AHC: Swiss Superpower

In almost every tl ever made, the Swiss are conquered or nuetral little guys. Is there any possible way for the Swiss to forge an empire, with or without a coastline?
 
I really don't think so.

Switzerland, one must remember, is not a nation-state; rather, it is a diverse mix of peoples who only united in the name of republicanism. Such liberal politics does not usually lend itself to empire-building.

Second, what avenues does Switzerland have for expansion? Some territory in southern Wurttemburg could be included along with Liechtenstein; maybe Baden, Alsace, or even bits of Lorraine as well. In a long-shot scenario, they could even take Vorarlberg. But how much more powerful is that Switzerland going to be? Austria, Bavaria, and Lombardy are only going to view such an expanded Switzerland as a rival, albeit one still rather easy to crush. Switzerland got extraordinarily lucky to stay so large in OTL; I cannot imagine events going much better for it.
 
Well technically they did become one. The Hapsburgs were originally from Switzerland around the castle they are named after. If you wish the Swiss to become a big name in a later POD when they are a republic then I do not think they can. Unless they do it through an early start with the maga banks that the Swiss have in OTL.
 
WW3 breaks out, Switzerland is the only place in Europe not turned to glass. It then conquers most of Europe.

Challenge solved.
 
WW3 breaks out, Switzerland is the only place in Europe not turned to glass. It then conquers most of Europe.

Challenge solved.

Even though Switzerland would probably take a few hits (=> Protect & Survive- universe, for example), it is the only country with more places in fallout shelters than inhabitants...

And these are shelters made by the folks who produce these fancy watches and pocket-knives, not Albanians...
 
In almost every tl ever made, the Swiss are conquered or nuetral little guys. Is there any possible way for the Swiss to forge an empire, with or without a coastline?

The Swiss are little guys?
Not during Middle Ages!
For a few hundred years the Swiss were the best warriors of Europe. The fierce mercenaries.
I remember that the German lansquenets were called "the Swiss for the poor", meaning that the Germans were a bad substitute for these real Swiss fighters.
If Switzerland had been united by a capable enterprising ruler this Prince might have built a Superpower, leading his invincible Swiss infantry from victory to victory conquering a big chunk of Europe. In this Empire the Swiss would have been a ruling elite.
The best candidate was Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy. Under certain circumstances.
It's a pity the Swiss did not like his intentions and killed the guy.
 
The issue here is that the Swiss were originally a defensive alliance, and they were successful because their terrain (i.e. mountains everywhere, and pretty much no flat land at all) played entirely to their strengths. The day that the Swiss break out of the Alps and start occupying territory on flatter terrain is the day they will suddenly see their military fortune reversed.

Besides, what political will would there be for a Swiss superpower? The Swiss identity was basically built on the principle of "leave us alone and we leave you alone". That kind of falls apart when the isolationists decide to become big-time aggressors.
 
The issue here is that the Swiss were originally a defensive alliance, and they were successful because their terrain (i.e. mountains everywhere, and pretty much no flat land at all) played entirely to their strengths. The day that the Swiss break out of the Alps and start occupying territory on flatter terrain is the day they will suddenly see their military fortune reversed.

Besides, what political will would there be for a Swiss superpower? The Swiss identity was basically built on the principle of "leave us alone and we leave you alone". That kind of falls apart when the isolationists decide to become big-time aggressors.

Meh, didn't stop the conquest of the Italian bailiwicks (the modern Ticino), the Vaud, the Thurgau, the Aargau...

The main thing to remember is this: The Eidgenossenschaft was little more than an alliance of mutual defence. This didn't stop individual cantons (Bern in particular) from taking advantage of the misfortunes of their neighbours or being quite aggressively expansionistic.

So ways to go forward with this: The Swiss get a major ally in ~1510 and this allows them to make their imposition of Massamiliano Sforza as Duke of Milan stick. The Swiss then do something which makes the city of Milan view them as a way of avoiding being little more than a scrap of land to pass between France and Austria. Then have the counter-reformation perform worse (or much better) so Switzerland is much more uniformly one religion and internally united. By the late 16th Century, the tradition of Lombardy as part of Switzerland has thus been established, and matters can progress further from there. There's also lots of oppurtunities in Swabia, Further Austria, Burgundy, Alsace/Lorraine and Savoy. They had claims to the Franche-Comte until the end of the Burgundian Wars.
 

Sulemain

Banned
Perhaps a "Republican League" consisting of an expanded Old Swiss Confederacy (Volraberg, Lichentenstien, some of the Italian alps, etc), the Ambrosian Republic of Milan and some other states might be possible.
 
Define an 'empire.'

If the Swiss win at Marignano (through various possible PODs), that would keep Milan as effectively a Swiss puppet state. Making it stay that way would be far harder, but doable.
 
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