They would fit so neatly as swiss cantons, always found it deeply regretfull they aren’t part of Switzerland. Other peope who think similar ?

Seriously, look at those maps, Swiss borders would be much better with those regions. And most importantly, the Mont Blanc would be Swiss

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorarlberg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vorarlberg)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aosta\_Valley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aosta_Valley)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haute-Savoie](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haute-Savoie)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Province\_of\_Verbano-Cusio-Ossola](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Province_of_Verbano-Cusio-Ossola)

(+ Valtellina also [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valtellina](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valtellina) )

31 comments

  3. Vorarlberg once wanted to join Switzerland, iirc at the end of ww1. The swiss held a national vote if they want them to join. They voted no.

  5. And Aosta would look like Wallis with concrete everywhere and chemical plants. Let’s keep it as is shall we.

  6. Main problem is we didn’t get these deal all at once.

    Some of them were proposed to Switzerland back in the days but were denied by either the Romands or the Swiss Germans as it would have tilted the linguistic balance.

  7. How about not deciding that for them? Also, one should not underestimate how deep the WW2 experience runs throughout politics and society in general in the areas that lived through it, versus Switzerland that didn’t. That’s an enormous historical/societal divergence that separates Switzerland from neighbouring regions.

  8. The Genevois would be gutted, their whole cantonal pride is based on defeating the evil Savoyards!

  10. Lol heeeell to the no. I left this country to be out of it. I have nothing against the Romandie joining France tho, would make the hexagone whole again. 😂

  11. Grew up in Geneva so here’s my two centimes on Haute-Savoie (I’m really not an expert).

    I like Haute-Savoie and its addition would finally allow us to build a proper train connection from Geneva to the Valais and some lovely ski resorts. The old towns of small cities like e.g. Annecy might fit in alright, but there is certainly a very French vibe there (not a bad thing, I’m not here to bash the French this time).

    We can’t forget about the history that has made these places what they are. The borders between Switzerland and France have been (almost) completely fixed since 1815. Geneva also then joined the confederation. Before that, Geneva already had very close ties with the confederation, but this really cemented it. Once the Savoy was annexed by France it was just amalgamated into the centralised country and became another medium-sized French department. Many French departments have lost a little bit of their unique culture and replaced it with a homogenous French culture (again, not a bad thing on its own). But Switzerland isn’t like that.

    I can see a Swiss Haute-Savoie being a lot of work for the rest of the cantons and the Haute-Savoie themselve. Their rail network is sparse and not to the standard of the CFF imo. It would take a lot of time and money to assimilate them. Swiss cantons need to be more self-sufficient than French departments, which would be a very tough change for the local administration. Then even more time for Swiss culture to gradually leak into the Haute-Savoie.

    Plus, I don’t even know what we would do with the million people currently living there. I think if any place is likely to be accepted into Switzerland it’s Liechtenstein if they’re cool with getting rid of their prince.

  16. Believe me, at least the Vorarlbergers are pretty happy with the current situation. I know a bunch of people there and they really don’t want to join us.
    Edit: Money-wise is another question 😀

  17. Not a good idea. These new areas would become new cantons with full voting rights in the conseil des états, but their culture and therefore decisions would clash with existing cantons, same for their populations, who do not have the same democratic culture. Not to mention the cost of integrating vastly poorer regions, and how would nationality rights work?

  19. Aosta is a lot more similar to France than Switzerland. Verbania is very Italian and it would make no sense either.

    I would have understood the Varese and Como provinces as they are pretty similar to Ticino… But not the ones mentioned.

    I’m Italian by the way so cannot say a lot on the other two.

  22. Valtellina has been Swiss far longer than Italian. It was only in 1803 that Napoleon decided to keep Ticino in Switzerland but took away Valtellina from Graubunden and gave it to north Italy. Valtellina at that point was part of Graubunden for quote some years.

  23. For that matter, it would make much more sense for Ticino to be part of Italy as it has absolutely nothing in common with the rest of switzerland and has historically and culturally always been part of Insubria

  26. As a foreigner, this is a great read. Was not aware of such complications. 🍿🥤 hope to see more comments and stories 🙂.

  28. “And most importantly, the Mount Blanc would be Swiss”. <—– note that french people may have an opinion on this…

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