Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/559

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SWITZERLAND 531 cantons, the subjected districts of Baden, Thur-

  • au, Lugano, and Bellinzona were erected

ito cantons, Zug, Uri, Schwytz, and Unter- ralden united into the one canton of the For- est Towns, and Appenzell, St. Gall, and the ralley of the Rhine formed into the canton of sentis. Geneva, Bienne (Bern), and several )ther portions of Swiss territory were incor- >rated with the French republic. The resist- je of the old forest cantons proved useless, id the new constitution was gradually intro- luced. Overthrown on the entrance and ad- vance of the allied armies under the command of Suvaroff, it was reestablished after the vic- tories of the French under Massena. The withdrawal of the French troops in 1802 led at once to revolutions in almost every canton, and a general diet, consisting of an equal num- ber of deputies from the formerly governing id the governed districts, was convoked at "iwytz; but again France interfered, 12,000 Drench troops subdued the old cantons, and deputies from all the cantons were ordered by "Jonaparte to assemble at Paris for the pur- pose of reorganizing Switzerland. On Feb. 19, 1803, Bonaparte transmitted to them the act of mediation, by which the former cantonal system was restored, although the relation of subjected territories remained abolished. To the 13 old cantons 6 new ones were added, viz. : St. Gall and Grisons, which had formerly been allied with the confederacy without being jmbers, and Aargau, Thurgau, Ticino, and Vaud, which had been subjected territories. t the head of the confederacy was again placed a diet (Ger. Tagsatzung), consisting of commis- sioners, voting according to instructions. It was to assemble in turn in the cities of Bern, Zurich, Lucerne, Basel, Fribourg, and Solo- thurn, and the burgomaster of the temporary capital (Ger. Vorort}, under the name of Lan- dammann of Switzerland, was to preside at the diet and to attend to all the current af- irs of the year. In the democratic cantons the sovereign popular assemblies were reestab- lished ; in the others grand and little councils, the former being elected by a direct vote of the people, and the latter by the grand coun- cil. This new constitution was on the whole well received, and under it Switzerland for ten years enjoyed peace at home and abroad. After the battle of Leipsic the troops of the allied powers marched through Switzerland. Bern and others of the aristocratic cantons severed their connection with the Helvetic government instituted by the act of media- tion, and civil broils ensued in a number of cantons. Yet the attempt to restore the for- mer order of things had soon to be given up, and a new constitution, adopted by the fed- eral diet on May 27, 1815, and sworn to at Zurich on Aug. 7, acknowledged all the 19 cantons constituted by the act of mediation, and added three new ones, Geneva, Valais, and the Prussian principality of Neufchatel. This constitution was ratified by the great powers of Europe, which also declared the perpetual neutrality and inviolability of the confedera- tion (Nov. 20). The territory of Switzerland was enlarged by portions of land ceded by France (the Dappes valley), Savoy (Carouge and several villages on the lake of Geneva and on the Rh6ne), and Austria (Rhaziins, the Frick- thal, Laufenburg, and Rheinfelden). The can- tons of Solothurn, Grisons, Schwytz, and Ap- penzell Inner Rhodes adopted the constitution only with reluctance, and Nidwalden (one half o.i Unterwalden) had to be coerced into sub- mission by force of arms. According to the new confederation the cantons guaranteed to each other their constitution, and united for the common defence of their independence. The diet was to assemble annually on June 1, alternately at Bern, Lucerne, and Zurich, and to it was reserved the right of declaring war, concluding peace, and forming alliances with foreign powers. The cantons retained the right of forming with foreign states special military agreements. The existence of the convents and cathedral chapters was guaran- teed by a special article. The administration of federal affairs, during the time that the diet was not in session, was left to the temporary capital. In 1817 Switzerland, on the invitation of Alexander of Russia, joined the holy alli- ance, and from 1823 to 1828 it conceded to the urgent requests of the great powers of Eu- rope a restriction of the liberty of the press and of the right of asylum. The aristocracy recovered in most cantons part of their former prerogatives, and several capital towns greatly enlarged their influence at the expense of the country people. The French revolution of July, 1830, led to violent political agitations in Switzerland. In several cantons the coun- try people rose against the capital towns, and forced them to reorganize the cantonal constitutions on a more liberal and demo- cratic basis. In the canton of Basel a perma- nent division into two independent half can- tons, Basel Gity and Basel Country, was ef- fected in 1832. In November some of the most conservative cantons, Uri, Schwytz, Un- terwalden, Neufchatel, and Basel City, formed the "league of Sarnen," and threatened to send no more commissioners to the federal diet if the commissioner from Basel Country were admitted. The federal diet interfered; the separate league was declared dissolved, and the refractory cantons had to submit to the federal authority. Altogether, liberal can- tonal reforms were introduced in about two thirds of Switzerland. Encouraged by suc- cess, the progressive party conceived also the plan of revising the federal constitution, with the view of effecting a closer political union. The diet, on July 17, 1832, pronounced in favor of the revision; yet, when the amend- ments adopted by the diet were subjected to a direct popular vote, they were voted down by a coalition of the Catholic and radical parties. The large number of political refu-