Political History. 171 
political existence dates back at least 600 years, when in 
1291 the people of the three forest cantons, Schwyz, Uri 
and Unfterwalden 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 Reichsvogt, 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 Nefels (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 
