Швейцарияның Швиц кантоны: Тарих және географиясы

Canton of Switzerland

The canton of Schwyz (Kanton Schwyz ; ; ) is a canton in central Switzerland between the Alps in the south, Lake Lucerne to the west and Lake Zürich in the north, centred on and named after the town of Schwyz. It is one of the founding cantons of Switzerland; Switzerland's name is derived from the name of the canton, and the flag of Switzerland from its coat of arms. For the history of the name, see Schwyz. The Swiss Federal Charter is on display in Schwyz. Northeast of the town of Schwyz is Einsiedeln Abbey.

The earliest traces of humans in Schwyz are from the Upper Paleolithic and Early Mesolithic, or about 12,500 BC. An excavation of the karst caves in the valley of the Muota river (Muotatal) revealed numerous sites, some dating to the Younger Dryas period (c. 10,000 BC). The alpine meadows at Bödmeren, Twärenen and Silberen were Stone Age hunter gatherer camps. Ibex and red deer bones, along with charcoal, indicate that the animals were butchered and cooked in these camps. In 2009 the first Stone Age tool in the canton, a stone drill, was discovered. The Hurden sites are related to the western Cortaillod culture (c. 4500–3500 BC). Sites on the island of Lützelau and the shore zone at Freienbach are eastern Pfyn culture (4000 3300 BC) and Corded Ware culture (2750 2450 BC). During the Bronze Age, several bridges were built between the promontory of Endingen in Rapperswil, St. Gallen and the settlements at Hurden. Over 200,000 posts and seven bridges have been discovered, along with several settlements and ritual sites. On the Schwyz side of the lake, ten different settlements from 4300 2700 BC have been discovered. It soon controlled many of the surrounding lands, many of which are outside the area today covered by the canton of Schwyz. The outer or lake side parts of the canton were partly controlled by the monasteries of St. Gallen, Pfäfers, Rüti and Schänis, along with the Lords of Habsburg, Toggenburg and Rapperswil. Both Pfäffikon Castle and Alt Rapperswil Castle were built by these landlords to control their landholdings. In contrast to the Swiss Plateau, where the local nobility and knights ruled extensive landholdings for the regional counts, in Schwyz there were few local nobles. They were generally poorer and less important than the monasteries' representatives or the leaders of the local livestock collectives. Much of the farming or grazing land in the inner portion of Schwyz was not privately owned but was common land. To administer the land, the local collectives developed into regional collectives that covered several towns and villages. The collectives helped create a sense of unity throughout the farming towns and villages of the valleys and developed a tradition of independence.

Perhaps on 1 August 1291, the cantons of Schwyz, Uri, and Unterwalden entered into an Eternal Alliance: this would eventually become the Swiss Confederation. The Federal Charter of 1291 was probably prompted by the death of Rudolf I of Habsburg on 15 July 1291 and created a defensive alliance. The Rütlischwur (Oath of the Rütli) was another alliance among the Forest Cantons in or around 1308 and brought the cantons closer together. The canton of Schwyz took leadership in the confederation early on. As early as 1320, the name of the canton was applied to the whole of the confederation. It was only in 1803, however, that the name Schweiz, as derived from the canton of Schwyz, became the official name of Switzerland. The flag of Switzerland is derived from the banner of Schwyz. With the Eternal Alliance, the three cantons remained politically independent, with a central council to deal with disputes among the members, and with promises of military assistance. The cantons became de facto independent from the Habsburgs at the same time as the Habsburgs were attempting to expand into the Forest Cantons. When the century old Marchenstreit between Schwyz and Einseideln Abbey led to a Schwyz attack on the Abbey in 1314, the Habsburgs, as patrons of the Abbey, had an opportunity for military action against them. On 15 November 1315, Leopold of Austria led a large army of knights to crush the rebellious confederates, planning a surprise attack from the south via Lake Aegeri and the Morgarten pass, and counting on a complete victory over the rebellious peasants. The chronicle of Johannes von Winterthur concerning the battle puts the Austrian forces at 20,000, though that number is certainly inflated. Another account says that there were 9,000 men in the Austrian army, while Delbrück holds that the Austrian army was only 2,000 3,000 but mostly knights. The Confederates of Schwyz — supported by the Confederates of Uri, who feared for their autonomy, but not supported by the Confederates of Unterwalden — expected the army in the west near the village of Arth, where they had erected fortifications. The size of the Confederate army is also disputed, with some chronicles placing it at 1,500, while others state that it was 3,000 4,000. After the victory at Morgarten, the Forest Cantons met at Brunnen on 9 December 1315 to renew the promise of mutual military assistance. The Pact of Brunnen, which emerged from the meeting, changed the pragmatic defensive alliance into a full confederacy. During the following forty years, five nearby cities (Lucerne in 1332, Zürich in 1351, Glarus and Zug in 1352 and Bern in 1353) joined the Pact and began the growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy.

As the Confederation expanded, Schwyz took a leading role in the new organization. The aggressive, expansionist foreign policy of Schwyz led to its name being applied to the entire Confederation. Even in the 14th century, the chronicles of the surrounding countries referred to the Confederation as Schwyzer or Schweizer (the modern German spelling). While Schwyz gained no territory from the battle, both Bern and Lucerne gained significant territories at the expense of the Habsburgs. In 1402/3, Schwyz signed an alliance with Appenzell, which was seeking independence from the Abbey of St. Gall. In May 1403, the Abbot and the Habsburgs sent a force to defeat the rebellious Appenzellers while Schwyz and Glarus sent troops to defend their ally. On 15 May 1403, the Abbot's forces entered the pass leading to Speicher, and outside the village of Vögelinsegg they met the Appenzell army. A detachment of about 80 Appenzellers started the attack from a hill over the valley, with about 300 soldiers from Schwyz and 200 from Glarus moving around the flanks of the army. When the League's cavalry charged up the hill, they met 2000 Appenzellers and were forced to retreat. During the retreat, about 600 horsemen and many of the 5000 infantry were killed by the Appenzell army. The League signed a peace treaty with Appenzell at Arbon, but the peace was short lived. Appenzell formed an anti Habsburg alliance, the Bund ob dem See, with several cities including Bregenz. In 1408 the Habsburgs besieged Bregenz, and the Bund, including Schwyz, marched out to support Bregenz. However, when they met the Habsburgs, the Bund was decisively defeated and the Bund collapsed. Schwyz paid the Habsburgs off to avoid an attack and Appenzell retained some independence but eventually became an associate of the Confederation. In 1440–1446, Schwyz and six other cantons fought against Zürich and the Habsburgs in the Old Zürich War. The eventual peace brought Zürich back into the Confederation and forced them to cancel their treaty with the Austrians. After the war, Schwyz acquired the villages of Wollerau and Pfäffikon (now in Freienbach) and shared control of Uznach and Gaster (both now in St. Gallen) with Glarus. The war also showed that the confederation had grown into a political alliance so close that it no longer tolerated separatist tendencies of a single member. In the 15th century, Schwyz joined Uri and Nidwalden in attempting to expand south of the Gotthard Pass to gain the revenue from trade over the pass. By the 16th century they controlled, as a federal condominium, the Riveria valley, the Blenio valley, the Maggia valley and the towns of Bellinzona, Lugano, Mendrisio and Locarno. While the Tagsatzung had successfully mediated in 1529, on this occasion the attempt failed, not least because the reformation leader Huldrych Zwingli was eager for a military confrontation. The Catholic cantons declared war on Zürich on 9 October 1531. On 11 October 1531, Schwyz, Uri and Zug decisively defeated the army of Zwingli. Hundreds of soldiers were killed, including Zwingli himself. Schwyz remained staunchly Catholic following the war. Zürich's forces laid a fruitless siege of Rapperswil, while Catholic forces separated Zürich from Bern, beating the Bernese at the First Battle of Villmergen on 24 January 1656. Hostilities ceased on 20 February and the treaty of Villmergen of 7 March reinstalled the status quo preceding the outbreak of hostilities, wherein each canton could specify the religion of all its residents. However, religious tensions continued to rise. When the abbot of St. Gallen proposed to build a "Catholic" road from Schwyz to Austria that would cut off the Protestant part of Glarus from its support in Zürich, the Protestant cantons declared war on the Abbot. After the Protestant victory at the Second Battle of Villmergen, religious equality was established in the Confederation. Throughout the time of the Old Swiss Confederation, the direct democracy of the Landsgemeinde in Schwyz was seen as the most important political institution in the canton and the municipalities of the canton. The Landsgemeinde generally met on the last Sunday in April. Mayors and other government officials were elected, new laws were discussed and voted on and traditional rights were reconfirmed. The Landsgemeinde usually met at Ibach outside Schwyz town, though there were several alternative locations. In the towns, the Landsgemeinde was made up of all land holding males or citizen. By the 16th century this class had begun to develop into an elite class that tended to lead the Landsgemeinde and be appointed as mayors. Below the citizens there was a class of residents, who were allowed to use the common land but had limited rights or political power. In the 16th century it was possible for a resident to buy his way into citizenship, however by the 17th century this had become almost impossible. To pay for the Second Battle of Villmergen, Schwyz allowed residents to once again buy citizenship. The Landsgemeinde meetings sometimes collapsed and led to riots. There were often many parties represented and the alliances and factions changed quickly and unpredictably. Schwyz was often characterized as an enfant terrible due to the unyielding Catholicism along with the political chaos of the Landsgemeinde. To help break the political power of the Inner Cantons, Uri (without the Leventina but with the Urseren), Schwyz (without March and Höfe), both half cantons of Unterwalden, Zug, the Republic of Gersau and Engelberg Abbey were merged into the canton of Waldstätten. The new canton only had 4 seats in the Tagsatzung instead of the 16 that its members had held before the invasion. Initially, the victorious French army only lightly occupied the old core of the canton of Schwyz, but plundered the Einseideln Abbey. However, after a failed uprising in Nidwalden in the fall of 1798, Schwyz was forced to hand over all weapons and to provide supplies and housing to French troops. The heavy demands of the occupying French led to the uprising known as the Hirthemmli War in April 1799. After the French suppressed this uprising, they moved the capital of the canton of Waldstätten to Zug.

Schwyz has an area, as of 2011, of Of this area, 41.0% is used for agricultural purposes, while 33.7% is forested, 5.4% is settled (buildings or roads) and 20.0% is unproductive land.

Percentage of the total vote per party in the canton in the Federal Elections 1971 2015 Party Ideology 1971 1975 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 FDP. The Liberals Classical liberalism 20.4 21.3 28.0 26.0 24.3 25.9 24.0 19.1 15.4 16.7 15.5 20.6 CVP/PDC/PPD/PCD Christian democracy 38.5 46.4 49.4 46.6 36.9 32.8 27.4 27.3 23.4 20.1 20.6 19.5 SP/PS Social democracy 29.0 29.3 22.6 21.0 14.3 19.4 19.9 16.4 17.6 13.9 15.7 13.1 SVP/UDC Swiss nationalism * 3.0 * 6.5 7.6 9.2 21.5 35.9 43.6 45.0 38.0 42.6 EVP/PEV Christian democracy * * * * * * * * * 0.9 1.1 * GLP/PVL Green liberalism * * * * * * * * * * * 2.8 BDP/PBD Conservatism * * * * * * * * * * 3.4 * GPS/PES Green politics * * * * * * * * * 3.4 3.8 1.4 SD/DS National conservatism * * * * * * 3.1 * * * * * FPS/PSL Right wing populism * * * * 4.9 * 2.8 * * * * * Other 12.1 * * * 12.0 12.7 1.3 1.4 * * 1.9 * Voter participation % 45.0 53.3 48.6 43.6 41.6 40.5 35.1 41.0 48.2 52.3 50.5 53.7
FDP before 2009, FDP. The Liberals after 2009
"*" indicates that the party was not on the ballot in this canton.