Switzerland

Switzerland, German die Schweiz, French la Suisse, Italian Svizzera, and officially the Swiss Confederation (Confoederatio Helvetica in Latin, hence CH as its country code), is everyone's favorite tax haven. Perhaps literally the most democratic nation on Earth, it sits in the middle of the Alps and snubs its nose at the bureaucratic monstrosity known as the European Union. It has a cheese for every valley, a square flag flown by the most patriotic people in Europe, and great choclate. Switzerland has had a history of isolation "from it all," which one would expect given its location.

In Roman times, the region comprising modern Switzerland first belonged to the Celtic Helvetii tribe. Their name could be a compund of Celtic elements: *elu-et(u) "rich in land" (cf. Welsh elw "gain, profit" and Old Irish il- "many"). The lands belonging to the Helvetii were conquered and incorporated into the Roman Empire as parts of the provinces Germania Superior and Rhaetia (probably derived from Celtic rait "mountain land"). Like much of the rest of the Empire, this land passed into Frankish control, eventually ending up split up between the duchies of Burgundy and Alemannia (later Swabia). When the Holy Roman Empire emerged around the year 1000, these lands counted among its dominions.

The name Switzerland of course has nothing to do with the Helvetii, but comes from the little Alemanic communiy of Schwyz, which was one of the founding cantons of the Swiss Confederation in 1291 (along with Uri and Unterwalden [Nidwalden + Obwalden]), a loose community of self-governing entities. The name is first attested as Suittes in the 10th century, probably from Old High German suedan, "to burn," perhaps referring to the practice of burning the forest to build settlements and plant crops. After the Swabian War in 1499, when the Swiss achieved de facto independence from the Holy Roman Empire, the name of Schwyz was applied to the whole confederation. The English name comes from the obsolete ethnonym Switzer, from Alemannic Schwiizer, used to describe a resident of Schwyz. The adjective "Swiss," however, comes from French Suisse.


As the Confederation expanded, it remained a very loose Eidgenossenschaft (literally meaning an association by oath), with cantons run democratically, aristocratically, theocratically, and anything else you can imagine (but no kings). The Reformation assured that some of the cantons were safe havens for radical Reformers like John Calvin and Huldrych Zwingli.

And then the French Revolution spoiled the party: Revolutionary France conquered Switzerland and imposed the hated Helvetic Republic, stealing some land to boot (Mulhouse, for example). The Helvetic was a French satellite, but not particularly loyal, refusing to fight against the Russians and Austrians at the beginning of what was to become the Napoleonic Wars. When Napoleon finally came onto the scene, he brokered the Act of Mediation (1803), which established more or less the government of modern Switzerland, with a relatively stronger federal government, but largely self-governing cantons. It was also at this time that die Schweiz became the Standard German name of the country. In 1815, the Congress of Vienna fully recognized Swiss independence from France, and Switzerland's permanent neutrality was forst formally recognized by all parties. But just see what happens if you try to invade 'em ...