SWITZERLAND

History

600000 - 30000 B.C.	Ice Age	Human Evolution in Africa. Central Europe more or less covered by glaciers, some warmer intermediate periods allow human activities, however.
30000 - 1800 B.C.	Stone Age	Hunters using weapons and tools made from stones in Europe.
1800 - 800 B.C.	Bronze Age	Weapons and tools made from bronze.
800 - 58 B.C.	Iron Age Helvetians	Weapons and tools made from iron. Celtic tribes all over Western Europe. The Helvetians, a celtic tribe, give their name to the Swiss territory: hence HELVETIA on Swiss coins and stamps, ch =Confoederatio Helvetica on cars and internet domains.
58 B.C. - 400 A.D.	Roman Period	Helvetians stopped by roman commander C. Julius Cesar when trying to move towards Southern France. Switzerland occupied by roman troops, beginning of written history in this region.
400 - 1500	Middle Ages	Germanic tribes set an end to the Roman Empire and build new states and empires in Europe. Feudal system. Monasteries keep up roman and greek heritage (reading and writing) and develop new agricultural methods.
1291 - 1515	Old Swiss Confederacy	Three valleys in Central Switzerland unite against the counts of Habsburg and fight for autonomy. Cities join the confederacy. They conquer territories in northern and southern Switzerland.
1523 - 1536	Reformation	Swiss Reformers Zwingli and Calvin even more radical than Luther in Germany. Calvin's doctrine has influenced denominations in many other countries.
1536 - 1798	Ancien Regime	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 put down by military force: repressed aspects of history in a country so proud of it's tradition of democracy.
1798 - 1802	Helvetic Republic	Revolution in Switzerland. Farmers in occupied territories become free citizens. Centralistic parliamentary republic according to French model. Occupation by French troops and some battles of Napoleon vs. Austria and Russia in Switzerland.
1803 - 1815	Mediation	Civil war brings Helvetic Republic to an end. French emperor Napoleon enforces a constitution negociated under his "mediation"
1815 - 1830	Restauration	Confederacy reestablished, however with 22 cantons [member states]. Liberals in minority position.
1830 - 1848	Regeneration	Second French Revolution (1830) also boosts liberals in Switzerland. Some federal states with liberal governments and new constitutions. The conservative catholic governments of some cantons [federal states] set up a secret Special Alliance ["Sonderbund"] against the liberal governments of other cantons. This leads to a short civil war["Sonderbundskrieg"] (1847).
1848	Federal State	New Federal Constitution combining elements of the U.S. constitution (Federal State with central and cantonal [state] governments and parliaments) and of French revolutionary tradition. The Principles of this constitution are still valid today.
1800 - 1900	Industrialization	Switzerland is one of the first industrialized countries in Europe.
1914 - 1918	World War I.	Armed neutrality works when surrounded by warfaring nations.
1918 - 1933	Economic Crisis	Twenties are not so "roaring" in Europe. Inner conflicts, general strike in 1918, 1929 world economic crisis hit this industrialized country severely.
1933 - 1939	Spiritual Defense	Hitler in Germany is soon seen as a danger to Switzerland's independence. Thousands of German refugees (jews, intellectuals) accepted. Socialists and trade unions seek cooperation with liberal employers against fascist threat.
1939 - 1945	World War II.	Neutral Switzerland surrounded by fascist troops (Germany, Austria, Italy) or collaborating regimes (Vichy-France). Some trade with Hitler was inevitable for sheer survival (and the survival of more than 150,000 refugees). Other, not inevitable aspects were: (Too) rigid refugee politics (25,000 sent back), uncritical collaboration in case of looted assets and accepting stolen gold.
Since 1945	Prosperity	Recent history is characterized by political stability, economic progress, increased social security and a new openness and tolerance.