SWITZERLAND STATE

Switzerland state has been selected by Roberto Amati in relation to the real history of european integration, then enlisted in the EUROPEAN STATES category, accompanied by own fact SHEET useful to the comprehension, completed of historical MAPS AND IMAGES or with a direct linking to the related Blog contents dedicated to the entire history of european integration and the future of Europe.

Switzerland is an aeternitas of the history of european integration that will have influence on the future of Europe. The name given by the inhabitants is SCHWEIZERISCHEN EIDGENOSSENSCHAFT with the official national languages of German and the others French, Italian and Rhaeto-Romance (belonging to the group of Italic family) spoken by the citizens who today live in the federal republic of Switzerland, together with the residents of others European peoples.

Switzerland is situated in central Europe along the western Alps: these mountain chains are the natural hedges with Italy on South and with Austria and Liechenstein at East, while on North the border with Germany runs along the High Rhin river valley until and through the Costanza Lake, whereas at West the confine with France is represented by the Jura chain and also passes through the Geneve Lake. The territory of Switzerland is totally mountainous differently on the Alps, on the Jura chain and on the middle Swisse highplain that cointains the biggest lakes of Geneve, of Neuchatel, of Costanza, of Zurich, of "Four Cantons" or Lucerna, of Thun, of Lugano and of Brienz. The main rivers Rhone and Rhin origin in the swiss Alps and defines the long southern valley of Valais before to flow abroad, so the Ticino river that form the homonymous valley then enter Italy and feed the Maggiore Lake, the Inn Superior that is a great tributary of the Danube, the Aar, the Emme, the Reuss and the Limmat that are tributaries of the Rhin, passing throught the central highplain formed by ancient glaciation. The climate is almost variable from the typical alpine at south to the continental in centre country, depending on the level and frequency of the precipitations and on the Sun exposition.

The history of Switzerland started with the first settlements of the Alpines people (as you can read in this article) who had been followed along the ancient times by the Norics and Elvetians tribes of Celts around 2500 BC, living in their oppidums during La Téne culture epoch, and in the X century AD by the Raeti tribe of Etruscans and by some Israelites communities already in I century BC. They all had been submitted by Romans in I century AD and within the reform of Augustus (see Roman Empire), Switzerland was included into the Raetia and Germania Superior provinces that with the reform of Constantine I (see Christian Empire) became part of the Galliadiocesi.

At the falling of Western Roman Empire, those provinces were conquested by the German tribes of Suebi and of Burgundians that in 376 AD founded the Regna Burgundorum, ruled by Burgundian dinasties until 534 AD when it was conquered by Franks and annexed to the Regna Francorum under rule of Merovingian dinasty: at the turning point of the history of european integration with the renovatio imperii reform of Charlemagne the land of Switzerland entered the Carolingian Empire ruled directly by the Carolingian dinasty. When it was divided in 843 AD with the Verdun treaty, Switzerland was included into the Duchy of Swabia within the Regna Germanorum and remained part of the Reich Empire as League of the Swiss Cantons (of Schwyz, Uri, Berna, Luzern, Zurich, Glarus, Zug and Aargau).

Then suddenly in 1291 AD it started the independence fight of the Schwyz and Uri and Berna cantons against the imperial Habsburg dinasty (who had been possessed many fiefs in Switzerland since the High Middle Age), leaded by the Swiss hero Guglielmo Tell, that brought to an international treaty of neutrality for the Swiss League of 16 Cantons in 1499 AD. A political situation that evolved in 1648 AD with the Treaty of Westfalia Peace that recognized the definitive independence of the Confederation Swiss, even during the I Empire of French epoch (1804-1815 AD) under dominion of Napoleon I. Since 1848 AD Switzerland is a directorial Federation administered by 26 Cantons (Zurich, Bern, Luzern, Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Glarus, Zug, Fribourg, Solothurn, Basel, Schafausen, Appenzell, Saint Gallen, Graublunden, Aargau, Thurgau, Ticino, Vaud, Valais, Neuchatel ,Geneve), the capital of Switzerland is Berna while the biggest Swiss cities are Zurich and Geneve (seat of many U.N. agencies) and the most ancient are Costanza, Choir, Uri, Sion and Altdorf.

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