Lecture

Swiss Confederation: Birth and Evolution

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In courses (2)

HUM-422: Understanding modern Switzerland I

This course provides a general introduction to Swiss history, its culture, its economy and its political system since 1848 until today. ...

HUM-465: Understanding modern Switzerland II

Based on the knowledge acquired during the fall semester course (Understanding modern Switzerland I), students are asked to work by group of 3-4 students and prepare a paper on a topic previously discussed with the teachers. ...

Description

This lecture covers the period from the Old Confederation to the modern Switzerland, focusing on the construction of a national identity. It delves into the pact of 1291, the official birth of Switzerland, and the foundation of the modern Swiss Confederation in 1848. The emergence of Switzerland as a crossroads and a border zone, the complex political structures during the Ancien Régime, and the revolutionary period leading to the birth of modern Switzerland are discussed. The lecture also explores Switzerland's role as a buffer and border zone between European powers, its progressive territorial expansions, and the impact of major events like the Battle of Marignano and the Protestant Reformation on the Swiss Confederation.

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Related concepts (18)

Demilitarized zone

A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between nations, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or boundary between two or more military powers or alliances. A DZ may sometimes form a de facto international border, such as the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Other examples of demilitarized zones are a 9-mile wide area between Iraq and Kuwait; Antarctica (preserved for scientific exploration and study); and outer space (space more than from the earth's surface).

Border control

Border control refers to measures taken by governments to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals, and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. While border control is typically associated with international borders, it also encompasses controls imposed on internal borders within a single state. Border control measures serve a variety of purposes, ranging from enforcing customs, sanitary and phytosanitary, or biosecurity regulations to restricting migration.

Border

Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders can be established through warfare, colonization, or mutual agreements between the political entities that reside in those areas; the creation of these agreements is called boundary delimitation.

Great power

A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power influence, which may cause middle or small powers to consider the great powers' opinions before taking actions of their own. International relations theorists have posited that great power status can be characterized into power capabilities, spatial aspects, and status dimensions.

European balance of power

The European balance of power is a tenet in international relations that no single power should be allowed to achieve hegemony over a substantial part of Europe. During much of the Modern Age, the balance was achieved by having a small number of ever-changing alliances contending for power, which culminated in the World Wars of the early 20th century. By 1945, European-led global dominance and rivalry had ended and the doctrine of European balance of power was replaced by a worldwide balance of power involving the United States and the Soviet Union as the modern superpowers.

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Swiss Confederation: 1513-1798

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