ABSTRACT
In the seven centuries of Switzerland's political history, the relationship with the Germans has always been important. The Swiss have tended to view their northern neighbors with a cautious ambivalence rather than outright affection or hostility. Public opinion in Switzerland continues to show a considerable reserve, yet the Swiss are very much aware that there are benefits as well as risks to be derived from Germany's proximity. The Swiss reformers Zwingli and Calvin had been in the theological vanguard of the break-up of Christendom during the 16th century. As elsewhere, the religious split had political repercussions, and it came to conflicts between Swiss Catholics and Protestants on several occasions in the first half of the 17th century. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the Swiss army had been mobilized to safeguard the vulnerable northwestern frontier. When the nearby conflict was over, however, the presence of a united Germany posed a more lasting problem for the Swiss.
