SWITZERLAND  Switzerland lies at the crossroads of several major European cultures that have heavily influenced the country's languages and culture. Switzerland has four official languages: German (63.7% total population share, with foreign residents; 72.5% of residents with Swiss citizenship, in 2000) in the north, east and center of the country; French (20.4%; 21.0%) to the west; Italian (6.5%; 4.3%) in the south. Romansh, a Romance language spoken locally by a small minority (0.5%; 0.6%) in the southeastern canton of Graubunden, is designated by the Federal Constitution as a national language along with German, French and Italian, but federal laws and other official acts do not need to be decreed in this language. The federal government is obliged to communicate in the official languages, and in the federal parliament simultaneous translation is provided from and into German, French and Italian. Learning one of the other national languages at school is obligatory for all Swiss, so most Swiss are supposed to be at least bilingual. Archeology puts people in Switzerland thousands of years ago. But official Latin name, "Cofoederatio Helvetica" goes back to a Celtic tribe called the Helvetians. From about 500 B.C. to A.D. 400, several Celtic tribes, the most important of them named the Helvetians settled in Switzerland. They belonged to a family of nations that has been designated as Indo-Europeans. In 58 B.C. the Helvetians attempted to move south to Southern France. But they were stopped by the Roman commander and subsequent emperor C. Julius Caesar near a Celtic town named Bibracte. Julius Cesar forced the Helvetians to return to Switzerland. Roman military camps and forts were erected at the northern Rhine frontier towards Germany to deter Germanic tribes from infiltration. 
Helvetian Oppidum on Mount Vully:
reconstructed section of ramparts
| Unlike the prehistoric population of Switzerland the Helvetians preferred towns on hills to the open shore of lakes. Several Oppida [Oppidum = fortified Celtic city] of the Helvetians on hills have been excavated.
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The Romans controlled Switzerland's territory until about A.D. 400. Roman military camps and forts were erected at the northern Rhine frontier towards Germany. Under Emperor Augustus (27 B.C. - A.D. 14) the Romans conquered Western Germany and Austria. Now Switzerland was no longer at the border, a Roman fortification (Limes) was built in Germany and in A.D. 101 the military camp of Vindonissa in northern Switzerland was given up because it was no longer needed. Switzerland saw 150 peaceful years under Roman administration. The urban structures created by the Romans are still important to modern Switzerland after 2000 years: Out of five Swiss cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants today, the four economically important ones (Zurich = Turicum, Basel = Basilia, Geneva = Geneva and Lausanne = Lousonna) were founded either by the Celtic Helvetians or by the Romans, only one (the federal capital Bern, founded in 1191) does not have roots in the Age of the Romans. Dozens of other cities, towns and villages in Switzerland have Roman origins. Around A.D. 400 the Germanic tribes attacked the Roman Empire severely. So the Romans withdrew troops from the north of the Alps to defend themselves in Italy - but in vain. A part of the western Germanic tribe of the Franks invaded France. They adopted much of the Roman culture and even their language Latin, which was transformed into what is known today as French. Much the same was true for the Burgundians: they also came from Germany and finally settled in eastern France (Burgundy) and western (today French speaking) Switzerland. Another Germanic tribe called Alamannen settled in southern Germany and northern Switzerland. The Alamannen were not quite interested in Roman towns, nor Roman culture. They rather infiltrated in small groups, cleared woodland and erected their own small villages. They kept their German language and had only very limited relations with the Celtic and Roman population. Today's border between German and French language in Switzerland is more or less the border between Burgundians and Alamannen. 
Lion Monument, Lucerne
The Lion Monument in Lucerne reminds of the mercenary soldiers from central Switzerland serving the French king Louis XVI that were killed during the French Revolution at the Tuileries in Paris in 1792. Mercenaries' services were an important economic factor in central Switzerland before the industrialization. | 
Chillon Castle, Lake Geneva
Founded by the dukes of Savoy, later seat of the bailiffs that ruled over northern shore of Lake Geneva in the name of the city of Bern | 
Rüderswil: peasant's war memorial
Reminds of an insurrection by peasants of the Emmental and Entlebuch region between Bern and Lucerne back in 1653. Rüderswil is the home of the peasants' leader, Niklaus Leuenberger (relief of his head on the memorial and Leuenberger family flag on flagpost) |
The period from 400 to 800 was dominated by small kingdoms, dukes and local noblemen. The Franks and the Burgundians had kings (however with limited power), while the Alamannen were less organized. In France Charlemagne (747-814) became king of the Franks in 768 and could establish a powerful position. In 800 he was crowned as emperor by the pope. He organized an administration based on counts all over western Europe. The carolingian dynasty could not keep together the empire for long, however. In 843 his grandsons split up the empire in three: western (France), central (Lorraine-Burgundy-Italy) and eastern (Germany). So Switzerland was split between Burgundy and Germany for a while. But soon the central empire decayed and around 900 the German king had seized control over Burgundy and Italy. In 962 German king Otto I. was crowned emperor. While other German dukes quarreled with each other about dominance within the German empire, the traditional disinterest or even aversion of the Alamannen to national organization deprived the dukes of Swabia [another name for Alamannic southern Germany] of support. As a consequence, they played a minor role and power politics in southern Germany as well as in Switzerland concentrated on the level of counts. Several counts (namely those of Kyburg, Toggenburg and Zähringen) gained remarkable influence in Switzerland during the Middle Ages, but their dynasties became extinct towards the end of the Middle Ages. Now the counts of Habsburg thought they could profit. Starting from a castle in northern Switzerland they had acquired territories in Austria and tried to lay hands on the heritage of the counts of Kyburg, Zähringen and Toggenburg. But this constellation was also a chance for free farmers to withstand the general European tendency towards concentration of power in the hands of counts, dukes and kings. The official date of birth of the Old Swiss Confederation is August, 1st 1291. This date can be found on a document of alliance whose age of more than 700 years has been confirmed by radio nuclear (C14) analysis recently. It all began with a new transalpine trading route and with three small valleys in central Switzerland that had remained outside the focus of the dukes and kings for a long time. Serious historians will always separate the facts of history from the popular legends concerning the origins of the old Swiss confederation. 
| Rütli, Central Switzerland
The so-called cradle of the Swiss Confederation is but a flag post on a meadow at the feet of steep rocks on the shores of Lake Lucerne - but exactly this symbolizes Switzerland perfectly - at least for the traditionalists. Urban Swiss people do have slightly different views ... According to the legend, delegates from Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden met on this meadow between Lake Lucerne and steep rocks towards the end of the 13th century and made an oath to help each other against oppression by the counts of Habsburg |
From the 11th to the 13th centuries, many cities (among them the federal capital Berne, Lucerne, and Fribourg) were founded. Skilled craftsmen specialized in producing high quality goods and trade became more important in a society in which farmers had used to be self-suppliers for centuries. Trade gave also more importance to roads crossing the Alps, a mountain chain with peaks of up to 4000 m (12000 ft) separating central Europe from Italy and the Mediterranean Sea. At the same time, people from the upper part of Wallis (Rhone valley) developed means to suspend wooden water pipes and catwalks in steep rocks. Some of these people from Wallis wandered east and settled in upper Uri and Graubünden [Grisons] around A.D. 1200. So the Schöllenen canyon in Uri, that had blocked the way from Lake Lucerne to St. Gotthard pass, was overcome by the new technology and a new trade route developed. 
| Devil's Bridge over Schöllenen canyon.
The lower bridge on the picture shown here is more than hundred years old, but does of course not date back to the 13th century. It may give an impression of the steep canyon that had to be overcome by suspended catwalks, however |
The new trade route made those regions far from the centers of power look interesting for the counts of Habsburg (northern Switzerland) who were trying at the time to strengthen their dynastic power. As a reward for help in several war expeditions to Italy, German king Friedrich II exempted the valleys of Uri (1231) and Schwyz (1240) from the jurisdiction of any counts and dukes so they would be subject to the king alone. The Old Swiss Confederacy would last until 1515 when the three valleys in Central Switzerland unite against the counts of Habsburg and fight for autonomy. The cities join the confederacy and conquer territories in northern and southern Switzerland. Habsburg
Ancestral seat of the Counts of Habsburg near Brugg, northern Switzerland. The counts of Habsburg were the traditional enemies of the old Swiss confederation. Quite unsuccessful in trying to enlarge their influence over the stubborn population of central Switzerland, the counts of Habsburg left their castle in Switzerland and became dukes in Austria. Their new home, Austria, was the base for their dynasty as German and Austrian kings and emperors (in Austria until 1918). | 
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During the Protestant Reformation (1523-1536), Swiss reformers Zwingli and Calvin are even more radical than Luther in Germany. Calvin's doctrine has influenced many denominations in many other countries. 
Huldrych (or Ulrich) Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) | 
John Calvin (né Jean Cauvin) (10 July 1509 – 27 May 1564) |
Until 1798 Switzerland is a loose confederacy of 13 cities and small valley communities dominating the rest of the country. A few families control state affairs. Several rebellions are put down by military force. In a country so proud of its tradition of democracy this aspect of its history isn't so well known. The years after 1798 will see revolution with farmers becoming free citizens. French troops will occupy the country and some battles of Napoleon occur. Even a couple of Civil Wars. By 1848 the New Federal Constitution which combines elements of the U.S. Constitution (Federal State with central and cantonal (state) governments and parliaments) and of French revolutionary tradition is implemented. The Principles of this constitution are still valid today. By 1900 Switzerland is one of the first industrialized countries in Europe. 
| William Tell Monument, Altdorf
The legend says that William Tell refused to honor bailiff Gessler's hat presented on a rod, was forced to shoot an apple from his son's head with his crossbow, escaped from a boat carrying him to prison during stormy weather and finally shot the bailiff. Though it is most probable that William Tell never lived and that he is a purely fictitious personification of how the old Swiss confederates saw themselves, he is still very popular as a symbol of rebellion against arbitrary rule. The classical German writer Friedrich von Schiller made him immortal with his drama Wilhelm Tell. The monument at Altdorf, capital of canton Uri, where Tell is said to have performed his apple-shooting, was created in 1895 by Richard Kissling.
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Switzerland and Neutrality In 1920 all major nations confirmed, that Switzerland's neutrality towards warfaring nations as fixed on the 1815 Vienna Conference on post-Napoleon international relations would still be respected. According to the V. and XIII. Hague convention concerning the rights and obligations of neutral states in land and naval warfare of 1907, neutrality includes some central contingencies like the internment of foreign troops, the prohibition of their passage or the prohibition of national supplies of war material to warfaring nations. Important ranges remained however excluded, in particular the whole private foreign trade, also the private trade with war material. Switzerland had asked for international confirmation of it's neutrality in 1920 before becoming a member of the League of Nations (the predecessor to the United Nations Organization). During the 1920's and the 1930's Switzerland expressed its readiness to take part in economic sanctions if officially imposed by the League of Nations. In 1938 however, the League of Nation council relieved Switzerland formally from the obligation to participate in sanctions. The next section on Switzerland's Neutrality is copied directly from http://history-switzerland.geschichte-schweiz.ch/switzerland-neutrality-world-war-ii.html#Neutrality Switzerland's NeutralityDid Switzerland prolong World War II? In 1920 all major nations confirmed, that Switzerland's neutrality towards warfaring nations as fixed on the 1815 Vienna Conference on post-Napoleon international relations would still be respected. According to the V. and XIII. Hague convention concerning the rights and obligations of neutral states in land and naval warfare of 1907, neutrality includes some central contingencies like the internment of foreign troops, the prohibition of their passage or the prohibition of national supplies of war material to warfaring nations. Important ranges remained however excluded, in particular the whole private foreign trade, also the private trade with war material. Switzerland had asked for international confirmation of it's neutrality in 1920 before becoming a member of the League of Nations (the predecessor to the United Nations Organization). During the 1920's and the 1930's Switzerland expressed its readiness to take part in economic sanctions if officially imposed by the League of Nations. In 1938 however, the League of Nation council relieved Switzerland formally from the obligation to participate in sanctions. Letter and Spirit of NeutralityThough neutral Switzerland adhered to the mandatory international rules during World War 2, while the warfaring nations violated even these (neither Germany nor the Allies respected Swiss air space, Allied aircraft even dropped about 70 bombs on Switzerland), it is evident that being neutral would call for a spirit of neutrality that was offended by important Swiss actors. Switzerland's national bank, private Swiss bankers and private manufacturers of war material exploited in fact every loophole in the regulations for their business with Nazi Germany. This was evidently not the notion of neutrality and so Swiss Federal Councillor [member of government] Max Petitpierre (in office 1945-1951) had to admit as early as 1947: These credits and the deliveries of war material and other products [...] contributed to the war efforts of one of the belligerents. Not only had we abandonded integral neutrality, but - even worse - in so doing, we were as a rule deviating from the very notion of neutrality.
(Max Petitpierre, speech given at a conference of Swiss diplomates, in: Swiss Diplomatic Documents (SDD) vol. 17, nr. 26, p. 87, quoted after Independent Commission of Experts Switzerland - World War II, final report, p. 519) So there are in fact two problems: If small nations like Switzerland really want to be neutral, they must adhere not only to the letter but as well to the spirit of neutrality. Switzerland has passed stricter internal legislation on the export of war material and does take part in United Nations' peace keeping missions meanwhile. In every major conflict of the 20th century the great powers were not willing to respect international rules like neutrality or the Geneva Conventions, if this would have had severe consequences for their military strategy. But rules must be obeyed by everybody or they cease to be respected altogether. This is true for nations as well as for individuals. The continuing efforts of the USA to exclude its troops from the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice are not an encouraging sign for the 21st century.
Did Switzerland prolong the war? While the closing of the Swiss borders to refugees got much attention in Switzerland itself during the war, in the 1960's and recently again, U.S. interest seems to be focused on looted assets, gold and especially on war prolongation. Findings of the International Commission of ExpertsThe accusation levelled at Switzerland that it contributed to the prolongation of the war and thus the suffering associated with it, was a highly emotional one. It was raised during the war ... and again in the preface to the Eizenstat Report of 1997. The theory which maintains that the services, exports, and loans provided by Switzerland influenced the course of the war to a significant degree could not be substantiated. This has less to do with a general «insignificance» of Swiss exports and financial centre services than with the enormous economic dimension of this war and the multifarious factors which determined the war economy and the unfolding of events on the front. Strategic bombardment, the battle tactics of the military protagonists, communications systems, and the propaganda war are all important factors on which Switzerland was unable to have any impact, or at least no direct, relevant impact. Thus neither the arms supplies nor the financing of strategic raw materials had any demonstrable effect on the duration of the war. The Commission found no evidence pointing in this direction. In some areas the presumed effects of the support given to Germany were in fact refuted. Thus Swiss ball-bearing manufacturers were keen suppliers, but in no way they could compensate for the shortages caused by Allied bombing. Nor can one draw the conclusion that the war would have ended earlier without Switzerland, given the reserves remaining in the German economy and Germany's resolve to fight to the bitter end. That is not to say that access to Swiss currency and the generous loans granted for certains areas of Germany's war economy were of no significance. ... Germany's Clodius Memorandum in June 1943 stated that the deliveries of war material from Switzerland represented only 0.5% of German production.
(Independent Commission of Experts Switzerland - World War II, final report, p. 518, bold and small print by M. Jud, the figure 0.5% is given according to the German version of the report, p. 543)
To understand these conclusions it might be important to consider that - Switzerland is a very small country (only 4 million inhabitants during World War II), and so is it's production capacity - despite of the excellence of its industry in some fields that might give false expression of its quantitative importance.
- The quantities of war material used in World War II by Germany as well as by the Allies were enormous.
- The whole production capacity of continental Europe, an area having more than 50 times the population of Switzerland was under German control until 1944.
- Switzerland does not have deposits of raw materials.
- The determination to fight until one or the other side would win this war was even more uncompromising with Germany's party and military leaders than with the British. So though the Second World War was a gigantic battle of material, Germany's leaders would not have surrendered due to small restrictions in arms supply.
Assessment of an Unsuspicious Expert"Of all the neutrals Switzerland has the greatest right to distinction. She has been the sole international force linking the hideously-sundered nations and ourselves. What does it matter whether she has been able to give us the commercial advantages we desire or has given too many to the Germans, to keep herself alive? She has been a democratic State, standing for freedom in self defence among her mountains, and in thought, in spite of race, largely on our side."
Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965), British wartime Prime Minister Stuart Eizenstat is not willing to accept the truthWhen Stuart Eizenstat published his book Imperfect Justice (with a tasteless cover showing a Swiss flag of which the white cross had been replaced by gold bars forming a Nazi swastika), Professor Jean-François Bergier, president of the Independent Commission of Experts Switzerland - World War II, that delivered a detailed study on Switzerland's role in World War II, got quite angry. In an interview to the Swiss popular newspaper Blick he stated: «Obviously he has understood nothing at all - despite all [historical research that has been done and published]. In an interview he even repeats the reproach of war prolongation from his first report of the year 1997. Eizenstat says today: "That is still correct actually, it was however undiplomatic." As is well known, our commission has not found anything supporting his thesis. ... Our work obviously is not at all relevant to him. Perhaps it went into another direction than he had expected.»
(Prof. Bergier in Swiss newspaper Blick, December 12th, 2002, p. 3, translated from German)
Literature and links on Switzerland's role in World War II: |
SWISS IMMIGRATION TO AMERICA The first known Swiss in what is now the territory of the United States was Theobald von Erlach (1541-1565). In 1564 he was a leading member of a French attempt to create a permanent foothold in North America. He perished when some 900 French soldiers were shipwrecked by a hurricane in September 1565, and killed by the Spanish. Some "Switzers" also lived at Jamestown during the regime of Captain Smith. In 1657 the French Swiss Jean Gignilliat received a large land grant from the proprietors of South Carolina. In 1710 some 100 Swiss joined Christoph von Graffenried (1661-1743) who founded New Bern in present-day North Carolina. Between 1710 and 1750, some 25,000 Swiss are estimated to have settled in British North America, especially in Pennsylvania, Virginia, and South Carolina. Many were members of the Reformed church and were actively recruited by entrepreneurs such as Jean Pierre Purry (1675-1736), the founder of Purrysburg, South Carolina. About 4,000 Swiss Mennonites settled in Pennsylvania, many of whom had first gone to the Palatinate from which the next generation emigrated in search of fertile, affordable land and greater toleration of their creed. Between 1820 and 1930, some 290,000 people went from Switzerland to the United States. About 12,500 arrived between 1820 and 1850; some 76,500 between 1851 and 1880; and some 82,000 in the 1880s. Between 1891 and 1920, about 89,000 arrived and nearly 30,000 in the 1920s. No reliable figures exist for Swiss return migration, but it was numerically substantial. For instance, nearly 7,000 of the more than 8,200 Swiss of military service age who had gone to the United States returned to Switzerland between 1926 and 1930. They settled in the rural Midwest, especially Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin. After 1848 and the California gold rush they west west. About 40% settled in urban areas such as New York, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis, San Francisco and Los Angeles. |
