Switzerland

1. 1291: Federal Charter, a defensive alliance of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden, is traditionally seen as the founding of the Old Swiss Confederacy.
2. 1515: Heavy losses at the Battle of Marignano lead to a policy of neutrality, formalized with France in the Perpetual Peace of 1516.
3. 1648: Peace of Westphalia formally grants Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire.
4. 1847: Brief civil war (*Sonderbundskrieg*) ends, and a federal constitution (1848) creates modern federal Switzerland.
5. 20th–21st Century: Global center for international diplomacy, banking, precision engineering, and direct democratic referendums.

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