Chronography of Switzerland and Liechtenstein
Page last
modified 22 October 2023
Leichetenstein � see
Appendix 1
Click here for map of Lausanne � Thonon area,
1955 and 2000. See also France for more old-new
maps.
9/2/2014, In a
referendum, 50.3% of voters backed a quota on immigration proposed by the
Right-wing Swiss Peoples Party (SVP). Turnout was 56%. A quarter of the
Swiss population are immigrants. The Francophone west was opposed to quotas but
the German-speaking east backed them. The EU criticised the vote; although
Switzerland is not part of the EU it has close economic ties with it, and is
part of the Schengen Agreement. The Swiss Government and business leaders
opposed the quotas.
12 December 2008,
Switzerland became the 25th country to join the Schengen Agreement, eliminating cross-border
checks.
10 September 2002, Switzerland joined the United Nations.
3 March 2002, Switzerland voted in a referendum to join the
United Nations.
2001, Switzerland rejected EU membership in a referendum.
5 October 1994, Fifty members of the Solar Temple cult were found dead in Switzerland.
7 March 1993, A referendum in Switzerland voted to allow
high-stakes gambling, reversing� a ban
enacted in 1874.
1992, Switzerland joined the IMF
and the World Bank.
1986, A referendum opposed
joining the United Nations, and immigrant numbers were restricted.
28 July 1984. George Gallup, whose name is synonymous with
opinion polls, died in Switzerland aged 62.
3 December 1972, Swiss voters approved a
Free Trade Agreement with the European Community by 1,345,057 votes to 509,350
against.
1971, Most women
gained the right
to vote in Federal elections.
1967, Right wing
political groups made gains, campaigning to restrict immigration.
1959, Switzerland
became a founder member of the European Free Trade Area (EFTA)
23 August 1955, Rudolf Minge, Swiss politician,
died aged 73.
19 July 1945, Heinrich Wolfflin, Swiss art historian, died aged 81.
1939-1945, Switzerland
remained neutral during World War Two.
1 November 1939, Switzerland instituted
emergency plans in case of a future invasion.
5 June 1935, The Swiss government began
major armament expansion program.
31 March 1928, Gustave Ador, Swiss statesman (born 23
December 1845) died.
10 June 1923. Switzerland and Liechtenstein formed a customs
union.
1920, Switzerland joined the League
of Nations, which was based at Geneva.
1919, Switzerland adopted
proportional representation, to ensure political stability.
12 March 1907, Switzerland reorganised its army and made military
training compulsory for all males.
20 May 1900, Voters in Switzerland overwhelmingly rejected a
law providing for sickness and accident insurance. The Kranken und
Unfallversicherungsgesetz (KUVG), sponsored by Ludwig Forrer and passed the
Federal Assembly, but was challenged by a referendum, where more than 70% of
the voters were against it. Health reform would finally pass in 1911.
13 January 1896, Emilie de Morsier, Swiss social activist,
died.
1882, The Swiss National Redoubt was finally defined as an outer and inner
defensive zone, the concept having been first conceived in the 1820s following
a period of French
occupation. The outer zone defended the Swiss Plateau; the inner zone was an
Alpine refuge area. In 1929 Mussolini bullt a road to San Giacomo, from
which the St Gotthard Pass and railway tunnel were within artillery
range from. This signal of Italian military capability and territorial
ambition spurred the Swiss to build a network of fortifications as soon as
Italy entered World War Two.
11 March 1881, Henri Frederic Amiel, Swiss philosopher, died
in Geneva (born in Geneva 27 September 1821).
9 October 1874, The Universal
Postal Union was established, with its headquarters in Berne, Switzerland.
Alpine
Mountaineering
8 July 1910, Alexander Burgener, 65, Swiss mountaineer,
died in an avalanche
13 July 1865, Edward Whymper
became the first person to climb the Matterhorn.
11
August 1858, The summit of the Eiger, in the
Swiss Alps, was reached for the first time, by Charles
Barrington of Bray, Ireland.
27/4/1840, Edward Whymper, mountaineer
who conquered the Matterhorn, was born.
1857, Prussia
renounced its claim to Neuchatel.
12
September 1848, Switzerland adopted a Federal
constitution.
24
November 1847, In Switzerland, end of the brief
and almost bloodless Sonderbund War. Protestant Swiss Liberals attempted
to impose their policies, which included a stronger central government, freedom
of worship, and secularised education (entailing expulsion of the Jesuits) on
all of Switzerland. This was strongly opposed by Swiss Catholics, and seven
mainly Catholic cantons (Lucern, Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Fribourg, Zyg and
Valais) formed, in 1845, the Sonderbund (Separatist League). This move was
voted down by the Reformist majority in the Sweiss Diet, who ordered the dissolution
of the Sonderbund in 1847. The Sonderbund appealed, vainly, for outside help
and Federal troops under General Guillaume Henri
Dufour (1787-1875) moved in against the Sonderbund forces, who were
greatly outnumbered. This episode led to the establishment of a strong Federal
Government in Switzerland.
8/4/1839, Pierre Prevost, Swiss philosopher, born 3 March 1751,
died.
19/2/1833, Elie Ducommun, Swiss
journalist and pacifist was born in Geneva, Switzerland (died 7 December 1916
in Berne, Switzerland).
Switzerland
during the French Napoleonic era. 1798-1803
29
December 1813, The Swiss Diet (Parliament) voted
for a restoration of the old Constitution, revoking Napoleon�s 1802 Act of
Mediation.
1803, The Canton of Argau joined the Swiss Confereration.
15
October 1802, Napoleon
intervened in the civil war in Switzerland between the towns and the forest
cantons. He styled himself �Mediator of the Helvetic League� and imposed a
settlement.
19
August 1798, France signed a formal alliance
with the Helvetian Republic.
16/4/1798, Francce annexed Geneva.
29
March 1798, Swiss revolutionaries proclaimed
the �Helvetian Republic� and allied to France.
5
March 1798, Bern declared war on France,
fighting two separate battles this day, winning one and losing the other. Bern
then surrendered to France.
24
January 1798, Napoleon
invadced Switzerland. The French-dominated Lemanic Republic was set up.
8 October
1798, Felix
Neff, Swiss Protestant divine, was born.
16 August
1794, Jean
Aubigne, Swiss historian, was born near Geneva (died 1872).
31 March 1723, In the Swiss canton of Vaud, Jean
Abraham Daniel led a rebellion against the Protestant canton of
Berne. He was executed.
25 July 1712, A Swiss Bernese army won the Battle of Villmergen. This
established the dominance of Protestants over Catholics in Switzerland.
24
January 1656, The Protestant cantons of Zurich
and Berne were defeated by Catholic forces in the First Villmergen War.
8 June 1653. A Peasant�s Revolt, the latest in a series of them,
was put down in Switzerland.
21 May 1653, Bern was besieged by a 16,000 strong peasant army;
revolt later suppressed at Herzogenburg.
1648, The Peace of Westphalia ended the Thirty
Years War, and fully recognised Swiss independence.
19 June 1620, Catholic forces under the Spanish Viceroy of Milan
defeated the Protestant forces of the Swiss Grisons League, who wetre guarding
the Valtelllina Pass.
29 November 1516, King Francis I of Ftrance signed the Treaty of
Freiburg, agreeing to peace with Switzerland. This Treaty remained in force
until 1789.
7 November 1515, Switxerland and France signed the Treaty of Geneva. The Swiss
retained� the southern canton of Ticino,
and recognised French sovereignty over the Duchy of Milan.
13 September 1515, The French beat the Swiss at the Battle of Marengo (Marignano).
September 1513, At Dijon, the Swiss
accepted a French indemnity and made peace, letting down their English and
German allies.
1501, Schaffhausen and Basel
joined the Swiss Confederation.
22 September 1499, Under the Treaty of
Basel, Maximilian
granted the Swiss independence. Formal independence was not achieved for another
century.
22 July 1499, The Battle of
Dornach. Swiss Confederation forces defeated the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian.
This was the last battle between Switzerland and the Holy Roman Empire.
6 April 1499, The Mayor of Zurich, Hans Waldmann, Mayor of Zurich since
1483, was seized and executed by citizens after had used his powers to amass
wealth and establish a dictatorship.
1481, Solothurn and Freibourg joined the
Swiss Confederation.
28 December 1478, Swiss infantrymen defeated a larger Milanese force at the Battle of Giornico. Ths was essentially
a border dispute between Switzerland and Milan. Although the Swiss generally
were not in favour of territorial conquests into Milanese territory, the Canton
of Uri did manage to capture the Milanese border town of Bellinzona in 1500.
Burgundian-Swiss War
1474-47
5 January 1477, Battle of Nancy.
Swiss pikemen defeated Charles the Duke of Burgundy�s
cavalry. The 43-year old Duke was killed in the battle, and his body was found
later, half-eaten by wolves.
22 June 1476, The Battle of Morat.
The Swiss again
defeated the Burgundians.
2 March 1476, The Swiss defeated a Burgundian
Army at Granson, Switzerland.
4/4/1474, The Union of Constance, a defensive
alliance between Sigismund of Austria and the Swiss Cantons against the
Burgundians, was agreed.
1474, Burgundian expsnsionism now led
to war between Burgundy
and Switzerland.
1467, First ballad about the
Swiss national hero, William Tell, appeared.
1460, Switzerland conquered
Thurgau from Austria.
24 August 1444, Battle of St Jakob, near Basle. Frederick
III, seeking to regain Hapsburg control of Switzerland, allied with Charles VII
of France who was seeking employment for troops de,mobilised after the Hunderd
Years War. The French veterans, 30,00 strong, were met by some 1,500 Swiss. The
Swiss force was annihilated but not before they had killed some 3,000 French.
The determination of the Swiss deterred any further French attacks, who instead
turned to harassing Frederick�s domains in Alsace.
1415, The Bernese captured the
fortress of Aaarau from the Hapsburgs.
1403, The Appenzell War began. |The Abbey of St Gall attempted to
reassert feudal control over the free town of St Gall, with its prosperous
textile strade, and the town appealed to Appenzell for help. Appenzell, and
another free town, Schwyz, resisted and in 1403 defeated forces sent to enforce
the Abbey�s wishes. The Hapsburg Duke, Frederick of Austria, went to
assist St Gall to mreassert the feudal order, amnd a further attack on St Gall
and Appenzell ensued in 1405, but was also beaten back. In 1411 Appemnzell and
St Gall came under the protection of the Swiss Confederation, taking them
beyond any risk of feudal control.
9/4/1388, Battle of
Nafaels, Swiss War of Indepoendence.
Albert III
of Austria marched against Glarus, a district that had joined the Swiss
Confederacy but that had been regained by the Hapsburgs in 1355. The Swiss
rebels, with allies from Schwyz, drove the Austrians back.
9 July 1386, The Battle
of Sempach. Hapsburg
Duke Leopold III of Austria, alarmed at the growth of the Swiss
Confederation, marched to attack the Swiss town of Lucerne. Swiss victory
ensured the continuation of the Swiss Confederation.
3 March 1353, Bern signed
an alliance with the Swiss Confederation.
27 June 1352, Zug joined
the Swiss Confederation.
4 June 1352, Glarus
joined the Swiss Confederation.
1 May 1351, Zurich
joined the Swiss Confederation.
21 June 1339, Bern had
acquired a protectorate over the town of Laupen, which Burgundy now tried to reclaim,
besieging it. This day a Swiss force of pikemen and archers., although
outnumbered 3 to 1, repoulsed Burgundian forces and lifted the siege of Laupen,
establishing |Bern as a dominant force in the region.
7 November 1332, Lucerne
joined the Swiss Confederation with Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden.
19 July 1318, Duke Leopold of Austria made peace with the
Swiss Forest Cantons.
15 November 1315. A small army of Swiss foot soldiers routed a
Hapsburg
army sent to bring the valleys of central Switzerland under Hapsburg
rule at the Battle of Morgarten. The
Hapsburgs
had for long had manorial rights in these valleys but not political control. The Swiss had begun to assert their political
independence, fortifying the entrances of the valleys. This conflict was
precipitated by a dispute over grazing rights; the men of Schwyz attacked an
abbey and took some of the monks hostage.
17 March 1315, Ludwig of Bavaria recognised the Swiss Confederation.
Founding of
Switzerland
1 August 1291, According to
tradition, the Swiss Confederation
was formed by Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden, the "three forest
cantons", at R �tli by the Federal Charter. The Alliance was initially for mutual
defence and they did not claim indpendence from Austria. See 1315. The
name �Switzerland� derives from Schwyz.
22 December 1240, The Swiss cantons
of Schwyz, Uri and Unterwalden came under the rule of Frederick II, Holy Roman
Emperor.
534, Geneva, previously held by
Burgundy, passed to the Franks.
See Roman Empire for Roman conquest of
Switzerland
6,000 BCE, Dogs were
domesticated in the Swiss Lakes region (see food), and oxen were being used for ploughing.
Appendix 1 �
Leichtenstein
1990, Leichenstein
joined the United Nations.
1938, Prince Franz Josef II maintained neutrality during World War Two.
10 June 1923. Switzerland and Liechtenstein formed a customs
union.
1868, Leichtenstein abolished
its standing army.
1852, Leichtenstein formed a
customs union with Austria, adoipting its currency. This union lasted until the
dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918.
23 January 1719, The Principality of Liechtenstein was constituted.
1712,
Leichtenstein was enlarged by the purchase of Vaduz by Prince Johann Adam Andreas von Leichtenstein.
1416,
The last Montfort Count bequeathed Vaduz to Baron von Brandis of Emmental, who
in 1419 also gained possession of Schellenberg, north of Vaduz.
1342,
Graf
Hartmann von Montfort gained possession of the Castle of Vaduz. In
1396 Vaduz was confirmed as a fief of the Holy Roman Empire.
