Their mercenaries were famous throughout Europe and the dependency of the great European powers on those mercenaries led to Switzerland being left mostly in peace.
That’s what I’ve read, but I’d love to be corrected.
I personally think it’s geography.
The Irish, Scots and Germans were important sources of mercenaries and that didn’t stop anybody from attacking them.
Also Switzerland fought quite some wars throughout history against great powers like France and Austria too.
Their mercenaries were famous throughout Europe and the dependency of the great European powers on those mercenaries led to Switzerland being left mostly in peace.
That’s what I’ve read, but I’d love to be corrected.
I personally think it’s geography. The Irish, Scots and Germans were important sources of mercenaries and that didn’t stop anybody from attacking them.
Also Switzerland fought quite some wars throughout history against great powers like France and Austria too.
That makes a lot of sense and seems the most obvious answer.