Download or read book Let s Swallow Switzerland written by Klaus Urner and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2001 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Klaus Urner has discovered proof that Hitler wanted to "rub out" Switzerland. The planned occupation of the country was, however, postponed for a short time and in the end did not materialize. Switzerland was the only country in Western Europe that did not suffer military invasion in World War II. It made itself indispensable to both sides and survived in the eye of the hurricane that was Nazi aggression. "Let's Swallow Switzerland", including archival photographs, original color maps, and reprints of secret documents, sets new standards for the investigation of this important chapter of twentieth-century history.
Download or read book Swiss Federalism written by Adrian Vatter and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-06-12 with total page 234 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The political and economic crisis of EU integration has made it increasingly apparent how challenging it is to bring together different sovereign cultures, languages and regions into a single political system. Switzerland – being one of the three classic federations in the world – can provide insights, particularly in relation to the accommodation of cultural, linguistic, religious and regional diversity, which can help tackle contemporary challenges. This book describes and analyses the characteristics, institutions, and processes of Swiss federalism, along with its combination of stability and change. It presents a comprehensive study of the federal system of Switzerland, where it comes from, how it operates, and the way it has changed of late. This will allow readers to appreciate the specific and current answers the Swiss case offers to the main questions raised by wider federal research. This text will be of key interest to scholars and students in federalism and territorial politics, political institutions, local and regional government studies, multi-level governance and more broadly to European and comparative politics.
Download or read book A Concise History of Switzerland written by Clive H. Church and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-05-23 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite its position at the heart of Europe and its quintessentially European nature, Switzerland's history is often overlooked within the English-speaking world. This comprehensive and engaging history of Switzerland traces the historical and cultural development of this fascinating but neglected European country from the end of the Dark Ages up to the present. The authors focus on the initial Confederacy of the Middle Ages; the religious divisions which threatened it after 1500 and its surprising survival amongst Europe's monarchies; the turmoil following the French Revolution and conquest, which continued until the Federal Constitution of 1848; the testing of the Swiss nation through the late nineteenth century and then two World Wars and the Depression of the 1930s; and the unparalleled economic and social growth and political success of the post-war era. The book concludes with a discussion of the contemporary challenges, often shared with neighbours, that shape the country today.
Download or read book Swiss Made written by R. James Breiding and published by Profile Books. This book was released on 2013-01-10 with total page 751 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why has Switzerland - a tiny, land-locked country with few natural advantages - become so successful for so long at so many things? In banking, pharmaceuticals, machinery, even textiles, Swiss companies rank alongside the biggest and most powerful global competitors. How did they get there? How do they continue to refresh themselves? Does the Swiss 'Sonderfall' (special case) provide lessons others can learn and benefit from? Can the Swiss continue to perform in a hyper-competitive global economy? Swiss Made offers answers to these and many other questions about the country as it describes the origins, structures and characteristics of the most important Swiss companies. The authors suggest success is due to a large degree to sound entrepreneurial thinking and an openness to new ideas. And they venture a surprising forecast on the country's ability to keep pace in an age of globalisation.
Download or read book Three Weeks in November written by Ralph Weaver and published by Helion and Company. This book was released on 2012-06-18 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The political phenomenon known as the 'Springtime of the Nations' swept through Europe in 1848, toppling thrones, forcing old autocratic regimes to grant constitutions to the people and bringing street fighting and large scale campaigns to cities and states across the continent. What is not generally known is that a precursor to these events had already taken place in the center of Europe in the Alpine valleys of the collection of independent states known collectively as Switzerland. In November 1847, twelve of the Swiss cantons went to war with seven other cantons over the future of the country. The campaign lasted just three weeks, with only a few hundred casualties and ended with the establishment of the modern Swiss state we have today. If it had not ended so quickly it is likely that France, Austria and Prussia would have become involved, which would have led to a European-wide war. This book is unique in that it concentrates on the military aspects of this episode in history. As well as an outline of the campaign itself, it covers the strengths and organization of each canton; in 1847 each was a separate state with its own army. Included are chapters on the uniforms of the canton's armies, their battle flags, weapons and distinguishing badges. The major battle of the war, at Gislikon (modern Gisikon), a small village with a strategic river crossing, just north of the city of Luzern, is treated in detail. As well as the general picture, individual soldiers' stories illustrate the combat techniques of the period. Biographies are given of some of the leading figures from both sides of the conflict, which demonstrate the European dimension. Many served in French, Dutch and Neapolitan armies before taking appointments in the Swiss canton armies. To compliment the text the book is well illustrated with a mixture of contemporary pictures, in color and black and white, and also specially produced color plates of Swiss canton uniforms and flags. So that the reader can follow the campaign, maps from official Swiss sources are included. Orders of battle for all the cantons and detailed orders of battle for the main action at Gislikon are also provided. This is the latest title in Helion's groundbreaking series of 19th Century studies, and will again appear in hardback as a strictly limited edition printing of 500 copies, each individually numbered and signed by the author on a decorative title page. Ralph Weaver has made a life-long study of military history, particularly of Europe in the 19th Century. He began his military career with the Sealed Knot before giving up the sword for the pen. He has been the editor of the journal of the Continental Wars Society for the past twenty-five years and has written and illustrated books and magazine articles on military history. He trained as a land surveyor in the Civil Service and has used his map-making skills in battlefield walking and table top wargaming. He has been collecting books, pictures, photographs and reference material on uniforms with a view to writing a definitive history on the subject. As well as conducting research on military topics, his latest interests include cooking and looking after grandchildren.
Download or read book Swiss Monetary History since the Early 19th Century written by Ernst Baltensperger and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-08-03 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book describes the remarkable path which led to the Swiss Franc becoming the strong international currency that it is today. Ernst Baltensperger and Peter Kugler use Swiss monetary history to provide valuable insights into a number of issues concerning the organization and development of monetary institutions and currency that shaped the structure of financial markets and affected the economic course of a country in important ways. They investigate a number of topics, including the functioning of a world without a central bank, the role of competition and monopoly in money and banking, the functioning of monetary unions, monetary policy of small open economies under fixed and flexible exchange rates, the stability of money demand and supply under different monetary regimes, and the monetary and macroeconomic effects of Swiss Banking and Finance. Swiss Monetary History since the Early 19th Century illustrates the value of monetary history for understanding financial markets and macroeconomics today.
Download or read book Switzerland in Europe written by Christine Trampusch and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2011-03-14 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book provides the first systematic overview of Swiss political economy in comparative perspective. It provides an analysis of major socio-economic institutions, economic actors, economic and social policies, and political institutions and their recent changes.
Download or read book Why Switzerland written by Jonathan Steinberg and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2015-11-19 with total page 405 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Revised and completely updated edition of Jonathan Steinberg's classic account of Switzerland's unique political and economic system. Why Switzerland? examines the complicated voting system that allows citizens to add, strike out, or vote more than once for candidates, with extremely complicated systems of proportional representation; a collective and consensual executive leadership in both state and church; and the creation of the Swiss idea of citizenship, with tolerance of differences of language and religion, and a perfectionist bureaucracy which regulates the well-ordered society. This third edition tries to test the flexibility of the Swiss way of politics in the globalized world, social media, the huge expansion of money in world circulation and the vast tsunamis of capital which threaten to swamp it. Can the complex machinery that has maintained Swiss institutions for centuries survive globalization, neo-liberalism and mass migration from poor countries to rich ones?
Download or read book The Republican Alternative written by André Holenstein and published by Amsterdam University Press. This book was released on 2008 with total page 362 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Republican Alternative seeks to move beyond the mere notion of scholarly inquiry into the republic—the subject of recent rediscovery by political historians interested in Europe’s intellectual heritage—by investigating the practical similarities and differences between two early modern republics, as well as their self-images and interactions during the turbulent seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Among the world’s most economically successful societies, Switzerland and the Netherlands laid much of the foundation for their prosperity during the early modern period discussed here. This volume attempts to clarify the special character of these two countries as they developed, including issues of religious plurality, the republican form of government, and an increasingly commercially-driven agrarian society.
Download or read book The Politics and Government of Switzerland written by C. Church and published by Springer. This book was released on 2003-12-16 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Politics and Government of Switzerland is one of very few English language studies of contemporary Swiss politics. Drawing on recent research in Switzerland, and the author's own observations, it offers wide coverage of Swiss political forces, processes and policies. Church argues that Switzerland is actually a vibrant and pluralist polity, in which politics are increasingly competitive. However, it still retains some distinctive characteristics like direct democracy, which mean that the Swiss people play a larger role than in other countries.
Download or read book Swiss Public Administration written by Andreas Ladner and published by Springer. This book was released on 2018-08-07 with total page 397 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Swiss citizens approve of their government and the way democracy is practiced; they trust the authorities and are satisfied with the range of services Swiss governments provide. This is quite unusual when compared to other countries. This open access book provides insight into the organization and the functioning of the Swiss state. It claims that, beyond politics, institutions and public administration, there are other factors which make a country successful. The authors argue that Switzerland is an interesting case, from a theoretical, scientific and a more practice-oriented perspective. While confronted with the same challenges as other countries, Switzerland offers different solutions, some of which work astonishingly well.
Download or read book Historical Dictionary of Switzerland written by Leo Schelbert and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2014-05-21 with total page 663 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Switzerland's exceptional scenic beauty of valleys, lakes, and mountains, its central location on international trade routes, and its world famous banking system are just a few elements that have contributed to its rise in the global market. It consists of twenty-six member states, called cantons and it’s actively engaged in the maintenance of peace among nations. The history of the Swiss Confederation is as rich and varied as its culture and people. This updated second edition of Historical Dictionary of Switzerland features the nation's multicultural and democratic traditions and institutions, its complex history, and its people's involvement in past and present world affairs. This is done through a list of abbreviations and acronyms, a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, maps, a bibliography, and over 500 cross-referenced dictionary entries on important persons, places, events, and institutions, as well as significant political, economic, social, and cultural aspects. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone who wants to know more about Switzerland.
Download or read book The Politics of Switzerland written by Hanspeter Kriesi and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2008-10-02 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Despite Switzerland's small size, its political system is one of the most complex and fascinating among contemporary democracies. The rich, complex mixture of centuries-old institutions and the refined political arrangements that exist today constitute a veritable laboratory for social scientists and their students. Often presented as the paradigmatic case of political integration, consensus democracy and multinational federalism, the Swiss model has become a benchmark case for analyses in comparative politics, political behaviour and other related fields. Written by two leading experts on Swiss politics, this book presents a definitive overview for scholars and students interested in Switzerland's political system at the beginning of the twenty-first century. By focusing on its intricacies but also taking in larger issues of general interest, the broad scope of this study will appeal to all those interested in contemporary European politics and democratic systems.
Download or read book National Geographic Traveler Switzerland written by Teresa Fisher and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2012 with total page 324 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From bustling Zurich to the Swiss capital of Bern, from the Matterhorn in Zermatt to the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino in the south, National Geographic Traveler: Switzerland guides you to the better- and lesser-known sights of this pristine European country. In between, you'll discover the cultural and natural treasures--including hundreds of museums, architectural masterpieces, parks, and lakes--Switzerland has to offer. Among the special features of National Geographic Traveler: Switzerland are sidebars detailing experiences throughout the country, to make sure that you get to know the culture, and the people, inside and out. You can learn about Swiss watchmaking in Biel, for example, make your own Swiss chocolate at a culinary workshop, and find the best local designers' clothing in Zurich. Insider tips, in addition, provided by an array of National Geographic experts--photographers, writers, and grantees who have spent significant time in Switzerland--direct you to favorite restaurants, festivals, and other information that only locals know. Guided walks and drives are always a popular feature in our guides, and in National Geographic Traveler: Switzerland, these include a drive across the famous Great St. Bernard Pass, a hike through Appenzellerland and the Lake Constance region, and a walk from Sugiez to M tier through the countryside during grape harvest. To top it off, an extensive Travelwise section at the back of the guide provides hand-picked hotels and restaurants, tour recommendations, and a glossary that covers must-know words.
Download or read book Direct Democracy in Switzerland written by Gregory Fossedal and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-02-06 with total page 555 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Only one country in the world--Switzerland--is a direct democracy, in which, to an extent, the people pass their own laws, judge the constitutionality of statutes, and even have written, in effect, their own constitution. In this propitious volume, Gregory Fossedal reports on the politics and social fabric of what James Bryce has called "the nation that has taken the democratic idea to its furthest extent." The lessons Fossedal presents, at a time of dissatisfaction with the role of money and privileged elites in many Western democracies, are at once timely and urgent.
Download or read book Colonial Switzerland written by P. Purtschert and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-05-26 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: States without former colonies, it has been argued, were intensely involved in colonial practices. This anthology looks at Switzerland, which, by its very strong economic involvements with colonialism, its doctrine of neutrality, and its transnationally entangled scientific community, constitutes a perfect case in point.
Download or read book Target Switzerland written by Stephen P. Halbrook and published by Da Capo Press. This book was released on 2009-08-05 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Countless books have been written on the military history of World War II, however astonishingly little information has appeared about the one country that stared the Nazis down and refused to become an accomplice to the horrors of the Third Reich. This book provides an objective, year-by-year account of Switzerland's military role in World War II, including her defensive strategies, details of Nazi invasion plans, and Switzerland's moral, material and humanitarian links to the Allies. Swiss neutrality in World War II has been criticized in recent years, but the country was entirely surrounded by Axis powers and managed, as revealed here, to render considerable assistance to the Allies.
