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Day 41: Obscured. A layer of dense fog obscures the ground. Moonlight from the full moon casts an eerie glow. A figure lurks obscured by the fog and back light, his thoughts and intentions are clouded.
A single layer DVD has a single layer of recordable media embedded in the plastic disc which can record 4.38 GB of data (about 2 hours of recording time).
As you see in the picture, some of these DVD’s have almost the same appearance from both sides.
Some people may find it nice and cool design (shiny on both sides), but other people really have problem with it; because:
1-They have to figure out which side is in the bottom each time they use it.
2-The probability of inserting DVD on the wrong way is high.
I think the traditional design (different appearance for each side) is better than this design; because it avoid: wasting time, mistakes and embarrass.
ID/428201553
These atmospheric layer slices are a slice of the source of my full, warm heart and chilled, shivering exterior for about 700 miles and 3 days of Pacific coast line. For miles I'd see nothing beyond the edge of the road, then suddenly the fog would momentarily dissipate and expose the hidden beauty.
This is southern Oregon coast.
Leaves have a cuticle layer which is a waxy covering on the surfaces of the leaves. This covering serves as a protection adaptation that prevents terrestrial plants from dessication (or drying out). Although the cuticle serves as a form of waterproofing it is also capable of giving some protection from microbial attacks.
'The Layers' are a 7 piece jazz, soul and funk band from Brixton, London.
Vocals/Flute: Tash Cox
Trumpet: Tom Spencer
Guitar: Toby Seymour
Bass: James Myhill
Cello: Anna Cosgrave
Drums: Rob Aherne
OSI 7 layer reference model. Infographic explains 7 layers from Physical to Application layer. Visit: www.tutorialology.com/computer-networking/osi-model/
Now that I'm in the office, I see the title and description, but this photo is not showing on my stream. When I go to "delete," the photo shows in a thumbnail. Since the original file is on another hard drive, I'll work to fix the problem later.
Layers play at The Sunflower Lounge in Birmingham, 12 March 2013.
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Layer cake is a cake consisting of multiple layers, usually held together by frosting or another type of filling, such as jam or other preserves.
bandage layers in a strip of sunlight, taken while lying down - my submission for the layers assignment at the Daily Shoot
Layer cake is a cake consisting of multiple layers, usually held together by frosting or another type of filling, such as jam or other preserves.
Layer on top of layer of sequin and zebra makes this bow stand out in a crowd. Get the judges attention with this one!
To choose this bow click the link below to visit our website:
Sessa is a former municipality in the district of Lugano in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. On 18 April 2021 the municipalities of Croglio, Monteggio, Ponte Tresa and Sessa merged to form Tresa.
In the High Middle Ages, members of the Langobard military family, the de Sessa formed a noble corporation with lands centered in the current municipality. The noble corporation remained in power around the village until the reign of the Swiss Confederation. The Capitani of (de) Sessa were Imperial vassals. In 1240, Emperor Frederick II took control of Sessa Castle, which was probably in the village. Due to the tradition of imperial immediacy in the Malcantone region (including Sessa, Astano, and Monteggio), the Bishop of Como lacked the landlord rights he held in neighboring villages. The population of these villages also tried to separate themselves spiritually from the bishop. By the 16th century, and perhaps even before then, they founded an independent parish which also included Monteggio, Castelrotto, and Cremenaga. Cremenaga, which was in Italian territory, only separated from the parish in 1842. The parish church of San Martino was first mentioned in 1288, and its present form dates back to 1630. In addition to San Martino, the city has several other chapels and churches, including S. Orsola (established 1601). At the time of the Swiss Confederation rule, the capitano reggente of Lugano was the bailiff in Sessa. He heard cases in the court building known as the casa dei Landvogti.
Agriculture and emigration marked the traditional economy. In the 19th century local companies exploited the peat layer at Prati Vergani and gold mines at Monte Sceree (between Sessa and Astano). The mining activity was resumed in the 20th century by the company Mines de Costano SA, active from 1935 until the early 1950s.
The Sessa's were originally from the Langobard nobility. They were vassals of the House of Hohenstaufen when they lived in Sessa Castle, which controlled the passage over the Tresa river. This ended in 1240 when Emperor Frederick II took over the castle. The numerous representatives of the family formed a noble corporation, which along with the Vicin family retained power until the reign of the Confederates. Around the 13th century, a Sessa was mentioned who bore the Capitanei title in Locarno. As members of the Capitanei of Locarno in the 14th century, they possessed patronage rights to the chapel of S. Orsola in the church of S. Martino in Sessa. The family spread throughout Lombardy, where presumably the Sala (Varese) branch split off. This line is first mentioned in the 1277 list of the Milanese aristocracy. By the beginning of 16th century the direct line of the family had died out. Anyway, other minor lines have survived and the family, still flourishing, is present on the Libro d'Oro della Nobiltà Italiana and on the Annuario della Nobiltà Italiana with the title of Noble.
Sessa had an area, as of 1997, of 2.87 square kilometers (1.11 sq mi). Of this area, 0.78 km2 (0.30 sq mi) or 27.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while 1.89 km2 (0.73 sq mi) or 65.9% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 0.33 km2 (0.13 sq mi) or 11.5% is settled (buildings or roads) and 0.03 km2 (7.4 acres) or 1.0% is unproductive land.
Of the built up area, housing and buildings made up 6.6% and transportation infrastructure made up 2.8%. while parks, green belts and sports fields made up 1.4%. Out of the forested land, 57.8% of the total land area is heavily forested and 8.0% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 17.4% is used for growing crops, while 3.1% is used for orchards or vine crops and 6.6% is used for alpine pastures.
The former municipality is located in the Lugano district, in the mid-Malcantone. It consists of the village core of Sessa and the surrounding settlements of Beredino, Bonzaglio, Costa, Lanera and Suino.
The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Gules a castle with two towers argent ensigned with a swan of the same.
Sessa had a population (as of 2019) of 685. As of 2008, 18.8% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (1997–2007) the population has changed at a rate of 10.4%.
Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks Italian (74.7%), with German being second most common (17.7%) and French being third (2.8%).[9] Of the Swiss national languages (as of 2000), 107 speak German, 17 people speak French, 451 people speak Italian, and 1 person speaks Romansh. The remainder (28 people) speak another language.
As of 2008, the gender distribution of the population was 47.9% male and 52.1% female. The population was made up of 251 Swiss men (37.4% of the population), and 71 (10.6%) non-Swiss men. There were 295 Swiss women (43.9%), and 55 (8.2%) non-Swiss women.
In 2008 there were 5 live births to Swiss citizens and were 4 deaths of Swiss citizens and 2 non-Swiss citizen deaths. Ignoring immigration and emigration, the population of Swiss citizens increased by 1 while the foreign population decreased by 2. There were 2 Swiss men and 1 Swiss woman who immigrated back to Switzerland. At the same time, there were 2 non-Swiss men and 3 non-Swiss women who immigrated from another country to Switzerland. The total Swiss population change in 2008 (from all sources, including moves across municipal borders) was a decrease of 4 and the non-Swiss population change was a decrease of 2 people. This represents a population growth rate of -0.9%.
The age distribution, as of 2009, in Sessa is; 60 children or 8.9% of the population are between 0 and 9 years old and 72 teenagers or 10.7% are between 10 and 19. Of the adult population, 63 people or 9.4% of the population are between 20 and 29 years old. 78 people or 11.6% are between 30 and 39, 92 people or 13.7% are between 40 and 49, and 117 people or 17.4% are between 50 and 59. The senior population distribution is 87 people or 12.9% of the population are between 60 and 69 years old, 59 people or 8.8% are between 70 and 79, there are 44 people or 6.5% who are over 80.[
As of 2000, there were 265 private households in the municipality, and an average of 2.3 persons per household.[9] In 2000 there were 218 single family homes (or 72.9% of the total) out of a total of 299 inhabited buildings. There were 48 two family buildings (16.1%) and 15 multi-family buildings (5.0%). There were also 18 buildings in the municipality that were multipurpose buildings (used for both housing and commercial or another purpose).
The vacancy rate for the municipality, in 2008, was 0.48%. In 2000 there were 389 apartments in the municipality. The most common apartment size was the 5 room apartment of which there were 128. There were 6 single room apartments and 128 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 261 apartments (67.1% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 127 apartments (32.6%) were seasonally occupied and 1 apartments (0.3%) were empty. As of 2007, the construction rate of new housing units was 2.9 new units per 1000 residents.
The entire village of Sessa is designated as part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.
In the 2007 federal election the most popular party was the FDP which received 29.41% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (27.8%), the Green Party (13.57%) and the Ticino League (10.86%). In the federal election, a total of 254 votes were cast, and the voter turnout was 54.4%.
In the 2007 Gran Consiglio election, there were a total of 475 registered voters in Sessa, of which 300 or 63.2% voted. 2 blank ballots and 1 null ballot were cast, leaving 297 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PLRT which received 68 or 22.9% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PLRT (with 68 or 22.9%), the SSI (with 51 or 17.2%) and the LEGA (with 34 or 11.4%).[17]
In the 2007 Consiglio di Stato election, 1 blank ballot was cast, leaving 299 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PPD which received 74 or 24.7% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PLRT (with 58 or 19.4%), the LEGA (with 51 or 17.1%) and the PS (with 47 or 15.7%).
As of 2007, Sessa had an unemployment rate of 4.67%. As of 2005, there were 17 people employed in the primary economic sector and about 8 businesses involved in this sector. 21 people were employed in the secondary sector and there were 3 businesses in this sector. 50 people were employed in the tertiary sector, with 17 businesses in this sector. There were 248 residents of the municipality who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 37.5% of the workforce.
In 2000, there were 94 workers who commuted into the municipality and 171 workers who commuted away. The municipality is a net exporter of workers, with about 1.8 workers leaving the municipality for every one entering. About 31.9% of the workforce coming into Sessa are coming from outside Switzerland. Of the working population, 11.3% used public transportation to get to work, and 62.9% used a private car.
As of 2009, there were 2 hotels in Sessa.
From the 2000 census, 447 or 74.0% were Roman Catholic, while 62 or 10.3% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church. There are 86 individuals (or about 14.24% of the population) who belong to another church (not listed on the census), and 9 individuals (or about 1.49% of the population) did not answer the question.
In Sessa about 74.8% of the population (between age 25 and 64) have completed either non-mandatory upper secondary education or additional higher education (either university or a Fachhochschule).
In Sessa there were a total of 113 students (as of 2009). The Ticino education system provides up to three years of non-mandatory kindergarten and in Sessa there were 18 children in kindergarten. The primary school program lasts for five years and includes both a standard school and a special school. In the municipality, 28 students attended the standard primary schools and 3 students attended the special school. In the lower secondary school system, students either attend a two-year middle school followed by a two-year pre-apprenticeship or they attend a four-year program to prepare for higher education. There were 35 students in the two-year middle school and 1 in their pre-apprenticeship, while 11 students were in the four-year advanced program.
The upper secondary school includes several options, but at the end of the upper secondary program, a student will be prepared to enter a trade or to continue on to a university or college. In Ticino, vocational students may either attend school while working on their internship or apprenticeship (which takes three or four years) or may attend school followed by an internship or apprenticeship (which takes one year as a full-time student or one and a half to two years as a part-time student). There were 5 vocational students who were attending school full-time and 11 who attend part-time.
The professional program lasts three years and prepares a student for a job in engineering, nursing, computer science, business, tourism and similar fields. There was 1 student in the professional program.
As of 2000, there were 3 students in Sessa who came from another municipality, while 62 residents attended schools outside the municipality.
Notable people
Ignazio Cassis (born 1961), physician and President of the Swiss Confederation since January 2022.
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is geographically divided among the Swiss Plateau, the Alps and the Jura; the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, whereas most of the country's population of 9 million are concentrated on the plateau, which hosts its largest cities and economic centres, including Zürich, Geneva and Basel.
Switzerland originates from the Old Swiss Confederacy established in the Late Middle Ages, following a series of military successes against Austria and Burgundy; the Federal Charter of 1291 is considered the country's founding document. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognised in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. Switzerland has maintained a policy of armed neutrality since the 16th century and has not fought an international war since 1815. It joined the United Nations only in 2002 but pursues an active foreign policy that includes frequent involvement in peace building.
Switzerland is the birthplace of the Red Cross and hosts the headquarters or offices of most major international institutions, including the WTO, the WHO, the ILO, FIFA, and the United Nations. It is a founding member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), but not part of the European Union (EU), the European Economic Area, or the eurozone; however, it participates in the European single market and the Schengen Area. Switzerland is a federal republic composed of 26 cantons, with federal authorities based in Bern.
Switzerland is one of the world's most developed countries, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. Switzerland ranks first in the Human Development Index since 2021 and performs highly also on several international metrics, including economic competitiveness and democratic governance. Cities such as Zürich, Geneva and Basel rank among the highest in terms of quality of life, albeit with some of the highest costs of living.
It has four main linguistic and cultural regions: German, French, Italian and Romansh. Although most Swiss are German-speaking, national identity is fairly cohesive, being rooted in a common historical background, shared values such as federalism and direct democracy, and Alpine symbolism. Swiss identity transcends language, ethnicity, and religion, leading to Switzerland being described as a Willensnation ("nation of volition") rather than a nation state.
Since 1848 the Swiss Confederation has been a federal republic of relatively autonomous cantons, some of which have a history of federation that goes back more than 700 years, putting them among the world's oldest surviving republics.
The early history of the region is tied to that of Alpine culture. Switzerland was inhabited by the Helvetii, and it came under Roman rule in the 1st century BC. The Gallo-Roman culture was amalgamated with Germanic influence during Late Antiquity, with the eastern part of Switzerland becoming Alemannic territory. The area of Switzerland was incorporated into the Frankish Empire in the 6th century. In the High Middle Ages, the eastern part became part of the Duchy of Swabia within the Holy Roman Empire, while the western part was part of Burgundy.
The Old Swiss Confederacy in the Late Middle Ages (the Eight Cantons) established its independence from the House of Habsburg and the Duchy of Burgundy, and in the Italian Wars gained territory south of the Alps from the Duchy of Milan. The Swiss Reformation divided the Confederacy and resulted in a drawn-out history of internal strife between the Thirteen Cantons in the Early Modern period. In the wake of the French Revolution, Switzerland fell to a French invasion in 1798 and was reformed into the Helvetic Republic, a French client state. Napoleon's Act of Mediation in 1803 restored the status of Switzerland as a Confederation, and after the end of the Napoleonic period, the Swiss Confederation underwent a period of turmoil culminating in a brief civil war in 1847 and the creation of a federal constitution in 1848.
The history of Switzerland since 1848 has been largely one of success and prosperity. Industrialisation transformed the traditional agricultural economy, and Swiss neutrality during the World Wars and the success of the banking industry furthered the ascent of Switzerland to its status as one of the world's most stable economies.
Switzerland signed a free-trade agreement with the European Economic Community in 1972 and has participated in the process of European integration by way of bilateral treaties, but it has notably resisted full accession to the European Union (EU) even though its territory almost completely (except for the microstate Liechtenstein) has been surrounded by EU member states since 1995. In 2002, Switzerland joined the United Nations.
Archeological evidence suggests that hunter-gatherers were already settled in the lowlands north of the Alps in the Middle Paleolithic period 150,000 years ago. Agriculture in Switzerland began around 5500 BC. By the Neolithic period, the area was relatively densely populated. Remains of Bronze Age pile dwellings from as early as 3800 BC have been found in the shallow areas of many lakes. Around 1500 BC, Celtic tribes settled in the area. The Raetians lived in the eastern regions, while the west was occupied by the Helvetii.
A female who died in about 200 B.C. was found buried in a carved tree trunk during a construction project at the Kern school complex in March 2017 in Aussersihl. Archaeologists revealed that she was approximately 40 years old when she died and likely carried out little physical labor when she was alive. A sheepskin coat, a belt chain, a fancy wool dress, a scarf and a pendant made of glass, and amber beads were also discovered with the woman.
In 58 BC, the Helvetii tried to evade migratory pressure from Germanic tribes by moving into Gaul, but were defeated by Julius Caesar's armies and then sent back. The alpine region became integrated into the Roman Empire and was extensively romanized in the course of the following centuries. The center of Roman administration was at Aventicum (Avenches). In 259, Alamanni tribes overran the Limes, putting the settlements on Swiss territory on the frontier of the Roman Empire.
With the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Germanic tribes entered the area. Burgundians settled in the west; while in the north, Alamanni settlers slowly forced the earlier Celto-Roman population to retreat into the mountains. Burgundy became a part of the kingdom of the Franks in 534; two years later, the dukedom of the Alamans followed suit. In the Alaman-controlled region, only isolated Christian communities continued to exist and Irish monks re-introduced the Christian faith in the early 7th century.
Under the Carolingian kings, the feudal system proliferated, and monasteries and bishoprics were important bases for maintaining the rule. The Treaty of Verdun of 843 assigned Upper Burgundy (the western part of what is today Switzerland) to Lotharingia, and Alemannia (the eastern part) to the eastern kingdom of Louis the German which would become part of the Holy Roman Empire.
In the 10th century, as the rule of the Carolingians waned, Magyars destroyed Basel in 917 and St. Gallen in 926. Only after the victory of King Otto I over the Magyars in 955 in the Battle of Lechfeld, were the Swiss territories reintegrated into the empire.
In the 12th century, the dukes of Zähringen were given authority over part of the Burgundy territories which covered the western part of modern Switzerland. They founded many cities, including Fribourg in 1157, and Bern in 1191. The Zähringer dynasty ended with the death of Berchtold V in 1218, and their cities subsequently became reichsfrei (essentially a city-state within the Holy Roman Empire), while the dukes of Kyburg competed with the house of Habsburg over control of the rural regions of the former Zähringer territory.
Under the Hohenstaufen rule, the alpine passes in Raetia and the St Gotthard Pass gained importance. The latter especially became an important direct route through the mountains. Uri (in 1231) and Schwyz (in 1240) were accorded the Reichsfreiheit to grant the empire direct control over the mountain pass. Most of the territory of Unterwalden at this time belonged to monasteries that had previously become reichsfrei.
The extinction of the Kyburg dynasty paved the way for the Habsburg dynasty to bring much of the territory south of the Rhine under their control, aiding their rise to power. Rudolph of Habsburg, who became King of Germany in 1273, effectively revoked the status of Reichsfreiheit granted to the "Forest Cantons" of Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden. The Forest Cantons thus lost their independent status and were governed by reeves.
By 1353, the three original cantons had been joined by the cantons of Glarus and Zug and the city-states of Lucerne, Zürich, and Bern, forming the "Old Federation" of eight states that persisted during much of the 15th century. The Holy Roman Empire built roads and bridges to connect the industrial region of north Italy with the Rhine (linked with the other industrial area of Middle Age Europe, the Burgundian Netherlands), making the peasants and bankers on the road rich, allowing them to buy specialized Italian armor and to stop paying the road collecting taxes to the Empire who built the road. At the Battle of Sempach in 1386, the Swiss defeated the Habsburgs, gaining increased autonomy within the Holy Roman Empire.
Zürich was expelled from the Confederation from 1440 to 1450 due to a conflict over the territory of Toggenburg (the Old Zürich War). The Confederation's power and wealth increased significantly, with victories over Charles the Bold of Burgundy during the Burgundian Wars (1474–1477), greatly due to the success of the Swiss mercenaries, a powerful infantry force constituted by professional soldiers originally from the cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy. They were notable for their service in foreign armies, especially among the military forces of the Kings of France, throughout the Early Modern period of European history, from the Late Middle Ages to the Renaissance. Their service as mercenaries was at its peak during the Renaissance when their proven battlefield capabilities made them sought-after mercenary troops. The traditional listing order of the cantons of Switzerland reflects this state, listing the eight "Old Cantons" first, with the city-states preceding the founding cantons, followed by cantons that joined the Confederation after 1481, in historical order.
The Swiss defeated the Swabian League in 1499 and gained greater collective autonomy within the Holy Roman Empire, including exemption from the Imperial reforms of 1495 and immunity from most Imperial courts. In 1506, Pope Julius II engaged the Swiss Guard, which continues to serve the papacy to the present day. The expansion of the Confederation and the reputation of invincibility acquired during the earlier wars suffered its first setback in 1515 with the Swiss defeat in the Battle of Marignano and Battle of Bicocca.
The Reformation in Switzerland began in 1523, led by Huldrych Zwingli, priest of the Great Minster church in Zürich since 1518. Zürich adopted the Protestant religion, joined by Berne, Basel, and Schaffhausen, while Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz, Nidwalden, Zug, Fribourg, and Solothurn remained Catholic. Glarus and Appenzell were split. This led to multiple inter-cantonal religious wars (Kappeler Kriege) in 1529 and 1531, as each canton usually made the opposing religion illegal, and to the formation of two diets, the Protestant one meeting in Aarau and the Catholic one in Lucerne (as well as the formal full diet still meeting usually in Baden), despite this the Confederation survived.
During the Thirty Years' War, Switzerland was a relative "oasis of peace and prosperity" (Grimmelshausen) in war-torn Europe, mostly because all major powers in Europe depended on Swiss mercenaries, and would not let Switzerland fall into the hands of one of their rivals. Politically, they all tried to take influence, by way of mercenary commanders such as Jörg Jenatsch or Johann Rudolf Wettstein. The Drei Bünde of Grisons, at that point not yet a member of the Confederacy, were involved in the war from 1620, which led to their loss of the Valtellina in 1623.
At the Treaty of Westphalia in 1648, Switzerland attained legal independence from the Holy Roman Empire. The Valtellina became a dependency of the Drei Bünde again after the Treaty and remained so until the founding of the Cisalpine Republic by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1797.
In 1653, peasants of territories subject to Lucerne, Bern, Solothurn, and Basel revolted because of currency devaluation. Although the authorities prevailed in this Swiss peasant war, they did pass some tax reforms and the incident in the long term prevented an absolutist development as would occur at some other courts of Europe. The confessional tensions remained, however, and erupted again in the First War of Villmergen, in 1656, and the Toggenburg War (or Second War of Villmergen), in 1712.
During the French Revolutionary Wars, the French army invaded Switzerland and turned it into an ally known as the "Helvetic Republic" (1798–1803). It had a central government with little role for cantons. The interference with localism and traditional liberties was deeply resented, although some modernizing reforms took place.
Resistance was strongest in the more traditional Catholic bastions, with armed uprisings breaking out in spring 1798 in the central part of Switzerland. The French Army suppressed the uprisings but support for revolutionary ideas steadily declined. The reform element was weak, and most Swiss resented their loss of local democracy, centralization, new taxes, warfare, and hostility to religion.
Major steps taken to emancipate the Jews included the repeal of special taxes and oaths in 1798. However, many such reforms were turned back in 1815, and not until 1879 were the Jews granted equal rights with the Christians.
In 1803, Napoleon's Act of Mediation partially restored the sovereignty of the cantons, and the former tributary and allied territories of Aargau, Thurgau, Grisons, St. Gallen, Vaud, and Ticino became cantons with equal rights. Napoleon and his enemies fought numerous campaigns in Switzerland that ruined many localities.
The Congress of Vienna of 1814–15 fully re-established Swiss independence and the European powers agreed to recognize permanent Swiss neutrality. At this time, Valais, Neuchâtel, and Geneva also joined Switzerland as new cantons, thereby extending Swiss territory to its current boundaries.
The long-term impact of the French Revolution has been assessed (by William Martin):
It proclaimed the equality of citizens before the law, equality of languages, and freedom of thought and faith; it created Swiss citizenship, the basis of our modern nationality, and the separation of powers, of which the old regime had no conception; it suppressed internal tariffs and other economic restraints; it unified weights and measures, reformed civil and penal law, authorized mixed marriages (between Catholics and Protestants), suppressed torture and improved justice; it developed education and public works.
On 6 April 1814, the so-called "Long Diet" (delegates from all the nineteen cantons) met at Zürich to replace the constitution.
Cantonal constitutions were worked out independently from 1814, in general restoring the late feudal conditions of the 17th and 18th centuries. The Tagsatzung was reorganized by the Federal Treaty (Bundesvertrag) of 7 August 1815.
The liberal Free Democratic Party of Switzerland was strong in the largely Protestant cantons and obtained the majority in the Federal Diet in the early 1840s. It proposed a new Constitution for the Swiss Confederation which would draw the several cantons into a closer relationship. In addition to the centralization of the Swiss government, the new Constitution also included protections for trade and other progressive reform measures. The Federal Diet, with the approval of a majority of cantons, had taken measures against the Catholic Church such as the closure of monasteries and convents in Aargau in 1841, and the seizure of their properties. Catholic Lucerne, in retaliation,1844 recalled the Jesuits to head its education. That succeeded and seven Catholic cantons formed the "Sonderbund." This caused a liberal-radical move in the Protestant cantons to take control of the national Diet in 1847. The Diet ordered the Sonderbund dissolved, igniting a small-scale civil war against rural cantons that were strongholds of pro-Catholic ultramontanism.
The Radical-liberal-Protestant element charged that the Sonderbund violated the Federal Treaty of 1815, § 6 of which expressly forbade such separate alliances. Forming a majority in the Tagsatzung they decided to dissolve the Sonderbund on October 21, 1847. The odds were against the Catholics, who were heavily outnumbered in population; they were outnumbered in soldiers by 79,000 to 99,000 and lacked enough well-trained soldiers, officers, and generals. When the Sonderbund refused to disband, the national army attacked in a brief civil war between the Catholic and the Protestant cantons, known as the Sonderbundskrieg ("Sonderbund War".) The national army was composed of soldiers from all the other cantons except Neuchâtel and Appenzell Innerrhoden (which remained neutral). The Sonderbund was easily defeated in less than a month; there were about 130 killed. Apart from small riots, this was the last armed conflict on Swiss territory. Many Sonderbund leaders fled to Italy, but the victors were generous. They invited the defeated cantons to join them in a program of federal reform, and a new constitution was drafted along American lines. National issues were to be under the control of the national parliament, and the Jesuits were expelled. The Swiss voted heavily in favor of the new constitution by 2 million against 300,000. Switzerland became calm. However, conservatives around Europe became frightened and prepared their forces to meet possible challenges, which indeed soon exploded the Revolutions of 1848. In those violent revolutions, outside Switzerland, the conservatives were always successful.
As a consequence of the civil war, Switzerland adopted a federal constitution in 1848, amending it extensively in 1874 and establishing federal responsibility for defense, trade, and legal matters, leaving all other matters to the cantonal governments. From then, and over much of the 20th century, continuous political, economic, and social improvement has characterized Swiss history.
While Switzerland was primarily rural, the cities experienced an industrial revolution in the late 19th century, focused especially on textiles. In Basel, for example, textiles, including silk, were the leading industry. In 1888 women made up 44% of the wage earners. Nearly half the women worked in the textile mills, with household servants as the second largest job category. The share of women in the workforce was higher between 1890 and 1910 than it was in the late 1960s and 1970s.
Swiss Universities in the late 19th century are notable for the number of female students receiving medical education.
The major powers respected Switzerland's neutrality during World War I. In the Grimm–Hoffmann Affair, the Allies denounced a proposal by one politician to negotiate peace on the Eastern Front; they wanted the war there to continue to tie Germany down.
While the industrial sector began to grow in the mid-19th century, Switzerland's emergence as one of the most prosperous nations in Europe—the "Swiss miracle"—was a development of the short 20th century, among other things tied to the role of Switzerland during the World Wars.
Germany considered invading Switzerland during World War II but never attacked. Under General Henri Guisan, the Swiss army prepared for the mass mobilization of militia forces against invasion and prepared strong, well-stockpiled positions high in the Alps known as the Réduit. Switzerland remained independent and neutral through a combination of military deterrence, economic concessions to Germany, and good fortune as larger events during the war delayed an invasion.
Attempts by Switzerland's small Nazi party to cause an Anschluss with Germany failed miserably, largely due to Switzerland's multicultural heritage, a strong sense of national identity, and long tradition of direct democracy and civil liberties. The Swiss press vigorously criticized the Third Reich, often infuriating German leaders. Switzerland was an important base for espionage by both sides in the conflict and often mediated communications between the Axis and Allied powers.
Switzerland's trade was blockaded by both the Allies and the Axis. Both sides openly exerted pressure on Switzerland not to trade with the other. Economic cooperation and extension of credit to the Third Reich varied according to the perceived likelihood of invasion, and the availability of other trading partners. Concessions reached their zenith after a crucial rail link through Vichy France was severed in 1942, leaving Switzerland surrounded by the Axis. Switzerland relied on trade for half of its food and essentially all of its fuel, but controlled vital trans-alpine rail tunnels between Germany and Italy.
Switzerland's most important exports during the war were precision machine tools, watches, jewel bearings (used in bombsights), electricity, and dairy products. During World War Two, the Swiss franc was the only remaining major freely convertible currency in the world, and both the Allies and the Germans sold large amounts of gold to the Swiss National Bank. Between 1940 and 1945, the German Reichsbank sold 1.3 billion francs worth of gold to Swiss Banks in exchange for Swiss francs and other foreign currency.
Hundreds of millions of francs worth of this gold was monetary gold plundered from the central banks of occupied countries. 581,000 francs of "Melmer" gold taken from Holocaust victims in eastern Europe was sold to Swiss banks. In total, trade between Germany and Switzerland contributed about 0.5% to the German war effort but did not significantly lengthen the war.
Over the course of the war, Switzerland interned 300,000 refugees. 104,000 of these were foreign troops interned according to the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers outlined in the Hague Conventions. The rest were foreign civilians and were either interned or granted tolerance or residence permits by the cantonal authorities. Refugees were not allowed to hold jobs. 60,000 of the refugees were civilians escaping persecution by the Nazis. Of these, 26,000 to 27,000 were Jews. Between 10,000 and 25,000 civilian refugees were refused entry. At the beginning of the war, Switzerland had a Jewish population of between 18,000 and 28,000 and a total population of about 4 million.
Within Switzerland at the time of the conflict, there was moderate polarization. Some were pacifists. Some took sides according to international capitalism or international communism. Others leaned more towards their language group, with some in French-speaking areas more pro-Allied, and some in Swiss-German areas more pro-Axis. The government attempted to thwart the activities of any individual, party, or faction in Switzerland that acted with extremism or attempted to break the unity of the nation. The Swiss-German speaking areas moved linguistically further away from the standard (high) German spoken in Germany, with more emphasis on local Swiss dialects.
In the 1960s, significant controversy arose among historians regarding the nation's relations with Nazi Germany.
By the 1990s the controversies included a class-action lawsuit brought in New York over Jewish assets in Holocaust-era bank accounts. The government commissioned an authoritative study of Switzerland's interaction with the Nazi regime. The final report by this independent panel of international scholars, known as the Bergier Commission, was issued in 2002.
During the Cold War, Swiss authorities considered the construction of a Swiss nuclear bomb. Leading nuclear physicists at the Federal Institute of Technology Zurich such as Paul Scherrer made this a realistic possibility. However, financial problems with the defense budget prevented substantial funds from being allocated, and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968 was seen as a valid alternative. All remaining plans for building nuclear weapons were dropped by 1988.
From 1959, the Federal Council, elected by the parliament, is composed of members of the four major parties, the Protestant Free Democrats, the Catholic Christian Democrats, the left-wing Social Democrats, and the right-wing People's Party, essentially creating a system without a sizeable parliamentary opposition (see concordance system), reflecting the powerful position of an opposition in a direct democracy.
In 1963, Switzerland joined the Council of Europe. In 1979, parts of the canton of Bern attained independence, forming the new canton of Jura.
Switzerland's role in many United Nations and international organizations helped to mitigate the country's concern for neutrality. In 2002, Switzerland voters gave 55% of their vote in favour of the UN and joined the United Nations. This followed decades of debate and its previous rejection of membership in 1986 by a 3-1 popular vote.
Swiss women gained the right to vote in national-level elections in 1971, and an equal rights amendment was ratified in 1981, however it was not until 1990 that the courts established full nationwide voting rights for women in all elections.
Switzerland is not a member state of the EU but has been (together with Liechtenstein) surrounded by EU territory since the joining of Austria in 1995. In 2005, Switzerland agreed to join the Schengen treaty and Dublin Convention by popular vote. In February 2014, Swiss voters approved a referendum to reinstitute quotas on immigration to Switzerland, setting off a period of finding an implementation that would not violate the EU's freedom of movement accords that Switzerland adopted.
Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Switzerland decided to adopt all EU sanctions against Russia. According to the Swiss President Ignazio Cassis, the measures were "unprecedented but consistent with Swiss neutrality". The administration also confirmed that Switzerland would continue to offer its services to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. Switzerland only participates in humanitarian missions and provides relief supplies to the Ukrainian population and neighbouring countries.
Lemon sponge cake with raspberry preserves and white chocolate buttercream frosting. Fondant lemon and leaf on top.
Black Butte Lake was really low. There was just a thin strip of water surrounded by mud. I thought this picture contained some interesting layers with the dark blue sky at the top fading to a lighter color towards the hills, the background hills form another layer, then the closer hills form another, then there's mud, water, more mud, then finally dry beach.
my layer photo that were used in the making of the Pirate Treasure complication
I placed a pile of my jewellery in front of the cabin hatch (window) to catch the sunlight, also using a small LED light on the side. outside the hatch was a boat next to us. the hatch glass is a little frosted. I focused on the boat