MAPS OF HISTORY · HISTORY OF · Switzerland

ONE LAND · 6 ATLASES

Switzerland, on the map of history

What was Switzerland before it was Switzerland? Below, every era of this land in the Maps of History collection — who ruled it, what it was called, and when control changed — each line linked to the dated map that shows it. Modern borders stand in as an honest approximation; every atlas says so on the map itself.

Raetia (mod. Switzerland) · The Rise and Fall of Rome, 264 BC – AD 476

OPEN ROME ON THE LIVING MAP →

The Swiss passes (mod. Switzerland) · The Crusades, 1095–1291

OPEN THE CRUSADES ON THE LIVING MAP →

Switzerland · The Age of Revolutions, 1775–1848

The old Confederacy was revolutionized by France (Helvetic Republic, 1798), restored as a neutral buffer at Vienna, and then — uniquely — turned 1848 into a lasting success: after a short civil war (1847), it adopted the federal constitution it still uses. The age’s one unambiguous constitutional victory, won by the country that fought the age’s shortest war.

OPEN THE AGE OF REVOLUTIONS ON THE LIVING MAP →

Switzerland · The Great War, 1914–1918

OPEN WWI ON THE LIVING MAP →

Switzerland · The War Room — WW2, 1936–1945

Armed neutrality: Switzerland mobilized 850,000 men, mined its tunnels, and planned retreat to an Alpine redoubt — while also serving as banker and go-between for both sides. Neutrality was a strategy, not an absence of one.

OPEN WW2 ON THE LIVING MAP →

Switzerland · The Cold War, 1945–1991

OPEN THE COLD WAR ON THE LIVING MAP →