The legend has it that Switzerland was celebrating on 1 August 2021 her 730th Anniversary. That's the legend about the creation of an independent, neutral and sovereign nation. It's a legend that has taken hold in every Swiss citizen's heart and mind. It's a legend that has made Switzerland around the world what it still is in reputation and - sometimes - even in appearance: a neutral, ethical country in the heart of Europe.
When we look closer, this legend was largely born from the pen of a German author who had never set foot in Switzerland. When
Friedrich Schiller wrote the play "
Willhelm Tell" in 1804, the basis for the heroic, unique and neutral Switzerland, he had never visited Switzerland. However, the legend has become reality, even though it was born 513 years after the alleged event took place.
This little detail is unimportant. What counts is the background to the story, namely that the territory that gradually became Switzerland, was originally inhabited by the Helvetians, or Helvetic Celts. As was much of Europe, they were largely dominated by the Habsburg Dynasty until the early 19
th Century.
However, the Helvetians rebelled on or around the late 13
th Century, when according to the Friedrich Schiller legend, called "Wilhelm Tell" - name of one of the legend's principal liberating hero's - the Governors of the three original cantons, Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden, got together on a mountain called Rütli, facing the Lake of Lucerne.
With an oath, a promise to God, the three governors united their lands in an act to defend themselves sovereignly against any aggressor, meant were in particular the rulers of the Habsburg Empire. According to the legend this happened on 1 August 1291 - 730 years ago. Thus, was the
Confederatio Helvetica (Swiss Confederation) born.
Comment: US is putting the pedal to 'the meddle'. A day without new sanctions pressed upon some vulnerable part of the world is a day wasted.