1793 A reign of terror begins in Geneva because of uprising of the “natives.”
1794 The revolutionary party assumes control in Geneva. Arrests and murders. Demands for greater freedom are made at Stäfa in the territory of Zurich.
1795 A reaction sets in in Geneva. The insurrection at Stäfa is suppressed.
1797 Bonaparte incorporates the Italian bailiwicks of the Valtellina with the Cisalpine Republic. La Harpe calls on the Directory to protect the liberties of Vaud against the oppression of Bern.
The Helvetic Republic
1798 French troops in response occupy Mülhausen, Bienne, and part of the lands of the prince-bishop of Bâle. Insurgents open the prison of Chillon. Another French army enters Vaud and the Lemanic Republic is proclaimed there. The French occupy Fribourg and Solothurn; defeat the Bernese after fierce fighting at Neueneck; take Bern, the stronghold of the aristocratic party, and pillage the treasury. The Revolution triumphs over the Confederation. By order of the Directory, the Helvetic Republic, one and indivisible, is proclaimed. Peter Ochs of Bâle supplies a constitution. Ten of the thirteen members of the old confederation accept the new government. Twenty-three “cantons,” or administrative districts, are created. The forest districts rebel. Their resistance, headed by Alois Reding, of Schwyz, is put down after desperate conflicts at Schindellegi, Morgarten, and at Rothenthurm. An insurrection of the mountaineers of Upper Valais against the French is bloodily repressed. The French put down an insurrection in Nidwald with great bloodshed. (The days of terror of Nidwald end.)
1799 Zurich, the forest cantons, and Rhætia become the scene of the struggle of the Austrian and Russians against the French in the wars of the Coalition.
THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
1802 Strife between the centralists and the federalists. Bonaparte withdraws the French troops. The Helvetian government is driven from Bern. Bonaparte convenes Swiss statesmen at Paris in the consulta, and acts as mediator. The Frickthal, the last Austrian possession in Switzerland, is given to the Helvetic Republic by Bonaparte.