Evian, Vevey, Savoie and the Ancient Swiss Confederation of Cantons

21 September 2024

Politically, linguistically, economically, and culturally, the Lac Léman area has always been a region of intense mutual contact. The bishops of Geneva, the city of Geneva, abbots, counts, and dukes of Savoie, kings of the kingdom of Piedmont-Savoie and France, the Swiss Confederation, Wallis (Valais), and other players determined politics, trade, war, and peace until 1798.

Aix-les-Bains, 1ooo year dynasty of Savoy and dynasty of Savoy (1003-2003)

However, the towns of Evian in Chablais (Department of Haute-Savoie) and Vevey (canton of Vaud), located on Lake Geneva, shared only two brief political periods.

In 1536, Bern conquered Vaud and governed it until 1798. That year, Bern and the Republic of the Seven Tithings Zenden/ Zehnden in German in Oberwallis conquered Chablais from the Duchy of Savoie, including Thonon and Evian. In 1475, Bern had already conquered the present-day Chablais-Vaudois/Waadtlander Chablais.

Hautecombe Abbey (12th century) on Lake Bourget (lac du Bourget), opposite Aix-les-Bains. From the 12th century, the last resting place of the Savoy dynasty. The last Italian king, Umberto II (1904-1983), a direct family descendant, was also buried here in 1983, as was his wife Marie-Josée of Belgium (1906-2001) in 2001.

Bern ruled Thonon, and the Republic of the Seven Tithings briefly governed Evian. The Treaties of Lausanne (1567) and Thonon (1569) stipulated the return to Savoie and the border at St Gingolph.

Thonon, the French border since 1860

Savoie had been a county for centuries and a duchy from 1416 until 1720, when it became the main area in the kingdom of Piedmont-Savoie (or kingdom of Sardinia), with Turin as its capital.

1796, Napoleon defeated this kingdom, and the Treaty of Paris (15 May 1796) made Savoy part of France. In 1798, Napoleon founded the Helvetic Republic unitary state (1798-1803) with canton Léman as a district and, in 1803, the sovereign canton of Vaud in the new Confederation (1803-1813).

Savoy was annexed by France and incorporated into the département du Mont-Blanc. However, the Vienna Congress (1814/15) largely restored the old order, the Ancien Régime, at least as far as the kingdom of Piedmont-Savoie was concerned, which Savoie regained. Canton Vaud, however, kept its status and even remained a sovereign canton in the new Confederation of 1815.

The kingdom of Piedmont-Savoie was finally split in 1860: Sardinia and the eastern part (including Piedmont and Aosta) went to Italy, and the remaining part (including Savoie) to France (after a referendum).

Aix-les-Bains, 150-year (1860-2010) accession of Savoy to (empire) France

Political fate only brought together Chablais, Evian, Vaud and Vevey for a short time between 1536 and 1567 and between 1798 and 1813. However, Lake Geneva has been the connecting relationship since Roman times.

Evian is also the site of the famous mineral water by Gabriel Cachat in 1789. He discovered the beneficial effects of the spring water, and Evian soon became a renowned place for the beau monde. La Source Cachat is one of the city’s most famous springs.

The links between Vevey and Evian have always been intense. Trade, viticulture, shipping, shipbuilding, spa and bath houses and tourism on both banks of the lake testify to centuries-old relations.

Port of Evian (above) and Musée des Traditions et des Barques du Léman in Saint-Gingolph (below), shipbuilding type of Lake Geneva

Maurice Denuzière (1926), in his preface to his book ‘Helvétie’(1992), appropriately quotes Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz (1878-1947):

‘Rappelons-nous le rôle, dit historique, qu’on prétait, placés comme nous sommes entre trois grands pays, c’est à dire entre trois cultures, de leur servir d’intermédiaire, d’opérer des rapprochements et, jetant au creuset l’apport de ces divers métaux, d’aboutir, j’imagine, à une sort d’alliage. Ça s’appelait l’esprit européen’.

The novel Helvétie, with Vevey as its protagonist, explores the intertwining and interrelationships in Lac Léman from 1800 to 1819.

Impressions of Aix-les-Bains and surroundings