WI/AHC: Switzerland accepts the ascension of Vorarlberg

shiftygiant

Gone Fishin'
I asked the same thing a while back, and these were the responses;

Don't see it happening. Switzerland doesn't want to piss anybody off.

The biggest problem is Swiss resistance to the idea. It would have added a lot of German speakers and Catholics, upsetting the balance that is part of the Swiss political structire. So while you write elements of the Swiss society, it's basically everyone needed to block it on a political level, even if there never was IIRC a official statement from the Swiss government on the topic.
Austria at the time isn't really able to do anything against Switzerland if it goes through aside from sending sternly worded letters.
And the Allies... The only one I can honestly see doing more than objecting is Italy, because strenthening a country they have irredentist claims on isn't in their interest.

I hope this helps.
 
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorarlberg#History

How could Switzerland accept the ascension of Vorarlberg, with different circumstances?

And what would happen as a result of that?

Not sure why Switzerland should do that.

If they do, though, the consequences IMHO would be that Switzerland is generally more open to expansion. Vorarlberg would become a new canton, and a federal system like Switzerland offers a lot of internal autonomy for new cantons. I could definitely see other bordering regions considering this option - particularly down the line when Switzerland became rich.

I've always thought it interesting to consider a bigger Switzerland, but I also always considered the best chances for that after the Napoleonic wars, giving away territories to Switzerland to effectively "neutralize" them.
 
I asked the same thing a while back, and these were the responses;





I hope this helps.

Ja. The only way I could see it being politically palatable within Switzerland is if there was a counter balancing acquisition in e.g. French speaking territory. But that's not going to do anything for the Protestant/Catholic division/balance.

Ideally, you'd have a protestant German territory and a Catholic French or Italian one added at the same time, but those weren't possibilities.
 
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