of the formation of the Swiss nation, it is worth briefly reviewing the country's early history. In ancient times, the territory of modern Switzerland was inhabited by the Helvetians, one of the largest Celtic peoples. This is why in ancient times the Romans called the land Helvetia. As a result of Julius Caesar's Gallic campaign (58-55 BC), the Helvetians were conquered and gradually Romanised and Christianised. The arriving Germanic tribes of Burgundians and Alamanni integrated into the Gallo-Roman population and gradually put an end to the Roman Empire. During the High Middle Ages, Switzerland gradually entered the era of Germanic culture, as these territories had until then been part of the Kingdom of Burgundy, and after its fall in the 11th century, they became part of the Holy Roman Empire.

1291: The ‘birth’ of Switzerland

In 1891, the Swiss Confederation celebrated the 600th anniversary of its ‘birth’ and chose 1 August as its bank holidays. On this day in 1291, representatives of the three German-speaking forest cantons in the central mountain region - Schwyz, Uri and Unterwalden - joined together in a defence alliance, renewing agreements that were little known before. The national interpretation of the country's history that developed in the nineteenth century viewed these three cantons as the original core of Switzerland. National history was presented as a gradual but inevitable unification of all the cantons around this original nucleus. In reality, of course, things were a little more complicated.

At the end of the thirteenth century, the opening of the Gotthard Massif opened up new opportunities for the inhabitants of the forest valleys, especially in economic terms. Logically, they sought to maintain their position and control of the passage, an ideal link between northern and southern Europe. This alliance was first handed down to posterity in the form of the ‘Oath of the Three Swiss’, said to have been made in 1307. According to modern Swiss historians, it is one of the country's founding national myths. They were soon joined by the cities of Lucerne, Zurich and Bern, and the rural cantons of Zug and Glarus. Instead of a confederation, they gradually formed a political union, which in 1353 numbered eight cantons. The main factor in the union was primarily the unwillingness of the Swiss cantons to submit to the will of the Habsburgs.

1518: Reformation in Switzerland

The Roman Catholic Church was in serious crisis in the last centuries of the Middle Ages, the main cause of which was corruption and vast estates, which gradually turned the public against the clergy. The reform of the church in Zurich by Ulrich Zwingli (1523) and in French-speaking Switzerland by Jean Calvin and Guillaume Farel came a little later than Martin Luther's reform in Germany, but at the same time it had a certain ideological independence and was more radical. The doctrines of Jean Calvin (1536) had a great influence on the reformed churches in the Netherlands and also in the future USA.

The Reformation divided Switzerland into two factions: the progressive cities (Geneva, Neuchâtel, Bern, Zurich, Basel), which were reformers, and conservative Catholic Central Switzerland (including Lucerne). Disputes between Zurich and Central Switzerland over Reformed preaching in the common territories led to the two Kappel Wars (1529 and 1531) and the Wilmergen Wars of 1556 and 1712.

Geneva, Neuchâtel and Basel became havens for numerous Huguenots (French Protestants) and other Protestants from Italy, Spain and Britain. As a result, Western Switzerland became a centre of banking and watchmaking.

1798: Helvetic Republic

The Swiss Revolution of 1798 was not at all a simple copy of the French Revolution; it was the logical consequence of Switzerland's corrupt political system. The Helvetic Revolution began with numerous petitions from the rural population of eastern and French-speaking Switzerland in 1790, where the Vaud region and Frédéric-César de Lagarpe, who had called for French intervention in 1797, played a key role. When Bern sent troops, the people of Vaud took up arms and proclaimed the Leman Republic, and French troops occupied the Vaud region as liberators. The city of Bern was captured and sacked on 5 March 1798. Between January and April, all other conquered territories in Switzerland were liberated without the use of military force.

The Helvetic Republic was proclaimed at Aarau on 12 April 1798. France annexed Geneva, Neuchâtel, Biel, the territory of the Prince-Bishop of Basel and Mulhouse. The constitution of the Helvetic Republic was centralist, like that of the French Republic, and Switzerland's federal tradition was eliminated. Central Switzerland tried to resist the change, and the revolt in Nidwalden was put down in September 1798. However, this system proved unstable and could not provide political stability in Switzerland, leading to a series of civil wars. After Napoleon's defeat in Russia and at Waterloo, Switzerland returned to an exclusively federal system. However, the new cantons of 1803 remained free members of the confederation. The cantons of Valais, Neuchâtel and Geneva, which had been annexed by France in 1798, returned to the Swiss confederation of 1815.

1848: Federal Constitution

From 1815 to 1848, Swiss liberals were able to make small innovations at the cantonal level, inspired by the 1830 revolution in France. From the 18th century onwards, each canton had both liberal and conservative politicians. There was no significant preponderance of either political force, and for this reason conservative and liberal governments alternated in many cantons until 1848.

During this period there was a growing demand for freedom throughout Western Europe. In Switzerland, radicals organised marches from Aargau and other cantons to Lucerne (the centre of the conservatives). Cantons with conservative governments responded with a secret treaty with Austria against the liberals in 1846. If the other cantons did not heed, a new civil war seemed inevitable. The short-lived civil war, called the Sonderbund, resulted in the adoption of a federal constitution in 1848, largely based on the American constitution (civil rights, federal structure, autonomy of the cantons, bicameral national parliament). From 1848 to 1874 (a complete revision of the constitution), a number of instruments unique to Swiss direct democracy were developed, including referendum and popular initiative.

The further history of Switzerland is no less interesting than the previous periods. At the same time, Switzerland was virtually unaffected by the two World Wars, due to its neutrality in 1815. During the Second World War (1939-1945), Switzerland was surrounded by Germany, Italy and the Nazi loyalist Vichy regime in France, but remained fully independent. After World War II, technological progress and economic growth reached new levels. Switzerland, with its industrial and financial traditions, was able to establish itself on world markets. Domestically, social security improved considerably (insurance for the elderly and insurance for the disabled, 1948). The partnership between employers and trade unions contributed to increased productivity and prosperity. Today, Switzerland is known as one of the most successful countries in the world and for decades has remained an important financial and political centre not only in Europe but also worldwide.