Anarchism in Switzerland
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Anarchism in Switzerland appeared, as a political current, within the Jura Federation of the International Workingmen's Association (IWA), under the influence of Mikhail Bakunin and Swiss libertarian activists such as James Guillaume and Adhémar Schwitzguébel. Swiss anarchism subsequently evolved alongside the nascent social democratic movement and participated in the local opposition to fascism during the interwar period. The contemporary Swiss anarchist movement then grew into a number of militant groups, libertarian socialist organizations and squats.
History
In August 1291, an alliance was formed between the cantons of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden, establishing the Swiss Confederacy with imperial immediacy, which allowed for the territory's autonomy from the Holy Roman Empire. During the growth of the Old Swiss Confederacy throughout the 14th and 15th centuries, it continued to assert its autonomy through a number of conflicts against noble houses such as the Habsburgs and the Burgundians, eventually achieving de facto independence from the empire after its victory in the Swabian War, which exempted the Confederacy from the decisions of the Imperial Diet. In its place, the Swiss Confederacy established the Federal Diet, a regular meeting of cantonal delegates with only limited powers. The Diet was the only form of federal authority in Switzerland and the cantons remained essentially sovereign.
During the
In 1798, the French invasion of Switzerland brought about the collapse of the Old Confederacy, which was replaced with the Helvetic Republic, representing an attempt to impose a central authority over Switzerland. However, a federalist revolt eventually overthrew the Republic, restoring the cantons and re-establishing a federal and decentralized Swiss Confederation. Following the defeat and dissolution of the First French Empire in the War of the Sixth Coalition, Cantonal constitutions began to be worked out independently and the Federal Diet was reconvened to replace the constitution with a new Federal Treaty, beginning the restoration of the Ancien Régime.
But the restoration of the Swiss ruling class brought with it a rise in liberalism and radicalism, calling for greater democracy in the Swiss cantons. Following the July Revolution, cantonal assemblies were held calling for new cantonal constitutions, particularly focused on the implementation of proportional representation and the ability to propose citizens' initiatives. As liberal and radical groups attained more power,[1] they began to institute widespread reforms including the abolition of censorship, the separation of church and state, the recognition of popular sovereignty and the introduction of representative democracy.[2] In 1848, Switzerland was officially constituted as a federal state, imposing a central government made up of representatives of a new National Assembly, which came under the control of the Free Democratic Party.
With the outbreak of the Paris Commune, the anarchist James Guillaume drew a contrast between the federalism practiced by the communards with the federalism of Switzerland. According to Guillaume, the Parisian conception of federalism, as inspired by the philosophy of Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, was organized in direct opposition to nationalism and statism, whereas Swiss federalism maintained the nation-state, albeit organized through decentralization.[3]
The International and early Swiss anarchism
The re-establishment of the Swiss confederation in 1848 provided a safe haven for many European revolutionaries, many of which had been forced into exile by the monarchist regimes that largely ruled the continent at the time. These expatriates included a significant number of revolutionary socialists and anarchists, who began to lay the groundwork for the labor movement in the country.
Following the repression of the January Uprising in Poland, European workers began to discuss the need for an international organization, culminating in the 1864 founding of the International Workingmen's Association (IWA).[4] In September 1866, the IWA convened its first congress in Geneva, during which the French mutualists came to dominate the discussion, with native Swiss trade unions and educational societies also in attendance, concluding its activities by taking up the demand for the universal establishment of the eight-hour day.[5] The following September, the IWA's second congress was convened in Lausanne, where the majority of delegates cam from the local Swiss labor movement.[6] It was during this second congress that the international took on a more explicitly socialist program. Here too the mutualists were predominant in the discussions of the congress, raising debates on national banks, trade union investments and education, ultimately bringing about the approval of resolutions to "induce the trade unions to devote their funds to cooperative production"[7] to institute free, compulsory and secular education, and to call for the public ownership of transportation.[8]
Shortly after the Lausanne Congress, the
In September 1869, the IWA's fourth congress was convened in Basel, in which the Swiss delegates included the anarchists James Guillaume and Adhémar Schwitzguébel. This congress saw the French section, which was largely composed of mutualists such as Henri Tolain, Eugène Varlin and Benoît Malon, become isolated from the International by the growing Marxist faction.[11]
In the wake of this excision, on October 9, 1870, anti-authoritarian and anarchist sections of the IWA's Romandy Federation went on to found the
In September 1873, the two rival Internationals both held separate sixth congresses in Geneva. The Congress of the Marxist section proved to be a failure, as only a small number of regional federations participated and the General Council was itself unable to attend, leading it to eventually dissolve itself. Whereas the anarchist congress was attended by delegates from all over western Europe, with a federation from the United States even announcing its accession to the anarchist International. The anarchists agreed to the formal dissolution of the General Council and the autonomy of local federations, as well as the adoption of the general strike as a revolutionary tactic for the first time.[14]
In 1874, Mikhail Bakunin retired to
Social democracy and syndicalism
As a result of the split in the International, the socialist movement within Switzerland became split across the same lines. In Romandy, anarchism became the predominant tendency, whereas in German-speaking Switzerland, it was social democratic tendencies that took the lead.
When the
Nevertheless, the influence of anarcho-syndicalism had brought with it the strategy of the mass strike, as the early 1900s saw a wave of localized general strikes spread through the country, despite Swiss trade union leaders remaining largely skeptical of the practice.
The Swiss anarchist press also began to flourish during this period. In 1900, Il Risveglio anarchico was established by a group of Italian emigrants and exiles, led by Luigi Bertoni, in collaboration with Romand anarchists such as Jean Wintsch and Jacques Gross.[28] The paper published an Italian language edition and a French language edition, which published different articles and had different target audiences. There was also a brief period between 1903 and 1907 when a German language edition was published.[29] On May 1, 1914, the newspaper Le Falot was founded by a group of anarchists, syndicalists and free thinkers in Valais,[30] declaring that it would not be the organ of any political party and instead defended the syndicalist route of organizing through trade unions,[31] taking advantage of the prohibition of socialist newspapers. Le Falot demonstrated concern about the living conditions of immigrant workers and denounced the poor conditions offered in various localities, as well as discrimination against Arabs in Switzerland.[32]
After the outbreak of World War I, when the Social Democratic Party began to pursue the policy of Burgfrieden, they received criticism from a number of far-left groups, including even the Young Socialists, who had come under the influence of the anarchist physician Fritz Brupbacher and the pacifist theologian Leonhard Ragaz.[33] Anarchic tendencies continued to proliferate within the Young Socialists throughout the 20th century, particularly in the Bern section, which eventually began pushing for the abolition of the Social Democratic Party's central presidium.[34]
During the war, the price of basic necessities rose while wages sank. Some workers were drafted into the military, but were not compensated for their lost wages and were even paid less than they had been in industrial work.
On October 9, 1918, an explosives store with material of German origin discovered in the
Nevertheless, the general strike marked a turning point for the Swiss left-wing. In the 1919 Swiss federal election, the Social Democratic Party made massive gains, doubling their seats in the National Council, while in the subsequent election they gained their first seat in the Council of States.[46] On March 6, 1921, the Communist Party of Switzerland was founded by far-left dissidents that were expelled from the SDP,[47] one of which was the libertarian socialist Fritz Brupbacher, although he would later also be expelled from the Communist Party due to his criticisms of Stalinism.[48]
Anti-fascism
In October 1922, the
Fascism first spread to Switzerland not long after, as the
During the
Contemporary anarchist movement
In 1957, the Centre International de Recherches sur l'Anarchisme (CIRA) was founded in Geneva, moving to Lausanne in 1965. It was established as an archive of anarchist works, functioning as an infoshop and library of anarchist materials in various different languages.
During the 1970s, anarchism took a more militant turn in Switzerland. A small group of conscienscous objectors that had met in prison formed the Fasel Gang in 1977 and committed a series of robberies, before being caught, and subsequently organizing a series of prison breaks.[59] In 1979, the environmentalist activist Marco Camenisch sabotaged a power station at Bad Ragaz with explosives, himself being arrested not long after and also escaping from prison. It was later reported that he had killed a border guard when fleeing to Italy.[60] The Swiss anarchist Werner Sauber also took part in the 2 June Movement, which carried out a number of attacks throughout West Germany.[61]
In 1978, the Libertarian Federation of the Mountains (French: Fédération Libertaire des Montagnes) was founded, which published the Bulletin de l’Agence de presse libertaire in 1978–1979, then Le Réveil anarchiste from 1979 to 1983. In 1982, it came together with other anarchist organizations in Vaud and Bienne to establish the Libertarian Socialist Organisation (French: Organisation socialiste libertaire, OSL), which acted as a federation of libertarian socialist groups throughout Romandy. The OSL published a quarterly review Confrontations from 1988 to 1996[62] and a newsletter Rebellion from 1997.[63]
It was at this time that the Geneva squatters movement also began to take off. Throughout the 1980s a number of vacant properties were occupied, the most notable of which was RHINO, a squat first occupied in 1988 that housed seventy people up until its eventual eviction in 2007.[64] From out of the squatters movement, the libertarian communist organization Autonomous Action was founded in 2007, with local groups in Geneva, Valais and Vaud.
While Swiss anarchism has historically been a phenomenon in Romandy, in 2010 Libertarian Action Winterthur (LAW) was founded in Zürich and has organized anarchist festivals and bookfairs in German-speaking Switzerland. Like the OSL, LAW contributes to the Anarkismo.net project.[65]
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- ^ Meier, Heinz K. (1988). "The Swiss National General Strike of November 1918". In Schmitt, Hans A. (ed.). Neutral Europe Between War and Revolution, 1917–23. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia. p. 68.
- ^ Meier, Heinz K. (1988). "The Swiss National General Strike of November 1918". In Schmitt, Hans A. (ed.). Neutral Europe Between War and Revolution, 1917–23. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia. pp. 68–69.
- ^ Meier, Heinz K. (1988). "The Swiss National General Strike of November 1918". In Schmitt, Hans A. (ed.). Neutral Europe Between War and Revolution, 1917–23. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia. p. 69.
- ^ Meier, Heinz K. (1988). "The Swiss National General Strike of November 1918". In Schmitt, Hans A. (ed.). Neutral Europe Between War and Revolution, 1917–23. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia. p. 70.
- ^ Meier, Heinz K. (1988). "The Swiss National General Strike of November 1918". In Schmitt, Hans A. (ed.). Neutral Europe Between War and Revolution, 1917–23. Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia. pp. 70–71.
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{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link - ^ Glaus, B. (1980). "The National Front in Switzerland". In S. U. Larsen; B. Hagtvet; J. P. Myklebust (eds.). Who Were the Fascists: Social Roots of European Fascism. Oslo.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "Coauteur des agressions de La Coudre et Fribourg, le seul bandit arrêté s'évade !". L'Express (in French). 16 June 1979.
- ^ Bott, Martin (2004-06-05). "'Eco-terrorist' jailed for killing border guard". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 2017-12-30. Retrieved 2017-12-30.
- ^ Burger, Reiner (14 June 2015). "Der Polizist und sein Mörder". Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (in German).
- ^ "Confrontations" (in French). Centre International de Recherches sur l'Anarchisme. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
- ^ "Rebellion" (in French). Centre International de Recherches sur l'Anarchisme. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
- ^ "Chronologie partielle du projet RHINO". RHINO. Archived from the original on 17 March 2009.
- ^ "About us". Anarkismo.net. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
Bibliography and sources
- "Anarchisme". Historical Dictionary of Switzerland (in French). 17 June 2002. Retrieved 26 May 2021.
- Thomann, Charles (1947). Le Mouvement anarchiste dans les Montagnes neuchâteloises et le Jura bernois (PDF) (Thesis) (in French). La Chaux-de-Fonds: University of Neuchâtel: Imprimerie des Coopératives Réunies.
- Elsig Riederalp, Alexandre (2009). La Ligue d'action du bâtiment (1929-vers 1935), L'éphémère emprise de l'anarcho-syndicalisme sur les chantiers genevois (PDF) (Master's) (in French). University of Fribourg., Genève, Éditions d’en bas, Collège du travail, 2015.
- Barenboim, Axel (April 2017). "La Ligue d'action du bâtiment (1929-vers 1935), L'éphémère emprise de l'anarcho-syndicalisme sur les chantiers genevois". Le Mouvement social (in French) (261).
- ISBN 978-2-940426-16-4.
- Ubbiali, Georges (5 April 2013). "Marianne Enckell, La Fédération jurassienne. Les origines de l'anarchisme en Suisse". Dissidences (in French).
- Collectif (2010). "L'anarchisme dans le Jura bernois et les Montagnes neuchâteloises" (PDF) (in French). Bibliothèque de la Ville de La Chaux-de-Fonds.
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- Bochsler, Regula (2019). Dynamitage du Palais fédéral ce mois-ci. Tremblez!. anarchistes en Suisse (in French). Swissinfo.
Videography
- Gérald Mury, Christian Liardet, Jeunes contestataires, Regards, Radio télévision suisse, 5 October 1971, voir en ligne.
- Jacqueline Veuve, Diane de Rham, Militer ou subir, Radio télévision suisse, 20 September 1978, voir en ligne.
- Pascal Bourquin, L'esprit de Bakounine, Tj-Régions, Radio télévision suisse, 31 October 1996, voir en ligne.
External links
- CIRA Website - Centre International de Recherches sur l'Anarchisme
- LAW Website - Libertären Aktion Winterthur
- OSL Website - Libertarian Socialist Organisation
- Switzerland topic - The Anarchist Library
- Switzerland topic - Libcom.org