Freiämtersturm

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
On the morning of December 5, 1830, Heinrich Fischer gathered the first volunteers for the train to Aarau in front of his inn in Merenschwand.

The Freiamt storm in December 1830 was a bloodless uprising in the Swiss canton of Aargau , which began with the discontented rural population in Freiamt . It enabled the regeneration time with the seizure of power by liberal forces and triggered a chain of events that ultimately led to the foundation of the modern Swiss federal state in 1848.

prehistory

After the Congress of Vienna in 1815, more and more restorative tendencies became apparent in Aargau , and the cantonal government appeared authoritarian. The liberal urban upper class and the rural population demanded reforms in France in 1830 after the July Revolution , albeit for very different motives.

The predominantly reformed liberals felt committed to the ideals of the Helvetic Republic and the French Revolution , wanted to bring about a total revision of the cantonal constitution and strengthen popular rights. In Lenzburg , a committee that held these requirements in a stressed moderation formulated petition to the government formed in September 1830th When there was no reaction, liberal circles organized a people's assembly on November 7, 1830 in Wohlenschwil , attended by 3,000 to 4,000 people. The Catholic-Conservative Freiämter wanted a material better position and were opposed to the state, which was imposed on them by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1803 . It made no difference to them who was in power, because government regulations were generally perceived as an interference with the traditional way of life. The new election of the Grand Council , scheduled for November 17, 1830 , could only be carried out properly in 26 of 48 constituencies due to the general unrest.

procedure

Memorial plaque for Johann Heinrich Fischer at the Schwanen inn in Merenschwand

After the government had only hesitantly reacted to the various, sometimes contradicting demands, Johann Heinrich Fischer , member of the Grand Council from Merenschwand and host of the Schwanen Inn there , called for an uprising. Around 6,000 armed free offices gathered in Wohlen on December 5th and moved towards Aarau . As a self-appointed lieutenant general, Fischer headed the “provisional council of war”. Many government soldiers defected to the Freiamt or did not even show up for duty. Johann Nepomuk von Schmiel , commander of the cantonal troops, gave the order not to shoot the crowd. The rebels took Aarau on December 6th without a fight. They occupied the armory , surrounded the government building and forced negotiations.

On December 10th, the government under Johannes Herzog accepted the demand that a new constitution be drawn up by an independent commission. Fischer dissolved the Freiämtersturm and sent the rebels home. The new constitution of 1831 fulfilled some of the demands of the Freiämter (in particular a lower tax burden), but the new generation of liberal politicians who had come to power cleverly exploited the situation in their favor. People's rights were expanded and the role of the state further strengthened. This was not necessarily in the interests of the Freiämter, who actually wanted to weaken the canton they hated with their armed campaign.

consequences

The contrast between liberal Reformed and conservative Catholics became more and more acute as a result. The disputes culminated in the Baden articles in 1834 and in the Aargau monastery dispute in 1841 . These events ultimately led to the Sonderbund War of 1847 and the establishment of the Swiss federal state the following year.

literature

  • Heinrich Staehelin: History of the Canton of Aargau 1830–1885 . tape 2 . Baden Verlag, Baden 1978.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Staehelin: History of the Canton of Aargau 1830–1885. Pp. 13-14.
  2. ^ Staehelin: History of the Canton of Aargau 1830–1885. P. 15.
  3. ^ Staehelin: History of the Canton of Aargau 1830–1885. Pp. 19-21.
  4. ^ Staehelin: History of the Canton of Aargau 1830–1885. Pp. 23-24.
  5. ^ Staehelin: History of the Canton of Aargau 1830–1885. Pp. 25-28.