In the 19th century, Switzerland changed ...
Im 19. Jahrhundert wandelte sich die Schweiz ...
Correct answer: D
- A from a federal state into a centralised state.vom Bundesstaat zum Zentralstaat.
- B into a European great power.zu einer europäischen Grossmacht.
- C into a colonial power.zu einer Kolonialmacht.
- D from an agrarian state into an industrial state.vom Agrarstaat zum Industriestaat.
Why
Around 1800, most people lived from agriculture. By 1900, many worked in factories: Switzerland became an industrial state.
Common mistakes
- A: from a federal state into a centralised state.
- It was the other way round: in 1848 Switzerland became a federal state, not a centralised state.
- C: into a colonial power.
- Switzerland never had colonies of its own.
Topic
From agrarian state to industrial state
Around 1800, most people in Switzerland lived from agriculture. In the 19th century, Switzerland changed from an agrarian state into an industrial state. Industrialisation means: goods are made with machines in factories instead of by hand. The basis was an invention from England: the steam engine. In the 18th century, James Watt improved it so that it could drive machines in factories. This started industrialisation in Europe in the 19th century.
- 58 BCHelvetii and Romans
- 1291The Rütli and William Tell
- 1515Marignano
- 1523The Reformation
- 1798The French and Napoleon
- 1815Neutrality
- 1848Sonderbund War and the federal state
- 19th c.From agrarian state to industrial state
- 1918National general strike
- 1939–1945Second World War
- 1948Prosperity and AHV
- 1970Immigration and the Schwarzenbach initiative
- 1971Women's suffrage and equal rights
- 1979The youngest canton: Jura
History of Switzerland
Federal state and industrialisation
Sources
Last checked: September 2026
Question 223 of the official question list of the Canton of Zurich (Gemeindeamt, May 2025). Translation and explanation: Swiss Passport.