Editing Switzerland (section)

=== Beginnings ===
{{Main|Early history of Switzerland|Switzerland in the Roman era}}
The oldest traces of hominid existence in Switzerland date to about 150,000 years ago.<ref name="Early">{{Cite web |title=History |url=http://www.swissworld.org/en/history/prehistory_to_romans/prehistoric_times/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100419174957/http://www.swissworld.org/en/history/prehistory_to_romans/prehistoric_times/ |archive-date=19 April 2010 |access-date=27 June 2009 |website=swissworld.org.}}</ref> The oldest known farming settlements in Switzerland, which were found at [[Gächlingen]], date to around 5300 BC.<ref name="Early" />

[[File:Theater Kaiseraugst.jpg|thumb|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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=11 September 2005 |title=Switzerland's Roman heritage comes to life |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/switzerland-s-roman-heritage-comes-to-life/4707054 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220915103928/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/switzerland-s-roman-heritage-comes-to-life/4707054 |archive-date=15 September 2022 |access-date=15 September 2022 |website=swissinfo.ch}}</ref>]]

The earliest known tribes formed the [[Hallstatt culture|Hallstatt]] and [[La Tène culture]]s, named after the archaeological site of La Tène on the north side of [[Lake Neuchâtel]]. La Tène culture developed and flourished during the late [[Iron Age]] from around 450 BC,<ref name="Early" /> possibly influenced by [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] and [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]] civilisations. One of the most prominent La Tène tribes were the [[Helvetii]], who primarily occupied the [[Swiss Plateau]], alongside the [[Rhaetian people|Rhaetians]] in the eastern regions. Facing pressures from Germanic tribes, in 58 BC, the Helvetii, influenced by [[Orgetorix]], a wealthy aristocrat, decided to abandon the Swiss Plateau for better opportunities in western Gallia. After Orgetorix's mysterious death, the tribe continued their migration but was decisively defeated by Julius Caesar's armies at the [[Battle of Bibracte]], in present-day eastern France. Following their defeat, the Helvetii were forced by Caesar to return to their original lands, where they were subjected to stringent restrictions on their autonomy and movements.<ref name="Early" /> In 15 BC, [[Tiberius]] (later the second Roman emperor) and his brother [[Nero Claudius Drusus|Drusus]] conquered the Alps, integrating them into the [[Roman Empire]]. The area occupied by the Helvetii first became part of Rome's [[Gallia Belgica]] province and then of its [[Germania Superior]] province. The eastern portion of modern Switzerland was integrated into the [[Roman province]] of [[Raetia]]. Sometime around the start of the [[Common Era]], the Romans maintained a large camp called [[Vindonissa]], now a ruin at the confluence of the [[Aare]] and [[Reuss (river)|Reuss]] rivers, near the town of [[Windisch, Switzerland|Windisch]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Trumm |first=Judith |title=Vindonissa |url=https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/articles/012287/2015-04-22/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503210248/https://hls-dhs-dss.ch/articles/012287/2015-04-22/ |archive-date=3 May 2022 |access-date=3 May 2022 |website=[[Historical Dictionary of Switzerland]] |language=de}}</ref>

The first and second century AD was an age of prosperity on the Swiss Plateau. Towns such as [[Aventicum]], [[Iulia Equestris]] and [[Augusta Raurica]] reached a remarkable size, while hundreds of agricultural estates ([[Villae rusticae]]) were established in the countryside.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last1=Zschokke |first1=Heinrich |url=http://archive.org/details/historyswitzerl00zschgoog |title=The history of Switzerland, for the Swiss people |last2=Zschokke |first2=Emil |last3=Shaw |first3=Francis George |date=1855 |publisher=New York, C. S. Francis & Co.; London, S. Low, Son & Co. |others=New York Public Library |pages=22–24 |language=English}}</ref>

Around 260 AD, the fall of the [[Agri Decumates]] territory north of the [[Rhine]] transformed today's Switzerland into a frontier land of the Empire. Repeated raids by the [[Alamanni]] tribes provoked the ruin of the Roman towns and economy, forcing the population to shelter near Roman fortresses, like the [[Castrum Rauracense]] near Augusta Raurica. The Empire built another line of defence at the north border (the so-called Donau-Iller-Rhine-Limes). At the end of the fourth century, the increased Germanic pressure forced the Romans to abandon the linear defence concept. The Swiss Plateau was finally open to [[Germanic tribes]].{{citation needed|date=September 2022}}

In the [[Early Middle Ages]], from the end of the fourth century, the western extent of modern-day Switzerland was part of the territory of the [[Kingdom of Burgundy|Kings of the Burgundians]], who introduced the French language to the area. The [[Alemanni]] settled the Swiss Plateau in the fifth century and the [[valleys of the Alps]] in the eighth century, forming [[Alamannia|Alemannia]]. Modern-day Switzerland was then divided between the kingdoms of Alemannia and [[Burgundy (region)|Burgundy]].<ref name="Early" /> The entire region became part of the expanding [[Frankish Empire]] in the sixth century, following [[Clovis I]]'s victory over the Alemanni at [[Tolbiac]] in 504 AD, and later Frankish domination of the Burgundians.<ref name="Nationsencyclopedia-Hist">{{Cite web |title=Switzerland history |url=http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Europe/Switzerland-HISTORY.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301050628/http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Europe/Switzerland-HISTORY.html |archive-date=1 March 2014 |access-date=27 November 2009 |website=Nations Encyclopedia}}</ref><ref name="Nationsonline">{{Cite web |title=Brief History of Switzerland |url=http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/History/Switzerland-history.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508043011/http://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/History/Switzerland-history.htm |archive-date=8 May 2014 |access-date=27 November 2009 |website=Nations Online}}</ref>

Throughout the rest of the sixth, seventh and eighth centuries, Swiss regions continued under Frankish hegemony ([[Merovingians|Merovingian]] and [[Carolingian Empire|Carolingian]] dynasties) but after its extension under [[Charlemagne]], the [[Frankish Empire]] was divided by the [[Treaty of Verdun]] in 843.<ref name="Early" /> The territories of present-day Switzerland became divided into [[Middle Francia]] and [[East Francia]] until they were reunified under the [[Holy Roman Empire]] around 1000&nbsp;AD.<ref name="Early" />

In the 10th century, as the rule of the Carolingians waned, [[Magyars]] destroyed [[Basel]] in 917 and [[St. Gallen]] in 926. In response, [[Henry the Fowler]], the then ruler of East Francia, decreed the fortification of key settlements to defend against these invasions. Large villages and towns, including strategic locations like Zurich and St.Gallen, were fortified. This initiative led to the development of what were essentially early urban strongholds and city governments in Eastern Switzerland.<ref name=":1" />

By 1200, the Swiss Plateau comprised the dominions of the houses of [[House of Savoy|Savoy]], [[Zähringer]], [[Habsburg]], and [[House of Kyburg|Kyburg]].<ref name="Early" /> Some regions ([[Canton of Uri|Uri]], [[Canton of Schwyz|Schwyz]], [[Unterwalden]], later known as {{lang|de|[[Waldstätte]]n}}) were accorded the [[Imperial immediacy]] to grant the empire direct control over the mountain passes. With the extinction of its male line in 1263, the Kyburg dynasty fell in AD 1264. The Habsburgs under [[Rudolph I of Germany|King Rudolph I]] (Holy Roman Emperor in 1273) laid claim to the Kyburg lands and annexed them, extending their territory to the eastern Swiss Plateau.<ref name="Nationsencyclopedia-Hist" />