The Swiss Confederation: A Historical and Economic Overview - Essay Sample

Introduction

Switzerland that is officially the Swiss Confederation, is situated on the confluence of Central, Western and Southern Europe. As a federal republic, the Swiss Confederation is composed of 26 cantons with the federal authorities based in Bern. Switzerland is a landlocked country bordered by France to the West, Germany to the North, Italy to the South, and Australia to the East.

Past/Historical Aspects of Switzerland

Economic History of Switzerland

Switzerland became a revolutionary industrialized following its climate and mountainous terrain that promoted handicraft industries that supplemented Agriculture. The handicraft industries revolutionized following the spinning industries that encompassed mechanization leading to the generation of water power, electricity improvement of the transport sector, and the financial market (Watkins).

Switzerland has had a thriving economic history since 1848 through industrial transformation owing to the Agricultural economy and its neutrality during the World Wars, coupled with the success of its banking systems that made it one of the most stable economies in the world. Having close links with Western Europe and United States economies, Switzerland escaped the slowdowns of such countries. In the 1990s, the Swiss economy became the weakest In Western Europe, with its annual GDP average growth of 0% between 1991-1997 (The Multimedia History Central). However, from the beginning of 1997, the economy of Switzerland steadily began to gain momentum until its peak in 2000, which had a 3% growth in its annual average GDP (The Multimedia History Central).

However, by 2001, there was a drop in the rate of its growth to 0.9%, and between 2002-2003, the price of its growth virtually stagnated with a GDP of only 0.1% 9The Multimedia History Central). According to the Swiss economy ministry, the stagnation was due to the small upturn in the global economy in the Eurozone, and the Swiss economy would still hold back. The economic slowdown encompassed bankruptcy, and increased unemployment rates in the labor market. Swiss economy began to rise later in 2007 in the chemical sectors, machinery, tourism, banking, engineering, insurance, among other industries.

Political History of Switzerland

The political history of Switzerland dates back to 150,000 years ago under the domain of the Roman empire ion the middle ages that made the country to be divided into kingdoms of Burgundy and Alemannia (Rocketswag). The confidence was later joined into five more states that further enhanced the supremacy of the federation and consequently subjugating the southern and northern territories of Swiss. This process ended in 1515 with the trounce of Swiss in Marignano battle (Rocketswag). After the inter-cantonal wars and the gaining of independence in Swiss in 1648 from the Holy Roman Empire through the Treaty of Westphalia, the European countries finally acknowledged Swiss neutrality.

The period between 1536-1798 was designated as ancient regimes that saw Switzerland as a weak confidence through the incorporation of 13 cities and small value communities that controlled the whole nation of France (Rocketswag). Following the 1798 outbreak of the French Revolution, the Helvetic Republic of Swiss novel administration imposed a new constitution that was geared at dissolving the cantons. Switzerland's identity was further to the French satellite state status, a regime that was marked by launch attacks on France by Australia and Russia, albeit the Swiss declined to fight the French.

It was until after a civil war that finally led to the fall of the Helvetic Republic and the French Monarch. Napoleon enforced a constitution that was conferred under the Mediation Act. The Act reinstated the independence of the Swiss to a large extend and consequently introduced ng the 19 cantons Confederation. Swiss’s sovereignty was reestablished entirely after the 1815 Vienna Congress, coupled with the approval of Swiss neutrality once and for all by the European powers, albeit it was after the 1860 Siege of Gaeta that Swiss armed forces stopped working for the foreign governments (Rocketswag). It is worth noting that the country maintained its neutrality policy during and after the world wars.

Social History of Switzerland

Switzerland’s social aspects is first depicted in the realms of its identification with its name originating from Schwyz from one of the founder cantons and the name Helvetia derived from the tribe of Celtic known as Helvetians. The latter settled in the region in the second century BC. Switzerland has a federation of 26 states called cantons with four linguistic areas with German in the North and Eat, French speakers in the West, Romansch speaking in the south Eastland. The Italian speakers in the South and the diversity makes the question of native culture and issue of recurrence (Countries and their Culture).

In the realms of demographic aspects, by 1998, the Swiss population was 7,118,000, a steady increase since 1815 after the establishment of the borders. The end of the 19the Century saw a decrease in the birthrates as immigration played vital roles in the increasing population. Switzerland became an immigration destination since World war2 following its neutrality in the wars and its rapid economic mic development (Countries and their Cultures). Additionally, Swiss’ linguistic affiliation delves on the use of German language since the middle ages following the invasion of the Almans, the geared the development of Romance languages. Symbolism, as a social aspect, delved on the formation of the federal states following the efforts to promote nationalism and, consequently, strengthen a collective national identity. Swiss' ethnic relations and the emergence of the nation lasted for six centuries following the 1291 original oath when there was a concluded alliance among United Cantons and Schwyz, and Underworld (Countries and their Cultures0.Napoleon Bonaparte, in the quest to make Switzerland a centralized state between 1798-1803, tested the united nations model with the Helvetian Republic (Countries and their Cultures).The existing ethnic differences among the Swiss threaten national unity, coupled with distrust in culture and tensions between linguistic and religious groups

Present Time Switzerland

Current Economic Aspects of Switzerland

Forests, mountains, and lakes cover about two-thirds of Switzerland's land, thereby making it lack mineral resources; therefore, it has to import, process, and resell as products. Services is one of the vital aspects of the economy, encompassing assurances, tourism, and banking Farming is another critical aspect of the economy. However, the production of Swiss farmers does not fulfill most people’s needs making Swiss rely on imported goods from other nations.

Switzerland’s economy is divided into three sectors, agriculture, industry, and services, with less than 10% of the population employed in the agricultural sector, a primary industry strongly supported by the government (Index of Economic Freedom). 40% of the population is engaged in the industrial area, encompassing trade, handicraft, and industry, which is considered a secondary sector after agriculture, which is the primary sector 9Index of Economic Freedom). More than 50% of the population is employed in the services sector, a sector that is depicted as the tertiary sector, underscoring insurances, tourism, and banking. (Index of Economic Freedom). Swiss underlies one of the nations with the highest contributions in foreign trade to the gross inland product, and it trades with industrialized nations as its trading partners like the USA, France, Germany, Japan, Great Britain, among others.

Most of Swiss’ vital trade goods underlie chemicals, machines, vehicles, agricultural products, metals energy, among others. Switzerland’s currency is Swiss Francs, with the cost of living being higher following the cantonal level's overburdensome taxation. The value of imports and export goods equals 118.8% of the GDP; transparent and efficient codes of investments and banking have remained sound and well-capitalized (Index of Economic Freedom). Finally, Switzerland has the second-highest GDP per capita income globally at the end of 2015 (Discover Switzerland).

Current Political Aspects of Switzerland

Swiss is based on a federal republic state on a parliamentary democracy consisting of 26 cantons or provinces that enjoy a fair amount of decentralization. The president is the head of state, and government and the post is ceremonial and annually rotates among the seven members of the Federal Council (Santander Trade Markets). Under the Switzerland constitution, the government make up is never determined by a parliamentary majority but per the four-party power-sharing agreement known as the magic formula.

Swiss has a bicameral legislature with the parliament called the Federal Assembly consisting of the council of states (Upper house) and the national council (Lower house). The lower house consists of 46 seats with two members selected from each of the twenty provinces (Cantons) and one from the six half cantons. The National Council comprises of 200 places as its member are elected by popular vote on representation basis proportionality (Santander Trade Markets). Members of the National Council and the Council of state are mandated to serve a four-year term. The executive branch of the Government has both direct and indirect sovereignty in parliamentary support through their experience of a vote of confidence. The power of the federal legislature is vested in both the parliament and the government. Switzerland’s policy of armed neutrality in global affairs has enhanced its political stability.

Current Social Aspects of Switzerland

Switzerland’s social aspect has been influenced by neighborhood cultures like France, Italy, and Germany, and 26 cantons with their distinct sets of customs, traditions, and languages. Swiss' social beliefs and customs were initially based on patriarchy, albeit it is currently based on non-defined roles for men and women (Sen). Marriages are based on mutual consent on the bride and groom before marriage, coupled with frequent divorces and remarriages, occurrences that were not seen before.

In terms of religions and festivals, Switzerland, as a federal state, has no state religion, with the majority being Christians, albeit church adherence has steadily declined over the years (Sen). Another integral part of Switzerland’s social aspect is based on the participation of sporting activities like football, and ice hockey as the most popular sports played in the country. Swiss also engage in other sporting activities like hornussen, wrestling, tennis playing, race driving, and cycling. In terms of linguistics, Swiss has no official language as most literature is either written in French, Germany, Italian or Romansch.

Additionally, Swiss’ social aspects encompass music and dances hence receiving international recognition with awards. A famous music festival held in the country is the Montreux Jazz Festival and Eluveitei metal band that has attained international recognition (Sen). Dancing has become a popular leisure activity after World War 2 from traditional dances like polka, waltz, among other to modern dances like salsa, rock and roll, and breakdance.

Future of Switzerland

Future Economic Aspects of Switzerland

Switzerland is likely to maintain its stable and prosperous economy in the future. Albeit its function in the dynamic world is expected to depend on the slow integration of the EU. Swiss' domestic policies are likely to be dominated by the debates between Euro- Enthusiasts and Euro-Skeptics, coupled with the controversies of the foreign workers (Nations Encyclopedia). That would subsequently compel the Swiss economy and society to struggle...