Political History. 171 



political existence dates back at least 600 years, when in 

 1291 tlie people of the three forest cantons, Schwyz, Uri 

 and Unterwalden formed their first league to resist en- 

 croachments on their rights by the church and by the 

 feudal barons. 



The country became settled similarly to Germany by 

 Germans and especially Burgundians, a free people ; but 

 when the control of the Obermarker over the free com- 

 munities began/to ripen into feudal superiority it found 

 resistance in the forest cantons, and these formed a 

 league to fight the duke of Hapsburg, who partly as 

 feudal lord, partly as Eeichsvogt, the emperor's repre- 

 sentative, claimed obnoxious rights. Through admis- 

 sion of neighboring lands and cities to the league, the 

 number of confederates by the middle of the 14th century 

 had grown to eight, and when by the battles of Sempach 

 (1386) and Naefels (1388), the Austrian Hapsburg su- 

 premacy had been permanently wiped out, the number 

 of allies grew and, by conquest and annexation and 

 otherwise, their territory attained nearly the present 

 size by the middle of the 15th century; the war against 

 feudalism being the cause for this growth. 



These various small republics, however, always formed 

 a part of and owed allegiance to the German Empire, 

 although they resisted the arms of the Emperor as Arch- 

 duke of Austria, until with the peace of 1499 this con- 

 nection became entirely nominal. The final separation 

 from the German empire and acknowledgment of inde- 

 pendence was not pronounced until the peace of West- 

 phalia in 1648. 



The league was only a very loose confederation with- 

 out any central power, although a diet, to which each 



