Swiss Confederation

“ The Swiss Confederation, our common country has called us to arms. You have responded to the summons with a promptness worthy of men of courage; ready to shed their blood in the accomplishment of the most holy of duties, the safety of the country. You are now going to march against the separated alliance, called the Sonderbund. ”

“ In Switzerland republican institutions can claim to have been fairly tried and thoroughly succeeded. Dating from the perpetual Alliance of 1291, the Confederation now counts six centuries; living through many forms of government, feudal, clerical, imperial, radical, the League of Cantons never ceased to be a union of republics, and is the only federal government which has come down from mediæval times to our own day. We see that the Swiss have lasted well, “for utility is their bond and not respects.” ”

“ This great victory gained by the Swiss not only widened and established more firmly the career of military glory commenced at Morgarten, but it gave to the Confederation independence, and far greater military and political eminence. What Platæa had been of old to the Greeks, that Sempach was to the Swiss; it struck a deadly blow against an ancient and relentless foe. Austria, her rule on this side of the Rhine thus rudely shaken, was compelled to waive all rights of supremacy over the Confederation. ”

“ THE SWISS WIN THEIR INDEPENDENCE BATTLE OF SEMPACH A.D. 1386-1389 F. Grenfell Baker
For two generations after the victory of the Swiss over the Austrians at Morgarten (1315) , which was followed by the renewal of the Swiss Confederation of 1291, the leagued cantons were favored with growth and internal development. To the original cantons—Uri, Schwyz, and Unterwalden—were added (1332-1353) Lucerne, Zurich, Glarus, Zug, and Bern. The Confederation acknowledged no superior but the Emperor of Germany. ”

“ The reign of Maximilian witnessed also an actual loss of territory to the Empire, for it was then that Switzerland practically established its independence.The Swiss Confederation. The Swiss Confederation was originally one of those numerous leagues formed in Germany for self-protection as the Empire fell into decay. ”

“ The points to be borne in mind are that the Swiss Confederation is simply one of many German Leagues, which was more lasting and became more closely united than other German Leagues—that it gradually split off from the German Kingdom—that in the course of this process, the League and its members obtained a large body of Italian and Burgundian allies and subjects —lastly, that these allies and subjects have in modern times been joined into one Federal body with the original German Confederates. ”

“ That is the best form of government that best secures these powers to its people. In Switzerland national freedom has grown out of personal and local freedom. The Confederation is a union of independent Cantons, the Cantons a union of autonomous Communes. Political life is localized, centripetal, intense, expressing itself in social and civic forms. The parts come before the whole, the smaller units are not divisions of the whole, but the whole is made up by the aggregation of the smaller units. Each stage—Commune, Canton, Confederation—is alike self-acting within its own range. ”

“ The Swiss Confederation
Switzerland becomes a separate country; mixed nationality of its people.
Various districts in the neighborhood successively joined the Swiss union, and even the region lying on the Italian slopes of the Alps was brought under its control. Gradually the bonds between the members of the union and the empire were broken. ”

“ Even the Swiss Confederation did not escape from the hand of the conqueror. Most of the cantons were feudal and oligarchical. Catching from France the contagion of revolution, in 1798 the people of the Pays de Vaud rose in rebellion against the Canton of Berne. In other cantons insurrection broke out; appeal was made by the peasants for aid from France; Switzerland was invaded by a French army; a constituent assembly was summoned, and the Helvetian Republic was proclaimed with a constitution on the French model. ”

“ The genius of the organic law, the Constitution, is transfused into the national mind, and in the character of the citizens we recognize the congenial spirit of the laws.
The history of the Swiss Constitution is the history of a confederation of free Cantons, uniting city and rural communities in a common league; providing at once for separate autonomies, and for confederate union and government; insuring mutual protection and a national policy. It represents a wise and politic union; a union constituting an honorable European state in the full enjoyment of its ancient franchises ”

“ The experience of the ancients has been repeated in later times. The national spirit of the Swiss has carried Switzerland through the greatest trials, and preserved her freedom and independence in the heart of Europe for hundreds of years. No principle of continental unity has been able to destroy her freedom. The Swiss confederation took its origin in the oath on the Rutli in 1307, and eight years later at Morgarten, the Marathon of Switzerland, 1,300 Swiss peasants defeated an army of 20,000 Austrians. ”

“ The result of holding different peoples together without transforming them into one nationality has been attained only by allowing each people free course in its local and inner life. The drift of Switzerland’s history and its political trend are unquestionably towards a more compact [Pg 145] nationality. The constitution was a compromise between the advocates and opponents of nationalism. Every change from 1814 down to 1874 has taken something from the Canton and Commune and bestowed it on the Confederation. ”

“ All Swiss are equal before the law. In Switzerland there are neither political dependents, nor privileges of place, birth, persons, or families. ARTICLE 5. The Confederation guarantees to the Cantons their territory, their sovereignty, within the limits fixed by Article 3, their Constitutions, the liberty and rights of the people, the constitutional rights of citizens, and the rights and powers which the people have conferred on those in authority. ”

“ The honor and independence of the Swiss Confederation permit no other answer to be given to the French note. The law of nations sustains Switzerland in the position taken, and from this position, declares the Council, in conclusion, the threats of France will not avail to drive her. The reply to this note has not been published; but it is generally understood that the assurances which it contains of increased vigilance against attempts among the refugees against the peace of other powers, had been accepted as satisfactory. ”

“ Considering the internal condition of the Confederation, we may well ask what it was that saved the little republic from complete destruction in the terrible storm of the reaction which swept over Europe, if it was not the very strength of the Federal union, and the common possession of the different Swiss bailiwicks, which bound the parts so strongly together, and which triumphed over both party feelings and private interests. Thanks to the moderation of the Protestants, war was avoided, and the country settled into a state of comparative repose. ”

“ On the other hand, all must be subject to a common power in those matters which concern the whole body of members collectively. Switzerland represents the happy outcome of the first attempt at such a federal union made by men of Teutonic descent. Complete independence in local affairs combined with adequate representation in the Federal Council has effected such an intense cohesion of interests throughout the nation as no centralized government, however cunningly devised, would ever have secured. The constitutional history of the confederation is a study in federalism. ”

“ They were recognized as being no more than "relatives" of the empire; in 1499 they were finally freed from the jurisdiction of the emperor, and Switzerland became a [Pg 423] practically independent country. Although the original union had been made up of German-speaking people, considerable districts had been annexed in which Italian or French was spoken. [292] The Swiss did not, therefore, form a compact, well-defined nation, and for some centuries their confederation was weak and ill-organized.
Zwingli (1484–1531) leads the revolt in Switzerland against the Church. ”

“ It changed the federal union of states into a federal republic; a transition from a Staatenbund to a Bundesstaat. The stage of confederation was passed over and the higher state of federation reached; an organized nation, and at the same time the peoples of the particular Cantons also possessing organic unity; a Swiss nation, and yet a Bernese and Genevese people. The Constitution of 1848 was the first which was entirely the work of the Swiss without any foreign influence. ”

“ The twenty-two communities, or cantons, which make up the Swiss Confederation, differ among themselves in language, religion (Roman Catholic or Protestant) , and customs, according to their nearness to Germany, France, or Italy. Nevertheless the Swiss form a patriotic and united nation. It is remarkable that a people whose chief bond of union was common hostility to the Austrian Hapsburgs, should have established a federal government so strong and enduring.
191. EXPANSION OF GERMANY LINES OF GERMAN EXPANSION An examination of the map shows how deficient Germany is in good natural boundaries. ”

“ Switzerland is a microcosm. In these five and twenty little states we have a miniature resemblance of all the phases of social and political life; every Canton contributes with friendly emulation to improve the domestic policy and strengthen the political relations of the Confederation; if they present no example worthy to be followed as a whole, there is still much in their detail that will most abundantly repay our study. ”

“ In 1848 it was proposed that the Confederation should be charged with the entire military administration. This was rejected. In 1874 the effort was renewed, and this most important power was substantially vested in the Confederation by the constitution adopted that year, which contains the following provisions:
Every Swiss is subject to military service. Each soldier receives without expense his first equipment, clothing, and arms. The arms remain in possession of the soldier, under conditions prescribed by federal legislation. ”

“ Moreover, since the Swiss territory belongs to three geographical regions, separated by high mountains, Switzerland, which has vanquished the fatality of nature, from both the ethnographical and geographical point of view, is a unique and wonderful phenomenon. But she is a confederation, and for a long time has been a neutral country. Thus her constitution has not been subjected to the great ordeal of fire and sword. France, despite her diverse races—Celtic, German, Roman, and Basque—has formed a political entity that most resembles a moral person. ”

“ There are no citizens of Switzerland and ipso facto citizens of the Canton “wherein they reside.” To the contrary, “every citizen of a Canton,” the constitution declares, “is a Swiss citizen.” In the words of an eminent Swiss writer, “The national citizenship proceeds from below.” As to the electoral body, while in the United States it is determined by the State, within the limitations of the Fifteenth Amendment, in Switzerland, with the exceptions as to communal corporate matters, it is fixed by the Confederation in its organic law, with provisions clear and full. ”

“ Deeper down even than the deep-seated differences of race, language, and creed lies [Pg 34] the feeling that comes from the common possession of a political freedom that is greater than that possessed by surrounding peoples: this is the enduring bond of the Confederation. Switzerland has demonstrated that democracies are not necessarily short-lived. The short-lived glory of Athens and its subjection under the rough foot of the astute Macedonian was not the result of too much freedom, but because the Greek states had too little unity. ”

“ Gall, Thurgau, Grisons, Aargau, Vaud, and Ticino were added to the confederation of states. And by the Congress of Vienna, in 1814-15, were also added Valais, Geneva, and Neuchâtel. The latter, however, still continued under the sway of Prussia, although partly a free state, till 1857. The reader will clearly see into what a complicated fabric of unions the league is growing, and that the Swiss fatherland did not spring at once into life as a fait accompli. ”

“ Swiss political active citizenship is derived from above, proceeding from the Confederation, and from this source descending to the Canton and the Commune. The individual once admitted to cantonal citizenship, the Confederation steps forward and invests him with its nationality, and asserts its exclusive dominion over him as an elector, declaring he may take part, in any place where he has acquired residence, in all federal elections and votes. ”

“ Convention, occurred the initiative of the International Telegraph Union upon the signature of the Convention of Paris. For a time the Union dispensed with a central administration, and at the conference held in Vienna in 1865 the policy of having a shifting administration, as between the capitals where the conferences took place, was seriously considered, but the necessity for a fixed and central administration was finally conceded, and the Swiss Confederation was asked to take charge of it. The central office was organized without delay at Bern. ”