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Pays de Gex has always been a border zone: “walk” of the Savoyard State at the begining , thenfrom the French Kingdom with the treaty of Lyon, in 1601. This situation reinforced its individuality and its particularisms increased by both geographical barriers of Monts Jura and  Rhône.

     


With the treaty of Paris in 1355, the Barony de Gex has been attached to the county of Savoy; the Valserine delimited the border with the county of Burgundy. Consequently the counts and the dukes reinforced their castle of Gex, a military place which controlled the passes of Jura, Faucille and Crozet in particular . The castle was entirely rebuilt and the city saw its economy thriving in contact with the bordering state.
                    

1564 Treaty of Lausanne
                        
             






1601 Treaty of Lyon -
the bailiwick of Gex is attached to France
      
           
During the 16th century, the treaty of Lausanne concluded in 1564 between Bern and Savoy fixed the limits of the canton of Vaud. The wars between Geneva, Savoy, France and Spain, between 1589 and 1601, established the border between the Republic of Geneva, Savoy and France.
Geneva preserved until 1749 important rights on many villages of Pays de Gex: Moëns, Challex, Feigères and Péron. The King of France as for him had the control of Chancy and Avully onthe left bank of the Rhone and of Russin on the right bank of the Rhone.
    

1749 Treaty of Paris
Correction of the border between France and the Republic of Geneva.
1760 Treaty of Turin
« le couloir sarde »  a historical corridor becomes French
        
 
Both States exchanged their rights at the treaty of Paris in 1749. More in the south, starting from Pougny, the Rhone, until Fort l’Ecluse marked the border with Savoy. The bailiwick of Gex between the treaty of Lyon (1601), the peace of Nijmegen (1678) and the treaty of Turin (1760), thus formed a French enclave separated of the rest of the kingdom.
                  
     



1798 Annexation of Geneva
1860 Annexation of Savoy
 
     
The Revolution had very important consequences on the borders of our area: Savoy becomes French in 1796, then in April 1798 Geneva is attached to France and becomes the chief town of the transitory department of Léman.
    


1815 Treaty of Paris
Six communes are yielded to Geneva
             
 
After the Empire defeats and the signature of the treaty of Vienna in 1815, six French communes, Versoix, Preny-Chambésy, Collex-Bossy, Grand-Saconnex, Meyrin and Vernier were yielded to Geneva. A new border was established and materialized by a demarcation.
                      
                 




1860 Treaty of Turin
Savoy becomes French
1862: slight modification of the border between France and canton of Vaud
           
You have to wait for the last correction, that affected Pays de Gex very little, to see the borders in their present layout. This correction took place in 1860, the treaty of Turin and the plebiscite that followed it, the treaty of the valley of Dappes signed between France and Switzerland (1862) modified the layout of the border from the sources of Valserine to
Bois-d'Amont (Jura).
  

  The free zone today ...  

The free zone status was granted by king  Louis XVI in 1775 at the request of Etats of the bailiwick of Gex the government backed up by Voltaire and Président De Brosses.
This first franchise exempted the people from Gex from taxes on salt and  tobacco in exchange of an annual contribution of 30.000 pounds. Considered foreign, Pays-de-Gex could trade freely with Geneva, Savoy and the State of Bern.
The Revolution called this right into question and abolished it in 1792. With the signature of the treaty of Vienna in 1815, Geneva claimed the re-establishment of the free zones of Pays-de-Gex. This customs particuliarity allowed  the Genevese to import agricultural products of the neighboring areas without paying customs duties. The local economy changed drastically.
Agriculture became flourishing and turned(itself) more and more towards dairy breeding. The craft industry could not on the other hand challenge the Genevese and French competition. Called into question by France in 1921, the free zone of Pays-de-Gex was restored in 1934 by the sentence of Montreux-Territet. Today still, the agriculture of pays de Gex lives in margin of European agriculture and exports its production towards Geneva.

 The free zone is materialized today  by the existence of two customs at the entrance doors of Pays-de-Gex : the pass of Faucille and Collonges.
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