Talbot
Talbot or Clément-Talbot Limited was a London automobile manufacturer founded in 1903. Clément-Talbots products were named just Talbot from shortly after introduction but the business did remain Clément-Talbot Limited until 1938 when it was renamed Sunbeam-Talbot Limited, both men, Chetwynd-Talbot and Clément-Bayard, reduced their financial interests in their Clément-Talbot business during the First World War. Soon after the end of the war Clément-Talbot was brought into a combine named S T D Motors, shortly afterwards S T D Motors French products were renamed Talbot instead of Darracq. In the mid 1930s Rootes bought the London Talbot factory and Antonio Lago bought the Paris Talbot factory, Lago used Talbot or Talbot-Lago in Paris. In 1938 Rootes renamed Clément-Talbot Limited Sunbeam-Talbot Limited, Rootes stopped using the brand name Talbot in the mid-1950s, the Paris factory closed a few years later. The marque came by a series of takeovers to Peugeot S. A. which revived use of the Talbot name from 1978 until 1994.
In December 1919 A Darracq and Company Limited of London with its factory in Suresnes, bought the entire capital of Clément-Talbot and bought Sunbeam and those initials referred to Sunbeam and Darracq. But in the depth of the Great Depression S T D Motors became unable to pay its debts and its subsidiaries managed to find buyers and in 1936 S T D Motors ceased to exist. Clément-Talbot continued to be famous for the design and quality of its products, Clément-Talbot was bought by Rootes Group and renamed Sunbeam-Talbot. Then Sunbeam alone twenty years after that, in 1920 Suresnes products were branded Talbot-Darracq but the word Darracq was dropped in 1922. Following the financial collapse of S T D Motors and Pariss Automobiles Talbot Antonio Lago, Antonio Lago involved Talbot in sports car and Grand Prix racing as well as producing high quality luxury cars. In the postwar world of austerity and socialism the French government introduced punitive annual taxation on cars with larger than 2. 6-litres.
Lago continued the Talbot business until 1958 when the doors were closed. The dormant Talbot marque was sold to Simca, Simca was bought by Chrysler Europe in 1970. PSA Peugeot Citroën acquired the still dormant Talbot marque when it bought Chrysler in 1978, with mounting pressure on its core North American business, the decision was taken by Chryslers CEO Lee Iacocca to offload the ailing European operations. The French Government persuaded both Renault and PSA Peugeot Citroën to bid for the company, as it was keen to keep Simca in domestic ownership. In August 1978, PSA purchased Chrysler Europe for a nominal $1, the Peugeot takeover saw the end of the Rootes Chrysler Hunter production, but the Simca-designed 1510, and Horizon continued as Talbots. All former Chrysler products registered in Britain after 1 August 1979 bore the Talbot badge, the entry-level model in the Talbot range from 1982 onwards would be the Talbot Samba, a three-door hatchback based on the Peugeot 104
Chrysler
FCA US is one of the Big Three American automobile manufacturers. FCA US has its headquarters in Auburn Hills and sells vehicles worldwide under its flagship Chrysler brand, as well as the Dodge, other major divisions include Mopar, its automotive parts and accessories division, and SRT, its performance automobile division. The Chrysler Corporation was founded by Walter Chrysler in 1925, out of what remained of the Maxwell Motor Company, Chrysler greatly expanded in 1928, when Mr. The brand diversification efforts were inspired by Mr. Chryslers time working for General Motors, in the 1960s the company expanded into Europe, by taking control of French and Spanish auto companies, Chrysler Europe was sold in 1978 to PSA Peugeot Citroën for $1. Chrysler struggled through the 1970s to adapt to changing markets, increased US import competition, the company began an engineering partnership with Mitsubishi Motors, and began selling Mitsubishi vehicles branded as Dodge and Plymouth in North America.
By the late 1970s, Chrysler was on the verge of bankruptcy, New CEO Lee Iacocca was credited with returning the company to profitability in the 1980s. In 1985, Diamond-Star Motors was created, further expanding the Chrysler-Mitsubishi relationship, in 1987, Chrysler acquired American Motors Corporation, which brought the profitable Jeep brand under the Chrysler umbrella. Like the other Big Three automobile manufacturers, Chrysler was hit hard by the industry crisis of 2008–2010. On June 10,2009, Chrysler emerged from the proceedings with the United Auto Workers pension fund, Fiat S. p. A. The bankruptcy resulted in Chrysler defaulting on over $4 billion in debts, by May 24,2011, Chrysler finished repaying its obligations to the U. S. government five years early, although the cost to the American taxpayer was $1.3 billion. Over the next few years Fiat gradually acquired the other parties shares while removing much of the weight of the loans in a short period. On January 1,2014, Fiat S. p. A announced a deal to purchase the rest of Chrysler from the United Auto Workers retiree health trust.
The deal was completed on January 21,2014, making Chrysler Group a subsidiary of Fiat S. p. A, in May 2014, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, NV was established by merging Fiat S. p. A. into the company. This was completed in August 2014, Chrysler Group LLC remained a subsidiary until December 15,2014, when it was renamed FCA US LLC, to reflect the Fiat-Chrysler merger. The Chrysler company was founded by Walter Chrysler on June 6,1925, Walter Chrysler arrived at the ailing Maxwell-Chalmers company in the early 1920s. He was hired to overhaul the companys troubled operations, in late 1923 production of the Chalmers automobile was ended. In January 1924, Walter Chrysler launched the well-received Chrysler automobile, the Chrysler was a 6-cylinder automobile, designed to provide customers with an advanced, well-engineered car, but at a more affordable price than they might expect. The original 1924 Chrysler included an air filter, high compression engine, full pressure lubrication
Ford SAF
Ford SAF was the French subsidiary of the American automaker Ford Motor Company, which existed under various names between 1916 and 1954, when Ford sold the manufacturing business to Simca. After 1954 the residuum was renamed Ford France and became an importer of such as the British-built Ford Anglia. The company was formed in Bordeaux as Société Française des Automobiles Ford in 1916 by Percival Perry, Model As were made from 1927 to 1931 and Model Ys from 1932 to 1934. The company imported the US-built V8-powered Ford Model B, but import taxes made them very expensive, the new company name was Matford SA. Ownership was split 60%/40% with Ford having the larger share, Ford had commissioned a new plant of its own at Poissy in 1937, with the stated intention of pulling out of the Strasbourg based Matford project. By the time Poissy came on stream, in 1940, France had been invaded, meanwhile, a small number of 13CV Matford V8 passenger cars, now branded as Fords, continued to be produced at least until 1942.
After the war the company re-introduced the smaller 2,225 cc V8-engined Matford model, the car was known in France as the Ford 13CV, although subsequently it is called more formally the Ford F-472 and, after the first 300 had been produced, the Ford F-472A. In addition to the familiar four-door sedan/saloon, chassis with front half bodies were made available to coachbuilders. The 13CV was valued by customers for its space, style. In 1947 the company produced 3,023 of its 13CVs, the Citroën was already being produced at more than three times that rate. This model, launched in October at the 1948 Paris Motor Show as the Ford 12CV Vedette now replaced the F-472A, the Vedette was joined in 1952 by its upmarket counterparts, the Vendôme, and Comète sports coupé, cars that were not shared with any other Ford subsidiary. In November 1954 Ford merged the entire French operation to Simca at first keeping 15.2 per cent of the company, apart from the plant, Simca acquired plans for a new Vedette, with the 2351 cc V8, which was made until 1961 as Simca Vedette.
At the end of the decade, Chrysler in turn divested its European operations to PSA, finally, in the second half of the 1980s, the Talbot brand was axed and Poissy became one of the most important production sites for the Peugeot brand and continues to be today. Ford England Ford Germany Ford do Brasil Ford France http, //dvole. free. fr/matford/ Matford Constructeur automobile http, //dvole. free. fr/fordsaf/fordsaf. htm Ford Société Anonyme Française - Poissy
Groupe PSA
PSA is listed on the Euronext Paris stock exchange and is again a constituent of the CAC40 index after having been removed in 2012. Beginning in 2016, PSA began to outline a strategy which entailed the expansion of the company. PSA has announced plans to enter the Indian, Canadian, ASEAN, headquartered in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, PSA was in 2016 the third-largest Europe-based automaker. Following the completion of the acquisition of the GM Opel and Vauxhall Motors brands. In December 1974 Peugeot S. A. acquired a 38. 2% share of Citroën, on 9 April 1976 they increased their stake of the bankrupt company to 89. 95%, thus creating the PSA Group, becoming PSA Peugeot Citroën. Since Citroën had two new designs in the market at this time and Peugeot was typically prudent in its own finances. Further investment was required because PSA decided to create a new brand for the entity for the disparate French and British models, based on the Talbot sports car last seen in the 1950s. From on, the whole Chrysler/Simca range was sold under the Talbot badge until production of Talbot-branded passenger cars was shelved in 1987, all of this investment caused serious financial problems for the entire PSA group, PSA lost money from 1980 to 1985.
In 1987, the dropped the Talbot brand for passenger cars when it ceased production of the Simca-developed Horizon. What was to have been the Talbot Arizona became the Peugeot 309, with the former Rootes plant in Ryton, producing Peugeots in Ryton was significant, as it signalled the first time that PSA would build cars in the UK. The Talbot name survived for a longer on commercial vehicles until 1992 before being shelved completely. From 1987 to 1995, the plant produced the Peugeot 405 saloon, on 29 February 2012, PSA announced the creation of a major alliance with General Motors, as part of which GM became PSAs second-largest shareholder, after the Peugeot family, with a holding of 7%. The alliance was intended to enable $2 billion per year of cost savings through platform sharing, common purchasing and other economies of scale. In July 2012, an official said that PSA Peugeot Citroën would cut as much as 10 percent of its French workforce of 100,356 employees on permanent. The jobs cut was more than previously announced, on 24 October, PSA said it was close to an agreement with creditor banks on €11.5 billion of refinancing and had won state guarantees on €7 billion in further borrowing by its Banque PSA Finance.
And in doing so, PSA ended up losing revenue rapidly, CEO Philippe Varin says that Citroën and Peugeot are too close, so he plans on positioning Citroën C-line models lower than Peugeot with DS models above Peugeot. On 12 December 2013, General Motors announced it was selling its 7% stake in PSA Peugeot Citroën, in early 2016, PSA unveiled a roadmap detailing its plan to re-enter the North American car market for the first time in almost forty years. Although many only expected the DS to enter the North American market, on 10 February 2017, PSA announced the purchase of Hindustan Motors and the Hindustan Ambassador brand, which will be used to sell Peugeot and Citröen vehicles in India beginning in 2018
Matford
Matford was a car and truck manufacturer in France from 1934 to 1940. In the early 1930s, the Ford Motor Company was quickly expanding its European production, while Mathis had financial problems, Ford were keen to increase production and the Mathis plant in Strasbourg seemed more suitable than their existing workshop in Asnières-sur-Seine. A joint venture between Ford and Mathis was created under the name of Matford S. A. formally created on 1 October 1934, the initial cars were locally assembled versions of contemporary American and British Ford models. During 1935, under the direction of Maurice Dollfus who had joined Ford in 1930. There were high hopes for the Matford collaboration which, in 1934, was expected to last for fifty years, in 1935 a range of V-8 engined Matfords was put on the market which were very similar to the American Ford Model 48s with their V-8 3622cc engines. A French version appeared in 1936 as the model that has come to be known as the Matford Alsace, with a choice of a 2,225 or 3,621 cc V-8 engine, a cabriolet was listed.
The 1937 models were known at the time simply as the Matford 13CV. Both featured a V-shaped windscreen and in 1938 a US style timber bodied estate car joined the range, the steel car bodies were purchased from the coachbuilders Chausson rather than being built inhouse. Volume passenger car production ended in 1940 with the buildup of truck orders for the French army, though a number were made during the German occupation. Ford links with Mathis were severed, fords French business was restructured in 1940, now taking the name Ford Société Anonyme Française and this company used the Ford trademark. Émile Mathis, fearing persecution under German occupation, escaped to the United States where he spent the war, Matford cars achieved success at the Coupe de Dames and at Monte Carlo. Ford Société Anonyme Française Ford Motor Company Front wheel drive Mathis Tracford Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile, ISBN 1-57958-293-1 http, //dvole. free. fr/matford/ Matford, constructeur automobile
Groupe Casino
Groupe Casino is a French mass retailer with operations around the world. The company is listed on the NYSE Euronext Paris stock exchange, the companys head office is in Saint-Étienne. Following the company’s creation, the focus began to shift towards organisation with the construction of a warehouse in Saint-Étienne, the first Casino-brand products were launched in 1901, introducing the concept of private brands. 1902 saw the introduction of a loyalty programme that offered trading stamps for store purchases. The first factories in the Loire region were opened four years and by 1916 the company had introduced a family allowance fund, the first self-service store was opened in 1948 followed by the installation of France’s first refigerated display in 1949. Almost a decade later, Casino became the first French food retailer to display a sell-by date on their products, in 1975, Casino joined the global market through its expansion into the United States. By 1992, the group had acquired La Ruche Méridionale before merging with Rallye,1997 saw the development of a hostile takeover bid from retailer Promodès.
However, the bid fell through due to the efforts of Jean-Charles Naouri, the Guichard family. The following year, Jean-Charles Naouri became the Group’s majority shareholder, between 2000 and 2001, Casino acquired 50% of the variety retailer Monoprix as well as the discount chains Franprix, Leader Price, and Cdiscount. Banque Casino was founded and the property company Mercialys is established to manage the Group’s shopping centers, in 2007, the Group inaugurated its new headquarters in Saint-Étienne, its historical stronghold. In 2010, the group acquired Carrefour’s interests in Thailand, the same year the GreenYellow subsidiary connected its first solar power plant to the French power grid. In June 2012 the Group acquired a 50% stake in Monoprix from the Galeries Lafayette, that month they acquired a controlling interest in the Brazil-based Pão de Açúcar. More recently, Groupe Casino gained management control of two of the Groupe’s foundational assets, GPA in Brazil and Monoprix in France, the Group has a network of more than 12,000 stores, of which 9,450 are in France.
It operates in eight countries, generating net sales of €48,645 million, the Group’s operations are based on a multi-format, multi-banner, multi-channel approach and a dual retailing/property business model. The Group focuses on countries that offer high potential for growth, based on these criteria, Group currently concentrates on South America. In 2013, emerging markets accounted for 60% of consolidated net sales, Groupe Casino is number one retailer in Brazil and Colombia. Its business model is built on a network of related, yet clearly differentiated banners – Spar and Vival and Franprix, Leader Price. With its 6,500 convenience stores, Casino leads this segment in France, most of the Casino Group’s private label products for textile and food categories are manufactured through its sourcing division, Casino Global Sourcing which headquartered in Hong Kong
RER A
RER line A is one of the five lines in the RER rapid transit system serving Paris, France. The line runs from the termini of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Cergy Le Haut and Poissy to the eastern termini of Boissy-Saint-Léger. It is formed from the connection of the Saint-Germain-en-Laye-Nanterre line in the west to the Vincennes – Boissy-St-Léger line in the east, two branches were added in the west, to Poissy and the new town of Cergy-Pontoise, and in the east to the new town of Marne-la-Vallée. The two latest extensions were to Cergy-Le Haut and Disneyland Paris, with more than one million passengers per workday, line A is the busiest Parisian RER and metro line. Ever-increasing traffic volume and the need to ward off imminent saturation have been factors in RATP. SACEM is still one of the most advanced traffic control systems, parisians have become used to the sight of a train pulling into a station as the one before it is just clearing the platform. Around the same time, RATP ordered a significant number of MI79/MI84 trains to remedy premature wear and tear on MS61 stock caused by over-utilization on Line A.
Later in the 1980s, the need to relieve congestion on the segment of Line A was a key factor in selecting the route of the new. The same need governed the choice of the route of RER Line E in the early 1990s and is a factor in plans for that lines westward or south-westward extension. A new class of double-deck trains entered service in 1998, in part a product of RATPs belief that no further infrastructure improvement would relieve congestion on Line A. This was followed in 2011 by the MI09 double-decker stock, aimed at replacing the aging MI84, one simple solution to the congestion problem that has never been implemented is a change in the seating configuration in the trains. The RER is unusual among high-capacity urban train networks in its attachment to transverse seating, a change to longitudinal seating typically reduces the number of seats by 10% but increases standing room by 30%. The result is increased capacity and a less cramped ride for those without seats,14 December 1969, RATP buys the ligne de Vincennes from SNCF, connecting Bastille with Boissy-Saint-Léger in the east. A new 2.
5-km tunnel between Vincennes and Nation, which replaces Bastille as the terminus, length,17.5 km.21 February 1970, RATP buys the ligne de St-Germain from SNCF, connecting the Gare Saint-Lazare with Saint-Germain-en-Laye in the west. A new tunnel between La Défense and the Place de lÉtoile, which replaces St-Lazare as the terminus, shuttle service is operated La Défense – Étoile,4 km.23 November 1971, Tunnel opened Étoile – Auber,2 km. Shuttle service extended to operate La Défense – Auber,1 October 1972, Tunnel opened La Défense – Nanterre-Université,2 km. Shuttle service extended on the ligne de St-Germain to operate Saint-Germain – Auber, October 1973, New underground station, Nanterre-Préfecture, between La Défense and Nanterre-Université. 9 December 1977, The lines are connected by a 6-km tunnel, giving birth to the RER A line, two new stations, Châtelet-les Halles and Gare de Lyon
Mahle GmbH
MAHLE GmbH is an automotive parts manufacturer based in Stuttgart, Germany. It is one of the largest automotive suppliers worldwide, in 2014, Mahle GmbH sales amounted to nearly €10 billion. As of 2016, its 76,000 employees work in 170+ production plants and thirteen research and development centers in Germany, Great Britain, United States, Japan and India. Worldwide,5000 development engineers and technicians work as partners for MAHLEs customers on new products, in 1920 the engineer and pilot Hellmuth Hirth established together with others a small workshop in Cannstatt, where he developed and constructed a two-stroke engine. 26-year-old Hermann Mahle started working for Hellmuth Hirth on December 1,1920, the workshop was called Versuchsbau Hellmuth Hirth. December 1,1920 is acknowledged as the birthday of today’s MAHLE Group and it soon became clear that the workshop would not survive by only conducting engine tests. So the need arose to build a line of production in order to finance ongoing engine tests.
At that time, in the production, pistons were generally made of cast iron. Versuchsbau Hellmuth Hirth decided to attempt to build light-alloy pistons for combustion engines, on November 1,1922 Hermann Mahles brother, Ernst Mahle, joined the factory as Head of Engineering. In 1924 the company was renamed Elektrometall GmbH, in 1927, the company developed the first controlled-expansion piston in Germany and in 1931, the world’s first aluminum ring carrier piston for Diesel engines. Following this, piston technology was steadily improved, in 1938 the conversion into MAHLE KG took place and the new company logo was introduced. New products were developed and produced, in 1964, the company founders Hermann and Ernst Mahle decided to waive private ownership in their companies and make the companies part of a foundation for public benefit. They renounced the largest part of their property and transferred the company shares to the MAHLE Foundation. In 1976 MAHLE placed the first European aluminum engine blocks made in low-pressure die casting ready for series production, in 1988 the composite camshaft is enhanced to production standard, and in 2001 MAHLE presented a cooling concept for pistons in high-speed passenger car Diesel engines.
The first all-plastic oil filter in the world followed in 2003, MAHLE developed and constructed its first complete engine in the same year, which was applied in the Formula Student. In 2010, the MAHLE Group generated sales in excess of €5.2 billion, in 2011, the MAHLE Group generated sales in excess of €6.0 billion. Filtration and Engine Peripherals and produces components and systems for automotive air, Thermal Management, Components and systems for vehicle air conditioning and engine cooling. Aftermarket, Our extensive spare parts range for maintenance and engine repair represents uncompromising OEM quality
Departments of France
In the administrative divisions of France, the department is one of the three levels of government below the national level, between the administrative regions and the commune. There are 96 departments in metropolitan France and 5 overseas departments, each department is administered by an elected body called a departmental council. From 1800 to April 2015, they were called general councils, the departments were created in 1791 as a rational replacement of Ancien Régime provinces with a view to strengthen national unity, the title department is used to mean a part of a larger whole. Almost all of them were named after geographical features rather than after historical or cultural territories which could have their own loyalties. The earliest known suggestion of it is from 1764 in the writings of dArgenson and they have inspired similar divisions in many countries, some of them former French colonies. Most French departments are assigned a number, the Official Geographical Code. Some overseas departments have a three-digit number, the number is used, for example, in the postal code, and was until recently used for all vehicle registration plates.
For example, inhabitants of Loiret might refer to their department as the 45 and this reform project has since been abandoned. The first French territorial departments were proposed in 1665 by Marc-René dArgenson to serve as administrative areas purely for the Ponts et Chaussées infrastructure administration, before the French Revolution, France gained territory gradually through the annexation of a mosaic of independent entities. By the close of the Ancien Régime, it was organised into provinces, during the period of the Revolution, these were dissolved, partly in order to weaken old loyalties. Their boundaries served two purposes, Boundaries were chosen to break up Frances historical regions in an attempt to erase cultural differences, Boundaries were set so that every settlement in the country was within a days ride of the capital of the department. This was a security measure, intended to keep the national territory under close control. This measure was directly inspired by the Great Terror, during which the government had lost control of rural areas far from any centre of government.
The old nomenclature was carefully avoided in naming the new departments, most were named after an areas principal river or other physical features. Even Paris was in the department of Seine, the number of departments, initially 83, was increased to 130 by 1809 with the territorial gains of the Republic and of the First French Empire. Following Napoleons defeats in 1814-1815, the Congress of Vienna returned France to its pre-war size, in 1860, France acquired the County of Nice and Savoy, which led to the creation of three new departments. Two were added from the new Savoyard territory, while the department of Alpes-Maritimes was created from Nice, the 89 departments were given numbers based on their alphabetical order. The department of Bas-Rhin and parts of Meurthe, Moselle and Haut-Rhin were ceded to the German Empire in 1871, following Frances defeat in the Franco-Prussian War
Siemens
Siemens AG is a German conglomerate company headquartered in Berlin and Munich and the largest manufacturing and electronics company in Europe with branch offices abroad. The principal divisions of the company are Industry, Energy and Infrastructure & Cities, the company is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index. Siemens and its subsidiaries employ approximately 362,000 people worldwide, the von Siemens family remain the largest shareholder with a stake of 6. 9% percent. Siemens & Halske was founded by Werner von Siemens and Johann Georg Halske on 12 October 1847, based on the telegraph, their invention used a needle to point to the sequence of letters, instead of using Morse code. The company, called Telegraphen-Bauanstalt von Siemens & Halske, opened its first workshop on 12 October, in 1848, the company built the first long-distance telegraph line in Europe,500 km from Berlin to Frankfurt am Main. In 1850, the younger brother, Carl Wilhelm Siemens, Sir William Siemens. The London agency became an office in 1858.
In the 1850s, the company was involved in building long distance telegraph networks in Russia, in 1855, a company branch headed by another brother, Carl Heinrich von Siemens, opened in St Petersburg, Russia. In 1867, Siemens completed the monumental Indo-European telegraph line, in 1867, Werner von Siemens described a dynamo without permanent magnets. A similar system was independently invented by Charles Wheatstone. In 1881, a Siemens AC Alternator driven by a watermill was used to power the worlds first electric lighting in the town of Godalming. The company continued to grow and diversified into electric trains and light bulbs, in 1890, the founder retired and left running the company to his brother Carl and sons Arnold and Wilhelm. In 1887, it opened its first office in Japan, Siemens & Halske was incorporated in 1897, and merged parts of its activities with Schuckert & Co. Nuremberg in 1903 to become Siemens-Schuckert, in 1907, Siemens had 34,324 employees and was the seventh-largest company in the German empire by number of employees.
In 1919, S & H and two companies jointly formed the Osram lightbulb company. During the 1920s and 1930s, S & H started to manufacture radios, television sets, in the 1920s, Siemens constructed the Ardnacrusha Hydro Power station on the River Shannon in the Irish Free State, and it was a world first for its design. The company is remembered for its desire to raise the wages of its workers only to be overruled by the Cumann na nGaedheal government. Siemens exploited the forced labour of deported people in extermination camps, the company owned a plant in Auschwitz concentration camp
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations.
On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, French and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, in use since the 16th century.
The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
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Pirmasens, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, since 1964.
