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Switzerland in the Napoleonic era

During the French Revolutionary Wars, the revolutionary armies marched eastward, enveloping Switzerland in their battles against Austria. In 1798, Switzerland was completely overrun by the French and was renamed the Helvetic Republic. The Helvetic Republic encountered severe economic and political problems. In 1798 the country became a battlefield of the Revolutionary Wars, culminating in the Battles of Zürich in 1799.

In 1803 Napoleon's Act of Mediation reestablished a Swiss Confederation that partially restored the sovereignty of the cantons, and the former tributary and allied territories of Aargau, Thurgau, Graubünden, St. Gallen, Vaud and Ticino became cantons with equal rights.

The Congress of Vienna of 1815 fully re-established Swiss independence and the European powers agreed to permanently recognise Swiss neutrality. At this time, the territory of Switzerland was increased for the last time, by the new cantons of Valais, Neuchâtel and Geneva.

The Restoration, the time leading up to the Sonderbundskrieg, was marked with turmoil, and the rural population struggling against the yoke of the urban centres, for example in the Züriputsch of 1839.

Fall of the Ancien Régime edit

 
The people of Zürich celebrate dancing around an Arbre de la liberté on the Münsterhof while the French carry off the treasury (1848 woodcut).
 
Flag of the Helvetic Republic

During the last years of the Ancien Régime, the growing conflicts throughout the Confederation (aristocratic cities against peasant farmers, Protestant against Catholic, and canton against canton) had weakened and distracted the Diet. In Paris, the Helvetian Club, founded in 1790 by several exiled Vaudois and Fribourgers, was the centre from which the ideas of the French Revolution were spread in the western part of the Confederation.[1] During the next eight years, revolts sprang up across the Confederation and, unlike earlier ones, many were successful. In 1790 the Lower Valais rose against the upper districts to which it was subject.[1] In 1791, Porrentruy rebelled against the Bishop of Basel and became the Rauracian republic in November 1792 and in 1793, there was a rebellion in the French department of the Mont Terrible. In 1795, St Gallen successfully revolted against the prince-abbot. These revolts were supported or encouraged by France, but the French army did not directly attack the Confederation.

However, following the French success in the War of the First Coalition (1792–1797) against the aristocratic armies of Prussia and Austria, the time had come for direct action against the aristocratic Ancien Régime in Switzerland. In 1797, the districts of Chiavenna, Valtellina, and Bormio, dependencies of the Three Leagues (an associate of the Confederation), revolted under the encouragement of France. They were quickly invaded and annexed to the Cisalpine Republic on 10 October 1797. In December of the same year, the Bishopric of Basel was occupied and annexed.[2] On 9 December 1797, Frédéric-César de La Harpe, a member of the Helvetian Club from Vaud, asked France to invade Bern to protect Vaud. Seeing a chance to remove a feudal neighbor and gain Bern's wealth, France agreed.[1] By February 1798, French troops occupied Mulhouse and Biel/Bienne. Meanwhile, another army entered Vaud, and the Lemanic Republic was proclaimed. The Diet broke up in dismay without taking any steps to avert the coming storm. On 5 March, troops entered Bern, deserted by her allies and distracted by quarrels within. With Bern, the stronghold of the aristocratic party, in revolutionary hands, the old Confederation collapsed.[1] Within a month, the Confederation was under French control, and all the associate members of the Confederation were gone.

Helvetic Republic edit

 
Helvetic Republic, with borders as at the Second Helvetic constitution of 25 May 1802

On 12 April 1798 121 cantonal deputies proclaimed the Helvetic Republic, "One and Indivisible". The new régime abolished cantonal sovereignty and feudal rights. The occupying forces established a centralised state based on the ideas of the French Revolution.

Before the Helvetic Republic, each individual canton had exercised complete sovereignty over its own territory or territories. Little central authority had existed, with matters concerning the country as a whole confined mainly to the Diet, a meeting of leading representatives from the cantons.[3]

The constitution of the Helvetic Republic came mainly from the design of Peter Ochs, a magistrate from Basel. It established a central two-chamber legislature which included the Grand Council (with 8 members per canton) and the Senate (4 members per canton). The executive, known as the Directory, comprised 5 members. The Constitution also established actual Swiss citizenship, as opposed to just citizenship of one's canton of birth.[3] With Swiss citizenship came the absolute freedom to settle in any canton, the political communes were now composed of all residents, and not merely of the burghers.[1] However, the community land and property remained with the former local burghers who were gathered together into the Bürgergemeinde.[4]

No general agreement existed about the future of Switzerland. Leading groups split into the Unitaires, who wanted a united republic, and the Federalists, who represented the old aristocracy and demanded a return to cantonal sovereignty. Coup-attempts became frequent, and the new régime had to rely on the French to survive. Furthermore, the occupying forces plundered many towns and villages. This made it difficult to establish a new working state.

Many Swiss citizens resisted these "progressive" ideas, particularly in the central areas of the country. Some of the more controversial aspects of the new regime limited freedom of worship, which outraged many of the more devout citizens. Several uprisings took place, with the three Forest Cantons (Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden) rebelling in early 1798. The Schwyzers, under Alois von Reding, were crushed by the French on the heights of Morgarten in April and May, as were the Unterwaldners in August and September. Due to the destruction and plundering, the Swiss soon turned against the French.[1]

After the Forest Cantons uprising, some cantons were merged, thus reducing their anti-centralist effectiveness in the legislature. Uri, Schwyz, Zug and Unterwalden together became the canton of Waldstätten; Glarus and the Sarganserland became the canton of Linth, and Appenzell and St. Gallen combined as the canton of Säntis.

French Revolutionary Wars in Switzerland edit

In 1799, Switzerland became a battle-zone between the French, Austrian and Imperial Russian armies, with the locals supporting mainly the latter two, rejecting calls to fight with the French armies in the name of the Helvetic Republic.

Battle of Winterthur edit

The Battle of Winterthur (27 May 1799) was an important action between elements of the Army of the Danube, Massena's Army of Switzerland, and elements of the Habsburg army, commanded by the Swiss-born Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze. Winterthur lies 18 kilometers (11 mi) northeast of Zürich. Because of its position at the junction of seven cross-roads, the army that held the town controlled access to most of Switzerland and points crossing the Rhine into southern Germany.

 
Hotze's troops arrived in the morning at the outskirts of Winterthur and immediately attacked Ney's position. By afternoon, his troops had joined those of Nauendorf and Archduke Charles, marked in yellow.

With the first elements of both Austrian armies having already linked up during the Battle of Frauenfeld two days earlier; Masséna sent the newly promoted General of Division Michel Ney and part of the Army of the Danube to Winterthur on 27 May to stop the Austrian advance from eastern Switzerland. If the Austrians succeeded in uniting Hotze's army from the east with Nauendorf's directly north of Zurich, and Archduke Charles' which lay to the north and west, the French would be dangerously encircled at Zurich.[5]

On the morning of 27 May, Hotze assembled his force into three columns and marched toward Winterthur. Opposite him, Michel Ney deployed his force around the heights, the so-called Ober-Winterthur, a ring of low-lying hills some 6 kilometers (4 mi) north of the city. The overall commander of the forward line, Jean Victor Tharreau, had informed Ney that he would send Jean-de-Dieu Soult's division to support him; Ney understood this to mean he was to make a stand along the entire outpost line, and that he would not be isolated. He expected his small force would receive reinforcements from Soult's division. Consequently, Ney directed the weakest brigade, under the command of Théodore Maxime Gazan, to move up a long valley toward Frauenfeld, and another brigade, under the command of Dominique Mansuy Roget, to take the right, preventing any Austrian flanking maneuver.[6]

By mid-morning, Hotze's advanced guard had encountered moderate French resistance first from the two brigades Ney had at his disposal.[7] The Austrian advance troops quickly overran the weaker brigade and took possession of the woods surrounding the village of Islikon. After securing the villages of Gundeschwil, Schottikon, Wiesendangen, and Stogen, further west of Islikon, Hotze deployed two of his columns facing the French front, while a third angled to the French right,[6] as Ney had expected he would.[7] Soult never appeared (he was later court-martialed for insubordination) and Ney withdrew his forces through Winterthur, regrouping with Tharreau's main force in the outskirts of Zurich.[8] A day later, Hotze's force united with the main Austrian force of Archduke Charles.[9]

Battles for Zürich edit

In the First Battle of Zürich, on 4–7 June 1799, approximately 45,000 French and 53,000 Austrians clashed on the plains around the city. On the left wing, Hotze had 20 battalions of infantry, plus support artillery, and 27 squadrons of cavalry, in total, 19,000 men. On the right wing, General Friedrich Joseph, Count of Nauendorf commanded another 18,000.[10] The battle cost both sides dearly; General of Brigade Cherin was killed, on the French side, and on the Austrian side, Feldzeugmeister (General of Infantry) Olivier, Count of Wallis, was killed. On the French side, 500 died, 800 were wounded and 300 captured; on the Austrian side, 730 killed, 1,470 wounded, and 2,200 captured. When the Austrians took the French positions in the city, they also captured over 150 guns.[11] Ultimately, French general André Masséna yielded the city to the Austrians, under Archduke Charles. Massena retreated beyond the river Limmat, where he managed to fortify his positions.[12] Hotze's force harassed their retreat, and secured the river shoreline.[13] Despite Hotze's aggressive harassment of the French retreat, Charles did not follow up on the withdrawal; Masséna established himself on the opposite bank of the Limmat without threat of pursuit from the main body of the Austrian Army, much to the annoyance of the Russian liaison officer, Alexander Ivanovich, Count Ostermann-Tolstoy.[14]

On 14 August 1799, a Russian force of 6,000 cavalry, 20,000 infantry, and 1,600 Cossacks, under Alexander Korsakov, joined Archduke Charles' force in Schaffhausen.[15] In a vice-like operation, together with the Russians, they would surround André Masséna's smaller army on the banks of the Limmat, where it had taken refuge the previous spring. To divert this attack, General Claude Lecourbe, attacked the pontoon bridges over which the Austrians crossed the Rhine, destroying most of them, and making the rest unusable.[16]

 
Masséna at the Second Battle of Zurich

Before Charles could regroup, orders arrived from the Aulic Council, the imperial body in Vienna charged with conduct of war, to countermand his plan;[17] Charles' troops were to leave Zurich in the supposedly capable hands of Korsokov, re-cross the Rhine and march north to Mainz. Charles stalled this operation as long as he could, but eventually he had to concede to Vienna's orders. Consequently, the Russian troops under a novice general replaced the Austrian troops and their seasoned commander. Charles withdrew his force to the north of the Rhine. Although the order to Charles to recross the Rhine and march north was eventually countermanded, by the time such instructions reached him, they were too late to reverse.[18]

In the Second Battle of Zürich, the French regained control of the city, along with the rest of Switzerland. Notably, Massena out-generaled Korsakov; surrounded him, tricked him, and then took more than half his army prisoner, plus captured the baggage train and most of his cannons, and inflicted over 8,000 casualties.[19] Most of the fighting took place on both banks of the Limmat up to the gates of Zürich, and part within the city itself. Zürich had declared itself neutral, and was spared general destruction. General Nicolas Oudinot commanded the French forces on the right bank and General Édouard Mortier, those on the left.[20]

On the same day, Jean-de-Dieu Soult and about 10,000 troops faced Hotze and 8,000 Allies[21] in the Battle of Linth River. Soult sent 150 volunteers to swim the river in the middle of the night. Most carried a saber in their teeth and a pistol and cartridges tied to their heads; others carried drums or bugles. These soldiers killed the Austrian sentries, overran an outpost, made much confusing noise, and signaled Soult's main force to cross in boats.[22] Hotze was killed during this maneuver when Soult's men surprised him on an early morning reconnaissance.[23] Franz Petrasch assumed command but his troops were badly beaten and forced to retreat, losing 3,500 prisoners, 25 field guns, and four colors.[22]

While Masséna and Soult were drubbing the Allies, Alexander Suvorov's 21,285 Russians arrived in Switzerland from Italy.[24] In the Battle of Gotthard Pass from 24–26 September, Suvorov's army pushed aside Lecourbe's 8,000 troops and reached Altdorf near Lake Lucerne.[25] From there, Suvorov led his army across the Kinzig Pass hoping to make a junction with the other Allied forces. At Muotathal, Suvorov finally learned that disaster had overtaken the Allied forces and that his army was marooned.[26] The Russians broke out of the trap and were at St. Gallen in early October. Suvorov was forced to lead his men over the Alps to the Vorarlberg, resulting in additional losses.[27]

Civil war and the end of the Republic edit

 
16 Frank coin issued by the Helvetic Republic, this represents the first national coinage of Switzerland.

Instability in the Republic reached its peak in 1802–03—including the Stecklikrieg civil war of 1802. Together with local resistance, financial problems caused the Helvetic Republic to collapse, and its government took refuge in Lausanne. Due to the instability of the situation, the Helvetic Republic had over six constitutions in a period of four years.[3]

At that time Napoleon Bonaparte, then First Consul of France, summoned representatives of both sides to Paris in order to negotiate a solution. Although the Federalist representatives formed a minority at the conciliation conference, known as the "Helvetic Consulta"; Bonaparte characterised Switzerland as federal "by nature" and considered it unwise to force the area into any other constitutional framework.

On 19 February 1803, the Act of Mediation restored the cantons. With the abolition of the centralized state, Switzerland became a confederation once again.

The period of the Helvetic Republic is still very controversial within Switzerland.[28] It represents the first time that Switzerland as a unified country existed and a step toward the modern federal state. For the first time the population was defined as Swiss, not as members of a specific canton. For cantons like Vaud, Thurgau and Ticino the Republic was a time of political freedom from other cantons. However the Republic also marked a time of foreign domination and revolution. For the cantons of Bern, Schwyz and Nidwalden it was a time of military defeat followed by occupation. In 1995 the Federal Parliament chose to not celebrate the 200 year anniversary of the Helvetic Republic, but to allow individual cantons to celebrate if they wished.[28]

Act of Mediation edit

Swiss Confederation
Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft
Confédération suisse
Confederazione Svizzera
1803–1815
 
Flag
 
Coat of arms[29]
 
StatusClient state of the French Empire
Capital6 cities
Common languagesSwiss French, Swiss German, Swiss Italian, Rhaeto-Romance languages
Demonym(s)Swiss
GovernmentFederal Republic
LegislatureTagsatzung
Historical eraNapoleonic Wars
19 February 1803
7 August 1815
Preceded by
Succeeded by

The Swiss Confederation was re-established as a result of the Act of Mediation issued by Napoleon Bonaparte on 19 February 1803 in the aftermath of the Stecklikrieg. The period of Swiss history from 1803 to 1815 is itself known as Mediation. The act abolished the previous Helvetic Republic, which had existed since the invasion of Switzerland by French troops in March 1798. After the withdrawal of French troops in July 1802, the Republic collapsed (Stecklikrieg). The Act of Mediation was Napoleon's attempt at a compromise between the Ancien Régime and a Republic. This intermediary stage of Swiss history lasted until the Restoration of 1815.

In 1803 Napoleon's Act of Mediation partially restored the sovereignty of the cantons, and the former subject territories of Aargau, Thurgau, Vaud, and Ticino became cantons with equal rights.

Likewise, the Three Leagues, formerly an associate (Zogewandter Ort) but not a full member of the confederacy, became a full member as the canton of Graubünden. The city of St. Gallen, also historically an associate of the confederacy, along with its own former subject territories (and with those formerly belonging to the Abbey of Saint Gall) became a full member as the canton of St. Gallen, for a total of nineteen cantons.

In contrast, the territories of Biel, Valais, the former Principality of Neuchâtel (the later canton of Neuchâtel), of the Bishopric of Basel (the later Bernese Jura), and of Geneva did not become part of the Swiss confederacy until the end of the Napoleonic era.

 
Act of Mediation, 1803

With Napoleon acting as a mediator and declaring that the natural political state of the Swiss is a Federation,[30] the Act of Mediation dissolved the Helvetic Republic and addressed many of the issues that had torn the Republic apart. It restored the original Thirteen Cantons of the old Confederation and added six new cantons, two (St Gallen and Graubünden or Grisons) having been formerly associates, and the four others being made up of the subject lands conquered at different times — Aargau (1415), Thurgau (1460), Ticino (1440, 1500, 1512), and Vaud (1536).[1]

The Act of Mediation consists of nineteen separate constitutions for the nineteen sovereign cantons, ordered alphabetically, followed by a "Federal Act" (Acte Fédéral, pp. 101–109) detailing mutual obligations between the cantons and provisions for the Federal Diet. In the Diet, six cantons which had a population of more than 100,000 (Bern, Zurich, Vaud, St Gallen, Graubünden and Aargau) were given two votes, the others having but one apiece. Meetings of the Diet were to be held alternately at Fribourg, Bern, Solothurn, Basel, Zürich and Lucerne.[1] The Landsgemeinden, or popular assemblies, were restored in the democratic cantons, the cantonal governments in other cases being in the hands of a great council (legislative) and the small council (executive). There were to be no privileged classes, burghers or subject lands. Every Swiss citizen was to be free to move and settle anywhere in the new Confederation.[1]

However the rights promised in the Act of Mediation soon began to erode. In 1806 the principality of Neuchâtel was given to Marshal Berthier. Ticino was occupied by French troops from 1810 to 1813. Also, in 1810 the Valais was occupied and converted into the French department of the Simplon to secure the Simplon Pass. At home the liberty of moving from one canton to another (though given by the constitution) was, by the Diet in 1805, restricted by requiting ten years' residence, and then not granting political rights in the canton or a right of profiting by the communal property.[1]

As soon as Napoleon's power began to wane (1812–1813), the position of Switzerland became endangered. The Austrians, supported by the reactionary party in Switzerland, and without any real resistance on the part of the Diet, crossed the border on 21 December 1813. On 29 December under pressure from Austria, the Diet abolished the 1803 constitution which had been created by Napoleon in the Act of Mediation.

 
40 Batzen coin of Vaud (1812)
 
4 Franken coin of Luzern (1814)

On 6 April 1814 the so-called Long Diet met to replace the constitution. The Diet remained dead-locked until 12 September when Valais, Neuchâtel and Geneva were raised to full members of the Confederation. This increased the number of cantons to 22. The Diet, however, made little progress until the Congress of Vienna.[1]

Restoration edit

On 20 March 1815 Bern was given the town of Biel/Bienne and much of the land that had been owned by the Bishop of Basel as compensation for territory lost during the Long Diet. The Valtellina, formerly owned by Graubunden, was granted to Austria. Muhlhausen (Mulhouse in French) was left as part of France.

On 7 August 1815, the Federal Treaty went into force and the new constitution was sworn to by all the cantons except Nidwalden.[31] Nidwalden only agreed under military force on 30 August and as punishment lost Engelberg to Obwalden. By the new constitution the sovereign rights of each canton were fully recognized, and a return made to the lines of the old constitution, though there were to be no subject lands, and political rights were not to be the exclusive privilege of any class of citizens. Each canton had one vote in the Diet, where an absolute majority was to decide all matters save foreign affairs, when a majority of three-fourths was required.[1]

See also edit

Notes and references edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Switzerland: History § Effects of the French Revolution on the Confederation" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 257–258.
  2. ^ Helvetic Republic in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  3. ^ a b c Histoire de la Suisse, Éditions Fragnière, Fribourg, Switzerland
  4. ^ Bürgergemeinde in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  5. ^ Shadwell, p. 108; Smith, Clash at Winterthur. pp. 156–157.
  6. ^ a b Shadwell, p. 108.
  7. ^ a b Atteridge, p. 46.
  8. ^ Blanning, p. 233; Shadwell, p. 108.
  9. ^ Smith, Clash at Winterthur. pp. 156–157.
  10. ^ Smith, p. 158.
  11. ^ Smith reports that the casualty figures are controversial. Smith, p. 158.
  12. ^ (in German) Katja Hürlimann, (Johann Konrad) Friedrich von Hotze in Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz. 15/01/2008 edition, accessed 18 October 2009'; Blanning, pp. 233–234.
  13. ^ (in German) Jens-Florian Ebert. Freiherr von Hotze. Die Österreichischen Generäle 1792–1815. Accessed 15 October 2009; (in German) Katja Hürlimann, (Johann Konrad) Friedrich von Hotze; Blanning, pp. 233–34.
  14. ^ Smith, 158.
  15. ^ Rothenberg, p. 74.
  16. ^ (in German) Hürlimann, "(Johann Konrad) Friedrich von Hotze.
  17. ^ Blanning, p. 252.
  18. ^ Blanning, p. 253.
  19. ^ Thiers, p. 400–401.
  20. ^ Blanning, p. 253; (in German) Hürlimann, "(Johann Konrad) Friedrich von Hotze"; Longworth, p. 270.
  21. ^ Duffy 1999, p. 215.
  22. ^ a b Phipps 2011, pp. 136–138.
  23. ^ Lina Hug and Richard Stead. Switzerland. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1902, p. 361; Thiers, p. 401–402.
  24. ^ Duffy 1999, p. 166.
  25. ^ Phipps 2011, pp. 141–147.
  26. ^ Phipps 2011, pp. 148–149.
  27. ^ Longworth, pp. 270–271.
  28. ^ a b Helvetic Republic, Historiography and Remembrance in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  29. ^ The Confederacy had no official coat of arms during this period, as the cantons were fully sovereign and each used their own coats of arms. But some cantons would mint coins where on the reverse side the Confederation was represented with a coat of arms inscribed "XIX CANT" or "XIX CANTONE", e.g. 20 Batzen coin minted by Aargau, 1809 (moneymuseum.org), the 1 Frank coin minted by Berne in 1811 (moneymuseum.com), the 4 Franken coin minted by Solothurn in 1813 (moneymuseum.com), or the 4 Franken coin minted by Luzern in 1814 (link).
  30. ^ Act of Mediation in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
  31. ^ Wilhelm Oechsli, History of Switzerland 1499-1914, Cambridge University Press, 2013, p. 368.

Bibliography edit

  • Atteridge, Andrew Hilliarde. The bravest of the brave, Michel Ney: marshal of France, duke of Elchingen. New York: Brentano, 1913.
  • Blanning, Timothy. The French Revolutionary Wars, New York: Oxford University Press, 1996, ISBN 0-340-56911-5.
  • Duffy, Christopher (1999). Eagles Over the Alps: Suvarov in Italy and Switzerland, 1799. Chicago, Ill.: The Emperor's Press. ISBN 1-883476-18-6.
  • (in German) Ebert, Jens-Florian. "Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze." Die Österreichischen Generäle 1792–1815. Accessed 15 October 2009.
  • (in German) Hürlimann, Katja. "Friedrich von Hotze." Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz. 15 January 2008 edition, Accessed 18 October 2009.
  • Marabello, Thomas Quinn (2023) "Challenges to Swiss Democracy: Neutrality, Napoleon, & Nationalism," Swiss American Historical Society Review, Vol. 59: No. 2. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sahs_review/vol59/iss2/5
  • Maur, Jost Auf der (2023) "Napoleon’s Role in the Making of Modern Switzerland," Swiss American Historical Society Review, Vol. 59: No. 1. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sahs_review/vol59/iss1/3
  • Phipps, Ramsay Weston (2011) [1939]. The Armies of the First French Republic and the Rise of the Marshals of Napoleon I: The Armies of the Rhine in Switzerland, Holland, Italy, Egypt, and the Coup d'Etat of Brumaire (1797-1799). Vol. 5. Pickle Partners Publishing. ISBN 978-1-908692-28-3.
  • Rothenberg, Gunther E. (2007). Napoleon's Great Adversaries: Archduke Charles and the Austrian Army 1792–1914. Stroud, Gloucestershire: Spellmount. ISBN 978-1-86227-383-2.
  • Shadwell, Lawrence. Mountain warfare illustrated by the campaign of 1799 in Switzerland: being a translation of the Swiss narrative, compiled from the works of the Archduke Charles, Jomini, and other...London: Henry S. King, 1875.
  • Smith, Digby. The Napoleonic Wars Databook. London: Greenhill, 1998, ISBN 1-85367-276-9.
  • Thiers, Adolphe. The history of the French revolution. New York, Appleton, 1854, v. 4.

switzerland, napoleonic, during, french, revolutionary, wars, revolutionary, armies, marched, eastward, enveloping, switzerland, their, battles, against, austria, 1798, switzerland, completely, overrun, french, renamed, helvetic, republic, helvetic, republic, . During the French Revolutionary Wars the revolutionary armies marched eastward enveloping Switzerland in their battles against Austria In 1798 Switzerland was completely overrun by the French and was renamed the Helvetic Republic The Helvetic Republic encountered severe economic and political problems In 1798 the country became a battlefield of the Revolutionary Wars culminating in the Battles of Zurich in 1799 In 1803 Napoleon s Act of Mediation reestablished a Swiss Confederation that partially restored the sovereignty of the cantons and the former tributary and allied territories of Aargau Thurgau Graubunden St Gallen Vaud and Ticino became cantons with equal rights The Congress of Vienna of 1815 fully re established Swiss independence and the European powers agreed to permanently recognise Swiss neutrality At this time the territory of Switzerland was increased for the last time by the new cantons of Valais Neuchatel and Geneva The Restoration the time leading up to the Sonderbundskrieg was marked with turmoil and the rural population struggling against the yoke of the urban centres for example in the Zuriputsch of 1839 Contents 1 Fall of the Ancien Regime 2 Helvetic Republic 2 1 French Revolutionary Wars in Switzerland 2 1 1 Battle of Winterthur 2 1 2 Battles for Zurich 2 2 Civil war and the end of the Republic 3 Act of Mediation 4 Restoration 5 See also 6 Notes and references 7 BibliographyFall of the Ancien Regime editFurther information French invasion of Switzerland nbsp The people of Zurich celebrate dancing around an Arbre de la liberte on the Munsterhof while the French carry off the treasury 1848 woodcut nbsp Flag of the Helvetic RepublicDuring the last years of the Ancien Regime the growing conflicts throughout the Confederation aristocratic cities against peasant farmers Protestant against Catholic and canton against canton had weakened and distracted the Diet In Paris the Helvetian Club founded in 1790 by several exiled Vaudois and Fribourgers was the centre from which the ideas of the French Revolution were spread in the western part of the Confederation 1 During the next eight years revolts sprang up across the Confederation and unlike earlier ones many were successful In 1790 the Lower Valais rose against the upper districts to which it was subject 1 In 1791 Porrentruy rebelled against the Bishop of Basel and became the Rauracian republic in November 1792 and in 1793 there was a rebellion in the French department of the Mont Terrible In 1795 St Gallen successfully revolted against the prince abbot These revolts were supported or encouraged by France but the French army did not directly attack the Confederation However following the French success in the War of the First Coalition 1792 1797 against the aristocratic armies of Prussia and Austria the time had come for direct action against the aristocratic Ancien Regime in Switzerland In 1797 the districts of Chiavenna Valtellina and Bormio dependencies of the Three Leagues an associate of the Confederation revolted under the encouragement of France They were quickly invaded and annexed to the Cisalpine Republic on 10 October 1797 In December of the same year the Bishopric of Basel was occupied and annexed 2 On 9 December 1797 Frederic Cesar de La Harpe a member of the Helvetian Club from Vaud asked France to invade Bern to protect Vaud Seeing a chance to remove a feudal neighbor and gain Bern s wealth France agreed 1 By February 1798 French troops occupied Mulhouse and Biel Bienne Meanwhile another army entered Vaud and the Lemanic Republic was proclaimed The Diet broke up in dismay without taking any steps to avert the coming storm On 5 March troops entered Bern deserted by her allies and distracted by quarrels within With Bern the stronghold of the aristocratic party in revolutionary hands the old Confederation collapsed 1 Within a month the Confederation was under French control and all the associate members of the Confederation were gone Helvetic Republic editMain article Helvetic Republic nbsp Helvetic Republic with borders as at the Second Helvetic constitution of 25 May 1802On 12 April 1798 121 cantonal deputies proclaimed the Helvetic Republic One and Indivisible The new regime abolished cantonal sovereignty and feudal rights The occupying forces established a centralised state based on the ideas of the French Revolution Before the Helvetic Republic each individual canton had exercised complete sovereignty over its own territory or territories Little central authority had existed with matters concerning the country as a whole confined mainly to the Diet a meeting of leading representatives from the cantons 3 The constitution of the Helvetic Republic came mainly from the design of Peter Ochs a magistrate from Basel It established a central two chamber legislature which included the Grand Council with 8 members per canton and the Senate 4 members per canton The executive known as the Directory comprised 5 members The Constitution also established actual Swiss citizenship as opposed to just citizenship of one s canton of birth 3 With Swiss citizenship came the absolute freedom to settle in any canton the political communes were now composed of all residents and not merely of the burghers 1 However the community land and property remained with the former local burghers who were gathered together into the Burgergemeinde 4 No general agreement existed about the future of Switzerland Leading groups split into the Unitaires who wanted a united republic and the Federalists who represented the old aristocracy and demanded a return to cantonal sovereignty Coup attempts became frequent and the new regime had to rely on the French to survive Furthermore the occupying forces plundered many towns and villages This made it difficult to establish a new working state Many Swiss citizens resisted these progressive ideas particularly in the central areas of the country Some of the more controversial aspects of the new regime limited freedom of worship which outraged many of the more devout citizens Several uprisings took place with the three Forest Cantons Uri Schwyz and Unterwalden rebelling in early 1798 The Schwyzers under Alois von Reding were crushed by the French on the heights of Morgarten in April and May as were the Unterwaldners in August and September Due to the destruction and plundering the Swiss soon turned against the French 1 After the Forest Cantons uprising some cantons were merged thus reducing their anti centralist effectiveness in the legislature Uri Schwyz Zug and Unterwalden together became the canton of Waldstatten Glarus and the Sarganserland became the canton of Linth and Appenzell and St Gallen combined as the canton of Santis French Revolutionary Wars in Switzerland edit See also Italian and Swiss expedition In 1799 Switzerland became a battle zone between the French Austrian and Imperial Russian armies with the locals supporting mainly the latter two rejecting calls to fight with the French armies in the name of the Helvetic Republic Battle of Winterthur edit The Battle of Winterthur 27 May 1799 was an important action between elements of the Army of the Danube Massena s Army of Switzerland and elements of the Habsburg army commanded by the Swiss born Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze Winterthur lies 18 kilometers 11 mi northeast of Zurich Because of its position at the junction of seven cross roads the army that held the town controlled access to most of Switzerland and points crossing the Rhine into southern Germany nbsp Hotze s troops arrived in the morning at the outskirts of Winterthur and immediately attacked Ney s position By afternoon his troops had joined those of Nauendorf and Archduke Charles marked in yellow With the first elements of both Austrian armies having already linked up during the Battle of Frauenfeld two days earlier Massena sent the newly promoted General of Division Michel Ney and part of the Army of the Danube to Winterthur on 27 May to stop the Austrian advance from eastern Switzerland If the Austrians succeeded in uniting Hotze s army from the east with Nauendorf s directly north of Zurich and Archduke Charles which lay to the north and west the French would be dangerously encircled at Zurich 5 On the morning of 27 May Hotze assembled his force into three columns and marched toward Winterthur Opposite him Michel Ney deployed his force around the heights the so called Ober Winterthur a ring of low lying hills some 6 kilometers 4 mi north of the city The overall commander of the forward line Jean Victor Tharreau had informed Ney that he would send Jean de Dieu Soult s division to support him Ney understood this to mean he was to make a stand along the entire outpost line and that he would not be isolated He expected his small force would receive reinforcements from Soult s division Consequently Ney directed the weakest brigade under the command of Theodore Maxime Gazan to move up a long valley toward Frauenfeld and another brigade under the command of Dominique Mansuy Roget to take the right preventing any Austrian flanking maneuver 6 By mid morning Hotze s advanced guard had encountered moderate French resistance first from the two brigades Ney had at his disposal 7 The Austrian advance troops quickly overran the weaker brigade and took possession of the woods surrounding the village of Islikon After securing the villages of Gundeschwil Schottikon Wiesendangen and Stogen further west of Islikon Hotze deployed two of his columns facing the French front while a third angled to the French right 6 as Ney had expected he would 7 Soult never appeared he was later court martialed for insubordination and Ney withdrew his forces through Winterthur regrouping with Tharreau s main force in the outskirts of Zurich 8 A day later Hotze s force united with the main Austrian force of Archduke Charles 9 Battles for Zurich edit In the First Battle of Zurich on 4 7 June 1799 approximately 45 000 French and 53 000 Austrians clashed on the plains around the city On the left wing Hotze had 20 battalions of infantry plus support artillery and 27 squadrons of cavalry in total 19 000 men On the right wing General Friedrich Joseph Count of Nauendorf commanded another 18 000 10 The battle cost both sides dearly General of Brigade Cherin was killed on the French side and on the Austrian side Feldzeugmeister General of Infantry Olivier Count of Wallis was killed On the French side 500 died 800 were wounded and 300 captured on the Austrian side 730 killed 1 470 wounded and 2 200 captured When the Austrians took the French positions in the city they also captured over 150 guns 11 Ultimately French general Andre Massena yielded the city to the Austrians under Archduke Charles Massena retreated beyond the river Limmat where he managed to fortify his positions 12 Hotze s force harassed their retreat and secured the river shoreline 13 Despite Hotze s aggressive harassment of the French retreat Charles did not follow up on the withdrawal Massena established himself on the opposite bank of the Limmat without threat of pursuit from the main body of the Austrian Army much to the annoyance of the Russian liaison officer Alexander Ivanovich Count Ostermann Tolstoy 14 On 14 August 1799 a Russian force of 6 000 cavalry 20 000 infantry and 1 600 Cossacks under Alexander Korsakov joined Archduke Charles force in Schaffhausen 15 In a vice like operation together with the Russians they would surround Andre Massena s smaller army on the banks of the Limmat where it had taken refuge the previous spring To divert this attack General Claude Lecourbe attacked the pontoon bridges over which the Austrians crossed the Rhine destroying most of them and making the rest unusable 16 nbsp Massena at the Second Battle of ZurichBefore Charles could regroup orders arrived from the Aulic Council the imperial body in Vienna charged with conduct of war to countermand his plan 17 Charles troops were to leave Zurich in the supposedly capable hands of Korsokov re cross the Rhine and march north to Mainz Charles stalled this operation as long as he could but eventually he had to concede to Vienna s orders Consequently the Russian troops under a novice general replaced the Austrian troops and their seasoned commander Charles withdrew his force to the north of the Rhine Although the order to Charles to recross the Rhine and march north was eventually countermanded by the time such instructions reached him they were too late to reverse 18 In the Second Battle of Zurich the French regained control of the city along with the rest of Switzerland Notably Massena out generaled Korsakov surrounded him tricked him and then took more than half his army prisoner plus captured the baggage train and most of his cannons and inflicted over 8 000 casualties 19 Most of the fighting took place on both banks of the Limmat up to the gates of Zurich and part within the city itself Zurich had declared itself neutral and was spared general destruction General Nicolas Oudinot commanded the French forces on the right bank and General Edouard Mortier those on the left 20 On the same day Jean de Dieu Soult and about 10 000 troops faced Hotze and 8 000 Allies 21 in the Battle of Linth River Soult sent 150 volunteers to swim the river in the middle of the night Most carried a saber in their teeth and a pistol and cartridges tied to their heads others carried drums or bugles These soldiers killed the Austrian sentries overran an outpost made much confusing noise and signaled Soult s main force to cross in boats 22 Hotze was killed during this maneuver when Soult s men surprised him on an early morning reconnaissance 23 Franz Petrasch assumed command but his troops were badly beaten and forced to retreat losing 3 500 prisoners 25 field guns and four colors 22 While Massena and Soult were drubbing the Allies Alexander Suvorov s 21 285 Russians arrived in Switzerland from Italy 24 In the Battle of Gotthard Pass from 24 26 September Suvorov s army pushed aside Lecourbe s 8 000 troops and reached Altdorf near Lake Lucerne 25 From there Suvorov led his army across the Kinzig Pass hoping to make a junction with the other Allied forces At Muotathal Suvorov finally learned that disaster had overtaken the Allied forces and that his army was marooned 26 The Russians broke out of the trap and were at St Gallen in early October Suvorov was forced to lead his men over the Alps to the Vorarlberg resulting in additional losses 27 Civil war and the end of the Republic edit nbsp 16 Frank coin issued by the Helvetic Republic this represents the first national coinage of Switzerland Instability in the Republic reached its peak in 1802 03 including the Stecklikrieg civil war of 1802 Together with local resistance financial problems caused the Helvetic Republic to collapse and its government took refuge in Lausanne Due to the instability of the situation the Helvetic Republic had over six constitutions in a period of four years 3 At that time Napoleon Bonaparte then First Consul of France summoned representatives of both sides to Paris in order to negotiate a solution Although the Federalist representatives formed a minority at the conciliation conference known as the Helvetic Consulta Bonaparte characterised Switzerland as federal by nature and considered it unwise to force the area into any other constitutional framework On 19 February 1803 the Act of Mediation restored the cantons With the abolition of the centralized state Switzerland became a confederation once again The period of the Helvetic Republic is still very controversial within Switzerland 28 It represents the first time that Switzerland as a unified country existed and a step toward the modern federal state For the first time the population was defined as Swiss not as members of a specific canton For cantons like Vaud Thurgau and Ticino the Republic was a time of political freedom from other cantons However the Republic also marked a time of foreign domination and revolution For the cantons of Bern Schwyz and Nidwalden it was a time of military defeat followed by occupation In 1995 the Federal Parliament chose to not celebrate the 200 year anniversary of the Helvetic Republic but to allow individual cantons to celebrate if they wished 28 Act of Mediation editFurther information Act of Mediation and Confederation of the Rhine Swiss ConfederationSchweizerische EidgenossenschaftConfederation suisseConfederazione Svizzera1803 1815 nbsp Flag nbsp Coat of arms 29 nbsp StatusClient state of the French EmpireCapital6 citiesCommon languagesSwiss French Swiss German Swiss Italian Rhaeto Romance languagesDemonym s SwissGovernmentFederal RepublicLegislatureTagsatzungHistorical eraNapoleonic Wars Act of Mediation19 February 1803 Federal Treaty7 August 1815Preceded by Succeeded by nbsp Helvetic Republic nbsp Fricktal nbsp Tarasp Restored Swiss Confederacy nbsp The Swiss Confederation was re established as a result of the Act of Mediation issued by Napoleon Bonaparte on 19 February 1803 in the aftermath of the Stecklikrieg The period of Swiss history from 1803 to 1815 is itself known as Mediation The act abolished the previous Helvetic Republic which had existed since the invasion of Switzerland by French troops in March 1798 After the withdrawal of French troops in July 1802 the Republic collapsed Stecklikrieg The Act of Mediation was Napoleon s attempt at a compromise between the Ancien Regime and a Republic This intermediary stage of Swiss history lasted until the Restoration of 1815 In 1803 Napoleon s Act of Mediation partially restored the sovereignty of the cantons and the former subject territories of Aargau Thurgau Vaud and Ticino became cantons with equal rights Likewise the Three Leagues formerly an associate Zogewandter Ort but not a full member of the confederacy became a full member as the canton of Graubunden The city of St Gallen also historically an associate of the confederacy along with its own former subject territories and with those formerly belonging to the Abbey of Saint Gall became a full member as the canton of St Gallen for a total of nineteen cantons In contrast the territories of Biel Valais the former Principality of Neuchatel the later canton of Neuchatel of the Bishopric of Basel the later Bernese Jura and of Geneva did not become part of the Swiss confederacy until the end of the Napoleonic era nbsp Act of Mediation 1803With Napoleon acting as a mediator and declaring that the natural political state of the Swiss is a Federation 30 the Act of Mediation dissolved the Helvetic Republic and addressed many of the issues that had torn the Republic apart It restored the original Thirteen Cantons of the old Confederation and added six new cantons two St Gallen and Graubunden or Grisons having been formerly associates and the four others being made up of the subject lands conquered at different times Aargau 1415 Thurgau 1460 Ticino 1440 1500 1512 and Vaud 1536 1 The Act of Mediation consists of nineteen separate constitutions for the nineteen sovereign cantons ordered alphabetically followed by a Federal Act Acte Federal pp 101 109 detailing mutual obligations between the cantons and provisions for the Federal Diet In the Diet six cantons which had a population of more than 100 000 Bern Zurich Vaud St Gallen Graubunden and Aargau were given two votes the others having but one apiece Meetings of the Diet were to be held alternately at Fribourg Bern Solothurn Basel Zurich and Lucerne 1 The Landsgemeinden or popular assemblies were restored in the democratic cantons the cantonal governments in other cases being in the hands of a great council legislative and the small council executive There were to be no privileged classes burghers or subject lands Every Swiss citizen was to be free to move and settle anywhere in the new Confederation 1 However the rights promised in the Act of Mediation soon began to erode In 1806 the principality of Neuchatel was given to Marshal Berthier Ticino was occupied by French troops from 1810 to 1813 Also in 1810 the Valais was occupied and converted into the French department of the Simplon to secure the Simplon Pass At home the liberty of moving from one canton to another though given by the constitution was by the Diet in 1805 restricted by requiting ten years residence and then not granting political rights in the canton or a right of profiting by the communal property 1 As soon as Napoleon s power began to wane 1812 1813 the position of Switzerland became endangered The Austrians supported by the reactionary party in Switzerland and without any real resistance on the part of the Diet crossed the border on 21 December 1813 On 29 December under pressure from Austria the Diet abolished the 1803 constitution which had been created by Napoleon in the Act of Mediation nbsp 40 Batzen coin of Vaud 1812 nbsp 4 Franken coin of Luzern 1814 On 6 April 1814 the so called Long Diet met to replace the constitution 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 of cantons to 22 The Diet however made little progress until the Congress of Vienna 1 Restoration editMain article Restoration Switzerland On 20 March 1815 Bern was given the town of Biel Bienne and much of the land that had been owned by the Bishop of Basel as compensation for territory lost during the Long Diet The Valtellina formerly owned by Graubunden was granted to Austria Muhlhausen Mulhouse in French was left as part of France On 7 August 1815 the Federal Treaty went into force and the new constitution was sworn to by all the cantons except Nidwalden 31 Nidwalden only agreed under military force on 30 August and as punishment lost Engelberg to Obwalden By the new constitution the sovereign rights of each canton were fully recognized and a return made to the lines of the old constitution though there were to be no subject lands and political rights were not to be the exclusive privilege of any class of citizens Each canton had one vote in the Diet where an absolute majority was to decide all matters save foreign affairs when a majority of three fourths was required 1 See also editCampaigns of 1798 in the French Revolutionary Wars Campaigns of 1799 in the French Revolutionary WarsNotes and references edit a b c d e f g h i j k l Chisholm Hugh ed 1911 Switzerland History Effects of the French Revolution on the Confederation Encyclopaedia Britannica Vol 26 11th ed Cambridge University Press pp 257 258 Helvetic Republic in German French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland a b c Histoire de la Suisse Editions Fragniere Fribourg Switzerland Burgergemeinde in German French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland Shadwell p 108 Smith Clash at Winterthur pp 156 157 a b Shadwell p 108 a b Atteridge p 46 Blanning p 233 Shadwell p 108 Smith Clash at Winterthur pp 156 157 Smith p 158 Smith reports that the casualty figures are controversial Smith p 158 in German Katja Hurlimann Johann Konrad Friedrich von Hotze in Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz 15 01 2008 edition accessed 18 October 2009 Blanning pp 233 234 in German Jens Florian Ebert Freiherr von Hotze Die Osterreichischen Generale 1792 1815 Accessed 15 October 2009 in German Katja Hurlimann Johann Konrad Friedrich von Hotze Blanning pp 233 34 Smith 158 Rothenberg p 74 in German Hurlimann Johann Konrad Friedrich von Hotze Blanning p 252 Blanning p 253 Thiers p 400 401 Blanning p 253 in German Hurlimann Johann Konrad Friedrich von Hotze Longworth p 270 Duffy 1999 p 215 a b Phipps 2011 pp 136 138 Lina Hug and Richard Stead Switzerland New York G P Putnam s Sons 1902 p 361 Thiers p 401 402 Duffy 1999 p 166 Phipps 2011 pp 141 147 Phipps 2011 pp 148 149 Longworth pp 270 271 a b Helvetic Republic Historiography and Remembrance in German French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland The Confederacy had no official coat of arms during this period as the cantons were fully sovereign and each used their own coats of arms But some cantons would mint coins where on the reverse side the Confederation was represented with a coat of arms inscribed XIX CANT or XIX CANTONE e g 20 Batzen coin minted by Aargau 1809 moneymuseum org the 1 Frank coin minted by Berne in 1811 moneymuseum com the 4 Franken coin minted by Solothurn in 1813 moneymuseum com or the 4 Franken coin minted by Luzern in 1814 link Act of Mediation in German French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland Wilhelm Oechsli History of Switzerland 1499 1914 Cambridge University Press 2013 p 368 Bibliography edit nbsp Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica article Switzerland History Religious divisions Atteridge Andrew Hilliarde The bravest of the brave Michel Ney marshal of France duke of Elchingen New York Brentano 1913 Blanning Timothy The French Revolutionary Wars New York Oxford University Press 1996 ISBN 0 340 56911 5 Duffy Christopher 1999 Eagles Over the Alps Suvarov in Italy and Switzerland 1799 Chicago Ill The Emperor s Press ISBN 1 883476 18 6 in German Ebert Jens Florian Friedrich Freiherr von Hotze Die Osterreichischen Generale 1792 1815 Accessed 15 October 2009 in German Hurlimann Katja Friedrich von Hotze Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz 15 January 2008 edition Accessed 18 October 2009 Marabello Thomas Quinn 2023 Challenges to Swiss Democracy Neutrality Napoleon amp Nationalism Swiss American Historical Society Review Vol 59 No 2 Available at https scholarsarchive byu edu sahs review vol59 iss2 5 Maur Jost Auf der 2023 Napoleon s Role in the Making of Modern Switzerland Swiss American Historical Society Review Vol 59 No 1 Available at https scholarsarchive byu edu sahs review vol59 iss1 3 Phipps Ramsay Weston 2011 1939 The Armies of the First French Republic and the Rise of the Marshals of Napoleon I The Armies of the Rhine in Switzerland Holland Italy Egypt and the Coup d Etat of Brumaire 1797 1799 Vol 5 Pickle Partners Publishing ISBN 978 1 908692 28 3 Rothenberg Gunther E 2007 Napoleon s Great Adversaries Archduke Charles and the Austrian Army 1792 1914 Stroud Gloucestershire Spellmount ISBN 978 1 86227 383 2 Shadwell Lawrence Mountain warfare illustrated by the campaign of 1799 in Switzerland being a translation of the Swiss narrative compiled from the works of the Archduke Charles Jomini and other London Henry S King 1875 Smith Digby The Napoleonic Wars Databook London Greenhill 1998 ISBN 1 85367 276 9 Thiers Adolphe The history of the French revolution New York Appleton 1854 v 4 Portals nbsp History nbsp Switzerland Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Switzerland in the Napoleonic era amp oldid 1189641875 Act of Mediation, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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