Switzerland
1949-1968 		History of Switzerland






Switzerland since 1969

In 1971 women were granted the right to vote in federal elections (in one canton, Appenzell, they had to wait until 1992). In 1979 the Romandie, the French-speaking regions of the Canton Bern, split from the former and the Canton Jura was established. In 2002 Switzerland joined the UN (an earlier referendum on the issue had been rejected in 1986). In 2002, abortion in the early stages of pregnancy was legalized.
The Swiss economy continued to thrive. Switzerland has one of the highest per-capita GNP of Europe, but also is one of the costliest countries to live in. The high standard of living attracts an influx of migrants in search for labour, in addition to those seeaking asylum. On the other hand, unemployment figures have risen since the early 1970es, and the immigration and asylum issues have become sensitive political topics (referenda of 1994, 2002).
In 1998 the Swiss banks agreed on paying compensation to surviving Holocaust victims respectively relatives of the deceased (many deposits of Holocaust victtims had remained unclaimed, and the Swiss banking law had long prevented access to information). The role of Switzerland during World War II is currently being reexamined.
The complex Swiss political system makes political reform a slow and tedious process. Swiss politicians occasionally were frustrated because their proposals, such as UN membership or EU membership, either took decades to find approval by the Swiss voters, or were repeatedly rejected. The fact that Switzerland was among the last countries in Europe to grant women the right to vote (1971, in federal elections) respectively to reform the abortion legislation, goes to prove the point.





EXTERNAL
FILES 		Timeline Swiss History, from Geschichte Schweiz
Information about the History of Switzerland, from about ch
Timeline Switzerland, from BBC News
Article Geschichte der Schweiz, from Wikipedia, in German
Article Modern History of Switzerland, from Wikipedia
Geschichte, from Swissworld, in German
DOCUMENTS Historical Population Statistics : Switzerland, from Population Statistics, at Univ. Utrecht
List of Presidents etc., from World Statesmen by Ben Cahoon
REFERENCE Article : Switzerland, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1970 pp. 714-716, 1971 pp.695-696, 1972 pp.652-653, 1973 pp.645-646, 1974 pp.643-644, 1975 pp.651-652, 1976 pp.639-640, 1977 p.641, 1978 pp.654-655, 1979 pp.647-648, 1980 pp.647-648, 1981 pp.642-643, 1982 pp.648-649, 1983 pp.643-645, 1984 pp.644-645, 1985 pp.542, 788, 1986 pp.536-537, 787, 1987 pp.508, 755, 1988 pp.463-464, 707, 1989 pp.463-464, 707, 1990 pp.479-480, 723, 1991 pp.463, 708, 1992 pp.443, 708, 1993 pp.456-457, 723, 1994 pp.456, 723, 1995 pp.478-479, 723, 1996 pp.475, 723, 1997 pp.477-478, 721, 2002 pp.497-498, 735 [G]
Article : Switzerland, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1970-1971 pp.1343-1354, 1975-1976 pp.1348-1359, 1976-1977 pp.1346-1356, 1978-1979 pp.1142-1153, 1979-1980 pp.1151-1162, 1980-1981 pp.1147-1158, 1981-1982 pp.1153-1164, 1983-1984 pp.1152-1163, 1984-1985 pp.1148-1159, 1985-1986 pp.1149-1160, 1986-1987 pp.1148-1159, 1987-1988 pp.1153-1163, 1988-1989 pp.1157-1167, 1989-1990 pp.1164-1174, 1990-1991 pp.1164-1174, 1991-1992 pp.1167-1177, 1992-1993 pp.1251-1259, 1993-1994 pp.1255-1263, 1994-1995 pp.1255-1262, 1995-1996 pp.1242-1249, 1996-1997 pp.1219-1226, 1997-1998 pp.1218-1225, 1998-1999 pp.1330-1338, 2000 pp.1494-1502, 2001 pp.1462-1471, 2002 pp.1517-1525, 2003 pp.1515-1524, 2004 pp.1534-1543, 2005 pp.1544-1553, 2006 pp.1553-1562 [G]
Article : Switzerland, in : The World in Figures 1st ed. 1976 pp.258-260, 2nd ed. 1978 pp.262-263, 4th ed. 1984 pp.262-263 [G]
Entry : Background Notes - Switzerland, pp.337-342; Travel Warning - Switzerland & Liechtenstein, pp.612-613, in : Countries of the World and their Leaders Yearbook, 2000, Supplement [G]
Entry : Swiss Confederation, Cabinet p.95, in : Countries of the World and their Leaders Yearbook, 2003 [G]
Article : Switzerland, in : Americana Annual 1970 p.665, 1971 p.655, 1972 p.655, 1973 pp.654-655, 1974 p.573, 1976 p.529, 1988 p.507, 1989 p.515, 1990 p.504, 1992 p.508, 1993 pp.518-519, 1994 p.520, 1998 pp.525-526, 2006 p.363 [G]
Entry : Switzerland, pp.954-959 in : IMF, International Financial Statistics Yearbook 2001 [G]
Article : Switzerland, in : Yearbook on International Communist Affairs 1976 pp.222-227 (Richard Anderegg), 1980 pp.212-215 (Swiss Eastern Institute) [G]



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on October 7th 2006, last revised on March 27th 2007

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