In Swiss history, the Helvetic Republic (1798–1803) represented an early attempt to impose a central authority over Switzerland, which until then consisted mainly of self-governing cantons united by a loose military alliance, and conquered territories such as Vaud. Its name was taken from the Helvetian people.
A constitutional arrangement imposed by French military might, the Republic existed as a state for only five years but failed to achieve widespread popular support among its citizens. However, some aspects of it have survived into present-day Switzerland.
Read more about Helvetic Republic: History, Constitution, Legacy, Administrative Divisions, Predecessor States
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“It was the most ungrateful and unjust act ever perpetrated by a republic upon a class of citizens who had worked and sacrificed and suffered as did the women of this nation in the struggle of the Civil War only to be rewarded at its close by such unspeakable degradation as to be reduced to the plane of subjects to enfranchised slaves.”
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