Antecedents
The early history of the region is tied to that of Alpine culture. Switzerland was inhabited by the Helvetii, and it came under Roman rule in the 1st century BC. Gallo-Roman culture was amalgamated with Germanic influence during Late Antiquity, with the eastern part of Switzerland becoming Alemannic territory. The area of Switzerland was incorporated in the Frankish Empire in the 6th century. In the High Middle Ages, the eastern part became part of the Duchy of Swabia within the Holy Roman Empire, while the western part was part of Burgundy.
1353 – 1523 Confederació de Cantons
1291: Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden. 1332 – Lucerne. 1351 – Zürich. 1352 – Glarus, Zug. 1353 – Bern.
1523 – 1648 Reforma I Independència
Expansió fins a 13 Cantons: 1481 – Fribourg, Solothurn. 1501 – Basel, Schaffhausen. 1513 – Appenzell
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, because each canton usually made the opposing religion illegal, and to the formation of two diets, the Protestant one meeting in Aarau and the Catholic one in Lucerne (as well as the formal full diet still meeting usually in Baden)[6][7] but the Confederation survived.
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 the war from 1620, which led to their loss of the Valtellina in 1623.
At the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, Switzerland attained legal independence from the Holy Roman Empire.
1648 – 1848 Napoleó i confederació moderna
Suïssa havia començat com una confederació de Cantons cap el 1300: Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Lucerne, Zürich, Glarus, Zug i Berna. El 1523 entra la reforma amb Zwingli a Zurich, Berne, Basel, mentre la resta segueix catòlica. Durant la guerra dels 30 anys Suïssa queda relativament en pau ja que la majoria dels poders depenien dels merenaris suïssos. Amb el tractat de Westfalia de 1648 Suïssa aconsegueix la independència del Sacre Imperi Germànic.<br>
El 1797 Napoleò envaeix Suïssa i funda la república Cisalpina amb un govern centralitzat. L’administració moderna xoca amb le stradicions i els cantons, sobretot els catòlics, es rebel·len. El 1803 s’afegeixen a la Confederació St. Gallen, Graubünden, Aargau, Thurgau, Ticino, Vaud i el 1815 el Valais, Neuchâtel, Geneva. El congrés de Viena de 1815 restableix la independència. El 1847 hi ha la Guerra civil del Sonderbund entre Protestants i catòlics que acaba amb l’expulsió dels jesuites.
The Valtellina became a dependency of the Drei Bünde again after the Treaty and remained so until the founding of the Cisalpine Republic by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1797.
1803 – St. Gallen, Graubünden, Aargau, Thurgau, Ticino, Vaud. 1815 – Valais, Neuchâtel, Geneva
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.[8][9]
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 suppressed the uprisings but support for revolutionary ideas steadily declined. The reform element was weak, and most Swiss resented their loss of local democracy, the centralization, the new taxes, the warfare, and the hostility to religion.
The Congress of Vienna of 1814–15 fully reestablished 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 territory to its current boundaries.
Guerra civil del Sonderbund entre Protestants i catòlics. Expulsió dels jesuites.
1848 – actualitat Suïssa moderna
As a consequence of the civil war, Switzerland adopted a federal constitution in 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.
Neutralitat en les dues guerres mundials.
Industrialització i banca