Buck war
| date | March 24, 1804 to April 3, 1804 |
|---|---|
| place | To Horgen |
| output | Military victory of the insurgents |
| consequences | Political defeat, occupation of the rebellious part of the canton on April 3rd |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
|
|
|
| Commander | |
|
Colonel Jakob Christoph Ziegler |
Hans Jakob Willi |
| Troop strength | |
| about 1000 | about 600 |
The Buck War was a civil war that took place in Switzerland in the Horgen area in 1804 . It was fought between the rebellious rural population and federal troops under the leadership of the city of Zurich .
Historical background
From time immemorial, the rural population had to hand over the tenth part of the agricultural income to the spiritual landlords. This tithe was seen as an indispensable debt of the soil to God and was intended for the upkeep of the priestly church and the monasteries, which in return stood up for the people before God. The tithe from Horgen went to the Fraumünster monastery in Zurich.
The Reformation brought individual responsibility before God and the abolition of monasteries in the canton of Zurich . The tithe thereby lost its actual justification, but it was not repealed under the reformer Ulrich Zwingli . It flowed to the secular Fraumünsteramt and thus to the city treasury. This tax , which was not levied on the townspeople, was the cause of many disputes between town and countryside in the years that followed, for example in the Stäfner trade in 1794/95.
initial situation
After the city of Zurich had largely lost its dominant role over the surrounding landscape in the Helvetic Republic, it wanted to enforce its claims based on the mediation constitution again. Among other things, she demanded an oath of homage to the new cantonal constitution and the authorities. In 47 of 192 parishes this was refused, resulting in acts of violence.
course
The arson attack on the Bailiwick of Wädenswil on March 24, 1804 was the insurgents' first act of war. On March 26th, around 500 men gathered to take a train to Zurich to have the new laws withdrawn. Hans Jakob Willi from Horgen set up his headquarters in the fir tree near Schönenberg .
On March 28, Colonel Ziegler led 1,000 federal troops and three city-owned warships from the city of Zurich against the rebels. The village center of Horgen was then shot at from the lake.
After battles at Oberrieden , Wädenswil and at Hanegg in Horgen, the troops under Ziegler retreated to the pub at the Bocken . The rebels stormed the inn, whereby Willi was injured and had to give up the fight. The federal troops were defeated and withdrew to Zurich.
The insurgents did not pursue the withdrawing troops and the uprising now collapsed very quickly.
Horgen as the center of the uprising, 1794 on an engraving by Heinrich Brupbacher
Landsitz Bocken after the battle for the Landhaus during the Bock War on March 28, 1804; by Johann Jakob Aschmann, 1747–1809
Main building of the Bocken estate (2011)
Consequences of war
The rural population celebrated the military victory over government troops, but could not derive any political benefit from it.
After Willi, Häberling and Schneebeli were sentenced, these leaders of the uprising were executed in Zurich. The city then forced the rural population to buy themselves out of tithing. Very large sums were required for this ransom.
Ball and plaque for Hans Jakob Willi in Horgen
Buck war memorial in Affoltern am Albis
literature
- Aemtlerverein (ed.): Reflections on the so-called buck war in Zurich 1804: in memory of the martyrs Schneebeli, Häberling, Willi and Kleinert. Cooperative book printing company, Zurich, 1875.
- Hans R. Fuhrer u. a .: The buck war 1804. Uprising of the Zurich rural people . (= Hands-on military history, 17). Military Academy at ETH Zurich, 2004.
- Rolf Graber: "Now it is time to fight for freedom and equality and let the last drop of blood spray for them". On the “social logic” of the popular uprising of 1804 in the Zurich countryside. In: Swiss History Journal , Volume 54/2004 ( digitized version )
- Albert Hauser: The Bock War - a revolt of the Zurich rural people in 1804 . Dissertation, Zurich 1938.
- Joseph Jung (Ed.): The buck war 1804. Aspects of a popular uprising . Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Zurich 2004, ISBN 3-03823-103-7 .
- Paul Kläui: History of the community of Horgen . Horgen 1952.
- Johann Jakob Leuthy: Complete history of the buck war in 1804: based on authentic sources. and provided with biographical notes of the heads of this uprising ...; a contribution to the stories of the Swiss country for the Swiss people. Zurich 1838. ( digitized version )
- JJ Schneebeli: The Buck War 1804 . Stäfa 1904.
