Maturität / Maturité (Switzerland) · History of Switzerland

From the Old Confederacy to the Modern State

48 practice questions, each with the answer and an explanation.

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Random questions from this topic, one at a time. You see the answer and the explanation straight after each one.

All 48 questions

  1. Which date is celebrated as the Swiss national day, linked to the tradition of the Federal Charter of 1291?
  2. Which three original cantons are linked to the alliance of 1291?
  3. Which Swiss businessman and humanitarian from Geneva founded the Red Cross in 1863?
  4. Which city is the federal city and seat of the Swiss government and parliament?
  5. In which year did Swiss women get the right to vote at the federal level?
  6. Which reformer led the Reformation in Zurich in the 1520s?
  7. How many cantons does Switzerland have today?
  8. In which two world wars did Switzerland remain neutral?
  9. In the legend of William Tell, what was Tell forced to do by the bailiff Gessler?
  10. Which Swiss unit protects the Pope in Vatican City?
  11. Which tunnel opened in 2016 as the longest railway tunnel in the world?
  12. In which Swiss city was the League of Nations based after the First World War?
  13. Which forces were defeated by the Swiss at the battle of Morgarten in 1315?
  14. What was the main result of the battle of Marignano in 1515?
  15. What did the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 mean for the Swiss Confederacy?
  16. What was the Helvetic Republic of 1798?
  17. What did the Congress of Vienna in 1815 recognise about Switzerland?
  18. What was the Sonderbund War of 1847?
  19. What did the federal constitution of 1848 create?
  20. Which reformer, born in France, led the Reformation in Geneva?
  21. Which general commanded the Swiss army during the Second World War?
  22. How many signatures are needed for a popular initiative to change the federal constitution, and within what time?
  23. How many signatures are needed to demand a referendum against a federal law, and within what time?
  24. Which canton was created in 1979 as the 26th canton, after separating from Bern?
  25. In which year did Switzerland join the United Nations?
  26. What happened in the Swiss general strike of November 1918?
  27. How did Swiss voters decide in the referendum of December 1992 on the European Economic Area?
  28. How is the Federal Council, the Swiss government, composed?
  29. Which two chambers form the Swiss Federal Assembly?
  30. Which duke was defeated by the Swiss at the battle of Murten in 1476?
  31. Which sequence puts these events in the correct order?
  32. How is the Council of States composed, and why was it created?
  33. Why did the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden give women the cantonal vote only in 1990?
  34. How many cantons did the Old Swiss Confederacy have from 1513 until 1798?
  35. Which three cantons joined the Confederation in 1815 after the Congress of Vienna?
  36. What was the 'Réduit' strategy of the Swiss army in the Second World War?
  37. In which year does Swiss tradition place the Federal Charter of the three original cantons?
  38. Which battle of 1315 is seen as a key victory of the early Confederates over the Habsburgs?
  39. Which battle of 1386 was another major Confederate victory over the Habsburgs?
  40. Which 1515 defeat by French and Venetian forces ended Swiss expansion into northern Italy?
  41. Which Reformation leader began preaching in Zurich in 1519?
  42. In which Swiss city did John Calvin lead the Reformation from 1536?
  43. Which treaty of 1648 is associated with the formal recognition of Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire?
  44. Which state replaced the Old Confederacy in 1798 under French influence?
  45. Which congress of 1814–1815 recognised the perpetual neutrality of Switzerland?
  46. Which short civil war of 1847 was fought between Catholic conservative cantons and liberal cantons?
  47. In which year was the first Swiss federal constitution adopted, creating the modern federal state?
  48. Which city was chosen as the federal city (seat of the federal government) in 1848?

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