Switzerland, a beautiful small country with amazing mountain landscapes, cozy, as if toy villages and highly developed industry, is an example of successful democracy and interethnic cooperation. For more than two hundred years, the country has been an island of stability and prosperity, including thanks to the once-declared eternal neutrality. Despite the fact that everyone knows the country, the answer to the question of which city is the capital of the Swiss Confederation is difficult for many. Bern received this status in the 19th century, it houses the government, parliament and central bank of the country.
Overview
Switzerland is a highly developed country with high-tech industry and intensive agriculture. In terms of GDP in 2017, Switzerland was in 19th place in the world, its volume amounted to $665.48 billion. The country is one of the richest, now it ranks second in the world in terms of GDP per capitapopulation ($79347.76).
The leading sector of the economy is financial institutions, for example Zurich is one of the world's gold trading centers, with sales of $113 billion in 2017. Approximately 75% of the population works in the service sector. The country is visited annually by approximately 10 million tourists. Switzerland is still the leading producer of luxury goods, chocolate and quality food.
Switzerland ranks 14th in the world in terms of exports, which amounted to $774 billion last year. The country imported $664 billion worth of goods. Main exports: gold, medicines, watches and jewelry. Top trading partners: European Union, US and China.
Switzerland has a population of approximately 8.1 million. Representatives of 190 nationalities live in the country, of which 65% are German Swiss, 18% are Franco, 10% are Italian, and 1% are Romansh (Romanches and Ladins). Growth in recent years is mainly due to immigrants. The average life expectancy in the Confederation of Switzerland was 82.3 years, one of the best in the world. Catholics and Protestants are approximately equal, now there are also Jews and Muslims, mostly Turks and Kosovars.
Political structure
The Swiss Confederation is a parliamentary republic, uniting 20 cantons and 6 half-cantons (the so-called administrative-territorial units in the country). The federal government is responsible forinternational relations, defense, communications, railways, money issue, the federal budget and some others.
Features of the status of subjects of the Swiss Confederation is the division of some cantons into two half-cantons. The separation occurred for various reasons. For example, religious ones, like Appenzell, where there is a Protestant and Catholic semi-canton, or historical ones, like Basel, which was divided as a result of an armed conflict between rural and urban communities. Both types of entities have the same rights, except that the half-cantons delegate 1 representative to the Council of Cantons. The second difference is that in national referendums, their vote is not counted as a point, but as half.
Some contradiction between the name and the actual state structure makes many wonder if Switzerland is a federation or a confederation. Until 1848, the country was a confederation, after that it became a federal republic.
Cantons have broad powers, their own constitution, laws, the effect of which is limited only by the basic law of the country. Thanks to the federal structure, it was possible to preserve cultural and linguistic diversity. The official languages of Switzerland are German, French, Italian and Romansh.
The country's parliament - the Federal Assembly - consists of the National Council and the Council of Cantons. The National Council is elected for 4 years under a proportional representation system. Representatives of allregions.
The highest executive body is the Federal Council, consisting of 7 advisers, each of whom heads a ministry. The apparatus of the Federal Council is headed by the Chancellor. All the top leadership of the country and the chancellor are elected at a joint meeting of both houses of parliament for a term of 4 years.
The President and Vice President of the Confederation are elected from among the members of the Council for one year, without the right to hold this position twice in a row. In practice, federal councilors are almost always re-elected to the Council, and they have time to work with several parliaments, so, as is customary, they take turns holding the presidency.
Ancient history
The country's convenient location at the crossroads of European roads made it a desirable acquisition for the dominant forces on the continent. From 15 BC, the territory of the modern Swiss Confederation became part of the Roman Empire. The tribes of Retes and Helvetians who inhabited the country were strongly assimilated. In imperial times, cities and roads were built along which goods flowed to the metropolis. The main logistics center of this Roman province was Genava, as Geneva was then called. At the same time, other now large cities of the country were founded: Zurich, Lausanne and Basel.
In the Middle Ages, the territory of the modern Confederation of Switzerland was divided into several small kingdoms. After a period of feudal fragmentation, the country was captured by Otto I the Great, the German king. In 1032, Switzerland received autonomous status within the Holy Roman Empire. To establish control innumerous castles began to be built in the country, which have now become popular tourist sites.
Christianity began to penetrate the country since the 4th century thanks to itinerant Irish monks. The followers of one of them (Gallus) founded the famous monastery of St. Gallen. The monasteries were built on strategically important sites and played an important role in the development of the country's agriculture.
Foundation of the State
In the 11th-13th centuries, thanks to the rapid development of trade on new roads from the Mediterranean to Central Europe, the new cities of Bern, Lucerne and Fribourg were founded in Switzerland. The creation of new trade routes was made possible by the development of new technologies that made it possible to break through tunnels and build roads through previously inaccessible parts of the Alps.
One of the trade routes through the St. Gotthard Pass was especially profitable. Therefore, the central German government repeatedly tried to raise taxes and limit sovereignty in the valleys through which it passed. In response to the oppression, the population of these regions concluded the first military treaty. It was signed in complete secrecy on August 1, 1291, now Confederation Day in Switzerland. The cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden united in the first union.
Subsequently, these events were overgrown with numerous legends, the most famous of them that the legendary folk hero William Tell participated in the signing. It is no longer known how the signing took place, but the text of the agreement on the creation of the Helvetian Confederation, written inLatin, is stored in the archives of the city of Schwyz. Since 1891, August 1 has become a public holiday in Switzerland - Confederation Day.
Formation of the country
The Habsburg dynasty, ruling in the Holy Roman Empire, repeatedly tried to return the rebellious lands. Armed clashes with the former metropolis took place for 200 years, the Helvetian troops won most of the battles.
In the 14th century, five more cantons joined the union, but this growth caused a number of contradictions in relations between them due to the struggle for spheres of influence. The dispute was resolved by the Zurich War (1440-1446) between Zurich, supported by Austria and France, and other cantons.
In 1469, the Confederation of Switzerland gained access to the Rhine River by annexing the cantons of Sargans and Thurgau. However, tensions re-emerged between the cantons over the admission of new members. To develop a common approach, the Stansky Treaty was developed and signed, which created the conditions for expanding the union to 13 members.
The cities that entered the union became free over time, grew rich on trade with other regions of Europe. They bought up land, gradually becoming large landowners. A significant source of income for the cantons was the supply of mercenary troops.
In the 15th century, the first university in the country was opened in Basel (until the 19th century it was the only one), in the same era famous scientists worked here, including one of the founders of modern medicine - Paracelsus, as well as a great scientist humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam.
First Eternal World
In 1499, the Swabian War began, when the Holy Roman Empire again attempted to regain its control over its former regions. The German troops suffered several defeats, which finally secured the de facto independence of the Confederation of Switzerland.
Troops from different cantons participated in many European wars. In 1515, at the Battle of Marignano, the army of Swiss mercenaries was defeated, losing about 10 thousand people killed. After that, Switzerland began to refrain from large-scale participation in wars, although mercenaries from the country were in demand for a long time. It is believed that this defeat was one of the first reasons that later pushed for the adoption of neutrality.
French King Francis I seized the Duchy of Milan on November 29, 1516 and concluded "perpetual peace" with the Swiss Union, which lasted 250 years. France pledged to open the market for Swiss goods, including jewelry and watches, fabrics, cheeses, in turn being able to recruit troops in the cantons.
Reformation
At the beginning of the 16th century, the Reformation began in the country, Zurich became the center of a new religious movement, where the Bible was first translated and printed in German. In Geneva, the French theologian Jean Calvin, who fled from Paris, became the main ideologist of church reforms. It should be noted that the supporters of the reformers treated heretics as cruelly as the Catholics, for ten years only in the Protestant canton of Vaud300 women were burned during a witch hunt.
The central part of the Swiss Confederation remained Catholic in many ways, because the Protestants condemned the use of mercenary troops, and many residents of these cantons earned money by serving in the armies of other countries. The base of the Catholic Reformation was the city of Lucerne, where one of the most prominent figures of the Counter-Reformation, Carlo Borromeo, settled. A Jesuit college was opened here in 1577, and a Jesuit church a century later.
The confrontation between the Catholic and Protestant cantons resulted in two civil wars in 1656 and 1712. Religious conflicts continued in the Confederation of Switzerland from the 16th to the 19th century. True, at the end of the period, these were no longer wars, but more of a political confrontation, the only exception being the Zurich Putsch.
Religious reform had a strong impact on the country's economy, Jacques Calvin wrote and preached that constant work is the greatest value, and we alth is God's reward for this. In addition, he actively pursued economic reforms, and hundreds of refugees from the Catholic countries of Europe went to the Protestant cantons. Among them were many artisans, merchants and bankers who created new industries in the country. Watchmaking, silk production, and banking began to develop. Thanks to them, Geneva, Neuchâtel and Basel, located in the west of the Swiss Confederation, are still world centers of finance and watchmaking.
In 1648, in the Treaty of Westphalia, concluded following the results of the Thirty Years' War, betweenthe strongest European powers officially recognized the independence of the Confederation of Switzerland.
First industrialization
Despite the ongoing religious confrontation, life in the country in the 17th and 18th centuries was mostly calm. Low government spending, lack of spending on the regular army and the royal court made it possible to ease taxation. Income from the service of mercenary troops made it possible to accumulate significant financial resources, which were directed to the development of the industry, mainly textile and watchmaking. More than a quarter of the population was employed in industry, for example, more than a thousand watchmakers worked in the canton of Geneva alone.
Due to the high concentration of banks, Geneva gradually became the financial center of Europe. Significant income was generated by loans issued to European countries to finance military operations.
Weaving developed in rural areas around cities due to the restrictions of city guilds, including near Zurich, St. Gallen, Winterthur. The central cantons and Bern remained mostly agricultural regions.
Formation of a confederation
The country, like many European states, was under the rule of Napoleonic France for just over 25 years. At that time, the cantons, and in fact the independent countries of the Swiss Confederation, were poorly united, each of them was ruled by several we althy families. Under the influence of the ideas of the French Revolution, many segments of the population demanded the liberalization of the political system.countries.
By 1815, by the decisions of the victorious anti-Napoleonic coalition, Switzerland was again recognized as an independent state, and the status of a neutral state was assigned to the country by the Treaty of Paris.
In November 1847, the 29-day Sondenbur War began between the Catholic and Protestant cantons, the last civil war in the country's history. It resolved the issue of the future state structure of Switzerland as a federation or confederation of cantons.
The victorious Protestants carried out liberal reforms, taking the US Basic Law as a model. The observance of fundamental human rights was proclaimed, the federal government and parliament were formed. Bern became the capital of the Swiss Confederation.
The federal government was delegated the rights to conclude international treaties, the postal and customs service, the issue of money. The official name was adopted - the Swiss Confederation.
In 1859, the country's single currency, the Swiss franc, was introduced. After the revision of the constitution of the Swiss Confederation in 1874, the possibility of holding a referendum on all significant issues was secured. The role of central bodies in matters of defense and lawmaking, social and economic spheres has been strengthened. The official name of the country is "Switzerland Confederation", why is not entirely clear, because the state has a fully federal structure.
The reform of the political system helped to stabilize the situation in Switzerland and provided conditions for economic development. Almost all industry wastransferred to machine production, the famous Swiss banks Credit Suisse and UBS were opened. Railways were nationalized and a federal network was created, tourism began to develop.
Modern history
In two world wars, the Confederation of Switzerland took a position of armed neutrality. Only a significant part of the population was mobilized to protect against a possible invasion. During World War II, the country collaborated to a limited extent with the Nazi regime, buying gold from Germany, including stolen gold from European countries. For which in 1946 she paid compensation in the amount of 250 million Swiss francs.
In the post-war years, the country developed rapidly, traditional industries occupied a significant share of the global market, including the production of watches and jewelry, chocolate, high fashion textiles. High-tech industries were successfully developing, including pharmaceuticals, electronics and electrical engineering, and power engineering.
The embassy of the Swiss Confederation in Russia was first opened in 1906, previously there were consulates. The country was one of the first to recognize the independence of Russia in 1991. In connection with the 200th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, in 2014 cross days of culture of the two countries were held. The Ministry of Culture of the Swiss Confederation actively participated in the events. It also implements humanitarian projects in various regions of Russia.
The sanctions of the Swiss Confederation against Russia were introduced in 2014, inslightly less than the European Union did. The country also pledged not to use Russian counter-sanctions to boost its exports.
