| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
| The History of Switzerland | |
|---|---|
| Early history | up to 1291 |
| Old Confederacy | 1291 - 1513 |
| Reformation | 16th century |
| Ancien Régime | 1648 - 1798 |
| Napoleonic era | 1798 - 1847 |
| Federal state | 1848 - 1914 |
| World Wars | 1914 - 1945 |
| Modern history | since 1945 |
Since 1848, the Swiss Confederation has been a federal state of relatively autonomous cantons, some of which have a history of confederacy that goes back more than 700 years, arguably putting them among the world's oldest surviving republics. For the time before 1291, this article summarizes events taking place on the territory of modern Switzerland. From 1291, it focuses mainly on the fates of the Confederacy, at first consisting of only three cantons in what is now central Switzerland, and gradually expanding until it encompassed the present-day area of Switzerland in 1815.
Main article: Early history of Switzerland.
Archeological evidence suggests that hunter-gatherers settled in the lowlands north of the Alps already in the late Paleolithic. In the Neolithic period, the area was relatively densely populated. Remains of bronze age pile dwellings have been found in the shallow areas of many lakes. Around 1500 BC, celtThis article is about the European people. For the tool, see celt (tool). For other uses see Celtic (disambiguation). In ancient times, the Celts were a number of interrelated peoples in central Europe sharing many cultural and speaking a branch of Indo-Eic tribes settled in the area. The RaetiaThe Roman Empire ca. 120 AD Raetia (so always in inscriptions; classical manuscripts usually use the form Rhaetia , in ancient geography, a province of the Roman Empire, bounded on the west by the country of the Helvetii, on the east by Noricum, on the nons lived in the eastern regions, while the west was occupied by the HelvetiiThe Helvetii (in Latin) were the Celtic inhabitants of the current Switzerland. They were described by Julius Caesar in his De Bello Gallico. Caesar was called upon by the Gauls which had already been conquered to defend them from the invading Helvetii, w.In 58 BCCenturies: 2nd century BC 1st century BC 1st century Decades: 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC 70s BC 60s BC 50s BC 40s BC 30s BC 20s BC 10s BC 0s BC Years: 63 BC 62 BC 61 BC 60 BC 59 BC 58 BC 57 BC 56 BC 55 BC 54 BC 53 BC Events First year of Julius Caesar's Gallic, the Helvetii tried to evade migratory pressure from germanic tribes by moving into GaulGallia (in English Gaul is the Latin name for the region of western Europe occupied by present-day France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the Rhine river. In English the word Gaul commonly ref, but were defeated at BibracteBibracte was the capital of the Aedui in the Iron Age, one of the most important hillforts in Gaul. It is situated near modern Autun in Burgundy, France. In 58 BC at the Battle of Bibracte Julius Caesar's armies defeated the Helvetii 16 miles south of the by Julius CaesarAlternative meanings: Julius Caesar (disambiguation). Gaius Julius Caesar ( Latin: C·IVLIVS·C·F·C·N·CAESAR) ( July 13, 100 BC March 15, 44 BC) was a Roman military and political leader whose conquest of Gallia Comata extended the Roman world all the way t'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 christian bishoprics were founded in the 4th century. With the fall of the Western Roman Empire, germanic tribes moved in. Burgundians settled in the west; while in the north, Alamanni settlers slowly made the earlier celto-roman population retreat into the mountains. Burgundy became a part of the kingdom of the Franks in 534; two years later, the dukedom of the Alamans followed suit. In the Alaman part, only isolated Christian communities continued to exist and irish monks re-introduced Christian faith in the early 7th century.
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 the western part of what is today Switzerland to Lotharingia, the eastern part to the eastern kingdom of Louis the German that would become the Holy Roman Empire.
In the 10th century, the rule of the Carolingians waned: Saracenes ravaged the Valais, and Magyars destroyed Basel in 917 and St. Gallen in 926. Only after the victory of king Otto I over the Magyars in 955 in the Battle of Lechfeld, the Swiss territories were reintegrated into the empire.
In the 12th century, the dukes of Zähringen were given authority over part of the Burgundy territories, covering the western part of modern Switzerland. They founded many cities, including Fribourg in 1157, and Berne in 1191. The Zähringer dynasty ended with the death of Berchtold V in 1218, and their cities subsequently thus became reichsfrei, while the dukes of Kyburg competed with the house of Habsburg over control of the rural regions of the former Zähringer territory.
Under the Hohenstaufen rule, the alpine passes in Raetia and the St. Gotthard pass gained importance. Especially the latter became an important direct route through the mountains. Uri (in 1231) and Schwyz (in 1240) were accorded the Reichsfreiheit to place access to the important pass under direct control of the empire. Most of the territory of Unterwalden belonged to monasteries which had become reichsfrei even earlier.
The rise of the Habsburg dynasty gained momentum when the Kyburg dynasty died out and they could bring much of the territory south of the Rhine under their control. Rudolph I of Habsburg, who became emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in 1273 effectively revoked the status of Reichsfreiheit granted to the "Forest Cantons" Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden, which thus lost their independent status and now were governed by reeves.