Why Is Switzerland So Rich? (It Wasn't the Banks)

Why is Switzerland so rich? Most people say Swiss banks. But banking and finance are only about 9% of the Swiss economy, and Switzerland kept getting richer even after bank secrecy ended and Credit Suisse collapsed. Switzerland has no sea, no oil, no coal and no gold mines. Two hundred years ago it was one of the poorest corners of Europe, so poor that its biggest export was its own young men. In 1816 people there were eating grass. So how did it become one of the richest countries on Earth? In this documentary you'll find out: The Devil's Bridge, and the promise three valleys made in 1291 How mountain farmers with very long poles beat the knights of Europe "No money, no Swiss": four centuries of renting out soldiers, and the Lion of Lucerne How a preacher who banned jewellery accidentally started the Swiss watch industry The volcano on the other side of the world that starved Switzerland in 1816 The civil war that lasted less than a month How Henri Dunant walked onto a battlefield and invented the Red Cross The Gotthard tunnel, the bank built to pay for trains, and Einstein's university Milk chocolate, a neighbour called Nestlé, and the chemists of Basel who got rich copying The real story of Swiss bank secrecy, Nazi gold and the dark side of neutrality The quartz watch the Swiss invented and nearly died from, and how Swatch saved them The real Swiss formula: stability, direct democracy, competing cantons, apprenticeships and trust One idea Switzerland has followed for more than 700 years: be the one everyone can trust. CHAPTERS 0:00 Switzerland: no sea, no oil, no coal. So why so rich? 1:29 Why Switzerland was a bad place to get rich 3:18 The Devil's Bridge and the oath of 1291 6:03 Farmers who beat knights 8:10 No money, no Swiss: soldiers for hire 10:46 The Lion of Lucerne 12:26 The refugees who brought the watches 15:32 1816: the year without a summer 17:34 Neutral and united: the 1847 civil war 20:15 Factories without coal (and the Swiss army knife) 22:43 Henri Dunant and the Red Cross 25:04 Tunnelling through the Alps 27:52 Mountains, tourists and milk chocolate 31:12 The chemists who copied 33:14 Bank secrecy, war and Nazi gold 36:31 The quartz crisis and the Swatch 39:13 The real Swiss formula 43:05 The country that sold trust Watch next: How Dubai Got Rich (It Wasn't Oil) Subscribe to Wait, Why? for history's biggest questions, explained. Which country should we explain next? Tell us in the comments. #Switzerland #SwissHistory #Geography