The Battles over Swiss Liberty

Authors

Marc H. Lerner, Columbia University

Keywords

Switzerland, military, battles

Abstract

Between the French Revolution and the Revolutions of 1848, the European conception of freedom and liberty changed dramatically. Likewise with Switzerland, between the Helvetic Republic and the Sonderbund war of 1847, the conceptions of true Swiss liberty underwent radical alteration. In Zurich, Schwyz and Vaud a growing individualistic sense of liberty challenged a collective sense of freedom. To some extent an emphasis on guaranteed individual rights replaced the emphasis on local autonomy and self-rule. The changing understandings of Freiheit or liberte in Zurich, Schwyz and Vaud reflect the changes that occurred throughout Switzerland as well as Europe. The battle over what was and who determined true Swiss liberty or virtue also had ramifications beyond the borders of the Swiss state. The variety of paths that Swiss cantons took to reach a relatively liberal democratic society illustrates European as well as Swiss developments; there is no easy, direct way to a modem liberal-democratic society. My argument is that the developments in Switzerland reflect the developments of European liberalism as a whole between the time of the French Revolution and the Revolutions of 1848.

Recommended Citation

Lerner, Marc H. (2002) "The Battles over Swiss Liberty," Swiss American Historical Society Review: Vol. 38: No. 3, Article 3.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sahs_review/vol38/iss3/3