The Cambridge Concise History of Switzerland, Church and Head - C

                         While recently driving through Confederation Helvetia, I wondered about how it all came about and found the answers here, albeit in a dry, academic tome. The authors emphasize that a myth of community is the Swiss national link, as the country has never had a common language, and since the Reformation has had serious religious divisions. That 'community' developed in the Alps, where the north/south valleys were a key trade route that led to a higher degree of urbanization than elsewhere in Europe. Additionally, the cooperative nature of pastoralism established stronger, cohesive farming communities. Thus, the cities and farms in their mountain isolation were better able to resist those wishing to impose power and control from the outside.  A 1291 Confederation of three cantons grew to nine after a 1386 defeat of an invading Hapsburg army.  Even though deeply divided by the Reformation, the Swiss never took to arms and maintained their neutrality during the Thirty Years War. The 1648 Treaty of Westphalia established  Swiss independence within the Holy Roman Empire. The Swiss began to prosper and accumulate wealth because they did not have to fund a military. Indeed, they profited by hiring out their famous mercenaries. Prosperity and credit afforded them the opportunity to be early participants in the industrial revolution. By the end of the nineteenth century, Switzerland was a centralized, democratic state that had one of the highest per capita GDP's in Europe. Neutrality came with a heavy price in WW2.  They were surrounded by the Axis and at one point had to mobilize half-a-million men as the Germans were considering invasion. Their generally cooperative economic policies with the Germans led to some serious disagreements with the US, who had frozen their NY gold reserves. Post-war Switzerland prospered as a bridge between east and west. Since 1989,  the challenge the Swiss have faced has been from a strongly centralizing European Union. How to participate in Europe, while preserving their unique identity, is the issue of today and tomorrow.