We kind of owe the fact that Switzerland is Switzerland to Caesar - in 58 BC he prevented the Helvetians from emigrating to France and they founded a flourishing Helvetia. The real history of Switzerland began in the 13th century, with the first alliances from the villages around Lake Lucerne.

Conquest by Napoleon in 1798 put an end to the Old Confederation. The new era began - in 1848 the political disputes about the type of Swiss state lead to a pioneering, revolutionary constitution for Europe - a democratic federal state with 26 sovereign cantons, democratically elected authorities, a two chamber system, a very direct political say for the citizens and equality of the four languages of the country and cultures.