Editing Switzerland (section)

=== Modern history ===
{{Main|Switzerland during the world wars|Modern history of Switzerland}}
[[File:Ulrich Wille.jpg|thumb|General [[Ulrich Wille]], appointed commander-in-chief of the Swiss Army for the duration of World War I]]
Switzerland was not invaded during either of the world wars. During [[World War I]], Switzerland was home to the revolutionary and founder of the [[Soviet Union]] Vladimir Illych Ulyanov ([[Vladimir Lenin]]) who remained there until 1917.<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 May 2006 |title=Lenin and the Swiss non-revolution |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/vladimir-ilyich-ulyanov_lenin-and-the-swiss-non-revolution/12812 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208144512/https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/vladimir-ilyich-ulyanov_lenin-and-the-swiss-non-revolution/12812 |archive-date=8 February 2023 |access-date=8 February 2023 |website=SWI swissinfo.ch |language=en}}</ref> Swiss neutrality was seriously questioned by the short-lived [[Grimm–Hoffmann affair]] in 1917. In 1920, Switzerland joined the [[League of Nations]], which was based in [[Geneva]], after it was exempted from military requirements.<ref name=":0" />

During [[World War II]], [[Operation Tannenbaum|detailed invasion plans]] were drawn up by the Germans,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Urner |first=Klaus |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/46472272 |title="Let's Swallow Switzerland": Hitler's Plans against the Swiss Confederation |publisher=Lexington Books |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-7391-0255-8 |location=Lanham, Maryland |pages=4, 7 |oclc=46472272}}</ref> but Switzerland was never attacked.<ref name="Brief" /> Switzerland was able to remain independent through a combination of military deterrence, concessions to Germany, and good fortune, as larger events during the war intervened.<ref name="Nationsonline" /><ref name="Stonebrooks">{{Cite web |title=Book Review: Halbrook, Stephen P. ''Target Switzerland: Swiss Armed Neutrality in World War II''. Rockville Centre, NY: Sarpedon, 1998 |url=http://stonebooks.com/archives/981111.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091201171926/http://stonebooks.com/archives/981111.shtml |archive-date=1 December 2009 |access-date=2 December 2009 |website=Stone & Stone}}</ref> General [[Henri Guisan]], appointed the [[General (Switzerland)|commander-in-chief for the duration]] of the war ordered a general mobilisation of the armed forces. The Swiss military strategy changed from static defence at the borders to organised long-term attrition and withdrawal to strong, well-stockpiled positions high in the Alps, known as the [[National Redoubt (Switzerland)|Reduit]]. Switzerland was an important base for espionage by both sides and often mediated communications between the [[Axis Powers|Axis]] and [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] powers.<ref name="Stonebrooks" />

Switzerland's trade was blockaded by both the Allies and the Axis. Economic cooperation and extension of credit to [[Nazi Germany]] varied according to the perceived likelihood of invasion and the availability of other trading partners. Concessions reached a peak after a crucial rail link through [[Vichy France]] was severed in 1942, leaving Switzerland (together with [[Liechtenstein]]) entirely isolated from the wider world by Axis-controlled territory. Over the course of the war, Switzerland interned over 300,000 refugees<ref name="Asylum">{{HDS|10374|Asylum}}</ref> aided by the [[International Red Cross]], based in Geneva. Strict immigration and [[Right of asylum|asylum]] policies and the financial relationships with Nazi Germany raised controversy, only at the end of the 20th century.<ref name="UEK Report">{{Cite book |url=http://www.uek.ch/en/schlussbericht/synthesis/ueke.pdf |title=Final Report of the Independent Commission of Experts Switzerland |publisher=Pendo Verlag |year=2002 |isbn=978-3-85842-603-1 |location=Zurich |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090530053737/http://www.uek.ch/en/schlussbericht/synthesis/ueke.pdf |archive-date=30 May 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|521}}

During the war, the Swiss Air Force engaged aircraft of both sides, shooting down 11 intruding [[Luftwaffe]] planes in May and June 1940, then forcing down other intruders after a change of policy following threats from Germany. Over 100 Allied bombers and their crews were interned. Between 1940 and 1945, [[Bombings of Switzerland in World War II|Switzerland was bombed by the Allies]], causing fatalities and property damage.<ref name="Stonebrooks" /> Among the cities and towns bombed were [[Basel]], [[Brusio]], [[Chiasso]], [[Cornol]], Geneva, [[Koblenz, Switzerland|Koblenz]], [[Niederweningen]], [[Rafz]], [[Renens]], [[Samedan]], [[Schaffhausen]], [[Stein am Rhein]], [[Tägerwilen]], [[Thayngen]], [[Vals, Switzerland|Vals]], and Zurich. Allied forces maintained that the bombings, which violated the 96th [[Article of War]], resulted from navigation errors, equipment failure, weather conditions, and pilot errors. The Swiss expressed fear and concern that the bombings were intended to put pressure on Switzerland to end economic cooperation and neutrality with Nazi Germany.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Helmreich |first=JE |title=Diplomacy of Apology |url=http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/apj/apj00/sum00/helmreich.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070505083348/http://www.airpower.maxwell.af.mil/airchronicles/apj/apj00/sum00/helmreich.html |archive-date=5 May 2007 |access-date=5 May 2007}}</ref> Court-martial proceedings took place in England. The US paid SFR 62M for reparations.{{citation needed|date=March 2022}}

Switzerland's attitude towards [[Switzerland during the World Wars#Refugees|refugees]] was complicated and controversial; over the course of the war, it admitted as many as 300,000 refugees<ref name="Asylum" /> while refusing tens of thousands more,<ref name="UEK Report" />{{rp|107}} including Jews persecuted by the Nazis.<ref name="UEK Report" />{{rp|114}}

After the war, the Swiss government exported credits through the charitable fund known as the {{lang|de|Schweizerspende}} and donated to the [[Marshall Plan]] to help Europe's recovery, efforts that ultimately benefited the [[Economy of Switzerland|Swiss economy]].<ref name="UEK Report" />{{rp|521}}

During the [[Cold War]], Swiss authorities [[Switzerland and weapons of mass destruction|considered the construction]] of a Swiss [[nuclear bomb]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=States Formerly Possessing or Pursuing Nuclear Weapons |url=http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Nwfaq/Nfaq7-4.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150126234705/http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Nwfaq/Nfaq7-4.html |archive-date=26 January 2015 |access-date=6 March 2014}}</ref> Leading nuclear physicists at the [[ETH Zurich|Federal Institute of Technology Zurich]] such as [[Paul Scherrer]] made this a realistic possibility.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fischer |first=Patrick |date=8 April 2019 |title=Als die Schweiz eine Atombombe wollte |url=https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/2019/04/plaene-fuer-eine-schweizer-atombombe/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220511180845/https://blog.nationalmuseum.ch/2019/04/plaene-fuer-eine-schweizer-atombombe/ |archive-date=11 May 2022 |access-date=3 May 2022 |website=[[Swiss National Museum]] |language=de-DE}}</ref> In 1988, the [[Paul Scherrer Institute]] was founded in his name to explore the therapeutic uses of [[neutron scattering]] technologies.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Vuilleumier |first=Marie |date=15 October 2018 |title=Paul Scherrer Institut seit 30 Jahren im Dienst der Wissenschaft |url=https://www.swissinfo.ch/ger/wissen-technik/wissenschaftliche-forschung_paul-scherrer-institut-seit-30-jahren-im-dienst-der-wissenschaft/44475052 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503204037/https://www.swissinfo.ch/ger/wissen-technik/wissenschaftliche-forschung_paul-scherrer-institut-seit-30-jahren-im-dienst-der-wissenschaft/44475052 |archive-date=3 May 2022 |access-date=3 May 2022 |website=[[Swissinfo]] |language=de}}</ref> Financial problems with the defence budget and ethical considerations prevented the substantial funds from being allocated, and the [[Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty]] of 1968 was seen as a valid alternative. Plans for building nuclear weapons were dropped by 1988.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Westberg |first=Gunnar |date=9 October 2010 |title=Swiss Nuclear Bomb |url=http://peaceandhealthblog.com/2010/10/09/swiss-nuclear-bomb/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140305115926/http://peaceandhealthblog.com/2010/10/09/swiss-nuclear-bomb/ |archive-date=5 March 2014 |access-date=6 March 2014 |publisher=[[International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War]]}}</ref> Switzerland joined the [[Council of Europe]] in 1963.<ref name="Nationsonline" />

[[File:Bundesrat_der_Schweiz_2003.jpg|thumb|In 2003, by granting the [[Swiss People's Party]] a second seat in the governing cabinet, the Parliament altered the [[Magic formula (Swiss politics)|coalition]] that had dominated Swiss politics since 1959.]]
Switzerland was the last Western republic (the [[Principality of Liechtenstein]] followed in 1984) to [[Women's suffrage in Switzerland|grant women the right to vote]]. Some Swiss cantons approved this in 1959, while at the federal level, it was achieved in 1971 and, after resistance, in the last canton [[Appenzell Innerrhoden]] (one of only two remaining ''[[Landsgemeinde]]'', along with [[Canton of Glarus|Glarus]]) in 1990.<ref name="Brief" /><ref>{{HDS|010380|Women's suffrage|author=Yvonne Voegeli & Werner Seitz|date=4 April 2023}}</ref> After obtaining suffrage at the federal level, women quickly rose in political significance. The first woman on the seven-member [[Federal Council (Switzerland)|Federal Council]] executive was [[Elisabeth Kopp]], who served from 1984 to 1989,<ref name="Brief" /> and the first female president was [[Ruth Dreifuss]] in 1999.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Parlamentsgeschichte |url=https://www.parlament.ch/de/%C3%BCber-das-parlament/parlamentsgeschichte/parlamentsgeschichte-detail?historyId=353 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503205539/https://www.parlament.ch/de/%C3%BCber-das-parlament/parlamentsgeschichte/parlamentsgeschichte-detail?historyId=353 |archive-date=3 May 2022 |access-date=3 May 2022 |website=www.parlament.ch}}</ref>

In 1979 areas from the canton of [[Bern]] attained independence from the Bernese, forming the new [[canton of Jura]]. On 18 April 1999, the Swiss population and the cantons voted in favour of a completely revised [[Swiss Federal Constitution|federal constitution]].<ref name="Brief" />

In 2002 Switzerland became a full member of the United Nations, leaving [[Holy See|Vatican City]] as the last widely recognised state without full UN membership.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Thomas Fleiner |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-S1fHJiawHUC&pg=PA28 |title=Swiss Constitutional Law |last2=Alexander Misic |last3=Nicole Töpperwien |date=5 August 2005 |publisher=Kluwer Law International |isbn=978-90-411-2404-3 |page=28 |access-date=25 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412045122/https://books.google.com/books?id=-S1fHJiawHUC&pg=PA28 |archive-date=12 April 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> Switzerland is a founding member of the [[European Free Trade Association|EFTA]] but not the [[European Economic Area]] (EEA). An application for membership in the [[European Union]] was sent in May 1992, but did not advance since rejecting the EEA in December 1992<ref name="Brief" /> when Switzerland conducted a referendum on the EEA. Several referendums on the EU issue ensued; due to opposition from the citizens, the membership application was withdrawn. Nonetheless, Swiss law is gradually changing to conform with that of the EU, and the government signed [[Bilateralism|bilateral agreements]] with the European Union. Switzerland, together with Liechtenstein, has been surrounded by the EU since Austria's entry in 1995. On 5 June 2005, Swiss voters agreed by a 55% majority to join the [[Schengen treaty]], a result that EU commentators regarded as a sign of support.<ref name="Nationsonline" /> In September 2020, a referendum calling for a vote to end the pact that allowed a free movement of people from the [[European Union]] was introduced by the [[Swiss People's Party]] (SVP).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Henley |first=Jon |date=25 September 2020 |title=Swiss to vote on whether to end free movement deal with EU |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/25/swiss-vote-whether-end-free-movement-deal-with-eu |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925042602/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/sep/25/swiss-vote-whether-end-free-movement-deal-with-eu |archive-date=25 September 2020 |access-date=25 September 2020 |website=The Guardian}}</ref> However, voters rejected the attempt to retake control of immigration, defeating the motion by a roughly 63%–37% margin.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chazan |first=David |date=27 September 2020 |title=Large majority of Swiss reject bid to rein in immigration from EU, says exit poll |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/27/large-majority-swiss-reject-bid-rein-immigration-eu-says-exit/ |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |access-date=27 September 2020 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/27/large-majority-swiss-reject-bid-rein-immigration-eu-says-exit/ |archive-date=10 January 2022}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

On 9 February 2014, 50.3% of Swiss voters approved a ballot [[Popular initiative (Switzerland)|initiative]] launched by the Swiss People's Party (SVP/UDC) to [[Federal popular initiative "Against mass immigration"|restrict immigration]]. This initiative was mostly backed by rural (57.6% approval) and suburban groups (51.2% approval), and isolated towns (51.3% approval) as well as by a strong majority (69.2% approval) in Ticino, while metropolitan centres (58.5% rejection) and the French-speaking part (58.5% rejection) rejected it.<ref>{{Cite web |date=9 February 2014 |title=Abstimmungen – Indikatoren, Abstimmung vom 9. Februar 2014: Initiative 'Gegen Masseneinwanderung' |url=http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/17/03/blank/key/2014/013.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140421050627/http://www.bfs.admin.ch/bfs/portal/de/index/themen/17/03/blank/key/2014/013.html |archive-date=21 April 2014 |access-date=20 April 2014 |publisher=Swiss Federal Statistical Office, Neuchâtel 2014 |language=de, fr}}</ref> In December 2016, a political compromise with the EU was attained that eliminated quotas on EU citizens, but still allowed favourable treatment of Swiss-based job applicants.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Maurice |first=Eric |date=22 December 2016 |title=EU and Switzerland agree on free movement |url=https://euobserver.com/rule-of-law/136398 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208144500/https://euobserver.com/rule-of-law/136398 |archive-date=8 February 2023 |access-date=8 February 2023 |website=EUobserver |language=en}}</ref> On 27 September 2020, 62% of Swiss voters rejected the anti-free movement referendum by SVP.<ref>{{Cite news |date=27 September 2020 |title=Switzerland referendum: Voters reject end to free movement with EU |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54316316 |url-status=live |access-date=8 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928032301/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54316316 |archive-date=28 September 2020}}</ref>