The Making of Modern Switzerland, 1848–1998 New Perspectives in German Studies

The Making of Modern Switzerland, 1848–1998 New Perspectives in German Studies General Editors: Professor Michael Butler, Head of Department of German Studies, University of Birmingham and Professor William Paterson, Director of the Institute of German Studies, University of Birmingham Over the last twenty years the concept of German studies has undergone major transformation. The traditional mixture of language and literary studies, related very closely to the discipline as practised in German universities, has expanded to embrace history, politics, economics and cultural studies. The conventional boundaries between all these disciplines have become increasingly blurred, a process which has been accelerated markedly since German unification in 1989/90. New Perspectives in German Studies, developed in conjunction with the Institute for German Studies at the University of Birmingham, has been designed to respond precisely to this trend of the interdisciplinary approach to the study of German and to cater for the growing interest in Germany in the context of European integration. The books in this series will focus on the modern period, from 1750 to the present day. Titles include: Michael Butler, Malcolm Pender and Joy Charnley (editors) THE MAKING OF MODERN SWITZERLAND 1848–1998 Jonathan Grix THE ROLE OF THE MASSES IN THE COLLAPSE OF THE GDR New Perspectives in German Studies Series Standing Order ISBN 0–333–92430–4 (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England The Making of Modern Switzerland, 1848–1998 Edited by Michael Butler Professor of Modern German Literature University of Birmingham Malcolm Pender Professor of German Studies University of Strathclyde and Joy Charnley Lecturer in French University of Strathclyde First published in Great Britain 2000 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-1-349-42074-2 ISBN 978-0-230-59813-3 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230598133 First published in the United States of America 2000 by ST. MARTIN’S PRESS, LLC, Scholarly and Reference Division, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 ISBN 978-0-312-23459-7 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The making of modern Switzerland, 1848–1998 / edited by Michael Butler, Malcolm Pender, and Joy Charnley. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-312-23459-7 1. Switzerland—Politics and government—1848–—Congresses. 2. Political ethics—Switzerland—Congresses. 3. European Union—Switzerland—Congresses. I. Butler, Michael. II. Pender, Malcolm. III. Charnley, Joy, 1960– DQ69 .M35 2000 949.407—dc21 00–027824 Editorial matter and selection © Michael Butler, Malcolm Pender and Joy Charnley 2000 Chapters 1–8 © Macmillan Press Ltd 2000 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. 10987654321 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 Contents Preface vii Notes on the Contributors xi Part I 1 The 1848 Conflicts and their Significance in Swiss Historiography 3 Thomas Maissen 2 Contemporary Reactions to ‘1848’ by Writers and Intellectuals 35 Rémy Charbon 3 How to Create a National Myth: Switzerland Reflected in its Contemporary Writing 47 Urs Bugmann Part II 4 Reforming the Swiss Federal Constitution: an International Lawyer’s Perspective 75 Thomas Cottier 5 Swiss Politics Today 97 Wolf Linder 6 Finding a New Role in International Conflict Resolution: Switzerland after the End of the Cold War 111 Andrew Williams 7 The Swiss Economy: Facing the Future 123 Dominik Furgler 8 Redefining Swiss Relations with Europe 137 Clive H. Church Index 161 v Preface The 1990s were to be a decade of significance and celebration in Switzerland. The year 1991 would mark the 700th anniversary of the origins of the Helvetic Confederation and 1998 would be the 150th anniversary of the Constitution created in 1848, the only political transformation successfully effected in Europe in that year and one which laid the democratic foundations of the modern state. It was therefore ironic that events turned each of these occasions for celebration into deeply uncomfortable exercises in introspection and in reckoning with the past. The 1991 anniversary was effectively ruined by the chance discovery in 1989 that the state had been keeping for many years secret files on some 900000 Swiss citizens, one-sixth of the adult population. In February of the same year Elisabeth Kopp, the first Bundesrätin in the country’s history, was forced to resign in circumstances of scandal. In November the result of the referendum to abolish the Swiss army, in which over one-third of those voting supported the proposition, indicated radical alterations in attitudes. The damage done to Swiss self-perception was deep, and the malaise – in particular, the sense of having been betrayed in the so-called Fichen-Affäre – led writers, artists and intellectuals to organise a comprehensive boycott of the 1991 festivities. The attempt to mark the defining moment of 1848 fell in its turn under a dark cloud. The release of secret documents under the 50-year rule in the USA, the general opening of archives after the collapse of the Soviet empire in 1989, and the increasing pressure from groups representing Holocaust survivors were factors that contributed to pressure for a thorough revision of Switzerland’s role in the Second World War. In 1995 President Villiger made a formal admission of Swiss guilt in relation to her wartime refugee policy, but a year later the part played by Switzerland’s leading banks in the laundering of gold looted by the Nazis from their conquered territories received massive coverage, above all in the United States. The image of Swit- zerland was further blackened. In 1997 President Koller pledged Swiss determination to make retribution for its past faults, and in vii viii Preface 1998 the banks, under threat of sanctions in America, reached a settle- ment. Thus the anniversary year of 1998 was preceded by a crisis of identity in Switzerland which at its height was seen by the Swiss press as the worst period the country had passed through since the Second World War. In the light of these events the sober and self-reflective note of much of the discussion on the foundation of modern Switzerland and on the significance of her unique institutions and federal structure is understandable. Additionally, however, this discussion acquires a dimension of urgency in view of the rapidly changing scene in Europe after the end of the Cold War. The fast-evolving political momentum of the European Union, its enlargement to include countries from Eastern Europe, and the establishment of the single currency pose huge dilemmas for Switzerland. How can she relate to a changing Europe without jettisoning the historic principle of neutrality which has served this small country so well and without losing her distinctive political and linguistic composition? The chapters in this volume represent the record of two conferences held in Birmingham and Canterbury on 10 and 17 October 1998, respectively. Part I contains chapters based on papers dealing with historical and literary aspects of 1848 given in Birmingham and jointly organised by the Department of German Studies, University of Birmingham, and the Centre for Swiss Cultural Studies, University of Strathclyde. Part II includes chapters based on papers dealing with political and economic aspects of 1848 given at the University of Kent at Canterbury. Together, the two conferences provided a forum in the United Kingdom for the continuing debate within the Con- federation, a debate whose rigour underlines the vitality of contemporary Switzerland, despite the difficulties she has faced and is still facing. It is to the credit of this small country that it is now firmly confronting its recent past and that it is able to see its long history of multicultural tolerance and democratic diversity in a fresh light. Indeed, the Swiss democratic model, established in 1848 and revised in 1874, together with the modernisation agreed by referendum in 1999, may well have concrete lessons to offer the countries of Europe as they seek to find viable ways of co-operation and integration. The 1990s may have been difficult years for the Confederation, but the chapters which follow show that this unique country possesses the imagination and energy to deal successfully with the problems Preface ix which lie ahead and to contribute fresh impulses to the general European debate on national identities and cultures which will undoubtedly inform the early years of the new millennium. The editors wish to record here their gratitude to the Swiss Embassy in London, especially to René Schaetti, Thomas Gürber and Wolfgang Brülhart, for their encouragement and support, and to the Stiftung Pro Helvetia both for financial support of the two conferences and for a subvention towards the publication costs of this volume.

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