A report on Vaud and Helvetic Republic

The Helvetic Republic, with borders according to the first Helvetic constitution of 12 April 1798

Bailiwicks of Bern in Vaud in the 18th century

Alois von Reding led Central Swiss troops against the French.

Built by the Bishop of Lausanne during the 15th century, Château Saint-Maire has been the seat of the cantonal government since 1803

William Tell fights the revolution (1798), by Dunker, praises the struggle of the Old Confederation against the Helvetic revolution supported by French invasion. It depicts the Swiss folk hero William Tell, carrying a shield with the Rütlischwur, and his son fighting the revolution, represented as a chimera wearing a phrygian cap

The awakening of the Swiss (1798), by Midart, celebrates the transformation of the Old Confederation into the Helvetic Republic. It shows a Swiss who wakes up from his sleep (the ancien régime) and is handed his weapons by Liberty. In the background, the rising sun and the Gallic rooster herald the new era

The provisional constitution of 15 January 1798

The room of the Grand Council of Vaud, the parliament of the canton of Vaud

Lausanne, capital and largest city in Vaud

The Swiss Confederacy, which until then had consisted of self-governing cantons united by a loose military alliance (and ruling over subject territories such as Vaud), was invaded by the French Revolutionary Army and turned into an ally known as the "Helvetic Republic".

- Helvetic Republic

Vaud nationalists like Frédéric-César de La Harpe had called for French intervention in liberating the area, and French Revolutionary troops moved in, taking over the whole of Switzerland itself in the process and setting up the Helvetic Republic.

- Vaud

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The "Thirteen-Canton Confederation" of the Old Swiss Confederacy (1513–1798)

Cantons of Switzerland

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The 26 cantons of Switzerland (Kanton; canton ; cantone; Sursilvan and Surmiran: cantun; Vallader and Puter: Chantun; Sutsilvan: cantùn; Rumantsch Grischun: chantun) are the member states of the Swiss Confederation.

The 22 cantonal coats of arms (all but Jura, with the half-cantons represented jointly) in stained glass set in the dome of the Federal Palace of Switzerland (c. 1900)

Caricature of the division of Basel, 1833

Each canton of the Old Swiss Confederacy, formerly also Ort ('location', from before 1450), or Stand ('estate', from c. 1550), was a fully sovereign state with its own border controls, army, and currency from at least the Treaty of Westphalia (1648) until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848, with a brief period of centralised government during the Helvetic Republic (1798–1803).

Geneva (formally République et canton de Genève, 'Republic and canton of Geneva'), Jura, Neuchâtel, Valais, Vaud and Ticino.

Valais

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One of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation.

Valère Basilica dominating the Rhône Valley. By the 12th century, the bishops of Sion began building churches and castles in Sion to represent their power and administer their estates.

The Rhône Valley near Pfynwald. Note the vineyards, pines, and steppic vegetation that are typical of dry Central Valais

The Aletsch Glacier, largest in the Alps

The Weisshorn, one of the highest peaks of Valais

Predominantly Catholic, the canton includes numerous churches and Alpine chapels (here Maria zum Schnee in Bettmeralp)

The Grande Dixence is one of the world's largest dams

St. Gingolph is one of the only two ports on Lake Geneva, and the terminus of the Tonkin Railway

BLS train descending the summit line of the Lötschberg Railway

A postbus waiting on the summit of the Simplon Pass

People gathering at the national cow fighting final

A Brisolée served with local products and wine

It borders the cantons of Vaud and Bern to the north, the cantons of Uri and Ticino to the east, as well as Italy to the south and France to the west.

During the French invasion of the Swiss Confederacy in the same year, Valais was incorporated into the Helvetic Republic until 1802 when it became the separate Rhodanic Republic.

Switzerland

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Landlocked country located at the confluence of Western, Central and Southern Europe.

Founded in 44 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus, Augusta Raurica (near Basel) was the first Roman settlement on the Rhine and is now among the most important archaeological sites in Switzerland.

The Old Swiss Confederacy from 1291 (dark green) to the sixteenth century (light green) and its associates (blue). In the other colours shown are the subject territories.

The Act of Mediation was Napoleon's attempt at a compromise between the Ancien Régime and a Republic.

The first Federal Palace in Bern (1857). One of the three cantons presiding over the Tagsatzung (former legislative and executive council), Bern was chosen as the permanent seat of federal legislative and executive institutions in 1848, in part because of its closeness to the French-speaking area.

Inauguration in 1882 of the Gotthard Rail Tunnel connecting the southern canton of Ticino, the longest in the world at the time

General Ulrich Wille, appointed commander-in-chief of the Swiss Army for the duration of World War I

In 2003, by granting the Swiss People's Party a second seat in the governing cabinet, the Parliament altered the coalition that had dominated Swiss politics since 1959.

Köppen–Geiger climate classification map for Switzerland

The Swiss Federal Council in 2022 with President Ignazio Cassis (bottom) standing on an abstract, reduced railway lines map and positioned at their respective political origins

The Federal Palace, seat of the Federal Assembly and the Federal Council

The Landsgemeinde is an old form of direct democracy, still in practice in two cantons.

The colour-reversed Swiss flag became the symbol of the Red Cross Movement, founded in 1863 by Henry Dunant.

A Swiss Air Force F/A-18 Hornet at Axalp Air Show

Swiss-built Mowag Eagles of the Land Forces

A proportional representation of Switzerland exports, 2019

The city of Basel (Roche Tower) is the capital of the country's pharmaceutical industry, which accounts for around 38% of Swiss exports worldwide.

The Greater Zürich area, home to 1.5 million inhabitants and 150,000 companies, is one of the most important economic centres in the world.

The University of Basel is Switzerland's oldest university (1460).

Some Swiss scientists who played a key role in their discipline (clockwise):
Leonhard Euler (mathematics)
Louis Agassiz (glaciology)
Auguste Piccard (aeronautics)
Albert Einstein (physics)

The LHC tunnel. CERN is the world's largest laboratory and also the birthplace of the World Wide Web.

Members of the European Free Trade Association (green) participate in the European Single Market and are part of the Schengen Area.

Switzerland has the tallest dams in Europe, among which the Mauvoisin Dam, in the Alps. Hydroelectricity is the most important domestic source of energy in the country.

Entrance of the new Lötschberg Base Tunnel, the third-longest railway tunnel in the world, under the old Lötschberg railway line. It was the first completed tunnel of the greater project NRLA.

Population density in Switzerland (2019)

Percentage of foreigners in Switzerland (2019)

Urbanisation in the Rhone Valley (outskirts of Sion)

Jean-Jacques Rousseau was not only a writer but also an influential philosopher of the eighteenth century.

Roger Federer has won 20 Grand Slam singles titles, making him among the most successful men's tennis players ever.

Fondue is melted cheese, into which bread is dipped

National languages in Switzerland (2016):
German (62.8%)
French (22.9%)
Italian (8.2%)
Romansh (0.5%)

The Latin name Confoederatio Helvetica was neologised and introduced gradually after the formation of the federal state in 1848, harking back to the Napoleonic Helvetic Republic, appearing on coins from 1879, inscribed on the Federal Palace in 1902 and after 1948 used in the official seal (e.g., the ISO banking code "CHF" for the Swiss franc, and the country top-level domain ".ch", are both taken from the state's Latin name).

Swiss wine is produced mainly in Valais, Vaud (Lavaux), Geneva and Ticino, with a small majority of white wines.

Canton of Bern

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One of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation.

Helveto-Roman settlement Bern-Engehalbinsel

Burgundian and Allamanni lands between 534 and 843

Lands held by the main noble families around 1200

The Swiss Confederacy before the Battle of Sempach (1387)

The Swiss Confederacy in the 18th century

The districts of the Bernese Aargau before the creation of the Canton of Aargau

Districts of the Canton of Bern in the 18th Century

Map of the modern Canton of Vaud, which was annexed by Bern from 1536 until 1798

Siege and execution of the garrison at Grandson

View from the Chasseral across the Mittelland to the Bernese Alps

Wetterhorn, painting by Joseph Anton Koch, 1824

The Grand Council, the cantonal parliament

Capital city of Bern with the Aare, Gothic Nydeggkirche on left

To the west lie the canton of Neuchâtel, the canton of Fribourg and canton of Vaud.

Vaud nationalists like Frédéric-César de La Harpe had called for French intervention in liberating the area and French Revolutionary troops moved in, taking over the whole of Switzerland itself in the process and setting up the Helvetic Republic.

Canton of Geneva

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One of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation.

The cantons and allies of the Old Swiss Confederacy in the 18th century. Geneva is a group of small territories in the southwest.

The County of Geneva and surrounding territories in around 1200.

Territories acquired by Berne from Geneva, 1339-1798

L'Escalade, the last attempt by Savoy to take Geneva by force, 1602

Charles Pictet de Rochemont, the Geneva envoy to the Congress of Vienna who negotiated the canton’s borders

Borders after the Congress of Vienna: in yellow, the previous lands of Geneva; in blue, towns ceded by France; in pink, towns ceded by Savoy.

View from Reculet mountain towards Geneva. The canton occupies most of the Geneva basin, the valley between the Reculet (France) and Mount Salève (France). The Alps are visible in the background, covered by clouds

The headquarters of the local cantonal bank, the BCGE

Geneva has the densest vineyards of Switzerland. Here, the largest wine-making municipality of Switzerland, Satigny.

Map of the French département of Léman established in 1798

Map of the canton of Geneva after the first peace of Paris May 1814

Map of the canton of Geneva after the treaty of Paris 1815

Map of the canton of Geneva after the treaty of Turin 1816

Within the country, the canton shares borders with Vaud to the east, the only adjacent canton.

Following these events that transformed Switzerland under the Helvetic Republic, Geneva joined the Swiss Confederation in 1815 as the 22nd canton.

Frédéric-César de La Harpe

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La Harpe's "Essai sur la Constitution du Pays de Vaud"

A map of the Helvetic Republic, of which La Harpe was a founder and leader, specifically in the Canton of Léman.

Frédéric-César de La Harpe (6 April 1754 – 30 March 1838) was a Swiss political leader, writer and journalist, best known for his pivotal role in the independence of the canton of Vaud from Bern and in the formation of the Helvetic Republic, in which he served as a member of its Directory.

Canton of Léman

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Louis Reymond, who took over the leadership of the Bourla-Papey, by Benjamin Bolomey, 1798

"Répub. helvétique Canton Léman", seal of the district courthouse of Lausanne

Léman was the name of a canton of the Helvetic Republic from 1798 to 1803, corresponding to the territory of modern Vaud.

Échallens

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A train of the Lausanne-Échallens-Bercher (LEB) line

Échallens is a municipality in the district of Gros-de-Vaud in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.

Échallens belonged from 1798 to 1803 to the canton of Léman in the Helvetic Republic, and was brought into the canton of Vaud by the mediation of Napoleon.