From Confederation to Nation-State

On August 1, 1291, according to legend, the three founding cantons Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden concluded the Federal Charter on the Rütli Meadow on Lake Lucerne — a pact of assistance against Habsburg dominance. Whether William Tell, the refusal to salute the hat on the pole, and the apple shot really happened, no one knows — but the story became the founding myth of a nation.

What is certain: In the following centuries, the Confederation grew through voluntary accession and military strength. The Swiss mercenaries were considered the most feared warriors in Europe — their steadfastness in the Battle of Morgarten (1315) and Sempach (1386) against the Habsburgs is legendary. Even today, the Papal Swiss Guard protects the Vatican — founded in 1506, the oldest and smallest army in the world.

The Reformation divided the Confederation: Huldrych Zwingli reformed Zurich (1519), Jean Calvin turned Geneva into the "Protestant Rome" (1536). Catholic and reformed cantons stood hostile to each other — but the loose confederation held because it allowed diversity. This principle shapes Switzerland to this day.

In 1648, Switzerland became officially independent from the Holy Roman Empire in the Peace of Westphalia. Napoleon occupied the country in 1798 and created the short-lived Helvetic Republic. The Sonderbund War (1847) — the last civil war on European soil — ended with the modern Federal State (1848), a federal democracy modeled after the USA, but with a unique collegial government system.