History of Switzerland

[Marulus]

History of Switzerland

La Tène and the Helvetii: 5th century BC - 5th century AD

Switzerland's earliest European role is as the heartland of the Celts. Various tribal groups, from whom the Celts evolve, share an origin in the early Iron Age culture of Hallstatt in Austria. But the metalwork and pottery found at La Tène, at the eastern end of Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland, introduces the swirling and geometrical patterns which are associated specifically with the art of the Celts.

The earliest La Tène objects are from the 5th century BC.

Of the many Celtic tribes moving through or settling in the region now known as Switzerland, one in particular leaves its mark. Under pressure from Germans, the Helvetii migrate south into Switzerland in the 2nd century BC. They are the dominant tribe in the area when the Roman empire expands northwards and beyond them into Gaul. So the Roman name for Switzerland becomes Helvetia.

The link survives in modern international car registration. CH on a Swiss vehicle stands for Confederatio Helvetica.

In the 5th century AD German pressure southwards deprives the Helvetii of much of their territory. The Alamanni, a group of Germanic tribes occupying the triangle between the Rhine and the Danube, move into northern Switzerland. They too leave their name in European history. As the immediate neighbours of Gaul, and a permanent threat from just across the Rhine, they represent in the French mind all Germans (les Allemands).

The Alamanni bring the German language into Switzerland. Other neighbours bring French and Italian.

Knucklebone of Europe: from the 9th century AD

Seen on a relief map of western Europe, mountainous Switzerland stands out like a knucklebone between three great regions - France, Germany and Italy. The Alps are a watershed, an invitation, a barrier. Three groups of people, speaking three different languages, press against the Alps, trade through the mountain passes, squabble over possession of the valleys. Yet the difficulty of those passes, and the seclusion of the valleys, makes it almost impossible for outsiders to dominate or suppress these mountain people.

Switzerland's history is implicit in its geography.

These considerations become apparent once there are developed communities on all sides. In the Roman period Switzerland has imperial order to the south and west, but tribal chaos (in varying degrees) to the north. The Franks, from the time of Clovis, undertake the long process of conquest which eventually creates an empire surrounding Switzerland.

In about AD 500 Clovis defeats the Alamanni (who have ventured west over the Rhine into Alsace). By the early 9th century Switzerland is within Charlemagne's Frankish empire, which evolves into the Holy Roman empire. Another century later, after the division of the empire, Switzerland is in the east Frankish kingdom as part of the duchy of Swabia.

Waldstätte and Vogt: AD 853-1293

The feudal structures of the Middle Ages are confusing at the best of times, but the arrangements concerning three Waldstätte (forest districts) round the lake of Lucerne are unusually complex. The districts are Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden. Uri has from AD 853 the privilege of a special link to the German king, through a Vogt or 'advocate'.

The role of Vogt, bringing with it the power of a local ruler, gradually becomes hereditary. By the early 13th century it is inherited within the Habsburg family, who are already holders of many other feudal rights in Schwyz and Unterwalden and around Zürich.

The overlord of these forest districts becomes exceptionally powerful in 1273 when the Habsburg duke Rudolf is elected German king. In 1291, a few months before his death, Rudolf purchases enhanced feudal powers around the lake of Lucerne.

The farmers of the Waldstätte feel that their independence is threatened. They band together in self-defence.

Landsgemeinde in Schwyz: AD 1294

The forest districts of Switzerland, smaller than other political units in the Middle Ages, adopt a form of government in the Athenian tradition of direct democracy.

These districts are like Athens, in that the community is small enough for every adult male to be able to walk to an assembly and cast a vote. In Switzerland such a meeting is called a Landsgemeinde (district community); the earliest record of one is in Schwyz in 1294. Held in the open air, assemblies of this kind become the highest legislative authority in the rural cantons of the Swiss federation - Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Zug, Glarus and Appenzell.

Even today a Landsgemeinde is still held every year, on the last Sunday of April, in the tiny canton of Appenzell. Issues of local relevance are voted on, and passed into law, in the traditional method.

At the earliest known Landsgemeinde, in Schwyz in 1294, the issues are of grave concern, with weighty implications for the future of the region. The meeting takes place just three years after the formation of the Everlasting League.

Everlasting League: AD 1291-1315

On the death of Rudolf I, in 1291, the three forest districts of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden openly campaign against the election of his Habsburg successor, Albert, as German king. To protect themselves against Habsburg attack, they pledge themselves to an Everlasting League of mutual defence (signing it, tradition says, in the Rütli meadow in Uri).

The pledge remains for the moment hypothetical. A rival candidate wins the crown. Albert subsequently defeats him in battle and becomes the German king, in 1298. But there is no dramatic clash between the rebellious cantons and the Habsburgs until fifteen years later, when the next escalation in the drama follows an act of aggression by the Swiss.

In 1313 the men of Schwyz attack the rich Benedictine abbey of Einsiedeln. The Habsburgs, with feudal responsibility for the abbey, take various steps to reassert their authority. When these fail, they assemble a great army in 1315 to attack Schwyz.

On the mountain slope of Morgarten, on the border of Schwyz, the glittering Habsburg array is met on November 15 by a much smaller citizen army drawn from the farmers of Schwyz, Uri and Unterwalden. The Swiss are armed with a weapon which they make very much their own - the halberd.

The Habsburg knights, mounted and in armour, rely on the thundering weight of a charger to mow down the opposition. In the confined space of Morgarten, they find themselves at the mercy of the Swiss halberdiers.

At the end of each 8-foot halberd there is a sharp metal point; this can jab like a spear. Below the point to one side is a hook; this is used to grapple a knight and drag him from his horse. Below the point on the other side there is an axe blade; with a heavy sweeping blow, at the end of the long handle, this will cut through armour and sink into limb or neck. With this lethally adaptable weapon the Swiss footsoldiers bring down the Habsburg cavalry.

The great victory at Morgarten prompts the Swiss farmers to renew their Everlasting League. They meet on December 9 at Brunnen, Schwyz's port on Lake Lucerne. This time the document is in German (in 1291 it was in Latin), but the clauses are much the same. None of the three confederate cantons is to accept any new feudal obligation without consulting the others; all are to come to each other's defence if attacked.

It is an agreement which other Swiss cantons can subscribe to when they wish, and it remains the basis of an expanding Swiss confederation. The leading role of Schwyz, particularly at Morgarten, causes the confederation to be referred to informally as Schwyz (hence Switzerland) from as early as 1320.

Withering of Habsburg rule in Switzerland: AD 1318-89

Morgarten does not immediately free the forest cantons from Habsburg influence. But the Swiss have earned a new respect.

Another great victory - at Sempach in 1386 - settles the issue. Some 1600 Swiss confederates crush a Habsburg force of about 6000 men. A treaty agreed in Zürich in 1389 effectively annuls Habsburg feudal rights over the Everlasting League, now much enlarged from the three original members of 1291. The treaty is renewed in 1394, 1412 and 1474 until the peace of Basel finally recognizes Swiss independence in 1499. (The missing name from this brief account is Switzerland's most famous character, William Tell. But alas, like England's King Arthur, he appears to be a figure of legend.)

The confederation: AD 1332-1481

The success of the three forest cantons brings other districts into association with them. The first to be admitted are Lucerne in 1332 and Zürich in 1351, introducing a new urban element into what has been until now a rural alliance. Tension between these two groups remains a problem throughout the early history of the confederation.

Zürich is at open war with the other confederates from 1436 to 1450, but after being defeated the city is allowed back into the fold. A generation later civil war threatens again, on a wide range of issues. This time it is solved, remarkably, by the intervention of a hermit - Nikolaus von der Flüe, known as Brother Klaus.

Brother Klaus has been living the life of a recluse for some fifteen years, acquiring a reputation for sanctity and wisdom, when it is suggested in 1481 that leaders of the squabbling cantons should seek his advice. He presides over an assembly at the village of Stans, where terms are agreed which hold the alliance together. The Convention of Stans asserts the full sovereignty of each confederate state, and then defines the obligations of each towards the others - including such eminently practical matters as how the loot collected in any war shall be shared out.

The military skills honed in self-defence have made the Swiss formidable fighters. Warfare, during this century, brings them land and reputation.

The fighting Swiss: 15th century AD

The most valuable acquisition of territory by the Swiss is in the Alps, at the expense of the duchy of Milan. Between 1403 and 1410 men from Uri and Unterwalden forcibly secure control of two of the most important Alpine passes, St Gotthard and Simplon. Both strategically and in terms of trade these are valuable additions.

Later in the century, military adventures in the west lead to war with the powerful dukedom of Burgundy. The Swiss win the war with a decisive victory at Morat in 1476.

At the very end of the 15th century the confederates engage in a final series of battles against the Habsburgs. The conflict of 1499 is variously known as the Swabian War or Swiss War. Again it is a Swiss triumph. The peace of Basel - agreed with the emperor Maximilian that September - brings effective recognition of Swiss independence from the Holy Roman empire.

There are now ten cantons in the League. By 1513 three more have joined (the number will remain at thirteen until the French Revolution). Meanwhile the Swiss are becoming a force to be reckoned with outside their own region. Julius II establishes the papacy's famous Swiss guard in 1505. By then Swiss armies are also playing an active role in the troubled affairs of north Italy.

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North Italian adventures: AD 1503-1516

Several circumstances conspire to draw the Swiss into north Italy during the early 16th century. The cantons have a long-standing interest in controlling two passes (the St Gotthard and the Splügen) which carry much of the trade between Italy and northern Europe.

The best way of achieving this is to acquire land south of the passes, and there are now fine opportunities to do so. Northern Italy is in chaos, as several contenders struggle for the duchy of Milan. The contenders are eager to enlist the support of the famously effective mercenary armies of Switzerland.

The Swiss help the French king Louis XII in his capture of Milan; in reward, in 1503, he gives them the Milanese region of Bellinzona. Nine years later the Swiss are fighting on the pope's side against the French. When they drive the French out of Milan in 1512, they are rewarded with Locarno and Lugano.

The run of Swiss successes in northern Italy ends abruptly in 1515 at Marignano, where they are heavily defeated by a French army. But the new French king, Francis I, proves more eager to pacify the Swiss than to recover every part of the duchy of Milan.

In a treaty of 1516, which becomes known as the Perpetual Peace, Francis I grants the cantons most of their gains south of the Alps in return for a Swiss commitment not to serve in campaigns against France.

The treaty brings under Swiss control a large Italian population. For three centuries they are governed at arm's length (and not well) by the northern cantons. Finally, in 1803, these Italian regions are grouped into a new canton, Ticino, which becomes a member of the Swiss confederation.

The Perpetual Peace of 1516 comes at a good moment for the cantons, where many citizens are beginning to question the loss of young Swiss lives as mercenaries in other people's battles.

Among those expressing this view is Huldreich Zwingli, the central figure in the next chapter of the Swiss story. The ruggedly individual Swiss have already demonstrated how to cast off a feudal yoke, that of the Habsburgs. They have proved that citizens on foot, armed only with pikes and halberds, can subdue the mounted chivalry of Europe. Now, in the same spirit, they ask more radical questions than anyone else in the great debate of the 16th century - the Reformation.

Zwingli: AD 1518-1525

The towns of Switzerland are the perfect context for the new movement of reform. Independent, free of any feudal ties, they are run by councils in which the merchants of the guilds usually have the predominant voice. The largest town is Zürich, where from 1518 there is a powerful preacher on the cathedral staff - Huldreich Zwingli.

Zwingli's first overt gesture against Catholic dogma is his eating of sausage during Lent in 1522, an event usually taken as the start of the Swiss Reformation. Zwingli, experiencing little of the opposition faced by Luther in Germany, persuades Zürich to accept sweeping Protestant reforms. But, like Luther in Wittenberg, he is soon confronted by reformers more radical than himself.

Anabaptists: AD 1525

Zürich, swift in its acceptance of Zwingli's Protestant logic, is also the first city where radical reformers insist upon logic in a ritual central to the Christian faith - that of baptism (one of only two sacraments retained by Luther and Zwingli, the other being the Eucharist).

If each Christian in the reformed faith is to be personally responsible for his or her relationship with God, how can a mewling infant be offered the sacrament of baptism? In the gospels, there is only an adult baptism - that of Jesus himself. In the early years of the religion most Christians were converts, choosing the faith and receiving baptism as adults.

Arguments for adult baptism formed part of the unrest in Wittenberg during Luther's absence in 1521. Now, in 1525 in Zürich, Conrad Grebel - a young follower of Zwingli - takes a drastic step. He baptises a former Catholic priest, Georg Blaurock.

The action forms part of a wider programme, derived by Grebel from the gospels. His tenets include a free church of believers, fully detached from the state; refusal to swear an oath; and pacifism. The last two commitments, subsequently of great importance to all radical sects in this tradition, derive from Christ's sermon on the mount (Matthew, v, 33-48).

Grebel's act of baptism is a direct challenge to his former mentor, Zwingli, who is closely associated with the state - indeed he has a guaranteed majority of supporters on Zürich's city council. It can also be seen as blasphemy, since this is a rebaptism. It denies the validity of a sacrament, in the form of Georg Blaurock's original baptism as an infant.

The reaction of Zürich, under Zwingli's guidance, is swift and extreme. Anyone even attending a ceremony of this kind is to be liable to death by drowning - if they want water they shall have it. It is the start of a long ordeal of persecution for Anabaptists (from Greek for 'baptize again'). No other Christian sect has had such a high proportion of martyrs.

Swiss reform: AD 1525-1531

Zürich is intolerant of the radical programme of the Anabaptists, but nevertheless this is the city in which the pattern of a fully reformed church is first established. The central detail, on which Zwingli goes much further than Luther, is the nature of the Eucharist.

By 1525 Zwingli has already replaced the mass (containing implications of a sacrificial ritual) with a simple service in which the altar becomes a communion table. In Zwingli's communion the bread and the wine, both of which are given to the congregation, merely symbolize Christ's body and blood. Luther maintains a more traditional view. The two men clash dramatically at Marburg, in 1529. They fail to reach agreement.

In this respect the Swiss reform differs intrinsically from the Lutheran version (or, later, the Anglican variety). It does so also on the issue of holy images. It is only the Swiss example which causes sculpture and painting to be smashed in many churches of Europe during the 16th century.

The independence of each Swiss canton has enabled Zürich to effect very rapidly its own programme of reform. But the same political freedom also makes it impossible for the whole federation to move together into reform. It soon becomes evident that the rural cantons are remaining faithful to Rome, while Basel, Bern and Schaffhausen side with Zürich.

The pope and the emperor (Clement VII and Charles V) see in this split a chance of containing the Swiss movement for reform. They encourage the rural cantons to band together in 1529 as a Christian Union. Hostilities between the Catholic and Protestant cantons break out in that year and again in 1531. On the second occasion Zwingli himself marches into battle, at Kappel, and loses his life in a decisive Catholic victory.

This disaster ends the pre-eminence of Zürich in the Swiss reformation. But Zwingli's reforms are developed, during the next decades, in a city which has close links with the Swiss federation - Geneva, where Calvin begins preaching in 1536.

Catholic and Protestant cantons: AD 1529-1798

The hostility between Catholic and Protestant cantons, seen so dramatically on the field of Kappel in 1531, remains a feature of the next three centuries. In 1597 one of the smallest cantons, Appenzell, even has to split into two parts (known as Rhoden). Henceforth the northern half of Appenzell is administered by Protestants, the southern half by Catholics.

In this atmosphere cooperation becomes difficult. The Swiss confederation, established courageously and effectively in a time of feudalism, almost collapses under the strain of Reformation and Counter-Reformation.

Only when threatened from outside is there a show of unity. After remaining free of foreign alliances during the Thirty Years\' War, all thirteen cantons make an agreement in 1647 pledging themselves to defend jointly their shared outer frontier. This pact of armed neutrality, known as the Defensionale of Wyl, is a significant step towards a Swiss national identity. But it does nothing to prevent conflict between the cantons themselves.

The two most serious clashes between Protestant and Catholic interests are both ended by battles at Villmergen, in 1656 and 1712. But the confederation does somehow hang together, while becoming an increasingly sleepy backwater of Europe. Then, in 1798, it is rudely awakened by Napoleon.

Geneva: AD 1535-1762

Geneva is not a member of the Swiss confederation until after Napoleon's interference. But the city becomes closely linked with Protestant Bern in the early 16th century.

During the Middle Ages Geneva was ruled by a prince-bishop of the Holy Roman empire. More recently it has fallen under the control of Savoy. Now Geneva uses the Reformation to win its freedom. In 1535 the city council shows an inclination to adopt the reformed faith of Zürich and Bern.

The duke of Savoy and the bishop of Geneva join forces to attack the city, but it is saved by the intervention of a citizen army from the Swiss canton of Bern. With this success, Geneva formally adopts the reformed faith in May 1536.

Two months later a young French reformer, passing through the city, is persuaded to stay and preach. He is John Calvin, who subsequently transforms Geneva (between 1541 and his death in 1564) into a theocratic state run on strict puritan lines.

Bern remains closely linked to Geneva (citizenship is even shared between the two towns), and in 1584 Zürich joins the alliance. But Savoy has ambitions to recover this prospering city.

During the night of 12 December 1602 an army of the duke of Savoy arrives suddenly outside Geneva with ladders to scale the walls. The Savoyards are repelled with considerable losses at a cost of only seventeen Genevan lives. The citizens crowd into the former cathedral to sing Psalm 124, beginning 'If it had not been the Lord who was on our side..'. It has been Geneva's psalm for this day ever since, on the anniversary of the victory which secures the city's independence.

The duke of Savoy signs the peace of St Julien in 1603, finally relinquishing his claim. Geneva settles down, like its neigbours in the Swiss cantons, to a life of quiet prosperity. Huguenot refugees arrive from France bringing valuable skills, particularly after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Clockmaking thrives, as the city's main industry. Geneva even produces a citizen of world renown.

Jean Jacques Rousseau is born here in 1712. But he leaves Geneva at the age of sixteen, only very occasionally returning. After 1762, when the views expressed in his Social Contract and Emile bring him notoriety, the city council orders the burning of both books.

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History of Switzerland

Swiss Revolution and
the Helvetic Republic (1798)

Switzerland is often regarded as the most ancient democracy of the world - but a more precise look on his history reveals that is not true for the majority of the territory. The history of change from domination by a minority to true democracy is one of a revolution, of occupation by foreign troops, of a failed attempt to introduce parliamentary democracy, of a partial fall-back into old structures and a long period of changes that were introduced little by little.

Age of Enlightment and Political Philosophy

As early as 1500 the sciences, the economy, philosophy and the arts all had changed deeply. Swiss mathematicians John Bernoulli (1667 - 1748), Daniel Bernoulli (1700 - 1782) and Leonhard Euler (all from Basel) as well as the naturalists Johann Jakob Scheuchzer (1672 - 1733) and Horace de Saussure (1740 - 1799, first ascension of the Mont Blanc 1787, beginning of alpinism) are well known also outside Switzerland.

Only the political system remained as it was, or more precisely, medieval feudalism culminated in forms of absolutist monarchy (especially in France and Austria). Though Switzerland was a loose confederacy of valley and city republics at the time, this fact alone made no significant difference to monarchy: A small number of families monopolized political (and economic) power in the cities (Geneva, Berne, Basel, Zurich, Lucerne) and even in the rural areas having some primitive form of direct democracy.

Jean Jacques Rousseau and his "Contrat Social"

Political philosophy, especially in France, reacted with new ideas on society and political organization. One of the famous philosophers of the time was Jean Jacques Rousseau, born 1712 in Geneva.. His novels Nouvelle Héloise (1761) and Emile (1762), his democratic program Contrat Social (1762) exercised a considerable influence. Jean Jacques Rousseau spent most of his life in France and died there in 1788.

The ancient political system in Switzerland

Many people are inclined to believe that Switzerland is the most ancient democracy of the world. But this is only a partial aspect of the truth:

1. The small rural districts in central Switzerland (Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Glarus) and Appenzell had a primitive form of direct democracy called "Landsgemeinden": All male citizens would meet regularly to elect the government and decide important matters. But effectively a small number of rich families were represented in the governments and prepared the political agenda and the decisions.
2. The citizens of the cities had the right to elect the city councils, but only members of a small number of families were eligible, be in the form of patrician oligarchy (Berne, Solothurn, Fribourg, Lucerne) or be it in the form of guilds [corporations of master craftsmen] (Zurich, Basel, Schaffhausen).
3. A broad majority of the Swiss people - the peasants of the areas controlled by the cities of Zurich, Berne, Lucerne, Zug, Fribourg, Solothurn, Basel and Schaffhausen as well as the inhabitants of the subject territories under common administration by all member states of the old Swiss confederacy (Aargau, Thurgau, Vaud) had no political rights.
4. Liberty of commerce and liberty of press were unknown in Switzerland just as in other countries.

Revolts against the Ancien Regime

From 1650 to 1790 various revolts against the rich families in the cities had not any success:

• The war of the peasants of the Emmental (subject territory of Berne) and Entlebuch (subject territory of Lucerne) against these cities in 1653
• The revolt of Wilchingen against Schaffhausen (1717 - 1729)
• The revolt of Werdenberg against Glarus (1719 - 1722)
• The revolt of major Abraham Davel in Lausanne (Vaud) against Berne (1723)
• The revolt of the peasants of Jura against the prince-bishop of Basel (1726 - 1739)
• The revolt of the Leventina (Ticino) against Uri (1755)
• The revolt of Chenaux (Fribourg) against Fribourg (1781)

Only the population of Toggenburg (1707, against the abbot of St. Gallen) and of Geneva (1707 - 1738, against the aristocrats of the city) could assure themselves some new or restore some old rights. But already in 1782 a troop of 11'000 soldiers from France, Berne and Piedmont enforced a restoration of the aristocracy to Geneva.

The Helvetic Society

During the 18th Century, more and more persons descending from privileged families began to think about and discuss new political perspectives. Zurich became a center of German language literature with Johann Jabob Bodmer and Johann Jakob Breitinger. Isaak Iselin of Basel, Salomon Hirzel, Salomon Gessner and Johann Heinrich Schinz of Zurich founded the Helvetic Society in 1761. They met each year at Bad Schinznach (Aargau) to discuss together the history (and the future) of Switzerland. In 1777, Johann Georg Stokar of Schaffhausen pleaded in his presidential address for a united (national) state of Switzerland with equal rights for all the citizens of Switzerland (instead of a loose confederacy).

The Death of the Swiss Mercenary Troops during the French Revolution

For several centuries, young Swiss men, especially from Central Switzerland, had served French kings and Italian dukes in mercenary troops. During the French Revolution a detachment of 800 mercenary troops from Switzerland tried to defend the king against the Montagnards [radical party in the French Revolution] attacking the castle of the Tuileries in 1792. All mercenary troops were killed. The Lion Monument in Lucerne reminds of the infamous end to the Swiss military force that had once been feared throughout Europe.

The Helvetic Republic
Revolution in Switzerland

The history of revolts in Switzerland during the 17th and 18th centuries shows that the revolution of 1798 in Switzerland was not at all a simple copy of the French Revolution, but rather the logical consequence of the corrupt political system in Switzerland. Of course, the French Revolution was not without influence on Switzerland, it had two functions:

1) it proved that a revolution is possible (after all the failures in Switzerland)
2) revolutionies were able to threaten with a French intervention

Everywhere in Switzerland the situation after the French Revolution and the perspectives for Switzerland's political system were discussed. Numerous were the petitions of the rural population:

• 1790 reading societies were founded at Wädenswil, Stäfa and in the valley of Glatt (Zurich): the peasants began to get informed
• 1790 petition by Unter-Hallau (Schaffhausen)
• 1790 petition by Aarau
• 1790 petitions by various cities of canton Vaud (then subject to Berne)
• 1790 reverend Jean Rodolphe Martin from Mézières arrested
• 1790 city council of Basel puts an end to bondage
• 1791 festivities in Lausanne and Rolle (Vaud, western Switzerland) in commemoration of the assault to the Bastille (French Revolution)
• 1792 revolution in Geneva, 1793 elections, 1794 new constitution
• 1792 the opposition founded a college (Philanthropin) at Reichenau (Grisons), from 1796 under the direction of Heinrich Zschokke (later member of the revolutionary government). Frederick-Cesar de Laharpe and other politicians of the revolutionary Helvetic Republic were educated there.
• 1794 revolt of the peasants in canton Grisons
• 1793 revolt against taxes at Gossau (St. Gallen), 1795 petitions of Wil (St. Gallen) and popular meeting with 6000 participants, in summer new petition with 61 demands, in November concessions by the prince-abbot of St. Gallen. Agreement concludef at a popular meeting with 20000 participants, with lots of observers from other regions (Zurich, Thurgau, Rhine valley)
• 1794 memorials at Stäfa (Zurich) : the peasants asked for the restauration of old rights, granted by documents dating back to 1489 and 1532, that had been revoked little by little during the following centuries. But the city council of Zurich preferred a military solution and prevailed for the moment (1795).
• 1797: the countryside population of Basel demanded for liberty and equality, supported by liberal politicians from the city (Peter Ochs, Peter Vischer). The city coucil hesitated. The revolutionaries threatened with a French intervention and burnt the castles of Waldenburg, Farnsburg and Homburg. After the resignation of the mayor the patriots [liberal politicians] organized elections to a constituent assembly. Peter Ochs went to Paris in order to elaborate a Helvetic Constitution for a united (and centralised) Switzerland.

Revolution in Vaud

For the history of the Helvetic Revolution, the canton of Vaud (western Switzerland, northern shore of Lake Geneva) and the leader of its revolutionaries, Frederick-Cesar of Laharpe played a key role. Frederick-Cesar de Laharpe asked in public for a French intervention against the domination by Berne in 1797. When French General Napoleon travelled through Geneva, Berne and Basel to Germany, the population of Vaud used the occasion to show their political convictions: at Nyon, Rolle, Lausanne and many other cities a crowd enthousiastically welcomed Napoleon.



The bailliff of Berne lost control, his residence, the Castle of Chillon was occupied by a revolutionary committee. But Berne, as Zurich in 1795, did not want to negotiate and sought a military solution. When Berne sent 5000 German speaking soldiers to enforce order in its French-speaking subject territory Vaud, the inhabitants of Vaud took up arms and proclaimed the Republique Léman. [Léman = French name of Lake Geneva].

An incident gave occasion to the French general Ménard to declare war to Berne and to occupy the territory of Vaud. The French troops were welcomed there as liberators. Berne wanted to recruit troops against the French in canton Aargau (at the time another subject territory in northern Switzerland) - but this provoked only open revolution in the Argovian cities of Aarau, Lenzburg, Brugg and Aarburg. The confederates of central Switzerland had declined assistance to Berne concerning the territory of Vaud already in 1579 and did so once more in 1798. The Bernese troops, in insufficient number, poorly motivated and poorly commanded, were defeated in the battles of Fraubrunnen and Grauholz, the city of Berne was occupied and looted on March, 5th 1798.

Liberation of the Other Subjected Territories (1798)

• Valais: January, 28th: revolution in the French speaking part of the canton against domination by German speaking communes
• Fribourg: revision of the constitution by the city council, introduction of sovereignty of the people (instead of aristocratic rule)
• Solothurn: revision of the constitution according to the model of Basel
• Schaffhausen: January, 1st abolition of bondage,
  February, 6th constituent assembly with representatives of peasants
• Lucerne: January, 31st resignation of the old patrician government
• Zurich: grants amnesty to the leaders of Stäfa petition, February 5th constituent commission
• Thurgau: February, 1st meeting of the people in Weinfelden,
  March, 3rd definitive liberation, Thurgau becomes an independent member state of the Swiss confederacy.
• St. Gallen: February, 14th proclamation of the republic of rural areas of St. Gallen
• Sax: February, 5th independence granted by Zurich
• Rheintal and Sargans (valley of the Rhine between Sargans and Lake of Constance) : March, 5th free and independent member states of the Swiss confederacy.
• Uznach and Gaster: independence granted by Schwyz and Glarus
• Werdenberg: March, 11th independence granted by Glarus
• Ticino: independence granted by the confederacy (Lugano, Mendrisio, Locarno and Maggia: February, 15th), by Uri (Leventina: March, 14th) and finally by Uri, Schwyz and Nidwalden (Bellinzona, Blenio and Riviera: April, 4th)

Proclamation of the Helvetic Republic

Helvetic Flag

121 representatives of the territories Aargau, Basel, Berne, Fribourg, Léman (Vaud), Lucerne, (bernese) Oberland, Schaffhausen, Solothurn and Zurich met in Aarau on April, 12th 1798 to proclaim the Helvetic Republic and confirm its new constitution.

France had annexed Geneva, Neuchâtel, Bienne, the territory of the prince-bishop of Basel (nowadays canton Jura) and Mulhouse (Alsace, former associated member of the old Swiss confederacy). Veltlin, Bormio and Chiavenna had declared independence of Grisons already in June 1797. The constitution of the Helvetic Republic was similar to the constitution of the French Republic, with a parliament (two chambers), a government (called board of directors) and a Supreme Court of Justice. The federalist tradition of Switzerland was eliminated.

The Counter-Revolutionary Revolt of Nidwalden

Central Switzerland was not represented and tried to withstand the change, a revolt of Nidwalden was knocked down by French troops in September 1798 at the cost of 368 deaths, of which 102 women and 25 children. The famous pedagogue John Henry Pestalozzi was appointed director of the orphanage of Stans that had to take care of the numerous orphans. Canton Grisons remained independent until 1799. The board of directors [government] of the Republic Helvetic signed a military alliance pact with France. They wanted to defend the Republic against reactionary forces (especially Austria), but the result was that the alliance with France engaged the Helvetic Republic in the wars of France with other nations.

Switzerland Occupied by French, Austrian and Russian Troops

French general Napoleon Bonaparte had conquered Italy in the first Coalition War of France against Great Britain, Austria, Spain and Germany (1792 - 1797) and formed the Cisalpine Republic in northern Italy in 1797 (among others, the former subject territories of Swiss canton Grisons became part of the Cisalpine Republic). In 1799, Napoleon seized power in France by a coup d'état. In the second Coalition War of France against Great Britain, Austria and Russia (1799 - 1802) southern Germany, northern Italy and in between Switzerland became theaters of war. The Austrians won a first battle near Zurich, the French the second one while the Russian general Suworow came to assistance of the Austrians with 25000 soldiers from Italy - but he arrived too late and had to flee. During the passage of the St. Gotthard pass, the Kinzigkulm pass (between Uri and Muotathal/Schwyz), the Pragel pass (between Muotathal and Glarus) and the Panix pass (between Glarus and Ilanz), all of them obstructed by snow, Suworov lost 10000 soldiers. Nonetheless, as an opponent of the Helvetic Republic Helvetic that was well hated in central Switzerland, General Suworow remained well known and respected there.

Collapse of the Helvetic Republic

As the French Revolution before, the Helvetic Republic could not keep its promises. There were various reasons for that:

• The representatives of the former system, especially in central Switzerland, did not miss a single occasion to attack the new order.
• The war with stationing and nutrition of thousands of soldiers exhausted the resources of the civil population.
• The centralistic system had no tradition in the history of Switzerland and was therefore not accepted by a majority of the people.
• The peasants of the subjected territories of Switzerland had demanded for liberty, but they wanted to be admitted to the existing political system as members with equal rights rather than changing the system.
• Liberty, this meant "to do what one wants" and "no longer pay taxes" for the simple people. Even the intellectual leaders of the revolution, as Peter Ochs, Frederick-Cesar de Laharpe etc. had not really thought about the necessity of a working administration of the state finances. But this did not work better 200 years ago than today: You can't have a working state without taxes ...

The French and Helvetic Republics won the second Coalition War in 1799, but they lost peace: France became a military dictatorship under general Napoleon Bonaparte, the Helvetic Republic was going to see at least four coups d'état between 1800 and 1802. The decision of Napoleon to withdraw the French troops from Switzerland in July 1802 gave the signal to the partisans of federalism: On August, 1st 1802 the citizens of Schwyz, Nidwalden, Obwalden met for the "Landsgemeinde" [political meeting] as of before. Appenzell, Glarus and Grisons also restored cantonal political institutions. The city of Zurich as well made opposition to the Helvetic government. Returned emigrants of the former system and armed peasants with sticks and agricultural tools attacked the helvetic troops in a civil war called "Stecklikrieg" [war of the sticks], conquered the Aargau and Berne and advanced to Payerne (western Switzerland).

The Mediation Act by Napoleon Bonaparte

At this moment, Napoleon intervened and gave orders to put an end to the civil war and to send delegations to a consultation in Paris. In October 1802 French troops entered Switzerland again and disarmed the rebels in central Switzerland. Napoleon had understood that centralistic state had no chance to be accepted in Switzerland. Therefore the constitution elaborated by his mediation gave most of the competences to the 19 cantons [member states] of the new Swiss federation. Everything just as before the revolution of 1798? Not exactly - Switzerland during the era of the Mediation Act (1803 - 1815) had 6 new cantons: St. Gallen, Grisons, Aargau, Thurgau, Tessin and Vaud with equal rights as the 13 old cantons. And the Mediation Act preserved political equality and in front of the law for all citizens.

The Restoration

After Napoleon had been beaten in Russia and at Waterloo, Switzerland returned to extremely federalistic structures. Nevertheless, the cantons of St. Gallen, Grisons, Aargau, Thurgau, Tessin and Vaud remained free member states of the confederacy instead of their old status as associated members or even subject territories. The cantons Valais, Neuchâtel and Geneva that had been annexed by France in 1798, returned to the Swiss confederacy. Switzerland consisted of 22 cantons now with the borders to its neighbours that are still valid today.

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