History UsefulNotes / Switzerland

Switzerland ('''German:''' ''Schweiz'', '''Italian:''' ''Svizzera'', '''French:''' ''Suisse'', '''Romansh:''' ''Svizra''), officially known as the Swiss Confederation ('''Latin:''' ''Confoederatio Helvetica'', which is why Swiss cars are distinguished by a CH sticker and the Swiss top level domain is .ch), is a country located in UsefulNotes/CentralEurope and Western UsefulNotes/{{Europe}}. It has four official languages (counting the very small Romansch-speaking population - the others are UsefulNotes/{{French|Language}}, UsefulNotes/{{German|Language}} and Italian), holds referenda all the time on many things and has not been involved in a war anywhere[[note]]Unless you count the short civil war of 1848 (the ''Sonderbundskrieg'') that did not see any foreign involvement or spillover. Or an accidental invasion of Liechtenstein in 2007 when 170 Swiss soldiers on military exercises crossed the border without realizing it. Also, the country produced a huge number of mercenaries from about the TheLateMiddleAges to the 18th century, specially during UsefulNotes/{{the Renaissance}}, and some wound up becoming the [[UsefulNotes/ThePope Papal]] guard, but they didn't fight in service of the country.[[/note]] since 1815. It's one of the richest countries (per capita) in the world.

That's not really fair on the Swiss (they didn't even invent the cuckoo clock--it comes from Swabia in {{UsefulNotes/Germany}}, which in turn is a link to how the Swiss Confederation was founded), but they do have a [[TheWatchmaker strong tradition in making clocks]]. They also produced the Geneva Conventions and the International Committee of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, among other things.[[note]]Besides the fact that the cuckoo clock was a far greater achievement than is thought. It is both a marvel of medieval craftsmanship and as a precursor to modern technology-one of the first machines. And it helped measure time with greater precision which certainly had many great effects.[[/note]] They also arguably influenced federalism, their system of government being one of several that inspired the writing of the US Constitution - and funnily enough they influenced the [[UsefulNotes/AustralianPolitics Australian Constitution]] as well.

Switzerland is one of the few countries in Western Europe which never joined the part of UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion. The others countries in the region which have not joined are the UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom (left the EU in 2020), {{UsefulNotes/Monaco}} (although they do use the Euro) and {{UsefulNotes/Liechtenstein}}, although they often adopt EU regulations in the interest of trade. As a result, they still have their own currency, too. The Swiss also didn't join the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations until 2002, though the UN did have an office in Geneva long before then. In an interesting bit of trivia, the Swiss franc has recently become strong to the point of challenging the Euro, in part due to the debt issue. Though it has always been a very strong currency.

That's not really fair on the Swiss (they didn't even invent the cuckoo clock--it comes from Swabia in {{UsefulNotes/Germany}}, which in turn is a link to how the Swiss Confederation was founded), but they do have a [[TheWatchmaker strong tradition in making clocks]]. They also produced the Geneva Conventions and the International Committee of the Red C-Thing, among other things.[[note]]Besides the fact that the cuckoo clock was a far greater achievement than is thought. It is both a marvel of medieval craftsmanship and as a precursor to modern technology-one of the first machines. And it helped measure time with greater precision which certainly had many great effects.[[/note]] They also arguably influenced federalism, their system of government being one of several that inspired the writing of the US Constitution - and funnily enough they influenced the [[UsefulNotes/AustralianPolitics Australian Constitution]] as well.

Due to Switzerland's permanently neutral status, they have not been in a war since 1815 (when UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte invaded the country). Neutrality also keeps Switzerland out of many international organizations; it refuses to join the UsefulNotes/EuropeanUnion in part out of respect for its neutrality policy[[note]]In stark contrast to other historically neutral European states, such as UsefulNotes/{{Sweden}}, UsefulNotes/{{Finland}} (both of whom finally dropped the facade and applied to join NATO in 2022 in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, with Finland becoming a member in 2023), UsefulNotes/{{Ireland}}, and UsefulNotes/{{Austria}}[[/note]], and refused to join the United Nations until 2002 despite hosting the European offices of many UN institutions.

* '''Area:''' 41,285 km
(15,940 sq mi) (132nd)

** Federal Council: Ignazio Cassis (President), Alain Berset (Vice President), Guy Parmelin, Ueli Maurer, Simonetta Sommaruga, Viola Amherd and Karin Keller-Sutter
** Federal Chancellor: Walter Thurnherr

Switzerland ('''German:''' ''Schweiz'', '''Italian:''' ''Svizzera'', '''French:''' ''Suisse'', '''Romansh:''' ''Svizra''), officially known as the Swiss Confederation ('''Latin:''' ''Confoederatio Helvetica'', which is why Swiss cars are distinguished by a CH sticker and the Swiss top level domain is .ch), is a country located in UsefulNotes/CentralEurope and Western UsefulNotes/{{Europe}}. It has four official languages (counting the very small Romansch-speaking population - the others are French, German and Italian), holds referenda all the time on many things and has not been involved in a war anywhere[[note]]Unless you count the short civil war of 1848 (the ''Sonderbundskrieg'') that did not see any foreign involvement or spillover. Or an accidental invasion of Liechtenstein in 2007 when 170 Swiss soldiers on military exercises crossed the border without realizing it. Also, the country produced a huge number of mercenaries from about the TheLateMiddleAges to the 18th century, specially during UsefulNotes/{{the Renaissance}}, and some wound up becoming the [[UsefulNotes/ThePope Papal]] guard, but they didn't fight in service of the country.[[/note]] since 1815. It's one of the richest countries (per capita) in the world.

Switzerland ('''German:''' ''Schweiz'', '''Italian:''' ''Svizzera'', '''French:''' ''Suisse'', '''Romansh:''' ''Svizra''), officially known as the Swiss Confederation ('''Latin:''' ''Confoederatio Helvetica'', which is why Swiss cars are distinguished by a CH sticker and the Swiss top level domain is .ch), is a country located in UsefulNotes/CentralEurope and Western Europe. It has four official languages (counting the very small Romansch-speaking population - the others are French, German and Italian), holds referenda all the time on many things and has not been involved in a war anywhere[[note]]Unless you count the short civil war of 1848 (the ''Sonderbundskrieg'') that did not see any foreign involvement or spillover. Or an accidental invasion of Liechtenstein in 2007 when 170 Swiss soldiers on military exercises crossed the border without realizing it. Also, the country produced a huge number of mercenaries from about the TheLateMiddleAges to the 18th century, specially during UsefulNotes/{{the Renaissance}}, and some wound up becoming the [[UsefulNotes/ThePope Papal]] guard, but they didn't fight in service of the country.[[/note]] since 1815. It's one of the richest countries (per capita) in the world.

* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}} in Switzerland''. Asterix and Obelix go to Helvetia to find and bring an edelweiss in order to save a Quaestor who was poisoned. Along the way, we see several things associated with Switzerland, like the cuckoo clock, Swiss cheese, WilliamTelling and Lake Geneva.

The Federal Charter of 1291 is one of the oldest surviving written documents of an alliance between Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden, the founding cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy. These cantons were suspicious of [[UsefulNotes/TheSoundOfMartialMusic Habsburg]] influence as the dynasty had home territories in what would become Switzerland, including the Aargau with Habsburg Castle (the very castle which gave the dynasty its name). These cantons were part of the UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire (and would remain so until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, although they were highly autonomous after the Treaty of Basel in 1499). Under the reigns of Rudolf I and Albert I (the first two "Kings of Germany" from the Habsburgs), the cantons were heavily taxed as the monarchs fought to be crowned the Holy Roman Emperor. Neither succeeded, and when another struggle for the crown between Louis (Ludwig), Duke of Bavaria and the Habsburg Frederick the Fair began in the 1310s, the cantons knew who to support. In retaliation, Frederick's brother Leopold led a force to subdue the proto-Swiss alliance, but was decisively defeated at the battle of Morgarten in 1315. Over the next two centuries, the Confederacy steadily expanded. The original home territories of the Habsburgs were eventually lost later in the 14th century; the battle of Sempach in 1386 even killed the Habsburg Duke Leopold III. Habsburg Castle itself was finally lost to the Swiss in 1415.

That's not really fair on the Swiss (they didn't even invent the cuckoo clock--it comes from Swabia in Germany, which in turn is a link to how the Swiss Confederation was founded), but they do have a [[TheWatchmaker strong tradition in making clocks]]. They also produced the Geneva Conventions and the International Committee of the Red C-Thing, among other things.[[note]]Besides the fact that the cuckoo clock was a far greater achievement than is thought. It is both a marvel of medieval craftsmanship and as a precursor to modern technology-one of the first machines. And it helped measure time with greater precision which certainly had many great effects.[[/note]] They also arguably influenced federalism, their system of government being one of several that inspired the writing of the US Constitution - and funnily enough they influenced the [[UsefulNotes/AustralianPolitics Australian Constitution]] as well.

Switzerland is one of the few countries in Western Europe which never joined the part of UsefulNotes/TheEuropeanUnion. The others countries in the region which have not joined are the UsefulNotes/UnitedKingdom (left the EU in 2020), Monaco (although they do use the Euro) and Liechtenstein, although they often adopt EU regulations in the interest of trade. As a result, they still have their own currency, too. The Swiss also didn't join the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations until 2002, though the UN did have an office in Geneva long before then. In an interesting bit of trivia, the Swiss franc has recently become strong to the point of challenging the Euro, in part due to the debt issue. Though it has always been a very strong currency.

One of the few countries in Western Europe not part of the EU, the others being the United Kingdom (left the EU in 2020), Monaco (although they do use the Euro) and Liechtenstein, although they often adopt EU regulations in the interest of trade. As a result, they still have their own currency, too. The Swiss also didn't join the UsefulNotes/UnitedNations until 2002, though the UN did have an office in Geneva long before then. In an interesting bit of trivia, the Swiss franc has recently become strong to the point of challenging the Euro, in part due to the debt issue. Though it has always been a very strong currency.