page_title: Canton of Schwyz
section_title: Helvetic Republic to the federal state
hierarchical_section_title: Canton of Schwyz / History / Helvetic Republic to the federal state
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Die Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft während der Restaurationszeit 1814–1847
context_page_description: The canton of Schwyz is a canton in central Switzerland between the Alps in the south, Lake Lucerne to the west and Lake Zürich in the north, centered on and named after the town of Schwyz.
  It is one of the founding cantons of Switzerland; Switzerland's name is derived from the name of the canton, and the flag of Switzerland from its coat of arms. The Swiss Federal Charter is on display in Schwyz. Northeast of the town of Schwyz is the Einsiedeln Abbey.
context_section_description: During the years leading up to the 1798 French invasion of Switzerland, the spiritual leadership of the canton often preached against the anti-Catholic parts of the French Revolution. In the Landsgemeinde in the spring of 1798, the leadership spoke out strongly against the French and urged the people to take an uncompromising position against the newly created Helvetic Republic and the limited freedom of religion in the Republic.
  In response, the cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Nidwalden raised an army of about 10,000 men led by Alois von Reding to fight the French. This army was deployed along the defensive line from Napf to Rapperswil. Reding besieged French-controlled Lucerne and marched across the Brünig pass into the Berner Oberland to support the armies of Bern. At the same time, the French General Balthasar Alexis Henri Antoine of Schauenburg marched out of occupied Zürich to attack Zug, Lucerne and the Sattel pass. Even though Reding's army won victories at Rothenthurm on 2 May 1798 and Morgarten, Schauenburg's victory near Sattel allowed him to threaten the town of Schwyz. On 4 May 1798, the town council of Schwyz surrendered. Reding surrendered to the French on 13 May.
  To help break the political power of the Inner Cantons, Uri (without the Leventina but with the Urseren), Schwyz (without March and Höfe), both half-cantons of Unterwalden, Zug, the Republic of Gersau and Engelberg Abbey were merged into the canton of Waldstätten. The new canton only had 4 seats in the Tagsatzung instead of the 16 that its members had held before the invasion. Initially the victorious French army only lightly occupied the old core of the canton of Schwyz, but plundered the Einseideln Abbey. However, after a failed uprising in Nidwalden in the fall of 1798, Schwyz was forced to hand over all weapons and to provide supplies and housing to French troops. The heavy demands of the occupying French led to the uprising known as the Hirthemmli War in April 1799. After the French suppressed this uprising, they moved the capital of the canton of Waldstätten to Zug.
  In summer and autumn of 1799, the outbreak of the War of the Second Coalition brought renewed fighting to Schwyz. In mid-August the French General André Masséna drove the Austrian-Russian army out of the Schwyz valley. By the end of September they were fighting in the March valley. Simultaneously, the Russian General Alexander Suvorov crossed the Kinzig Pass with his army and began fighting the French in the Muota valley. Suvorov was unable to force his way out of the canton and was eventually driven over the Pragel Pass to Glarus. The destruction and looting from both armies stripped the canton of food and ruined fields, causing hardship and death among the Schwyzer during the following winter.
  Joseph Thomas Fassbind compiled a history of the canton during this period, published in the 1830s.
  After the 1803 Act of Mediation, Schwyz regained its independence and most of the changes introduced by Napoleon were reverted. The old subject lands were converted into full and equal districts and the formerly independent towns of Gersau and Reichenburg joined the new canton of Schwyz. The loss of power in the old core of Schwyz led to resentment and tension in the canton. After the abolition of the Act of Mediation in February 1814 the old core tried to usurp the leadership role in the canton and strip the right to political participation from the former subject lands. The old subject lands resisted this and the old core was forced to agree to the 1814 Constitution which granted equal rights to all citizens. However, they were able to include the provision that the two-thirds of the seats would come from the old core of Schwyz. Furthermore, the highest cantonal authorities came from the old core. While the new constitution removed the legal difference between citizens and residents, residents were not allowed to use the extensive land owned by the citizen's community. Tensions continued to escalate until in the Landsgemeinde of 1829, the residents from the former subject lands were driven ou
caption: Switzerland following the Congress of Vienna, with the borders of Outer Schwyz and Inner Schwyz
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