Gotthard League
The Gotthardbund was a Swiss resistance group founded in World War II to strengthen the will to defend the country and to overcome conflicts of interest. In contrast to the so-called officers' conspiracy, he addressed the public directly.
Origin and goal setting
The Gotthard Association was founded on June 30, 1940 by citizens of different political directions and intellectual currents, the majority from upper-middle-class backgrounds. They were concerned about the mental health of the Swiss people after they were encircled by the Axis powers . Theophil Spoerri was co-founder and first president . The symbols of the covenant were the Gotthard and the halberd .
His aim was to build resistance against the threat posed by National Socialist Germany and Fascist Italy and to bring together various political and economic forces. The statute referred to the Christian tradition of the Confederation .
Activity during the Second World War
The Gotthard Association mostly addressed the public in large newspaper advertisements, posters and brochures in order to strengthen the general will to resist and to raise morale and called for all parties and all living forces to work together.
The members, organized in around 8,000 cantonal and local groups, organized press conferences, home evenings , assemblies and courses to promote the common accomplishment of social tasks such as cult battles , family protection , old-age provision and job creation.
In 1941, under the patronage of the Gotthard Association, the Independent Economic Secretariat was set up, which was constituted under the name Association for Federal Economy in 1942 under the direction of Christian Gasser .
Political program points of the renewal movement were the demand for an authoritarian democracy, a corporate economic order and a reorganization of the political system.
Activity after the Second World War
In 1951, activities were concentrated at the national level. In over 300 letters and advertisements to the public, the most important problems of the post-war period were discussed in order to find answers to the new challenges. The heterogeneous composition of the Gotthard Association became a target for criticism and put a strain on its further development. The federal government was dissolved in 1969.
Known members
Well-known members were: Walter Allgöwer , Adolf Brunner , Robert Eibel , Christian Gasser, René Leyvraz, Arnold Künzli , Philippe Mottu, Denis de Rougemont , Paul Schäfer, Heinrich Schnyder and Theophil Spoerri.
literature
- Theo Bovet: Swiss today! Small federal catechism. Gotthard-Bund, Verlag P. Haupt, Bern 1942.
- Switzerland bridgehead. Gotthard Bund, Neuchâtel-Serrieres 1958.
- Denis de Rougemont: What is the Gotthard League? Schultheß & Co., Zurich 1941.
- Peace program. Gotthard Bund 1946.
- Christian Gasser: The Gotthard Bund. A Swiss resistance movement. From the archives 1940 to 1948. With a foreword by Friedrich Traugott Wahlen . Verlag Haupt, Bern / Stuttgart 1984, ISBN 3-258-03354-4 .
- Christian Gasser: Federal Economy. Gotthard-Bund, Verlag Rascher, Zurich 1941.
- Adolf Guggenbühl : From the blessing of the family. Gotthard Bund 1941.
- Philippe Muller: Vingt ans de présence politique: Essais et dialogues. Éditions de la Baconnière, Boudry 1974.
- Stop the inflation. Gotthard Bund, Zurich 1948.
- Christian Werner: For economy and fatherland. Renewal movements and civic interest groups in German-speaking Switzerland 1928–1947. Chronos, Zurich 2000, ISBN 3-905313-26-X , pp. 260–284.
Web links
- Hans Senn : Gotthard Association. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- Gotthardbund in the archive database of the Swiss Federal Archives
- Institutional holdings at the Archives for Contemporary History: Gotthard Bund 1940–1969 (PDF)
Individual evidence
- ^ Austrian Center for Intelligence, Propaganda and Security Studies (ACIPSS): Gotthardbund
- ^ NZZ: On the death of the philosopher Arnold Künzli
- ↑ ETH online archive: Gotthard Bund 1940-1969
- ^ [1] Hans-Rudolf Kurz : On the Swiss resistance in 1940 . The Fourier, official organ of the Swiss Fourier Association and the Association of Swiss Fourier Assistants, Volume 58 1985, Issue 4.