One of the funniest things about Swiss history to me is that they actually conquered the original hometown of the Austrian Habsburgs, and to this day Habsburg castle is in Switzerland

Might be interesting to add that the Habsburgs were originally counts of Aargau, just between Zurich and Basel, and became dukes of Austria later. So, at first, it was mostly a local clash about nobility, cities and mountain communities' rights and privileges...

Lichtenstein also borders on Switzerland and a country is a country no matter how small. Horton the Elephant taught me that.

It‘s a bit sad you didn‘t mentionned the burgundian wars. They were essential to form the bonds between the cantons.

Shout-out to our friends and neighbours in Liechtenstein. You are not forgotten.

Even as a very well informed Swiss, I learned something new about our history, great! :)

The thing I like about Switzerland is how it was formed bottom-up and not top-down, meaning that local authorities - so very near to the local population - decided to get together. So everything was done at the best interest of the local economies. This led to a country where direct democracy is a must. Everything starts from the single citizen. Unfortunately, most countries have been formed top-down, where a rich and powerful person conquers over the will of other people for his own interest. That's why many of the countries around the word are not democracies or just fake democracies.

My teacher avidly taught us Swiss history all the way from the Rütlischwur. He even took us to the Rütliwiese and Tell theater play on field trips. Best memories of school

As a swiss, i find this video absolutely interesting and glorious. Well done! 🙂🇨🇭

I’m Dutch but love the cheese the knife the watches and waterfalls..(took a train through Switzerland from Amsterdam to Roma) and of course the history!

My mom's dad ancestors. They came to America in the 1700's fleeing Catholic persecution. The anabaptist or Swiss Brethren that migrated to the German Palatine area then to Pennsylvania at the invitation of of William Penn into Lancaster County Pennsylvania. My ancestors were Hans Meili, Rev. Hans Herr, Overhotlz, Barr, Kendig famiies....Meili name morphed into Miley which now span the whole of America..Thanks for the video.

The skilled mercenaries that got put into service in any surrounding areas that were fighting with each other also played a major role in the early days of the swiss independence.

As a Swiss, i appreciate your efforts, thank you! 🇨🇭

Great Video, thank you a lot! Maybee an important thing to add to the civil war (Sonderbundskrieg) in 1847. In this war less than 100 people died and roughly about 500 were wounded. This was mainly because General Dufour really wanted to unify the counrty and focus on humanitarian principles during the fights. He famously said: "We must emerge from this struggle not only victorious but also without reproach."

00:46 41,285 square kilometers*. in sq miles it'd be 15,940 sq mi. 00:09 Its also bordered by Liechtenstein. however, a very nice video, I learned a lot from this video. The animations you use in your videos are very beautiful. i'd appreciate if you share as to which software you use to make these animations. Thank you 🙂

Switzerland has a very interesting history!

When people asked me or talked to me about Swiss Neutrality, I would explain to them that it is brought upon by their rich military history, particularly their military disasters and military challenges that led to them being neutral.

Very well done, and thoroughly made, congrats. Sorry, geek alarm: 41285 square kilometers, not miles, otherwise we would be bigger than Iceland, which is unfortunately not true.

Switzerland 🇨🇭 is one of the most beautiful countries in the world 🌎

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Thank you for the very interesting and informative short history of how Switzerland came to be, the type of Government the people adopted. Being in Europe with it's long history it is complicated but you did a great job sorting it all out. Most of us are history short minded to be sure, this presentation was made so it was easy to follow along.

Living as a German in Switzerland and being a bit critical about certain aspects, I still see it as a example how nation building works, what it needs, what are the challenges and how to bring so different people with different languages together for such a long time.

this is so interesting to me. My great grandmother came from the Canton of Bern when she was 11 with her family in 1885. someday I hope to see the town she was born in high up in the mountains near france.

0:08 poor Liechtenstein always forgotten

I'm a proud swiss!!🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭

As a Swiss, with roots back to the 16th century, I can call this summary very good, considering the time. Of course, many more arguments and reasons are missing. But for this, many hours of clarification would be necessary. Conclusion; well done!

Thank you for this. As a proud swiss woman I did not know all about the nitty gritty of switzerlands history!

incorrect: the beginning of USA was modeled after Switzerlands' model. one was the officially organized, trained etc. effective militia what focused completely on defending instead of invading by force other countries. later on USA changed their constitution and military structure with focus of invading instead of defending

Great informative video. Showing all aspects of the formation of Switzerland. Altough I really hoped to hear about the "Morgarten" battle as this is to this day there are many controversis about it some saying it just a battle like many other while others saying its one of the most important battle for the swiss against the habsburger.

It is noticable that you guys did your researched well before creating this video, which is rare for foreignors. I specially loved that you used our formal name. It's also noteworthy that swiss civil wars after the protestant reformation had low casualties. Noone died during the first war of kappel and only around a 100 people died during the war of the Sonderbund. It was also won in less than a month.

I think a big part of the reason for Swiss unification is that by the 18th century the rise of the modern nation states around it. France in the 17th century was involved in wars with most of its neighbors and military involved in Italy. At that time England was unified and a major power, France was unified and in conflict with England, Italy, and the Holly Roman Empire were still divided into multiple semi autonomous entities and struggled with mixed alliances internally, therefore making it hard for them to fend off the advances of unified France. It should be noted that that the Dutch were similar to the Swiss, they were very organized, very determined to be autonomous and a major force in the world far beyond their size and small population. By the 19th century the Italians and Germans would both unify shortly after the unification of the Swiss. The German unification upset the balance of power in Europe to such a degree that England and France became close allies to oppose it. So by 1871 the Swiss had three powerful unified nation states on their boarders, only the Austrian Hungarian Empire was still a coalition of states as a political entity and that would be dissolved at the end of WW I. But the existence of these bordering nation states did not happen overnight, it was long in its evolution and had to be a concern for the Swiss long before it occurred. Also the other incentive for the Swiss to unify was the inclusion of the Ottoman Empire into Europe. in the 18th century the Ottomans sieged Vienna, which was not far from the boarders of Switzerland. This mush have been a great concern for the Swiss and a factor in the desire for closer ties among its constituent parts. One last factor was economic. With the rise of the modern nation state a unified currency for a nation greatly facilitated economic growth, also a unified country spoke with a more unified voice to other economic entities in order to achieve its economic interests. The Swiss must have depended heavily on trade and economic activity with their neighbors, much like the Dutch. Being neutral in a continent which constantly had various wars and political struggles gave the Swiss the opportunity of being a safe haven and go between for economic and political agendas.

Concise, clear, informative, useful. Thanks... A LOT! 👍

Thank you for creating this nice video on the history of Switzerland. As a Swiss person myself, I thought I knew everything there was to know about the formation of Switzerland, but your video taught me something new. However, I did notice that in the video you mentioned that Switzerland has a size of 41,285 square miles, which is not correct. In fact, Switzerland has a size of 41,285 square kilometers, which is equal to approximately 15,952.17 square miles. Looking forward to watching more of your videos in the future.

as a Swiss myself this is very interesting because I'm horrible when it comes to history and this is very informative to me. Also, I love the fact that at 1:53 I can tell just by looking at the lakes outside of the 3 first cantons where which part will be later on.

I visited Switzerland back in the days 🇨🇭. What a beautiful country! Love from the Arab world ❤️🇨🇭

i' ve learned more from this video as in the whole history class in 3. and 4. degree of going to school in switzerland ! thanks for this amazing video! i'm proud to be swiss 🇨🇭🇨🇭

Not bad for a short overview of Swiss history. I have to admit it was pretty funny how you pronounced certain names, though.

The periode called "expansion time" in this video wasn't just a military expansion or conquest. Some areas, like Appenzell in the south of the Lake of Constance, willingly joined the confederacy as they were in conflict with the neighboring monastery of St. Gallen and its allied noblemen.

Well done! Thank you from a Swiss in Arizona

Nicely informative video

Great video!

As a Swiss…you did a good job! 👍👍🇨🇭🍫

Very well made and concise summary

Nice Man! Good video

Nicely done. Warriors at heart, I wish more could've been said of Swiss mercenaries and their influence abroad! NOTE: Swiss consitution was not "modeled" on US constitution. May have taken some inspiration, but both stem from older/stronger backbone of French Revolution (Montesquieu, Toqueville) and UK thinkers (Locke and Hobbes).

Feeling lucky to live in Switzerland. Best place in Europe!

Well some major flaws in this video. I'm not gonna explain to much, I will just list the biggest mistakes chronologically. -The Reformation in Switzerland is mostly considered separate to Luther and he did not have much influence in Switzerland, especially after his big dispute with Zwingli. He was mostly influenced by Erasmus of Rotterdam. Everything is in his surviving diaries and letter with Erasmus etc. And even form Erasmus he is considered mostly independent. No clue why there is a picture of the Ninety-five Theses, those had barely anything to do with any part of Swiss reformation. -The Sonderbund War was not e religious war of catholics against protestants. Yes the seven cantons that made the Sonderbund "Special Alliance" were catholic but it was not because of religion. It was radical conservative who wanted it the old way against the rest, mostly radical progressive liberals, ( those therms meant completely different things in the 1840s than today so don't start any annoying shit) And there were even catholic Cantons on the other sides. -Yes the last total revision of the Swiss Constitution was in 1999, because I don't know it seams necessary to go over your complete constitution every couple decades you know to go with the times and shit. But it is altered every year, if not multiple times every year. In Switzerland there is something called directed democracy and a Popular initiative which amends the federal constitution and are voted on four times a year.

Thanks for the video !

A comment on the map, the Graubünden included what today is italian territory, the Valtellina was handed over to Lombardy after the Versailles Treaty.

Not bad for a short description of 8 hundred years of rather complex history. Kind regardsfrom an allamannic Swiss from St. Gallen (which was at the same time part of the swiss confedracy and part of the holy roman empire until the conquest by Napoleon). Things are usually a bit complicated aren't they?

Nyc explanation ❤

Very professionally done. I've been there three times, but only briefly. Welcome from LA.

Switzerland is missing the "clos du doubs" area in Jura, on your maps (between 6:09 and 7:40). As a Swiss, it's a bit strange to have a hole in the country in this spot.

I lived a time of my life in Switzerland. Beautiful country and real democratic system.

Excellent video .Thank you .

Very, very good analysis - and in such a short video!

Interesting, certainly has a unique history

I find references to conflicts between Switzerland and Austria a bit misleading. Conflict was between the confederation and the Habsburg family. Conflict with Austria would not make sense otherwise as they were quite far from each other at the time (see for instance kzfaq.info/get/bejne/mdCZZ8h6ts-3gZ8.html). Same with tensions with the Holy Roman Empire; it can at least partially be explained by the strong influence the Habsburg family had over the centuries on the Empire

I very much like the geographical visualisation. What GIS tool did you use to make these?

Went to switzerland in 2021 and can say it is in my top 3 favorite countries so far, can't wait to visit it again.

The map shown in the video is wrong several times, eg not showing Vaud as part of Switzerland after Bern took it from Savoy, or showing St Gallen's Bishopric, Valais, or Graubunden as being part of the old swiss confederacy. While overall the video is pretty good at explaining the formation of the country in barely 10 minutes, the geographical expansion is a lot more complex than what can be shown in such limited format. It also gives the impression that the old swiss confederacy (pre-Helvetic Republic after Napoléon's invasion) was some sort of unified country, which is very far from true. It was more of a very loose alliance of valleys and cities, which every now and then even went to war with each other. Cantons even had the right to form alliances with foreign powers and indeed that's for example how Geneva came into the sphere of influence of the confederacy, as the city sought to fend off the Savoy attempts to annex it by forming an alliance not with the old swiss confederacy as a whole since that wasn't possible, but first with Fribourg, then with Bern, then broke off with Fribourg due to the reformation, then added Zurich.

The tale of William Tell was one of my favorite story.

Switzrland is very courageous. It's a small country but a great history. Truly, amzing🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭🇨🇭

Yes! This is something that has kept me awake at night for years.

08:55 please don't forget that swiss german is a dialect that is spoken instead of german. swiss can adapt to the "high" german. it actually gets really complicated that in the 26 cantons not only a different language is spoken, but also her own different dialect ;-)

Just wondering which map you used to show todays borders. Just check it out - the area east of Basel and south of the river Rhein is part of Switzerland since 1803. Before it belonged to Habsburg/Austria.

Bravo! What a great overview, thank you! To the commenters who wanted more details....you can probably find it in a video 2-3x as long. Let's enjoy this for what it is. Could you really have done better? :)

It's so funny to hear all this again! Because as a swiss citizen, I had to learn all this in school! Really cool to see non swiss people being so interested in our history!

I am Greek and I am happy to live in Switzerland. I love Switzerland more than Greece!!!!

Good work and well made . Please note : Switzerland is small .Only 41285 square Kilometers not square Miles . That means Swiss territoy would cover about half the size of Lake Superior .

Total respect to the research of freedom from the Swiss that create their country more than lords or cultural uniformity.

Very informative, thank you

When you said "Neuchatel was added in the congress of Vienna", in the map, you also include Jura, which never was a part of Neuchatel.

This is a certified Swiss classic. Good job 👍

This makes me homesick. I'm German, but have been living half of my life in Switzerland. I miss it dearly, but there is no way back now. This is good though, sounds pretty accurate to what I've learned in school

Good and well explained video. But it would be nice if you could also pay a bit more attention to geography. As on one hand you missed Liechtenstein in the beginning and on the other hand many maps used in the video (modern day and historical) contained some inaccuracies.

Great video, I would add the wars against the duke of Burgundy Charles the Bold around 1475, when Swiss peasants were able to defeat the back then most modern and professional army of Europe in three major battles.

Correction: Swiss Area measures 41,285 km² NOT 41,285 square miles. Imperial units are confusing to everyone and are about as useful as a second butt hole on your shoulder.

As a fellow Swiss i really liked this Video ❤ i had to laugh a bit when the names of the Kanton were missspelled a little, but hey you tried your best 😅

Cheers for this video. 😃🙏

Im irish but have lived in Switzerland. Very peaceful country. Really is so clean and efficient. Only slight negative is that it can be a little boring , but that of course , depends on you.

You forgot about Liechtenstein at 0:06 ;)

Did anyone else find it surprising. Learnt a lot

Berne Switzerland has so much history!! Just posted a video about this place

Proud of being of Swiss descent, proud of my family and this great country, I learnt the language (German and Swiss-German) and I hope I can go live to the place of my ancestors soon, Aargau. I don't claim to be a Swiss yet, I think there are many things I need to learn to claim that but I'll be surely proud to claim such a thing in a recent future. Stolz uf d'Schwiiz🇨🇭 Liebi Grüess uus Italie🇮🇹, I chume aber eigentlech uus Argentinie🇦🇷.

1891 wasnt a war between Kathlics and protestants, more that the liberals (industrials) wanted a easier trade between the cantons, the conservatives wanted to maintain their influence through the church. That's how we learned it in school in Switzerland ;) it transformed from a confederation to a united state through Guillaume-Henri Dufour, who at first didn't even want to interfere in the conflict. He knew that war among brothers is ugly. When he saw that there was no better leader available, ended the war with minimum casualties, because he was aware that swiss people still had to live united in the future. And he has beaten the conservatives by taking lucerne for the liberals. and made the other states capitulate.

My Swiss forefathers were Luthien, and their Family Crest can be found in a Luthien Church stain glass window, just out of Zurich. It’s of a castle, and dove, if I remember correctly.

Amazing country. I love. Thank's from Brasil, Fernando Weck de Senna.

One of my favourite countries ❤️

Actually the official name of Switzerland is the Helvetican Confederation. It's named for an ancient Germanic tribe that had occupied the area during the Roman Empire. The official languages are German, French, Italian and Romansh (sometimes called Rhaeto-Romansh). Romansh is considered the closest spoken language to classical Latin. And because of how the Constitution is written, the President of the Helvetican Confederation consists of a committee to f 7 people from the different parties that make up the governing coalition, and the Head of State is the rotated amongst them.

Thanks for spelling the Cantons proper….❤ like it

Excellent video..!

Love your videos, will you do Baden when you can? I'm from the Conrad lineage.. Swiss and Baden history is somewhat similar and on the same timeline.

You forgot to mention this: The Old Swiss Confederacy was once a Peasant Republic (German: Bauernrepublik). Similar to a People's Republic, but rather than being authoritarian, the peasants in a Peasant Republic actually enjoyed more freedom than the average nation at the time. Royal powers were also weak in a Peasant Republic.

Nice vid

Switzerland was a Celtic homeland thats new to me.

Next video please about Liechtenstein

The land mass of Switzerland is 41,000 km² that's 16,000 square miles.

In 1307 the knights templar disappeared, rumored to have moved to Switzerland

i hoped to see more about the start with the helvetics and the romans founding turicum (zurich) geneva paris london