Switzerland

Abstract

On August 1, 1291, the men of Uri, Schwyz, and Lower Unterwalden, entered into a defensive League. In 1353 the League included eight members, and in 1513 thirteen. Various allied and subject territories were acquired either by single cantons or by several in common, and in 1648 the League became formally independent of the Holy Roman Empire, but no addition was made to the number of cantons till 1798. In that year, under the influence of France, the unified Helvetic Republic was formed. This failed to satisfy the Swiss, and in 1803 Napoleon Bonaparte, in the Act of Mediation, gave a new constitution and out of the lands formerly allied or subject increased the number of cantons to nineteen. In 1815 the perpetual neutrality of Switzerland and the inviolability of her territory were guaranteed by Austria, Great Britain, Portugal, Prussia, and Russia, and the Federal Pact which had been drawn up at Zürich, and which included three new cantons, was accepted by the Congress of Vienna. The Pact remained in force till 1848, when a new constitution, prepared without foreign interference, was accepted by general consent. This, in turn, was, on May 29, 1874, superseded by the constitution which is now in force.