Geneva

The Republic of Geneva is a European microstate located between France and Switzerland at the point where the Rhone River flows out of Lake Geneva.

Geneva began as a Gallic settlement that was conquered by the Roman Republic in 121 BCE. Geneva remained under Roman rule until the Burgundians captured the city in 443. The city came under Frankish rule in 534 when the Franks conquered the Burgundians. With the breakup of the Frankish Empire in the ninth century, the Kingdom of Burgundy along with Geneva came under the rule of the Kingdom of the East Franks, which developed into the Holy Roman Empire.

Under the Holy Roman Empire, Geneva became an independent bishopric in 1154, but was constantly menaced by secular nobles, first the Counts of Geneva, and later the Dukes of Savoy. Geneva secured its independence from Savoy in 1526 by concluding an alliance with Switzerland. Like the Principality of Liechtenstein at the eastern end of Switzerland, Geneva remains allied with the Swiss.

Following the Swiss alliance, Geneva converted to Protestantism in 1536, and the Protestant leader John Calvin became the city's spiritual leader. Geneva became a leading center of Protestantism in Europe, and during the reign of Queen Mary I in the 1550s many English Protestants fled to Geneva.

Thanks to its alliance with Switzerland, Geneva has been at peace for several centuries, and has become the headquarters of several international organizations. This led Mexican President Vincent Mercator to hold the Geneva Conference in the city in the summer of 1963 during his Offensive of the Dove.

IOW Geneva joined the Swiss Confederation in 1814 after the Napoleonic Wars.