Switzerland

Switzerland occupies a unique position in the history of the idea of peace. Officially politically neutral since the sixteenth century has meant that Switzerland has acquired a reputation for being a centre for peacemaking over the past two centuries. This is particularly true of Geneva, perhaps rivaled only y the Hague as a centre for promoting international law and concord, as it is home to many organisations dedicated to promoting peace or at least limiting the effects of war, most notably the Red Cross, successive Geneva Conferences or, more recently, the Geneva Accord (2003), and the modern laws of war, the Geneva Conventions. And, of course, being the home of the League of Nations it was superseded by the United Nations, which has kept the the League's Palais des Nations as its second-most important office after New York. 

Which is interesting, considering for several hundred years they provided the decisive edge in military conflicts as mercenary troops. The last remnant of the once deeply entrenched tradition of Swiss mercenaries is the Swiss Guards, the bodyguards to the pope. Although they're no doubt more familiar with small arms, they still carry halberds ceremonially, the weapons (along with pikes) that made Swiss troops so useful to those who employed them and so reviled to those who did not.

The reason why this has occurred to me is that I've been looking into where the Swiss fitted into treaty making in the sixteenth century today in which these tensions are evident. The Swiss Confederation occupied a fairly unique in early modern peace treaty practice. At certain points they were included in agreements between other rulers despite having played no part in negotiations for peace; most often, they were included as allies to the French king, although they were also included as being adherents of other principal negotiators. However, at other points articles in treaties made it clear that no signatory to the treaty could enter agreements with the Swiss to provide mercenary troops in order to increase the likelihood that the terms of peace would be kept. 

The effects of the reformation upon treaty making practice are also interesting as far as the Swiss are concerned as at certain points the entire confederacy or individual cantons were excluded (or excluded themselves from particular treaties) in religious grounds. The most notable occurrence of this was the 1598 treaty of Vervins, which was the last European agreement to be made under the protection of the Holy See and not involving Protestant powers. Protestant Geneva, never a part of the Confederacy but an ally of Bern in the  1536 perpetual peace, also provides an interesting example of the increasing confessionalisation of international politics. France intended on having the city included in Vervins. Although it was mentioned specifically by name in the treaty itself, this was made clear when the city asked Henri IV subsequently to clarify their position in the agreement. However, since Spanish monarchs and successive popes were unwilling to enter into any treaty involving Geneva and, since Clement VII's mediation depended upon the exclusion of Protestants, it is unlikely that this sentiment was shared. In this light, it's also interesting that article 56 of the Swiss Constitution still grants the individual cantons the right to negotiate certain treaties with foreign powers 'within the domain relevant to their competencies.'

I've managed to not have to use the printed calendars published in 1839 in any great depth but am glad to have found these online, thanks to the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf. You can find all eight volumes by clicking on this link:  Amtliche Sammlung der älteren eidgenössischen Abschiede.