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.

Excerpt from A Short History of Switzerland Having been for some years engaged upon the Swiss State Papers preserved among the archives of the Public Record Office, it occurred to me that it would be of great interest to me in connection with that work, and possibly of some general use, to make an English translation of a thoroughly good and trustworthy history of Switzerland. Finding that Dr. Dandliker had published a short history of that country, as well as the larger one in three volumes, I decided (with the author's consent) to use the smaller work for the purpose, and have now completed the translation of the second edition, especially revised and annotated by Dr. Dandliker. I trust that it may help to arouse more interest among English readers in the past of the little land whose beauties are a never-failing source of pleasure to English travellers. The translation has been made in the spare moments of a busy life, and my only regret is that my knowledge of the subject has, I fear, been too limited to admit of my doing full justice to Dr. Dandliker's very excellent work. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works."