Modern History Report

In 1848, the current Swiss constitution created a union modeled on that of the U.S. The federal constitution of 1874 established a strong central government while giving substantial powers of domination to each canton. National agreement and political conservatism grew as the country prospered from its neutrality and its banking system became the world's leading repository for international accounts.

And this is the Switzerland as we know it today. Its stringent confidentiality law makes it one of the central banking destinations in the world as we know it today.
Strict nonpartisanship was its policy in both world wars. Because of this, Geneva was the seat of the League of Nations (later the European headquarters of the United Nations) and of a number of international organizations.

Allegations in the 1990s dealing with secret assets of Jewish Holocaust victims deposited in Swiss banks led to international critique and the establishment of a fund to reimburse the victims and their families.

In Sept. 2000, the Swiss opted against a plan to cut the number of foreigners in the country to 18% of the population because since 1970, four matching anti-immigration plans have failed.

On Sept 10, 2002, the Swiss deserted their long-held neutrality to develop into the 190th member of the UN.

In Oct. 2003, Switzerland took a turn to the right when the far-right Swiss People's Party had the strongest part in parliamentary elections, garnering 28% of the vote; its virulently anti-immigration, anti-EU leader, Christopher Blocher, was given a cabinet rank.