History of Switzerland Timeline
From the beginning to the arrival of the Romans
The oldest traces of human life date back about 150,000 years, the oldest flint tool is about 100,000 years old.

Chronology Of Switzerland
History of Switzerland Timeline: Switzerland History Timeline
600000 – 30000 BC | Ice age | Central Europe covered by glaciers. Human evolution in Africa. | |
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30000 – 1800 BC | Age de Pierre | Hunters using weapons and tools made of stones in Europe. | |
1800 – 800 BC | Bronze Age | Weapons and tools made of bronze. | |
800 – 58 BC | Iron Age | Weapons and tools made of iron. Celtic tribes all over Western Europe. The Helvetes,a Celtic tribe, in Switzerland. | |
58 BC – 400 AD | Roman period | The Helvetes trying to move to southern France were arrested by the Roman commander C. Julius Caesar. Switzerland occupied by Roman troops. | |
400 – 1500 | Middle Ages | Germanic tribes put an end to the Roman Empire and established new states in Europe. Feudal system. Monasteries kept the Roman and Greek heritage (reading and writing) and developed new agricultural methods. | |
1291 – 1515 | Former Confederation | Three valleys in Central Switzerland unite against the Counts of Habsburg and fight for autonomy. Cities join the confederation. They conquer territories in northern and southern Switzerland. | |
1523 – 1536 | Reform | The reformers Zwingli and Calvin were even more radical than Luther in Germany. Calvin’s doctrine influenced churches in many other countries. | |
1536 – 1798 | Ancien Régime | Switzerland is an incoherent confederation of 13 cities and small rural communities that dominate the rest of the country. A small number of families control the affairs of the state. Several rebellions were brought down by military force. | |
1798 – 1802 | Helvetic Republic | The revolution in Switzerland. The peasants of the subjected territories liberate themselves. Centralist parliamentary republic according to the French model. Occupation by French troops, some battles against Austria and Russia. | |
1803 – 1815 | Mediation | A civil war put the Helvetic Republic to an end. Under napoleon’s “mediation”, a new federal constitution was established. | |
1815 – 1830 | Restoration | The extremely federal confederation is re-established, however with 22 member states (without subjected territories). The Liberals in a minority position. | |
1830 – 1848 | Regeneration | The Second French Revolution (1830) gave new impetus to the radical parties in Switzerland. Some federal states with liberal governments and new constitutions. The Special Alliance of Catholic States with conservative governments led to a short civil war (1847). | |
1848 | Federal State | Federal Constitution similar to the US Constitution: Federal State with central and member state governments and parliaments. The principles of this constitution are valid until today. | |
1800 – 1900 | Industrialization | Switzerland is one of the leading industrialized countries in Europe. | |
1914 – 1918 | First World War | Neutrality of a country surrounded by nations at war. | |
1918 – 1933 | Economic crisis | The twenties were the economic crisis in Europe. Domestic conflicts, the general strike in 1918, the world economic crisis of 1929: it hit industrialized Switzerland severely. | |
1933 – 1939 | Spiritual Defense | Hitler’s regime in Germany was soon seen as a danger to Switzerland’s independence. German refugees (Jews, intellectuals). Socialist trade unions seek cooperation with liberal employers against the fascist threat. | |
1939 – 1945 | World War II | The neutral country is surrounded by fascist troops or collaborating regimes (Vichy regime in France). Some trade with Hitler is inevitable to survive without raw materials and feed more than 150,000 refugees). Other aspects are not inevitable: the rigid refugee policy, the little-criticized collaboration of the banks in the event of Jewish assets necessarily transferred to German banks, acceptance of stolen gold. | |
Since 1945 | Prosperity | Recent history is characterized by political stability, economic progress, increased social security and a new open and tolerant mind. |

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