Political history and modern state of the inhabitants of the Alps

The political history of the Eastern Alps can be considered almost totally in terms of the advance or retreat of the house of Habsburg. The Habsburgers' original home was in the lower valley of the Aar, where the ruins of their ancestral castle still stand. They lost that district to the Swiss in 1415, as they had previously lost various other sections of what is now Switzerland. But they built an impressive empire in the Eastern Alps, where they defeated numerous minor dynasties. They won the duchy of Austria with Styria in 1282, Carinthia ...

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Political history and modern state of the inhabitants of the Alps, Political history and modern state of the inhabitants of the Alps - The Western Alps, Political history and modern state of the inhabitants of the Alps - The Central Alps, Political history and modern state of the inhabitants of the Alps - The Eastern Alps

Read more here: » Political history and modern state of the inhabitants of the Alps: Encyclopedia II - Political history and modern state of the inhabitants of the Alps - The Eastern Alps

The Alps is the name for one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east, through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west. The word "Alps" was taken via French from Latin Alpes (meaning "the Alps"), which may be influenced by the Latin words albus (white) or altus (high), or a Celtic word. The highest mountain in the Alps is Mont Blanc at 4810 m on the French-Italian border. All the main peaks of the Alps can be found in th ...

Including:

• Alps - Geography
• Alps - Subdivision
• Alps - Main chains
• Alps - Principal passes
• Alps - Climate
• Alps - Geology
• Alps - Political history
• Alps - Exploration
• Alps - Flora
• Alps - Fauna

Read more here: » Alps: Encyclopedia - Alps

Alps - Subdivision. The Alps are generally divided into Western Alps and Eastern Alps. The division is along the line between Lake Constance and Lake Como, following the Rhine. The Western Alps are located in Italy, France and Switzerland, the Eastern Alps in Austria, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Slovenia and Switzerland. The highest peak of the Western Alps is Mont Blanc, 4810 m. The highest peak in the Eastern Alps is Piz Bernina, 4052 m. The Eastern Alps are commonly subdivided according to the differ ...

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Alps, Alps - Geography, Alps - Subdivision, Alps - Main chains, Alps - Principal passes, Alps - Climate, Alps - Geology, Alps - Political history, Alps - Exploration, Alps - Flora, Alps - Fauna

Read more here: » Alps: Encyclopedia II - Alps - Geography

A natural vegetation limit with altitude is given by the presence of the chief deciduous trees — oak, beech, ash and sycamore maple. These do not reach exactly to the same elevation, nor are they often found growing together; but their upper limit corresponds accurately enough to the change from a temperate to a colder climate that is further proved by a change in the wild herbaceous vegetation. This limit usually lies about 1200 m above the sea on the north side of the Alps, but on the southern slopes it often rises to 150 ...

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Alps, Alps - Geography, Alps - Subdivision, Alps - Main chains, Alps - Principal passes, Alps - Climate, Alps - Geology, Alps - Political history, Alps - Exploration, Alps - Flora, Alps - Fauna

Read more here: » Alps: Encyclopedia II - Alps - Flora

Little is known of the early dwellers in the Alps, save from the scanty accounts preserved by Roman and Greek historians and geographers. A few details have come down to us of the conquest of many of the Alpine tribes by Augustus. The successive emigration and occupation of the Alpine region by various Teutonic tribes from the 5th to the 6th centuries are known only in outline, because to them, as to the Frankish kings and emperors, the Alps offered a route from one place to another rather than a permanent residence. It is not ...

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Alps, Alps - Geography, Alps - Subdivision, Alps - Main chains, Alps - Principal passes, Alps - Climate, Alps - Geology, Alps - Political history, Alps - Exploration, Alps - Flora, Alps - Fauna

Read more here: » Alps: Encyclopedia II - Alps - Political history

The Alps arose as a result of the pressure exerted on sediments of the Tethys Ocean basin as its Mesozoic and early Cenozoic strata were pushed against the stable Eurasian landmass by the northward-moving African landmass. Most of this occurred during the Oligocene and Miocene epochs. The pressure formed great recumbent folds, or nappes, that rose out of what had become the Tethys Sea and pushed northward, often breaking and sliding one over the other to form gigantic thrust faults. Crystalline rocks, which are exposed in the higher central regions, are the ...

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Alps, Alps - Geography, Alps - Subdivision, Alps - Main chains, Alps - Principal passes, Alps - Climate, Alps - Geology, Alps - Political history, Alps - Exploration, Alps - Flora, Alps - Fauna

Read more here: » Alps: Encyclopedia II - Alps - Geology

In the case of the Western Alps (minus the bit from the chain of Mont Blanc to the Simplon, which followed the fortunes of the Valais), a prolonged struggle for control took place between the feudal lords of Savoy, the Dauphine and Provence. In 1349 the Dauphiné fell to France, while in 1388 the county of Nice passed from Provence to the house of Savoy, which also then held Piedmont as well as other lands on the Italian side of the Alps. The struggle henceforth was limited to France and the house of Savoy, but little by little France succ ...

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Political history and modern state of the inhabitants of the Alps, Political history and modern state of the inhabitants of the Alps - The Western Alps, Political history and modern state of the inhabitants of the Alps - The Central Alps, Political history and modern state of the inhabitants of the Alps - The Eastern Alps

Read more here: » Political history and modern state of the inhabitants of the Alps: Encyclopedia II - Political history and modern state of the inhabitants of the Alps - The Western Alps

In the Central Alps the chief event, on the northern side of the chain, is the gradual formation from 1291 to 1815 of the Swiss Confederation, at least so far as regards the mountain Cantons, and with especial reference to the independent confederations of the Grisons and the Valais, which only became full members of the Confederation in 1803 and 1815 respectively. The attraction of the south was too strong for both the Forest Cantons ...

See also:

Political history and modern state of the inhabitants of the Alps, Political history and modern state of the inhabitants of the Alps - The Western Alps, Political history and modern state of the inhabitants of the Alps - The Central Alps, Political history and modern state of the inhabitants of the Alps - The Eastern Alps

Read more here: » Political history and modern state of the inhabitants of the Alps: Encyclopedia II - Political history and modern state of the inhabitants of the Alps - The Central Alps