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| Switzerland (French Suisse;
German Schweiz; Italian Svizzera), federal republic in west central Europe,
bounded on the north by France and Germany, on the east by Austria and
Liechtenstein, on the south by Italy, and on the west by France. The country
has an area of 41,288 sq km (15,941 sq mi). Its largest city is Zürich,
and the capital is Bern.
Land and Resources Switzerland is one of the most mountainous countries of Europe, with more than 70 percent of its area covered by the Alps, in the central and southern sections, and the Jura, in the northwest. The Swiss Alps are part of the largest mountain system in Europe, and are famous for their jagged peaks and steep gorges. There are several ranges within the Alps, including the Pennine range, which has Switzerland's highest peak, the 4634-m (15,203-ft) Dufourspitze of Monte Rosa. The Jura (Celtic for "forest") are much lower and smaller than the Alps, and are popular for cross-country skiing. The renowned Swiss watchmaking industry began in the Jura Mountains. Between these two mountain systems lies the Swiss plateau, about 400 m (about 1300 ft) above sea level in average elevation and some 50 km (some 30 mi) wide; it extends from Lake Geneva (Lac Léman) in the extreme southwest to the Bodensee (Lake of Constance) in the extreme northeast. The plateau is thickly studded with hills. Between the ranges of the Alps and Jura also stretch long valleys connected by transverse gorges; one such valley is the Engadine along the Inn River in the southeast. Nearly every Swiss valley is traversed by streams, often interrupted by picturesque waterfalls, including the Staubbach Falls (about 290 m/950 ft) in the canton of Bern. The principal river system is formed by the Rhine and its tributaries. Other important rivers are the Rhône, Ticino, and Inn. However, the Swiss rivers are not navigable for any appreciable extent. Switzerland is famous for its many lakes, particularly those of the Alpine region, known for their scenic beauty. The most important include Lake Geneva, Bodensee, Lake of Lugano, and Lake Maggiore (at which lies Switzerland's lowest point, 194 m (636 ft) above sea level), which are not wholly within Swiss borders; and Lake of Neuchâtel, Lake of Lucerne and Zürichsee, Brienzersee, and Thunersee, which are entirely within Switzerland. Climate
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| Natural Resources
Waterpower is the chief natural resource of Switzerland. Granite, limestone, and other building stones and salt are the only abundant mineral resources; small deposits of iron and manganese ores are found. Agricultural resources are limited, as most of the soil is leached and stony. Plants and Animals Mediterranean plants and trees such as the palm, magnolia, chestnut, walnut, apple, pear, cherry, and almond grow in the lowlands and on the Swiss plateau. Highly productive forests cover about 26 percent of the total land area, primarily at elevations between about 550 and 2000 m (about 1800 and 6500 ft). Deciduous forests of beech, maple, and oak are characteristic below about 1400 m (about 4500 ft), and coniferous forests, primarily of pine and fir, flourish above that height. At higher elevations, the flora consists of Alpine species such as edelweiss, anemone, lily, and mugho and Swiss pines. Chamois and marmots inhabit the Alpine regions. The forests contain foxes and many species of birds, including woodpeckers and blue jays. Trout are common in the streams, and salmon are found in several rivers. Population The Swiss people as a whole are mainly of Alpine, Nordic, and Slavic or Dinaric descent. The ethnic composition of Switzerland is generally defined by the major language communities: German, French, Italian, and Romansh (Rhaeto-Romanic). Less than 10 percent of the population is made up of other ethnicities, such as Spanish, Portuguese, and Turkish. Population Characteristics The population of Switzerland (1996 estimate) is about 7,207,060, yielding an overall population density of about 175 persons per sq km (about 452 per sq mi). The population of Switzerland is unevenly distributed, with the principal concentrations occurring in the Swiss plateau. Approximately 64 percent of the population is classified as urban, but most live in small towns. Population growth is slow, and a surplus of jobs means that foreign laborers and their families make up nearly one-fifth of the population. Political Divisions Switzerland is a confederation of 23 states, called cantons, three of which are subdivided into half-cantons for administrative purposes. The cantons and half-cantons are as follows: Aargau; Appenzell Ausser-Rhoden (half-canton); Appenzell Inner-Rhoden (half-canton); Basel-Land (half-canton); Basel-Stadt (half-canton); Bern; Fribourg; Geneva (Genève); Glarus; Graubünden (Grisons); Jura; Lucerne (Luzern); Neuchâtel; Nidwalden (half-canton); Obwalden (half-canton); Sankt Gallen; Schaffhausen; Schwyz; Solothurn (Soleure); Thurgau; Ticino; Uri; Valais; Vaud; Zug; and Zürich. Principal Cities The capital of Switzerland is Bern, with a population (1991 estimate) of 134,510. Other major cities are Zürich (342,391), the largest city and financial center; Basel (171,903), a commercial center noted for textile and clothing manufacturing; Geneva (167,431), a cultural, financial, and manufacturing center noted for its watchmaking and jewelry; and Lausanne (123,153), a railroad junction and center for the manufacture of iron goods. Religion Roman Catholicism is the faith of about 46 percent of the population of Switzerland, and about 40 percent of the people are Protestant. Muslims, Orthodox Christians, and Jews make up a small percentage of the population, while those with no religion are about 10 percent. Freedom of worship is guaranteed. In 1973 a referendum repealed articles of the constitution that were responsible for the banning of the Jesuit order and the founding of new religious houses. Several important developments of the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century occurred in Switzerland; the French theologian John Calvin instituted some of his theories at Geneva. Language The official languages of Switzerland are German (spoken by about 64 percent of the population), French (19 percent), and Italian (7 percent). The fourth national language, Romansh, is spoken by less than 1 percent of the people. Other languages spoken include Spanish, Portuguese, and Turkish. In a majority of the cantons the most commonly spoken language is Schwyzertütsch (Swiss German), an Allemanic dialect of German differing vastly from both written German and other German dialects. Newspapers and magazines are written in standard German, however, and German is the language of many theater, motion picture, and television productions. French is the most commonly spoken language in the cantons of Fribourg, Jura, Vaud, Valais, Neuchâtel, and Geneva, and Italian is the predominant language in Ticino. Romansh, a Romance language, is spoken chiefly in the canton of Graubünden. |
| Education
Switzerland has exerted a deep influence on European and international education for centuries. The academic excellence of Swiss universities, including those at Basel (founded in 1460), Lausanne (1537), Zürich (1833), and Geneva (1559), as well as the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (1855) in Zürich, has attracted numerous foreign students. Education, particularly religious education, has been inspired in part by John Calvin, who settled in Switzerland in 1536. Modern education has been largely influenced by the 18th-century Geneva-born philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau. The theories of Johann Pestalozzi, the 18th-century educational reformer who advocated that children should learn from their own experiences, have contributed to the development of education throughout the world. In recent times, the Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget became widely recognized for his insights into the learning abilities and habits of children. The Swiss constitution of 1848 provided for free and compulsory education. Under the constitution of 1874, as amended in 1902, the federal government confined its efforts to higher education; the cantons and half-cantons were required to establish free, compulsory elementary schools with subsidies, but without control, from the federal government. These schools are taught in the local official language, but students may also study the other national languages as well. Most cantons provide secondary schools for youths aged 12 to 15, gymnasiums (college-preparatory schools), and teacher-training institutes, in addition to various institutions of higher learning and special schools. Illiteracy is negligible. In the early 1990s primary schools in Switzerland had a total yearly enrollment of about 420,100 pupils; secondary, vocational, and teacher-training schools had a combined attendance of some 601,800 students; and institutions of higher learning had an aggregate enrollment of approximately 146,300 students. Culture Swiss culture has contributed notably to literature, art, and music. It is an amalgam of the German, French, and Italian cultures embodied in the Swiss linguistic regions; however, it is separated from these parent cultures, for example, by Swiss dialects and cultural cross-pollination. From early times Switzerland has been exposed to many foreign influences, and as early as the Middle Ages the country had achieved a high cultural level. Carolingian culture, particularly painting and Romanesque architecture, flourished, and the Saint Gall monastery was a brilliant center of Western culture. Since then most European cultural trends, such as humanism and the Reformation, have been assimilated. Calvin and Huldreich Zwingli, another 16th-century Swiss religious leader, had an enormous impact on the culture of their country. By the 18th century, however, Swiss culture had become increasingly internationalized. In contemporary Switzerland theater and music flourish. The Stadttheater Basel, Stadttheater Bern, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Théâtre de la Comédie in Geneva, and Théâtre Municipal de Lausanne are the leading centers of drama; and in the world of music the Opernhaus Zürich, the municipal opera house, is particularly well known. Libraries and Museums The library of Basel University, with about 2.8 million volumes, is among the largest in Switzerland. The Swiss National Library, in Bern, and the libraries of the United Nations (UN) and of the International Labor Organization, both in Geneva, are among the most important specialized libraries. Switzerland has many federal, cantonal, and municipal public libraries. The National Museum, in Zürich, houses the most important of several large historical collections in Switzerland. Fine arts museums in Basel, Bern, and Zürich contain collections of 15th- and 16th-century German, 17th- and 18th-century Dutch and Flemish, 19th-century French impressionist, and contemporary European works. Literature Swiss literature comprises Latin-Swiss literature and the more important German-Swiss and French-Swiss literatures, which are closely linked to the literatures of the neighboring countries. Less significant are the Italian-Swiss, Romansh, and Swiss-dialect literatures. Latin-Swiss literature was important chiefly during the Middle Ages in religious and humanistic works. The most important Swiss literature is in German, beginning with the poetry of the minnesingers of the Middle Ages and including the popular ballads and chronicles dating from the 14th to the 18th century. The most outstanding German-Swiss authors include Gottfried Keller, Conrad Ferdinand Meyer, Hermann Hesse, Carl Spitteler, Jeremias Gotthelf (pseudonym of Albert Bitzius), Max Frisch, and Friedrich Dürrenmatt. One of the best-known French-Swiss authors is Charles Ferdinand Ramuz. A famous Swiss children's book is Heidi (1880; translated 1884) by Johanna Spyri. Art A number of Swiss artists have achieved international recognition over the centuries. Chief among them are the painters Conrad Witz, Henry Fuseli, Arnold Böcklin, Ferdinand Hodler, and Paul Klee. The sculptor Alberto Giacometti and the architect Le Corbusier are world renowned. Music The Swiss composers Ludwig Senfl and Heinrich Loris, called Henricus Glareanus, made important contributions to European music during the Renaissance. Important Swiss composers in recent years have included Ernest Bloch, Othmar Schoeck, Frank Martin, Ernst Levy, and Conrad Beck. The Swiss conductor Ernest Ansermet gained worldwide fame as conductor of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, based in Geneva. The Swiss are also noted for developing the yodel, a kind of wordless singing with abrupt shifts in pitch. Economy Switzerland has a highly developed industrialized economy and one of the highest standards of living in the world. Gross domestic product in 1993 totaled $232.1 billion. Services is now the dominant sector of the Swiss economy, accounting for 50 percent of all employment. This area is followed by manufacturing (34 percent); business and finance (11 percent); and agriculture, forestry, and fishing (5 percent). The annual national budget in the early 1990s included $23.7 billion in revenues and $26.9 billion in expenditures. Agriculture Neither the soil nor the climate favors agriculture, and Switzerland must import much of the food it consumes and subsidize the farms that do exist. Nearly all the farms are family enterprises, and most are small in size. The leading agricultural products in the early 1990s (ranked by estimated value and with production in metric tons) were potatoes (737,000), apples (396,000), wheat (533,000), sugar beets (907,000), grapes (164,000), and barley (365,000). About 124 million liters (33 million gallons) of wine are produced annually. Dairy products make up a significant portion of Switzerland's agricultural sector. Each year in the early 1990s some 3.8 million metric tons of cow's milk and 134,600 metric tons of cheese were produced. Livestock included about 1.8 million cattle, 1.7 million pigs, 415,000 sheep, 52,000 horses, and 6 million poultry. Forestry and Fishing Production of timber in Switzerland was about 4.1 million cu m (about 144 million cu ft) per year in the early 1990s. The industry has been hurt by air pollution, which has damaged more than 35 percent of the country's forests. Most of the harvest was used to make either lumber or paper. Fishing is of minor importance, with catches of fish such as salmon and trout-primarily from Lakes Geneva and Neuchâtel and Bodensee and their tributary rivers-totaling about 4800 metric tons annually. Mining The Swiss mining industry is not of major importance. Annual mineral production in the early 1990s included rock salt, about 250,000 metric tons, and cement, about 5.2 million tons. Manufacturing Although raw materials are extremely limited in Switzerland, the country has a well-developed manufacturing economy. Raw material imports are converted into high-value exports by the country's skilled workers. Leading areas of manufacturing include precision engineering, in particular clocks and watches (which accounted for 8 percent of export revenue in the early 1990s); heavy engineering and machine building, notably specialized, custom-produced equipment such as generators and turbines; food products, particularly specialized goods such as chocolate and cheese; textiles; chemicals; and pharmaceuticals. Swiss handicrafts, such as music boxes, embroideries, laces, and carved wooden objects, are widely prized. Energy Switzerland has extensive waterpower resources, and in the early 1990s some 59 percent of its electricity was produced in hydroelectric facilities. Nearly all of the rest was generated in nuclear power plants. Output from all sources in the early 1990s was about 56 billion kilowatt-hours annually, with an installed capacity of 17.7 kilowatts. Currency and Banking The unit of currency is the Swiss franc, divided into 100 centimes (1.24 francs equal U.S.$1; 1996). The semiprivate Swiss National Bank is the bank of issue, in which shares are held by the cantons, other banks, and the public. Switzerland is a major international financial center; its banks are favored by international depositors and financiers because of Swiss political and financial stability and traditional secrecy in banking transactions. Private banking is one of the country's principal sources of income. Zürich is the country's main banking center; leading commercial banks are the Union Bank of Switzerland, the Swiss Bank Corporation, and the Swiss Credit Bank. The Zürich Stock Exchange is one of the most important in Europe, and the city is also a major trade center for gold. Foreign Trade In the early 1990s annual Swiss imports cost about $60.7 billion, and exports earned some $63 billion. The main exports included machinery, pharmaceuticals, clocks and watches, precision instruments, textiles and clothing, chemicals, pigments, and transportation equipment. Primary imports were machinery, automobiles, clothing, chemicals, precision instruments, and pharmaceuticals. The chief trading partners for exports were Germany, France, Italy, the United States, Great Britain, Austria, Japan, and Hong Kong. Leading sources for imports were Germany, France, Italy, the United States, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Japan, Austria, and Belgium and Luxembourg. Switzerland's balance of trade is assisted by a robust tourism industry, one of the leading sources of foreign exchange and employment in the country. Visitors spent about $9.5 billion annually in Switzerland in the early 1990s. Transportation Switzerland has about 5030 km (about 3126 mi) of railroad track, of which about 60 percent is owned and operated by the government; almost all the federally owned system has been electrified. Most of the rail traffic between France and Italy passes through Switzerland. Buses connect the more inaccessible regions. Roads totaled about 71,120 km (about 44,190 mi) in the early 1990s, and about 3.9 million motor vehicles were in use, of which more than 78 percent were passenger cars. A national system of expressways was under construction; by the early 1990s 82 percent of the system's planned 1854 km (1152 mi) had been completed. There are three Alpine highway tunnels, including the 16.9-km (10.5-mi) Saint Gotthard tunnel, which is the longest highway tunnel in the world. There are also numerous railway tunnels through the Alps, with more being planned to alleviate highway traffic. In February 1994 Swiss voters addressed air and noise pollution issues by narrowly approving a controversial referendum banning all heavy truck traffic passing through Switzerland. The ban, heavily criticized by many European governments but also hailed as an important environmental measure, will go into effect in the year 2004 and will shift all large trucks traveling through the country to flatbed railroad cars. Air transport, both domestic and international, is provided by Swissair, which is owned jointly by the federal government, the cantons, and private investors. Although Switzerland is landlocked, the Swiss merchant marine, created by decree of the federal government in 1941, consists of about 23 large oceangoing vessels and 280 river barges, which operate from foreign ports and from the port of Basel on the Rhine River. Communications The Swiss Postal and Telecommunications agency oversees a comprehensive and modern communications system. The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation provides radio and television programs in German, French, and Italian, and Swiss Radio International transmits radio programs to foreign countries. In the early 1990s about 2.7 million radios and 2.5 million television receivers were licensed. Switzerland has 83 daily newspapers; dailies with international reputations include Neue Zürcher Zeitung, published in Zürich, and Journal de Genève, published in Geneva. Labor In the early 1990s the Swiss labor force was made up of about 3.6 million people, including nearly 912,000 foreigners (mostly from Italy, Spain, Portugal, and France), called guest workers. The leading labor group is the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions, with some 444,000 members. Government Switzerland is a republic governed under a constitution adopted on May 29, 1874, and amended many times since. The Swiss political system combines direct and indirect democracy with the principles of sovereignty of the people, separation of powers, and proportional representation. In federal elections, all citizens age 18 or older are eligible to vote; women gained suffrage in national elections in 1971 through a referendum. The electorate not only chooses its representatives but also decides important issues by means of referendums, an integral part of Swiss government. Constitutional amendments may be initiated by a petition of 50,000 voters and must be ratified by referendums. Federal legislation may also be made subject to referendums. |
Executive
In Switzerland, executive power is vested
in the Bundesrat, or Federal Council, composed of seven members who are
elected to four-year terms by a joint session of the bicameral parliament.
The council is responsible to the parliament. The legislature elects a
president from among the members of the council for a one-year term. The
constitution expressly prohibits the reelection of a president to consecutive
terms of office.
Legislature
The Swiss parliament, called the Federal
Assembly, consists of two houses: the Ständerat, or Council of States,
with 46 members (two for each full canton and one for each half canton)
elected for varying periods at the discretion of the canton; and the Nationalrat,
or National Council, with 200 members elected for four-year terms under
a system of proportional representation.
Judiciary
The Federal Tribunal at Lausanne is composed
of 30 judges who are appointed for six-year terms by the Federal Assembly.
The court has final jurisdiction in suits between the cantonal and federal
governments, corporations and individuals, and between cantons. It has
original jurisdiction only in cases involving offenses against the confederation.
In addition, each canton has its own autonomous system of justice, including
civil and criminal courts and a court of appeals. Capital punishment was
abolished in Switzerland in 1942.
Local Government
All powers not delegated to the confederation
by the Swiss constitution are reserved to the cantons. The forms of cantonal
government vary, but each of the 20 full cantons and 6 half-cantons has
an elected legislative council and an executive council. In the smaller
cantons, the council is a Landsgemeinde, a general assembly of voting citizens
who decide matters by voice vote. In most cantons, however, the legislative
council is a representative body elected by popular vote. Women gained
the right to vote in local and cantonal elections in most areas during
the 1970s; the last male bastion, Appenzell Inner-Rhoden, changed in 1990.
The commune is the basic local unit of government; Switzerland has more
than 3000 communes in all, and they are largely autonomous in many governmental
matters. Several communes are grouped into a district, which is headed
by a prefect representing the cantonal government.
Political Parties
The strongest Swiss political parties
are the Radical Democratic Party, standing for strong federal power; the
Social Democratic Party, advocating democratic socialism; and the Christian
Democratic People's Party, opposing centralization of power. Other political
parties of note are the Swiss People's Party, the Independent Alliance,
the Liberal Party, and the Greens, an environmentalist group.
Health and Welfare
The Federal Insurance Law of 1911 regulates
accident and sickness insurance. Accident insurance is compulsory for most
officials and employees. Old-age and survivor's insurance, which also includes
disability benefits, is compulsory and is financed by a payroll tax on
both employers and employees. Unemployment insurance became compulsory
under a 1976 law.
Defense
Service in the Swiss militia is compulsory
for all males between the ages of 20 and 42. Switzerland does not maintain
a standing army, however, so service consists of relatively short periods
of training. Because rifles, uniforms, and other equipment are kept at
home, Switzerland can mobilize completely within about 48 hours. If mobilized,
the Swiss armed forces would include about 399,300 troops. .
History
In pre-Roman times the territory now known
as Switzerland was inhabited by the Helvetii in the west and the Rhaetians,
a people believed to have been related to the Etruscans, in the east. Julius
Caesar and the Romans conquered the region, which they named Helvetia,
in the 1st century BC, and it became thoroughly Romanized. During the Germanic
invasions that swept over the Western Roman Empire in the 4th century
AD, the Bourguignons and the Alamanni conquered Helvetia.
The Middle Ages
The Franks in turn conquered the Alamanni
in the 5th century AD, and the Bourguignons in the early 6th century. The
Franks introduced a new civilization based largely on Christianity. On
the dissolution of the Frankish Carolingian Empire in the 9th century,
most of Switzerland became part of the duchy of Alemannia, or Swabia, one
of the great feudal states of the German Kingdom; the southwestern part
was incorporated into the kingdom of Transjurane Bourgogne. In 1033 the
Bourguignon portion was acquired by Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II, and Switzerland
became a part of his empire. It consisted of a collection of petty states,
ruled by dukes, counts, bishops, and abbots, and of a number of small city-states,
independent by imperial charter, which later became cantonal commonwealths.
Struggle for Independence
In 1276 Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf I of
the Habsburg dynasty attempted to assert feudal rights in Switzerland,
making his power a threat to the traditional liberties of the Swiss. To
resist Rudolf's aggression, the three so-called forest cantons-Uri, Schwyz,
and Unterwalden-around the Lake of Lucerne, entered a league for mutual
defense in 1291. During the 14th century Zürich, Glarus, Bern, Lucerne,
and Zug joined the league, and in the 15th century Fribourg and Solothurn
joined. In 1474 the Habsburgs, unable to cope with the militant Swiss mountaineers,
abandoned their attempts to acquire the region as a family appanage, and
the Swiss confederation became directly dependent on the empire.
In 1499 Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian
I attempted to abrogate various Swiss governmental rights; in the ensuing
war he was defeated, and by the Treaty of Basel on September 22, 1499,
he was compelled to recognize the virtual independence of the Swiss. By
1513 Appenzell, Schaffhausen, and Basel had entered the confederation,
each independent as a canton and sending two delegates to a federal assembly.
Because of their skill and bravery in war, Swiss mercenaries became famous
throughout Europe. In the course of the wars between Italy and France in
the early 16th century, Swiss troops, fighting with the French as mercenaries,
were able to annex the Italian districts and towns that later formed the
canton of Ticino. The Swiss troops then fought against the French, and
were defeated in 1515. This led to the introduction of Switzerland's neutrality
policy. In 1536 the Bernese Swiss took Lausanne and various territories
from the duchy of Savoy.
Reformation
The Protestant Reformation in Switzerland
started in 1518, when a country pastor named Huldreich Zwingli began to
denounce the sale of indulgences by the Roman Catholic church. Subsequently,
under Zwingli's leadership, the city of Zürich revolted against church
dogma by burning relics, banning the adoration of saints, and releasing
clerics from their vows of celibacy. Vigorously backed by the merchant
class, such innovations further asserted the city's independence from both
the Roman Catholic church and the Holy Roman Empire. Other Swiss towns,
such as Basel and Bern, quickly adopted similar reforms. In 1536 Geneva,
where the French theologian John Calvin had just settled, revolted against
the duchy of Savoy and refused to acknowledge the authority of its Roman
Catholic bishop. Calvin organized his church democratically, incorporating
ideas of representative government. From 1541 to 1564 Geneva became the
stronghold of the Calvinist brand of Protestantism. Although the cantons
preserved their neutrality in the Thirty Years' War of 1618 to 1648, Swiss
diplomacy was able to maneuver formal recognition of Switzerland as a completely
independent state by the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.
Unification
During the 1790s the French Revolution
spread to Switzerland; the French continually intervened in support of
Swiss revolutionaries, a group that sought to promote political reforms
and the establishment of a strong national government, and in 1798 the
revolutionaries occupied all Swiss territory. The Swiss confederation had
until that time been a loose defensive alliance, but Napoleon Bonaparte,
the future emperor of France, unified the country under the name Helvetic
Republic and imposed a written constitution, which, like the French military
occupation, was bitterly resented by most of the Swiss. In 1803, when it
was in his interest to have Switzerland friendly, Napoleon withdrew the
occupation troops and by the Act of Mediation granted a new constitution
with Swiss approval. The Congress of Vienna, in 1815, recognized the perpetual
neutrality of Switzerland, and Swiss territory was expanded to include
22 cantons; since that time the country's boundaries have remained virtually
unchanged.
The period following the integration of
Switzerland was one of attempted adjustment to the newly won unity. Conflict
existed between autocratic and democratic elements and between Roman Catholic
and Protestant areas. In 1847 the Roman Catholic cantons formed a league,
the Sonderbund. The federal government declared the formation of such a
league a violation of the constitution. Civil war resulted when the league
refused to disband. The Sonderbund was defeated by the federal government,
and the ensuing constitution of 1848 greatly increased the federal power.
It was followed by the constitution of 1874, which, with modifications,
is still in force; the 1874 constitution completed the development of Switzerland
from a group of cantons to a unified federal state. However, Switzerland
is unusual regarding the power vested within the cantons and individual
communes. For example, it is the communes that grant individuals Swiss
citizenship.
A Neutral Nation
Because of the traditional neutrality
of the country, Switzerland became the favored site of international conferences
and the headquarters of many organizations. The main office of the International
Red Cross was established there in 1863, as was that of the League of Nations
following World War I (1914-1918). Switzerland was a league member but,
after maintaining neutrality and harboring political refugees during World
War II (1939-1945), the country refused to join the United Nations (UN)
on the grounds that certain obligations of membership were incompatible
with Swiss neutrality. It did, however, become a member of many agencies
affiliated with the UN, and it maintains a permanent observer at UN headquarters.
It also served on the neutral nations' commission supervising the 1953
truce agreement in Korea and contributed money to UN peacekeeping efforts
in Cyprus. It became a member of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
(GATT), an international trade organization that was replaced in 1995 by
the World Trade Organization (WTO). WTO headquarters are in Geneva.
In 1948 Switzerland joined the Organization
for European Economic Cooperation. It became a founding member of the European
Free Trade Association in 1959 and in 1963 joined the Council of Europe.
Domestic Issues
In February 1971 Switzerland for the first
time granted women the right to vote in federal elections and to hold federal
office; by 1979 more than 10 percent of the seats in the Nationalrat were
held by women. Although most cantons also extended suffrage to women, the
process was not completed until 1990. An equal rights amendment to the
constitution was approved in a 1981 referendum; another referendum in 1985
guaranteed women legal equality with men in marriage. Other referenda in
the 1980s upheld Switzerland's system of military conscription, rejected
restrictions on abortion and some forms of contraception, barred Switzerland
from joining the UN, tightened constraints on immigration and the granting
of political asylum, and defeated a proposal to abolish the military. A
referendum approved in 1994 made racial discrimination, racist propaganda,
and denial of the German Nazi Holocaust illegal.
In 1992 Switzerland moved to end decades
of fierce independence by joining the International Bank for Reconstruction
and Development (World Bank) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
However, in December of that year Swiss voters soundly rejected joining
the European Economic Area, a free-trade zone linking many Western European
countries. The vote was a significant blow to Switzerland's application,
filed earlier that year, to join the European Community (now the European
Union). However, in November 1993 voters approved a national value-added
tax more in line with the tax structure of other European Union members
after rejecting the tax three times in previous votes. In June 1994 Swiss
voters rejected a referendum that would have authorized Swiss troops to
take part in UN peacekeeping operations.
Responding to international pressures,
in the mid-1990s Switzerland began to relax its traditional insistence
on banking secrecy and allow foreign investigators access to bank records
in cases where illegal acquisition or use of funds was suspected. In 1995
the Swiss Banking Association (SBA), under pressure from leading Jewish
organizations, consented to search its vaults for unclaimed bank accounts
believed to contain assets belonging to victims of the Nazi Holocaust (the
accounts had been protected from public scrutiny by Switzerland's banking
secrecy laws). In September the SBA announced that it had uncovered $30
million in bank accounts that had been opened before 1945 but had been
dormant since then. Jewish groups disputed the findings, claiming that
the search should have turned up billions, rather than millions, of dollars
in lost assets.
Jewish leaders and others then began raising
further issues regarding the Swiss government's relationship with Nazi
Germany, questioning the extent to which the Swiss profited from their
relationship with the German government during World War II. In late 1996
and early 1997 the Swiss government took steps to respond to these issues.
The government approved commissions to investigate Switzerland's dealings
with Germany and to conduct a thorough search of Swiss bank accounts in
an attempt to determine the exact contents of those accounts and the amount
of assets belonging to Holocaust victims.
In January 1997 the Swiss government endorsed
a proposal by the country's leading banks and businesses to establish a
memorial fund to compensate Holocaust survivors and their relatives. In
February Switzerland's three leading commercial banks announced that they
would contribute an initial $70 million to the fund; the move followed
threats by international Jewish groups and institutions in the United States
to apply sanctions against Swiss banks.
In March the Swiss government proposed
setting up a $4.7 billion fund and using the interest on the money to help
victims of the Holocaust and other human catastrophes. The government estimated
that the fund would generate earnings of several hundred million dollars
a year. The proposal, which required parliamentary approval and an amendment
to the constitution before going into effect, provoked sharp opposition
from nationalist critics in Switzerland, who viewed the fund as an illegitimate
use of public assets and an unacceptable admission of wartime guilt.
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