People.—The Swiss are a mixed people In race and language. German, French, Italian, and a corrupt kind of Latin called Rhaetian or Roumansch, are spo ken in different parts. German is spo ken by the majority of inhabitants in 15 cantons, French in 5, Italian in 1 (Ti 'lino), and Roumansch in 1 (the Grisens).
History.—After the conquest of Hel vetia by Julius Cnser, the Romans found ed in it several flourishing cities which were afterward destroyed by the barbar ians. On the decline of the Roman em pire it successively formed a part of the kingdom of Burgundy and the dominions of the Merovingian and Carlovingian kings; while the E. part of Switzerland became first subject to the Allemanni, and subsequently it was wholly included in the German Empire under Conrad II. in 1037. The house of Hapsburg had, from an early period, the supremacy over all the E. part of Switzerland, and it preserved its ascendency till about 1307, when Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwal den entered into a confederacy for mu tual aid against Austria, which compact was confirmed after the defeat of Leo pold, Duke of Austria, at the battle of Morgarten in 1315. From 1332 to 1353, Lucerne, Zurich, Glarus, Zug, and Berne joined the confederation. Aargau was conquered from Austria in 1415; the ab bey and town of St. Gall joined the other cantons in 1451-1454; Thurgau was an nexed in 1460; Freiburg and Solothurn admitted in 1481; the Grisons in 1497; Basel and Schaffhausen in 1501; and Ap penzell in 1513. About this time Ticino was conquered from the Milanese, and Vaud taken from Savoy by the Bernese in 1560. The remaining cantons were not finally united to the confederation till the time of Napoleon; and the com pact, by which all were placed on a per fect equality, only dates from the peace of 1814. Following the political and re ligious troubles which culminated in the adoption of the liberal constitution of 1848, Neuchatel declared itself independ ent of the King of Prussia in his title of Prince Neuchatel. The canton was de clared a republic, with a constitution similar to that of the other Swiss states. The king protested, but in vain, and in 1857 he finally relinquished his claim. In May, 1874, another revision of the consti tution was adopted. It makes civil mar riages compulsory, establishes complete liberty of creed, prohibits the appoint ment of new bishoprics except under Federal approval, excludes Jesuits, for bids new convents, and authorizes the government to expel dangerous for eigners, etc. In 1891 the 600th anniver sary of Swiss nationality was celebrated.
In 1898 the government began the purchase of the national railways and all the five great railway systems of the country had become state property by 1909. In 1911 the National Assem bly passed a measure providing for workingmen's insurance against accident and sickness. This was ratified by a
referendum in the following year.
Switzerland during the World War occupied an extremely difficult position in that it was altogether surrounded by bel ligerent states and also because the sym pathies of the people were divided in accordance with their racial character's. tics. French Switzerland sympathized strongly with France and German Switzerland with Germany. Following the mobilization of the Swiss army the French-speaking Swiss were called upon to defend the German border and the German-speaking, the French- The Swiss government had taken complete measures to protect her neutrality, and every foot of her frontier was protected by mines or by barbed wire.
Switzerland has always been a haven for political refugees and in the first weeks of the war she was called upon to shelter thousands from all nationalities from the belligerent countries, and throughout the war her territory was thronged with those who had escaped from the countries at war. Her utmost efforts were directed toward alleviating the sufferings of those refugees who were in need. During the progress the war the country was under great expense for the mobilization of her army. It was at the same time necessary to raise large amounts to assist the destitute and to exercise supervision over the agents of the belligerent countries who used the Swiss cities as headquarters for intrigue and propaganda. In addition to these difficulties the tourist trade on which Switzerland was largely dependent for her prosperity, was entirely cut off. The great hotels in the latter years of the war became the rest homes for the wounded of the different armies, but the income derived from this source was small compared with what it would have been in times of peace. The necessity of keeping the army mobilized and other extraordinary expenditures resulted in economic disturbances throughout the country. Special taxes were levied and in the middle of 1915 the war had al ready cost Switzerland over $50,000,000.
Early in 1917 rumors that Germany contemplated the invasion of Switzerland resulted in an increase in the mobilized forces of the country. During the war Switzerland acted as a clearing house for the exchange of disabled prisoners. Thousands of these were sent from the various prison camps to be interned in Switzerland for various periods of time, after which they were in most cases re patriated. By a plebiscite held on May 16, 1920, the Swiss people declared their adherence to the League of Nations by a majority of almost 90.000 votes. Geneva was chosen to be the meeting place of the League, and the first regular session was held in November and December, 1920.