Swiss Confederation | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| 1814–1848 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Common languages | Swiss French,Swiss German,Swiss Italian,Romansch | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholic Reformed Jewish | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Demonym | Swiss | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Government | Federal Diet | ||||||||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||||||||
• Firstmeeting of delegates from all the nineteen cantons at Zurich | 6 April 1814 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 August 1815 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| November 1847 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 12 September 1848 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Currency | Different franc for each canton Konkordatsbatzen from 1825 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | CH | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The periods of Restoration and Regeneration inSwiss history lasted from 1814 to 1847. "Restoration" is the period of 1814 to 1830,[2] the restoration of theAncien Régime (federalism), reverting the changes imposed byNapoleon Bonaparte on thecentralistHelvetic Republic from 1798 and the partial reversion to the old system with theAct of Mediation of 1803. "Regeneration" is the period of 1830 to 1848, when in the wake of theJuly Revolution the "restored"Ancien Régime was countered by theliberal movement. In theProtestant cantons, the rural population enforced liberal cantonal constitutions, partly in armed marches on the cities. This resulted in a conservative backlash in theCatholic cantons in the 1830s, raising the conflict to the point ofcivil war by 1847.
When Napoleon's fall appeared imminent, the Act of Mediation was suspended in late December 1813, and lengthy discussions about future constitutions were initiated in allcantons of Switzerland.
TheTagsatzung (the gathering of delegates from all the nineteen cantons) which took place between 6 April 1814 and 31 August 1815, the so-called "Long Diet", met atZurich to replace the constitution.[3] The Diet remained dead-locked until 12 September when Valais, Neuchatel and Geneva were raised to full members of the Confederation. This increased the number ofcantons to 22. The Diet, however, made little progress until theCongress of Vienna.[4]
At theCongress of Vienna (18 September 1814 to 9 June 1815), theSwiss Confederation was represented by a delegation of three conservative politicians,Hans von Reinhard,Johann Heinrich Wieland andJohann von Montenach, besides a number of unofficial lobbyists attempting to influence the country's re-organisation, such asFrédéric-César de La Harpe who, with the support of his former pupilEmperorAlexander I of Russia, campaigned forVaud's independence fromBern — though, on the other hand, de La Harpe opposed the creation of a federal state as opposed to a united Swiss republic. In addition, de La Harpe and his friend Henri Monod lobbied Emperor Alexander, who in turn persuaded the other Allied powers opposing Napoleon to recognise Vaudois and Argovian independence, in spite of Bern's attempts to reclaim them assubject lands.
The official delegation had the mission of ensuring the recognition of Swiss neutrality, but their efforts were hampered by a complicated web of cantonal rivalries and diverging agendas, which went to discourage the interest of the great European powers in Swiss affairs. On 20 March, the Congress finalized a declaration on the future status of Switzerland, including the recognition of the territory of the 19 cantons of the Act of Mediation (including financial compensation for those cantons which had lost territory to newly formed ones) and the recognition ofValais,Neuchâtel andGeneva as part of Switzerland, while theValtellina,Chiavenna andBormio were detached from theGrisons and made part of theKingdom of Lombardy–Venetia.
Recognition of Swiss neutrality was left undecided, and on 20 May, afterNapoleon's return from Elba the Swiss Tagsatzung gave in to allied pressure and declared war on France, allowing the passage of allied troops across Swiss territory (see theminor campaigns of 1815). Swiss troops under GeneralNiklaus Franz von Bachmann advanced to theFranche-Comté without orders from the diet, but were ordered back. The French fort atHüningen near Basel was placed under siege by Austrian and Swiss troops and surrendered on 28 August. The Swiss were particularly eager to lay siege to this fortress after its commander GeneralJoseph Barbanègre opened fire on the city of Basel.
TheTreaty of Paris of 20 November included a financial compensation for Switzerland besides the acquisition of a small territorial gain, connecting the canton of Geneva (formerly anexclave) to Vaud. Most significantly, the Treaty included the recognition of permanent Swiss neutrality by all European powers.
Cantonal constitutions were worked out independently from 1814, in general restoring the late feudal conditions of the 17th and 18th centuries. TheTagsatzung was re-organized by theFederal Treaty (Bundesvertrag) of 7 August 1815.
The Tagsatzung reintroduced theold flag consisting of a white cross on a red field, using it for theseal and coat of arms of the confederation.[1]
Following the FrenchJuly Revolution in 1830, a number of large assemblies were held calling for new cantonal constitutions. As each canton had its own constitution, the assemblies in each canton addressed different specifics, but they all had two main issues. First, they called for peacefully adjusting the constitutions by adjusting the way seats in locallegislatures and theTagsatzung were allocated. In particular, they objected to what they saw as the over-representation of the cantonal capital in the government.[5] Secondly, they sought a way to amend the constitution. Very few cantons even had a way to amend or modify the constitutions, and none of them allowed citizen'sinitiatives to be added.
The first assembly was held nearWeinfelden inThurgau in October and November 1830. Followed in November by meetings inWohlenschwil,Aargau thenSursee,Lucerne and finally theUstertag nearUster inZurich. In December there were three assemblies in theCanton of St. Gallen inWattwil,Altstätten andSt. Gallenkappel as well as inBalsthal inSolothurn. The final assembly was held inMünsingen inBern in January 1831.
The speeches and articles reporting on the assemblies were widely distributed and became very popular. The crowds were generally well-behaved and orderly. For example, inWohlenschwil it was reported that they met "in unexpectedly quiet attitude with decency and perfect order".[5] Even inAargau andSt. Gallen, where the crowd marched through the streets ofAarau (Freiämtersturm) andSt. Gallen, the protest march was peaceful. Following the assemblies and marches, cantonal governments quickly gave into the demands of the assemblies and amended their constitutions.
This "restored" state of affairs meant that thePatriciate and thefree cities regained much of their former power, to the disadvantage of the rural population, resulting in rebellions and violent conflicts such as theZüriputsch of 1839. Some Republican achievements were preserved, however, such as the abolition of the subject territories, preserving theAargau andThurgau as independent cantons, and the guarantee of equal political rights of all (male) citizens of a canton. In Basel, the conflict resulted in the split ofBasel-City andBasel-Country in 1833. Similarly, a cantonAusserschwyz temporarily seceded from thecanton of Schwyz in 1831, but was re-united with Schwyz in 1833 after the drawing up of an egalitarian constitution. Since 1830 the democratic forces had been in the ascent.[6] TheRadical Democratic Party of Switzerland embodied these democratic forces. Demands for a new federal constitution with a tighter relationship between the various cantons and rights for the individual citizens arose from the Radical Party of Switzerland and from liberal groups like the group that called itselfLa Jeune Suisse (Young Switzerland).[6] Indeed, the Radical Party had formed the group called Young Switzerland in the first place with the intent of arousing liberal support for these ideas in all cantons of Switzerland.[6]
The central demands of the liberal groups like Young Switzerland, were for abolition ofcensorship,separation of church and state,popular sovereignty andrepresentative democracy. Also included were demands for a uniform system of coinage.[7] These reforms, especially the economic reforms would strengthen trade, industry and banking within Switzerland.[7] However, the monetary reforms were the reforms that were opposed the strongest.[7] The opposition to these economic demands became cloaked in religious rhetoric.[6] Members of the Radical Party and of Young Switzerland were attacked by the Jesuits as being infidels.[6] In this political conflict, the right-wingConservative Party representing the Patriciate was pitted against the "free thinking" left-wing "Radical Party", the predecessor of the contemporaryFree Democratic Party of Switzerland. When the Radicals rose to power during the 1830s, they imposed restrictions against the Catholic Church in theAargau in 1841.Lucerne in retaliation re-admitted theJesuits as teachers at cantonal schools. Provoked by this (the "Jesuit question") armed radicals invaded the canton, theFreischarenzüge of 1844 and 1845, led byWilhelm Snell, the later Federal CouncillorsUlrich Ochsenbein andJakob Stämpfli. Also participating wasGottfried Keller, but he never participated in combat. The invasion of 1845 ended in a disaster for theFreischärler, 35 of their number being killed. The Radical side again reverted to political means, and the Jesuits were again expelled by decree of the federalTagsatzung on 3 September 1847 (a decree only repealed in 1973).
The CatholicSonderbund of 1845 was a reaction to theFreischarenzüge. Due to its violation of inter-cantonal treaties, the confederate army was raised. The confederate forces invaded Sonderbund territory in November 1847, initiating theSonderbund War, which thanks to the thoughtful campaign by GeneralGuillaume-Henri Dufour resulted in fewer than a hundred casualties on both sides.
After the hostilities ceased, the Catholic side having the disadvantage,Modern Switzerland was formed by the firstFederal Constitution.
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EnglishWikisource has original text related to this article:Federal Treaty of 1815
![Coat of arms[1] of Switzerland](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aSwiss_Federal_CoA_triangular.svg)
