Switzerland - swĭtˈsərlənd, Fr. Suisse, Ger. Schweiz, Ital. Svizzera, officially Swiss Confederation, federal republic (1995 est. pop. 7,085,000), 15,941 sq mi (41,287 sq km), central Europe. It borders on France in the west and southwest, with the Jura Mts. and the Lake of Geneva (traversed by the Rhône River) forming the frontier; in the north it is separated from Germany by the Rhine River and Lake Constance; its eastern neighbors are Austria and Liechtenstein; in the southeast and south it is divided from Italy by the Alpine crests, the Lake of Lugano, and Lago Maggiore. The federal capital is Bern, and the largest city is Zürich.
Land and People Between the Jura and the Central Alps, which occupy the southern section (more than half) of the country, there is a long, relatively narrow plateau, crossed by the Aare River and containing the lakes of Neuchâtel and Zürich. Alpine communications are assured by numerous
passes and by railroad tunnels, notably the Lötschberg, St. Gotthard, and Simplon. Switzerland consists of 26 federated states, of which 20 are called cantons and 6 are called half cantons. The cantons are
Zürich,
Bern,
Lucerne,
Uri,
Schwyz,
Glarus,
Zug,
Fribourg,
Solothurn,
Schaffhausen,
Saint Gall, the
Grisons (Graubünden),
Aargau,
Thurgau,
Ticino,
Vaud,
Valais,
Neuchâtel,
Geneva, and
Jura. Of the half cantons, Obwalden and Nidwalden together form
Unterwalden, Basel-Land and Basel-Stadt form
Basel, and Ausser-Rhoden and Inner-Rhoden form
Appenzell. German, French, and Italian are Switzerland's major and official languages; Romansh (a Rhaeto-Roman dialect spoken in parts of the Grisons) was designated a "semiofficial" language in 1996, entitled to federal funds to help promote its continued use. German dialects (Schwyzerdütsch) are spoken by about 65% of the inhabitants. French, spoken by about 20% of the population, predominates in the southwest; Italian, spoken by about 8%, is the language of Ticino, in the south. The few Romansh-speakers are in the southeast. About 45% of the population is Roman Catholic and 40% is Protestant; close to 10% professes no religion. Although the country absorbed many foreign industrial workers after World War II, especially from Italy, social tensions in the late 20th cent. led the government to restrict immigration. There are universities at Lausanne, Geneva, Bern, Basel, Zürich, St. Gall, Neuchâtel, and Fribourg. Economy Switzerland has a highly successful market economy based on international trade and banking. Its standards of living, worker productivity, quality of education, and health care are higher than any other European country. Inflation is low, and unemployment is negligible. The economy is heavily dependent on foreign guest workers, who represent approximately 20% of the labor force. Agriculture employs less than 5% of the population, and since only 10% of the land is arable, the primary agricultural products are cattle and dairy goods. Mineral resources are scarce, and most raw materials and many food products must be imported. Tourism, which adds significantly to the economy, helps to balance Switzerland's trade deficit. Electricity is generated chiefly from hydroelectrical and nuclear power sources. Switzerland has a worldwide reputation for the high quality of its export manufactures, which include motors, generators, turbines, and diverse high-tech products. Centered in Basel, the chemical-pharmaceutical industry exports around the globe. Due to its central location in Europe and the stability of its politics and currency, Switzerland has become one of the world's most important financial centers. The banking, insurance, shipping, and freighting industries accommodate the enormous amount of international trade going through Switzerland. Its most important trading partners are Germany, France, Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Japan. Government The federal constitution, adopted in 1848 and revised in 1874, assigns specified functions, notably communications, foreign relations, and tariffs, to the confederation, leaving the cantons sovereign in other respects. There is universal male suffrage; women were granted (by a referendum in 1971) the vote in federal elections and may vote in most cantonal and local elections. In a 1981 plebiscite, measures were approved granting equal legal and economic rights for men and women. A major revision of the constitution in 1999 abolished the gold standard for the Swiss franc, established the right to strike, and guaranteed equal opportunities for those with disabilities. A council of states (two members from each canton, one from each half canton) and a 200-member national council (whose members are directly elected every four years) together form the federal assembly. The chief executive, or federal council, is composed of seven members (elected for four years by the federal assembly) and includes the president of the confederation (elected by the federal assembly annually). The four largest parties are the People's, Social Democratic, Radical, and Christian Democratic parties. Switzerland frequently employs the referendum as well as the popular initiative to achieve political change. Cantonal constitutions differ widely. In Unterwalden, Glarus, and Appenzell the entire electorate legislates directly in yearly outdoor meetings called Landsgemeinden; elsewhere a unicameral legislative council and an elected executive council are common. History Emergence of the Swiss Nation In 58 b.c. the Helvetii who inhabited the country (see
Helvetia) were conquered by the Romans. Invaded (5th cent. a.d.) by the Alemanni and by the Burgundii, the area passed to the Franks in the 6th cent. Divided (9th cent.) between
Swabia and Transjurane
Burgundy, it was united (1033) under the Holy Roman Empire. The expanding feudal houses, notably
Zähringen and Kyburg, were supplanted (13th cent.) by the houses of
Hapsburg and of
Savoy. Hapsburg encroachments on the privileges of the three mountainous localities of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden resulted in the conclusion (1291) of a defensive league among them. The legendary hero of this event is William
Tell. The league triumphed at Morgarten (1315) and, joined by Lucerne, Zürich, Zug, Glarus, and Bern, decisively defeated the Hapsburgs at
Sempach (1386) and Näfels (1388). In the 15th cent. the Swiss league rose to the first rank as a military power. The conquest of Aargau, Thurgau, and the valleys of Ticino, which were ruled as subject territories until 1798, was followed by Swiss victories over
Charles the Bold of Burgundy (1476–77) and over Emperor Maximilian I, who in 1499 granted Switzerland virtual independence. By 1513, the admission to the confederation of Fribourg, Solothurn, Basel, Schaffhausen, and Appenzell had raised the number of cantons to 13, and this number was maintained until 1798. The conquest by Bern of Vaud from Savoy (1536), and close alliances with the Grisons, Geneva, St. Gall, and other towns and regions, further increased the Swiss orbit, but Switzerland's importance as a European power was broken in 1515 when the French defeated the Swiss at
Marignano (see also
Italian Wars). A "perpetual alliance" with France (1516) and neutrality became the basis of Swiss policy. Swiss mercenaries, however, continued to serve abroad for three centuries (see
Swiss Guards). The cantons, loosely bound by a federal diet and by individual treaties and often torn by internal feuds, were seriously split by the
Reformation, preached by
Zwingli at Zürich and by
Calvin at Geneva. The Catholics, led by the
Four Forest Cantons, defeated the Protestants in battle; the Treaty of Kappel (1531) preserved Catholicism in Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Zug, Fribourg, and Solothurn. National unity almost disappeared for more than two centuries, but religious divisions did not prevent the Swiss (except the Grisons) from remaining neutral throughout the Thirty Years War. Switzerland was an island of prosperity when, in 1648, at the end of the war, its formal independence was recognized in the Peace of Westphalia. Internal Conflict and Consolidation In the following century and a half, government in many cantons became the exclusive business of a small oligarchy. While Switzerland became insignificant politically in the 18th cent., its wealth steadily increased, and its scientists and writers (von Haller, von Mühler, Pestalozzi, Rousseau) made it an intellectual center. The Swiss oligarchies strongly opposed the French Revolution. Invading French armies established the
Helvetic Republic (1798–1803) and in 1799 clashed with Austrian and Russian forces. Napoleon's Act of Mediation (1803) partially restored the old confederation, and, at the Congress of Vienna, the Pact of Restoration (1815) substantially reestablished the old regime, except that the confirmation of nine new cantons brought the total to its present number. By the Treaty of Paris (1815), Swiss neutrality was guaranteed for all time. A subsequent economic depression, which caused large-scale emigration to North and South America, and generally reactionary rule contributed to widely successful demands for revision of the cantonal constitutions and the rise of the Radical party, which favored greater centralization. Opposition to centralization centered in the Catholic rural cantons, which in 1845 formed the
Sonderbund, a defensive alliance. After a brief and almost bloodless civil war (1847) the victorious Radicals transformed the confederation into one federal state under a new constitution adopted in 1848 (and recast in 1874). National unity grew, and much socialist legislation (such as railroad nationalization and social insurance) was enacted. Armed neutrality was maintained throughout World Wars I and |
