1855 The federal polytechnic school is opened at Zurich. Improvements in the educational system are introduced.
1856 A royalist conspiracy in Neuchâtel is put down and causes a dispute between Switzerland and the king of Prussia, the overlord of Neuchâtel.
1857 Neuchâtel is definitely ceded to Switzerland.
1859 Switzerland posts troops on the Italian frontier to preserve neutrality in the Italian War and puts an end to foreign enlistments.
1860 The Swiss government protests against the cession of Nice and Savoy to France.
1861 French troops occupy the Valée de Dappes.
1862 The question of the frontiers in the Valée de Dappes is arranged with France by mutual cession of territory.
1864 The convention of Geneva introduces humanitarian reforms in warfare. Election riots at Geneva lead to bloodshed.
1865 International social science congress meets at Bern.
1866 Restrictions on religious liberty of Jesuits, etc., are removed. An attempt is made to revise the constitution in a democratic sense but fails.