In another example of strange parallels with the US, the shape of modern Swiss federalism was also decided by a civil war in the mid-19th century. Like the US

In another example of strange parallels with the US, the shape of modern Swiss federalism was also decided by a civil war in the mid-19th century. Like the US civil war, a faction of Southern states broke away to protect regional independence. This was triggered by the election of a pro-centralization party to the federal government. Underneath it was an ambiguity about the full extent of the power granted to the federal government by the Constitution, and whether individual states were free to leave the union. However very characteristic of the differences between Switzerland and America, only about 100 people died in this war before the matter was settled. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonderbund_War https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonderbund_War