At the same time, the county was in a continuous power struggle with the House of Savoy, which by the middle of the 12th century governed a vast principality centred on the control of the main mountain passes of the western Alps.

However, some of the local nobility was displeased with the outcome and, profiting from the situation, the County of Geneva finally disappeared when it was sold to Amadeus VIII of Savoy for 45,000 gold francs on 5 August 1401.

[7] Geneva benefited from several external factors at this time to explain this economic expansion: the crisis of trade fairs in Chalon-sur-Saône, and the Hundred Years' War, partially removed France from international routes linking Northern Europe to Mediterranean ports such as Montpellier and Marseille, which shifted eastwards, crossing Geneva and the Rhone valley; the city reaped the benefits from the pax sabauda, a long-period of peace during which it was spared from the effects of wars; and in addition, the House of Savoy spent long periods of time in the city, adding to the demand for luxury goods.

The Duchy recovered most of its possessions lost to Bern in exchange for payments, but this period marked the beginning of the end of its hegemony over the Genevan region and the start of an unstable time for the city.

The right to appoint the Bishop of Geneva granted to Amadeus III was eroded and it became a political and diplomatic negotiation, between Savoy, the Swiss, the chapel of the cathedral, and the civil authorities of the city.

So it is that when in 1533 the Bishop Pierre de la Baume arrived to Geneva to exercise his right of justice on the murder of a canon, he expressed his opposition to the new Councils by leaving the city forever.

This act of independence marks the birth of the Republic of Geneva,[24] then still mostly confined to the city and the few medieval territories gifted to the Bishops, the largest of which were Satigny, Peney, and an area around modern-day Jussy.

Thus, the creation of the Consistory launches the period that some historians call the "regime of moral terror"[22] with numerous prohibitions that were severely applied, such as in the sentencing to the pyre of theologian and doctor Michael Servetus in 1553 for heresy, or the marginalisation of ancient, pro-Bernese and anti-French bourgeois families in 1555.

The catastrophe affected Savoy equally, and in response Charles Emmanuel I forbids the export of grains from his lands, which in essence means blockading Geneva from any supplies since the city was surrounded by the Duchy except for what goods could be imported by the lake.

[22] Since then, both Savoy and France largely respected Geneva's independence, protected by its strong fortresses, and guaranteed by its alliance with the Protestant cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy of Zürich and Bern.

The major advantages that the councillors had for this task were on the one hand the strategic position of the city, as France was interested in keeping the status quo with Savoy as well as in respecting Geneva's alliance with the Swiss cantons in order to maintain the supply of Swiss mercenaries,[33] and on the other hand economic interests given that the city was centrally located in the trade routes linking north and south, and that it provided a significant amount of capital to finance France's debt.

In the 18th century under Louis XV, France intended to build a large port city in Versoix to deviate the traffic en route to Lake Geneva and from there to the Swiss confederation.

Except for the periods of crises from the Great Plague of Marseille and the crash of the John Law monetary system in France, the century was prosperous until 1785, driven by the production and exports of luxury goods, most notably watches.

On the 19 November 1792 the National Convention declared the Edict of Fraternity which called on European peoples to rise against their rulers, both secular and spiritual, and overthrow them; in response, the Genevan government decided to grant on the day of the Escalade, the 12th of December, full rights to all the inhabitants of the city and its towns.

Geographically, the city and canton had been advantaged in the Middle Ages by its position as a crossroads between France, Savoy and Italy with Northern Europe, via the mountain passes and Lake Geneva (see previous section).

[43] After the annexation, France prioritised the connection of its new provinces to the rest of the country with rail and quickly granted a concession to PLM to build a link between Fort l'Écluse on the Lyon-Geneva line to Annemasse and from there to Thonon-les-Bains and Faucigny.

Although initially the French government showed willingness to allow the construction of both options, the Franco-Prussian War put a stop to many projects, and only the Fort l'Écluse to Annemasse section would finally be completed.

Geneva had entertained the idea to build a tunnel through the Col de la Faucille in Gex, linking the canton to Saint-Jean-de-Losne in Burgundy on the Paris-Lyon axis, avoiding Lyon.

The decision was aided by the good condition of the infrastructure left by the League of Nations, and Geneva's airport paved and intact runway (the only one in Switzerland at the time) in a European continent ravaged by the second world war.

[55] Since Geneva refused to participate in the Franco-Swiss agreements for the distribution of income taxes levied on cross border workers of 1935 and 1966 that covered all the other cantons, the municipalities from the neighbouring French regions were increasingly suffocated by the need to finance public equipment for a population that did not financially contribute to the budgets.

It led to the creation of the “Agglomeration Franco-Valdo-Genevoise”, later renamed “Grand Genève“ in 2012, which roughly corresponds in geographical extension to the 1-million inhabitants metropolitan area of Geneva extending beyond the cantonal borders across Vaud, Ain, and Haute-Savoie.

In his initial plans presented to the Emperor Alexander I, he suggested a new canton extending from the summits of the Jura surrounding the city (Crêt de la Neige), all the way to mount Salève and les Voirons.

The negotiations with France were concluded by the Treaty of Paris of 1815, whereby the canton added the current municipalities of Versoix (which provided the geographical link with neighbouring Vaud), Collex-Bossy, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Meyrin and Grand-Saconnex.

[60] In similar negotiations with the Kingdom of Sardinia, Charles Pictet de Rochemont pursued the acquisition of the lands adjoining Geneva and included the slopes of mount Salève.

These negotiations were concluded by the Treaty of Turin of 1816 with Sardinia, from which the new canton gained the present municipalities of Laconnex, Soral, Perly-Certoux, Plan-les-Ouates, Bernex, Aire-la-Ville, Onex, Confignon, Lancy, Bardonnex, Troinex, Veyrier, Chêne-Thônex, Puplinge, Presinge, Choulex, Meinier, Collonge-Bellerive, Corsier, Hermance, Anières, and Carouge.

The Mandement, in the north-west of the canton, is a partial valley dug by the river Allondon, a tributary of the Rhone, and regrouping the major wine-making towns of Satigny, Russin, and Dardagny.

The Verbois dam built over the Rhone in that area supplies around 15% of the electricity needs of the canton and it links the Mandement to Champagne, on the opposite side of the river, between the towns of Russin and Aire-la-Ville.

[90] Other large multinationals are also headquartered in the canton, such as Firmenich (in Satigny), and Givaudan (in Vernier), the world's two largest manufacturers of flavours, fragrances and active cosmetic ingredients; SGS, the world's largest inspection, verification, testing and certification services company; Alcon (in Vernier), a company specialising in eye-care products; Temenos, a large banking software provider; or the local headquarters for Procter & Gamble, Japan Tobacco International, or L'Oréal.

After the inauguration of the missing rail link between Geneva and the border French city of Annemasse and the creation of the Léman Express in 2019, many secondary bus routes were re-designed as feeders to the new train stations.

The tram network is also an important element of cohesion of the canton, linking the city of Geneva to its dense urban surroundings formed by large municipalities such as Lancy, Meyrin, Vernier, Onex or Bernex.