➔ Making the Swiss: How Myths Built a Nation
| 4 minute read
Something that blew my mind when I first read it: William Tell never existed. The guy with the crossbow, the apple on the kid’s head, the whole story. Made up. Yet his story, or the story people told about him, repeatedly changed the course of Swiss politics for centuries.
That is the opening punch of this Introduction chapter. Sets the tone for the whole book, really.
Not a natural country
Most countries have something obvious holding them together. A shared language. A dynasty. A dominant religion. Switzerland has none of that. Four languages. Split between Catholics and Protestants. No royal family ever united them. The authors make a strong point: Switzerland is a Willensnation. A nation built on will. On the decision of its people to stay together.