According to the Dalai Lama, “most of the conflicts we face are of our own making”. The conflicts between nations seem to be escalating in the 21st century. Perhaps this is because nations have lost the skill of communicating effectively, hence the conflicts are of our own making.
In November 1847, a civil war broke out between some states that were loosely part of a confederacy. These states were called cantons. It developed when, in the name of protecting interests against a centralization of power, seven Catholic cantons formed an alliance in 1845 called the Sonderbundskrieg or Sonderbund, which in German, meant “separate alliance”.
There was a 27-day civil war and it ended with the defeat of the Sonderbund. The result was the formation of Switzerland as a federal state. The Sonderbund was then declared unconstitutional and ordered to be dissolved by force. In 1848, the Swiss Federal Constitution was adopted which, historically was the third and now the current federal constitution of Switzerland and it establishes that the Swiss Confederation is a federal republic of 26 cantons.
In overview, the war lasted for less than a month, causing fewer than a hundred casualties and apart from small riots, marked the last armed conflict on Swiss territory.
It is said that the people of Switzerland take the advice (very seriously) of one of their popular saints, Nicholas of Flue from the 15th century, which was, “Don’t get involved in other people’s affairs”. The country of Switzerland has been a neutral power in wars for nearly five centuries. Its neutrality is recognized by almost all the powers of Europe, especially after the 1815 Napoleonic Wars.
So for a country, which has the oldest self-imposed policy of not being in a state of war since 1815 to have a civil war in 1847 is quite puzzling. To understand the Sonderbund War, we must first understand the background to it.
Back in the early 1840s, a new liberal party was rising to power within the Swiss national legislature. This new party preached an ambitious plan to limit the power of the Catholic church in the region. They also wanted to set up a new Swiss Constitution to unify the country's cantons together to form a more cohesive confederation. Seven Catholic cantons opposed this idea and responded by unifying together to form their own union. This union was called the Sonderbund. The Sonderbund stood firm against the plan of the Federal Government. The government then decided to break up this rebel union so it organized a national army consisting of 100,000 troops and at the head, a Napoleonic War hero by the name of Guillaume-Henri Dufour was placed. 61-year old Dufour, reluctantly assuming the position, then made a vow to keep hostilities and violence to a minimum.
For the first five days, Sonderbund was on a path of rampage and all-out war, they snatched up towns and took over strategic mountain passes. But then, on the 9th of November, Dufour made a move. He took his troops, walked to the gates of the city of Fribourg on Nov 11, armed with 60 artillery pieces, and waited. On Nov 13, he sent a message to the Sondenburg in which he detailed exactly how he planned to take over Fribourg. He intended to warn the rebels to give up so they may save lives. Dufour gave the defenders a day’s time to ponder upon the decision.
Due to some misinterpretation and miscommunication of orders, a contingent of troops probed the defenses along the city wall and a skirmish occurred in which eight of Dufour’s died. Despite this small victory, the defenders of Fribourg handed the city over to Dufour. The rebels were paroled to their homes.
Meanwhile, another force from a different Catholic canton called Uri, that had organized to march to Fribourg as reinforcements heard of this surrender on Nov 17. So they went south to invade federal territory at Ticino instead.
Dufour then regrouped his small army and set his sights on another rebel canton: Lucerne. As he prepared his troops, the neighboring region of Zug pulled out of the rebellion on Nov 21. They had heard of the Battle at Fribourg. All Dufour had to do was simply march into Zug and their former enemies greeted them with open arms.
So he went on the path to Lucerne, where he met a rebel army on Nov 23. As Dufour’s men tried to cross the Reuss River, a battery of rebel guns came out of nowhere and attacked them. In two hours, 37 members of the national troops died. This would be the last time in history that the Swiss experienced combat. The rebel army as defeated and the canton of Lucerne was reclaimed. Over the next week, rebel cantons gave up and admitted surrender. The rebellion was over. The leaders of the rebels offered resignation from public office and were replaced with leaders who were a pro-national government. The federal army lost less than 70 people and the rebels had less than 30 dead in the entire war.
Dufour went on to organize the International Red Cross in his later years.
So for a country, which has the oldest self-imposed policy of not being in a state of war since 1815 to have a civil war in 1847 is quite puzzling. To understand the Sonderbund War, we must first understand the background to it.
Back in the early 1840s, a new liberal party was rising to power within the Swiss national legislature. This new party preached an ambitious plan to limit the power of the Catholic church in the region. They also wanted to set up a new Swiss Constitution to unify the country's cantons together to form a more cohesive confederation. Seven Catholic cantons opposed this idea and responded by unifying together to form their own union. This union was called the Sonderbund. The Sonderbund stood firm against the plan of the Federal Government. The government then decided to break up this rebel union so it organized a national army consisting of 100,000 troops and at the head, a Napoleonic War hero by the name of Guillaume-Henri Dufour was placed. 61-year old Dufour, reluctantly assuming the position, then made a vow to keep hostilities and violence to a minimum.
For the first five days, Sonderbund was on a path of rampage and all-out war, they snatched up towns and took over strategic mountain passes. But then, on the 9th of November, Dufour made a move. He took his troops, walked to the gates of the city of Fribourg on Nov 11, armed with 60 artillery pieces, and waited. On Nov 13, he sent a message to the Sondenburg in which he detailed exactly how he planned to take over Fribourg. He intended to warn the rebels to give up so they may save lives. Dufour gave the defenders a day’s time to ponder upon the decision.
Due to some misinterpretation and miscommunication of orders, a contingent of troops probed the defenses along the city wall and a skirmish occurred in which eight of Dufour’s died. Despite this small victory, the defenders of Fribourg handed the city over to Dufour. The rebels were paroled to their homes.
Meanwhile, another force from a different Catholic canton called Uri, that had organized to march to Fribourg as reinforcements heard of this surrender on Nov 17. So they went south to invade federal territory at Ticino instead.
Dufour then regrouped his small army and set his sights on another rebel canton: Lucerne. As he prepared his troops, the neighboring region of Zug pulled out of the rebellion on Nov 21. They had heard of the Battle at Fribourg. All Dufour had to do was simply march into Zug and their former enemies greeted them with open arms.
So he went on the path to Lucerne, where he met a rebel army on Nov 23. As Dufour’s men tried to cross the Reuss River, a battery of rebel guns came out of nowhere and attacked them. In two hours, 37 members of the national troops died. This would be the last time in history that the Swiss experienced combat. The rebel army as defeated and the canton of Lucerne was reclaimed. Over the next week, rebel cantons gave up and admitted surrender. The rebellion was over. The leaders of the rebels offered resignation from public office and were replaced with leaders who were a pro-national government. The federal army lost less than 70 people and the rebels had less than 30 dead in the entire war.
Dufour went on to organize the International Red Cross in his later years.
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