Affair Wohlgemuth

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The Wohlgemuth affair was a diplomatic conflict between Switzerland and the then German Reich , which ultimately led to the introduction of Swiss state security.

On April 21, 1889, a Swiss police captain arrested the German police inspector August Wohlgemuth in Rheinfelden on Swiss territory . He was accused of persecuting left-wing German emigrants who fled to Switzerland before the Socialist Act and to question them. A little later the Federal Council decided to expel Wohlgemuth from the country. This led to diplomatic resentments with the German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck , who threatened Switzerland with economic reprisals and ordered strict controls on border traffic.

The Federal Council, which had already considered measures against local or immigrant radical leftists and anarchists , seized the opportunity to appease Bismarck with "measures against anarchists and revolutionaries". The "Federal Advocate General" proposed by him initially only included two legal assistant positions and was also approved by the Federal Assembly in June 1889 . A referendum against the submission from the left failed due to insufficient number of signatures. This laid the foundation for a Swiss state security system that is still practiced today, the undisputed negative outcome of which was the Fichen affair .

literature

  • Urs Paul Engeler : Big Brother Switzerland. How wild democrats became monitored citizens. The story of the political police. Weltwoche-ABC-Verlag, Zurich 1990, ISBN 3-855-04128-8 .
  • Rolf Thut, Claudia Bislin: Armament against the people. State and state security in Switzerland. On the development of "internal security" Eco-Verlag, Zurich 1977, ISBN 3-85637-007-2 .