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History
In pre–Roman times the territory now known as Switzerland was
inhabited by the Helvetii in the west and the Rhaetians, 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 Burgundians and the Alamanni conquered
Helvetia.
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 Zurich
revolted against church dogma by burning relics, banning the adoration
of saints, and releasing clerics from their vows of celibacy.
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 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 granted a new constitution
with Swiss approval.
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.
Culture
Swiss culture has contributed notably to literature, art, and music.
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.
By the 18th century, however, Swiss culture had become increasingly
internationalized. In contemporary Switzerland theater and music
flourished.
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