Largest size Switzerland could have gotten

I know we've had discussions on here earlier about "Swiss-wank", and how much of the Confederation's advantage rested in its naturally defensible terrain, which would have been lost had it tried expanding into the lowlands. But still, the Swiss Confederation did fluctuate in size, thus my question-in a best case scenario, how large could it plausibly have gotten?
 
I know we've had discussions on here earlier about "Swiss-wank", and how much of the Confederation's advantage rested in its naturally defensible terrain, which would have been lost had it tried expanding into the lowlands. But still, the Swiss Confederation did fluctuate in size, thus my question-in a best case scenario, how large could it plausibly have gotten?

Using the template of a Switzerland aided by high mountains, The Savoy areas of France, the Austrian, Julian, and Bavarian Alps are about it. The Dolomite Alps are also extremely rugged, too. However, the Austrian, French, and Italian forces would naturally be loathe to allow this, as was the former in William Tell's day.

The Jura are not very high mountains, b-t-w, yet form sort of a guard against the middle Bern area of Switzerland. Only about 6,000 feet tops I recall, a lot like the area around the Great Smokies National Park (Tennessee/North Carolina border) in elevation and mountain landform inclines, and vegetation.

Other areas of Europe are rugged in protective ways, but are much more distant, such as Transylvannia and Bosnia. In fact, much like the highlands of Eithiopia, Bosnia was the way the Slavic immigration is believed to have started circa the 7th century or so. They took their livestock to the high mountain plateaus, disconnected from each other, and raided lowland villages from that base. Transylvania is not so defensible, and the Tatra Caparthian Alps of Slovakia/Poland is even less so. Not that I believe Switzerland could have expanded that far save an unusual migration, and the historical time for that had long since past it would seem.
 
It held small pockets of other areas for a while - towns and cities in Germany who had been original (or early) members of the league but OTL were forced to be ceded in peace treaties, some after hundreds of years. Rottweil and Mulhausen come to mind but I'm sure there were others. These were nothing more than exclaves, though, and wouldn't be easy to defend as they were outside of the mountains. They would add a few hundred or even thousand more square kilometres, but they offer little chance for expansion as the Swiss simply would not be able to hold additional land if it became an aggressive power.
 
The first thing to note is that for most of its history, the rule of Swiss expansion was "don't put the fence out too far", or in other words, don't take territory that's too far to hold. This limits Swiss expansion a decent amount if we hold that same belief.

If I had to pick areas, I'd agree with Falastur that the areas Switzerland had responsibility for in the HRE, tiny little statelets here and there really, are the best bet but don't offer much in terms of actual territory. Switzerland was very tightly allied with one of the Swabian/Southern German Cities Leagues, although I forget exactly which incarnation of that it was, and if the Emperor doesn't interfere in that as he did IOTL, the Swiss have the potential to gradually absorb some of those free cities as their own cantons. Again, though, I doubt it would be a huge amount of territory.

In the end, we come up to the fact that Switzerland evolved the way it is because of its harsh terrain, lack of centralized government, and general mercenary/neutral spirit in European affairs unless it directly affected them. To get a truly expansionist Switzerland that can hold bigger and further territories in its grip leads to a change of at least two, if not all three of those things.

Not much potential for expansion.
 
Switzerland was very tightly allied with one of the Swabian/Southern German Cities Leagues, although I forget exactly which incarnation of that it was, and if the Emperor doesn't interfere in that as he did IOTL, the Swiss have the potential to gradually absorb some of those free cities as their own cantons. Again, though, I doubt it would be a huge amount of territory.
Mulhouse? Although I think they were in the (Lower) Rhenish circle.
 
Yeah, I don't remember at all. The HRE time-period and maps associated are marked in my consciousness with a "Here be Batshit Insanity" sign.
Surely it's not too hard to remember the differences between Anhalt, Anhalt-Aschersleben, Anhalt-Bernburg, Anhalt-Bernburg-Schaumburg-Hoym, Anhalt-Dessau, Anhalt-Dornburg, Anhalt-Harzgerode, Anhalt-Köthen, Anhalt-Mühlingen, Anhalt-Pless, Anhalt-Plötzkau, Anhalt-Zeitz-Hoym, Anhalt-Zerbst and, of course, Anholt?

Although my personal favorite is Bentheim-Bentheim, for the redundancy.
 
Provinces that should or could be part of modern Swiss Conferederation:
1. Voralberg - after WW1 the inhabitants of Voralberg wanted to break away from german Austria and join Switzerland but the Swiss refused. The Arlberg pass would make a nice Eastern boundary with Austria.
2. Valteline - This was historically connected with the Graubunden until forceably detached by Napoleon. Should be part of greater Switzerland.
3. Domodossola - Another district historically ruled by the old confederaton and a logical part of Ticino. The most direct route from upper Valais to lower Ticino is through the Domodossola
4. The Chablais Savoyard south of lac Leman. Historically and georgaphically a part of Suisse Romande
5. Possibly Mulhouse, Porrentruy and the connecting land to fill in the triangle wth Basle. Mulhouse was almost returned to the Swiss Conferederation after Napoleon as part of the punishment for the 100 days but bartered back to France at Vienna.
That's the farthest you could push Switzerland without going back to a early 16th century POD
 
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