The laboratory of progress: Switzerland in the nineteenth century

"The Laboratory of Progress: Switzerland in the 19th Century tells the improbable story of how a small, backward, mountainous agricultural country with almost no raw materials became an industrial powerhouse, a hub of innovation, a touristic mecca and a pioneer in transportation - all in the course of a single century. That a tiny landlocked country should become a dominant steamship builder for the rest of the world; that a country that had never seen a cotton plant should become the world's second-largest textile producer; that a country with hardly any level terrain should come to boast the world's most highly developed railway network; and that a country whose main export was impoverished emigrants should be transformed into one of the world's major financial centres - these astonishing developments, among many others, are explored and explained, both through the specific stories of individual innovators and through a prescient analysis of the political, economic, societal and cultural structures that formed the context in which Switzerland's astonishing transformation took place. The book is a compelling read both for professional historians and for general readers with an interest in Switzerland; it highlights the roles of transport networks and individual pioneers in industrial and political development"--

Cover -- Half Title -- Series Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Milestones -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- 1 Lifelines: Interconnecting Systems -- 1.1 Starting Points and Foundations -- 1.1.1 The Tracks of Progress -- 1.1.2 Transport Systems on Waterways -- 1.1.3 Conflicting Interests on Lake Lucerne -- 1.2 The Interlinking of Transport Systems -- 1.2.1 It Was a Light-Hearted Journey: Parliamentarians on Their Way Home, 1853 -- 1.2.2 Connecting Railways and Waterways -- 1.2.2.1 Train Ferries -- 1.2.3 Connecting Boats and Stagecoaches, Through-Trains and Mountain Railways: The Gotthard Route and the Rigi -- 1.2.4 Alpine Roads and Stagecoaches -- 1.3 The Development of Railway Tourism -- 1.3.1 All Aboard! -- 1.3.2 A Complex Network, Climbing Ever Higher into the Tributary Valleys -- 1.3.3 Mountain Railways -- 1.3.4 Railway Access and the Development of Tourism: Cantonal and Regional Differences -- 1.3.5 Mass Tourism and Technological Development: The Rigi -- 1.3.6 Transport Infrastructure and Industrialisation -- 1.4 The Swiss Railway Project -- 1.4.1 A Modest Track Record Before 1848 -- 1.4.2 The Railway Project Finds Political Expression in 1849 -- 1.4.3 The Stephenson/Swinburne Expert Assessment of 1850 -- 1.4.4 7 April 1851: The Federal Council Takes a Stand -- 1.4.5 State Railway or Private Railway? -- 1.4.6 The Railway Act of 1852 and the Question of Higher Education -- 1.5 The Success Story of the Railway -- 1.5.1 The Vital Importance of Railroad Construction for Switzerland -- 1.5.2 The Railway Redefines Power Dynamics -- 1.5.3 The Swiss Railway Network up to 1902 -- 1.5.4 An Overview of Opportunities and Risks -- 1.5.5 The Question of Capital: The Kreditanstalt as an Engine of Progress -- 1.5.6 The Ups and Downs of the Northeastern Railway.

"The Laboratory of Progress: Switzerland in the 19th Century tells the improbable story of how a small, backward, mountainous agricultural country with almost no raw materials became an industrial powerhouse, a hub of innovation, a touristic mecca and a pioneer in transportation - all in the course of a single century. That a tiny landlocked country should become a dominant steamship builder for the rest of the world; that a country that had never seen a cotton plant should become the world's second-largest textile producer; that a country with hardly any level terrain should come to boast the world's most highly developed railway network; and that a country whose main export was impoverished emigrants should be transformed into one of the world's major financial centres - these astonishing developments, among many others, are explored and explained, both through the specific stories of individual innovators and through a prescient analysis of the political, economic, societal and cultural structures that formed the context in which Switzerland's astonishing transformation took place. The book is a compelling read both for professional historians and for general readers with an interest in Switzerland; it highlights the roles of transport networks and individual pioneers in industrial and political development"--