| November 15 |  |
Editor says, what if the Swiss Confederates had been defeated by the Habsburgs? Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). This story was published in the December 2012 edition of Changing the Times Magazine.
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In 1315, an army under the command of Duke Leopold I of Austria narrowly survived a Swiss ambush in the Morgarten Pass.
Ambush at the Morgarten PassThe architect of the clandestine attack was Werner Stauffacher. He had mobilized a a Swiss Confederation force of 1,500 infantry archers to regain their local autonomy within the Habsburg Empire.
The dispute had arisen despite the Swiss holding imperial letters of guarantee signed by former Emperors. And after a raid on the Habsburg-protected monastery of Einsiedeln, Duke Leopold I had set out to crush the rebellious Confederates. And his ultimate victory was the end of hopes to restore the Old Swiss Confederacy.
Entry posted by Todayinah Editor
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Permalinks: Post, Day. Browse Thread: General Source: Wikipedia Labels: Morgarten Pass, Duke Leopold I, Swiss, Austrians, Werner Stauffacher. Editor says, in authoring this post we have repurposed content from Wikipedia which reports that the Swiss, led by Werner Stauffacher, thoroughly defeated the Austrians, who were under the command of Duke Leopold I of Austria.
~ This might mean the modern world would have no neutral Switzerland to serve as a banking haven for everyone from tax-dodging millionaires to fugitive Nazis.
~ And neutral Switzerland was also a haven for people who were fugitives FROM the Nazis, Eric.
~ My guess is that Switzerland would end up independent, but it could be in a very different configuration. Those mountains give it superb defensive positions. Would the defeated Confederates hire themselves out as mercenaries?
"Keine Silber, keine Schweiz!" or "Pas d'argent, pas de Suisse!"
~ Would be an interesting switch with the Thirty Years War (which could've happened all the earlier).
© Today in Alternate History, 2013-. All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
