Jean-Marie Musy

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Jean-Marie Musy

Jean-Marie Musy (born April 10, 1876 in Albeuve ; † April 19, 1952 in Freiburg ; entitled to live in Grandvillard and Albeuve) was a Swiss politician ( KVP ). After a brief activity as a lawyer and bank director, he was a member of both the Grand Council and the State Council in the canton of Friborg from 1911 . As cantonal finance director, he investigated a financial scandal within the Freiburg State Bank and established himself as a leading figure in the cantonal government at the expense of the previously overpowering Georges Python . In 1914 he was also elected to the National Council. After he was elected to the Federal Council in 1919 , Musy headed the Finance Department for the next 15 years ; in 1925 and 1930 he was Federal President .

In economically difficult times, Musy tried to keep the federal budget balanced, but repeatedly encountered resistance. After trying to force the other federal councilors to resign collectively in 1934, he resigned his office and was again a member of the National Council from 1935 to 1939. Increasingly influenced by fascist and later also by National Socialist ideas, he appeared more and more clearly as a radical anti-communist and openly showed himself to be a supporter of the Axis powers during the Second World War . He cultivated relationships with leading National Socialists such as Heinrich Himmler and reached an agreement with him at the beginning of 1945 under which 1,200 Jews were brought from the Theresienstadt concentration camp to Switzerland.

biography

Family and studies

Musy was the second child of Jules and Louisa (née Thédy). The father was a farmer and host of the Auberge de l'Ange in Albeuve, the mother was the daughter of a merchant originally from the Aosta Valley . The family can be traced back to the 14th century. Grandfather Pierre-Joseph Musy was a state councilor during the time of the Sonderbund (1846–1847), but had to resign after the defeat of the Catholic Conservatives. When the latter were able to form a coalition with the Liberals at cantonal level in 1857, he served as senior bailiff for the Gruyère district until 1873 . He was also a member of the Grand Council from 1840 to 1847 and from 1856 to 1888 .

Jean-Marie Musy received his education at the primary school in Albeuve and at the Saint-Charles boarding school in Romont . He then graduated from the college of St. Michael in the canton capital of Friborg and the college in Saint-Maurice , where he passed his Matura . His classmates included Joseph Bovet and Emile Savoy . In Saint-Maurice, he was one of the student connection Agaunia on. In 1898 he began studying law at the University of Freiburg . There he joined the Sarinia group belonging to the student association , which he led as president for two semesters. After obtaining his licentiate in 1901, he spent semesters abroad at the universities of Munich , Leipzig , Berlin and Vienna , where he deepened his knowledge of economic and financial issues. In 1904 he completed his studies with a doctorate . Thanks to the direct intervention of Georges Python , Musy had been appointed substitute public prosecutor three years earlier - a position he held until 1905. In 1906 he opened a law firm in Bulle , which he led for five years until he was appointed director of the Sparkasse Crédit gruyérien . Also in 1906 he married Juliette de Meyer, the daughter of the papal officer Jules de Meyer. Pierre Musy , the eldest of his seven children, became Olympic champion in the four-man bobsleigh in 1936 and was later head of the Swiss intelligence services . His son Benoît Musy was active as a motorcycle and automobile racing driver and had a fatal accident in 1956 at the Autodrome de Linas-Montlhéry in France.

Cantonal politics

On December 3, 1911, Musy, meanwhile also President of the Cercle Conservateur in Bulle , was elected to the Grand Council. The university and economic policy of the Catholic Conservatives in the canton of Friborg had led to a large mountain of debt. The overpowering State Councilor Python was under increasing pressure from the liberal opposition and tried to reorganize the budget and restore the creditworthiness of the Freiburg State Bank . Musy seemed to him to be more suitable for this task than the incumbent finance director Alphonse Théraulaz . He also hoped to be able to influence a newcomer better. Based on Python's recommendation, the Grand Council elected Musy as a member of the State Council on December 29 of the same year.

In 1912 a financial scandal broke out within the state bank. Musy uncovered numerous financial maneuvers by Python and his minions. Although Python managed to evade responsibility, he lost significant influence (also due to illness). Musy began to establish himself as a new strong man on the State Council. When his school friend Emile Savoy (1913) as well as Marcel Vonderweid and Joseph Chuard (1914) moved up to the State Council, the Musy camp won the majority. Elected to the board of directors of the State Bank in 1912 , Musy denounced the grave misconduct in management and Python's practices, but without attacking the "head of state" directly in order not to unnecessarily weaken the government.

The alarming financial situation deteriorated further as a result of the consequences of the First World War . Musy tried to balance the state budget with various measures. In 1915 he was involved in drafting the law on the Freiburg Electricity Works (FEW), which was supposed to provide the state with urgently needed income. The following year he reorganized the repayment fund for the national debt. Through the revision of certain tax decrees (1916) and a new tax law (1919), he increased the state revenue. This income was supplemented in 1919 by an increase in the registration fee and the salt price. To keep prices down, he raised the wages of civil servants and civil servants in 1919. His efforts ultimately led to the success of the 12 million bond launched in the same year , which was oversubscribed by 20 million - proof that the canton's creditworthiness had been restored. In 1915 Musy served as President of the State Council.

Federal politics

Musy ran successfully in the National Council elections in 1914 and then represented the Freiburg-Süd constituency in the National Council . At the federal level he appeared as a staunch federalist and was considered a proven expert on finance. From 1913 he was a member of the Board of Directors of the Swiss National Bank and from 1917 that of the Rentenanstalt . In parliament he mainly dealt with economic issues. When the situation of the federal finances deteriorated massively during the war, he advocated, among other things, the dismantling of the administration and the creation of new sources of income. He was one of the most prominent proponents of a stamp duty, which was adopted in a referendum in 1917. In addition, he spoke out in favor of Vorarlberg's admission to the Swiss Confederation and actively participated in the discussions about harnessing hydropower . Musy advocated government intervention to strengthen the economy, while resolutely fighting socialism and communism .

The speech he gave in the National Council on December 10, 1918 to justify an interpellation submitted six days earlier is considered a milestone in his political career . In it Musy condemned the national strike from November 12th to 14th in the strongest terms . He criticized the fact that the Federal Council had negotiated with the Olten Action Committee at all and asked why the Aliens Police had not taken any steps to expel foreign agitators (he believed they were primarily responsible for the state strike). He also criticized the fact that the Zurich and Bern police had neglected their prevention work; only then did the massive troop contingent become necessary. As a consequence, he called for the strike leaders to be relentlessly prosecuted and for the state to be strengthened in order to restore law and order. With the spirited speech that had a decisive influence on his future political work, Musy established himself as the leading anti-socialist in Switzerland.

In the National Council elections in 1919 , the first after the introduction of proportional representation , the Liberals lost an absolute majority, while the Catholic Conservatives were able to expand their representation. On the one hand, they asked for a second seat in the Federal Council; on the other hand, given the new international situation, it seemed appropriate to better involve the French-speaking minority in the state government. Musy was not without controversy within the group, especially since some accused him of a lack of collegiality. After the resignation of the Lucerne National Council Heinrich Walther , the parliamentary group unanimously nominated Musy as a candidate. He turned William Rappard contrary, who was supported by the Social Democrats. In the Federal Council election on December 11, 1919, Musy prevailed in the first ballot with 144 out of 209 valid votes; Rappard received 43 votes and other people 22 votes.

Federal Council

On January 1, 1920, Musy took over the finance and customs department from his party colleague Giuseppe Motta . In view of the volatile economic situation, he strived for a balanced budget. In doing so, however, he could not turn too openly against federal aid to those branches of industry that were hardest hit by the structural crisis. In order not to burden the cantons or the economy, he introduced several indirect taxes and increased the customs duties. The left accused him of a "dictatorship of the empty cash register" with which he wanted to delay the introduction of social security . As a result of the improving economic situation, he was able to present budgets with significantly lower spending surpluses from 1923 onwards. At the international level, he opposed any establishment of relations with the Soviet Union . When negotiating financial rescue operations in favor of Austria , he became friends with the later Federal Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss .

In 1925 and 1930, Musy served as Federal President . In 1927, after lengthy negotiations, he introduced a new statute for civil servants, which included in particular a ban on strikes. There were repeated disputes within the Federal Council, especially with Economics Minister Edmund Schulthess . Several times, Musy took an opposing position to the other federal councilors in referendums and thus violated the principle of collegiality . In 1926 he fought the continuation of the grain monopoly introduced eleven years earlier, whereupon the opponents of the monopoly narrowly prevailed. In 1931 he again took a stand against his colleagues and spoke out vehemently against the implementation law on the planned old-age and survivors' insurance and against the tobacco taxation law to finance this social welfare; both times he managed to get a majority on his side.

During the Great Depression itself Musy saw again forced to keep balanced at any cost the federal budget. Customs and tax revenues fell sharply, while hardly any new sources of finance could be found. In response to the “ crisis initiative ” launched by the trade union federation , Musy worked out a series of extraordinary and time-limited measures. This included cost savings and wage cuts, as well as an expansion of indirect taxation. However, the temporary reduction in the salaries of federal staff he had called for failed in a referendum in 1933. In view of the worsening situation, Musy was increasingly seduced by corporatism and, in part, by Italian fascism and the events of the spring front . He was convinced of the correctness of the deflationary policy , but regarded parliamentary democracy as unsuitable for enforcing it. In his opinion, it was time to transform Switzerland into a corporate state .

On March 11, 1934, the people rejected the law on the protection of public order , which had the aim of tightening the state protection provisions of federal law. In response, Justice Minister Heinrich Häberlin resigned. Musy suggested that the entire Federal Council should follow Häberlin's example; this is the only way to resolve this political crisis. When the other members of the government did not respond, he threatened to resign. On March 15, he issued an ultimatum and demanded that the Federal Council adopt a seven-point economic and financial program within 24 hours. Among other things, he wanted to put an end to the class struggle with the help of professional organizations and "immediately switch off" foreigners who endangered national security. Finally Musy gave in and on March 22nd announced his resignation at the end of April.

Anti-democratic activities

Heinrich Walther suspected frontist circles behind Musy's undemocratic demands. In fact, after his resignation, together with frontists and young conservatives, he vigorously campaigned for a total revision of the federal constitution . The so-called front initiative , which called for the conversion to an authoritarian democracy, failed clearly on September 8, 1935. A month later, Musy was re-elected to the National Council. He continued his fight against communism and campaigned for a ban on the Swiss Communist Party . He was also involved in nationalist and anti-communist organizations such as the “Swiss Action against Communism”. Through this he came into contact with the German Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler and other leading National Socialists .

According to the Dutch journalist A. den Doolaard , who toured Switzerland in 1938, Musy received political and financial support from leading Swiss companies ( Nestlé , Brown, Boveri & Cie. , Cailler ) and the Schweizerische Kreditanstalt . Together with his colleague, later SS Obersturmbannführer Franz Riedweg , he was the initiator of the propaganda film The Red Plague (1938), which at the time was the most expensive Swiss film production at the time, at CHF 180,000. The film produced in the Bavaria film studios near Munich portrayed the state strike together with unrest and conflicts around the world as part of a Jewish-Bolshevik-intellectualist conspiracy . Ultimately, it was only seen in a few cinemas in front of a select audience. The press described the strip as a nasty Nazi concoction, which "in its blatant one-sidedness should have a direct provocative effect on many viewers".

If Musy had supported the Entente during the First World War , he now turned to the Third Reich , driven by anti-communism and his inclination towards authoritarian regimes . After he was no longer re-elected as a National Councilor in 1939, he openly showed himself to be a supporter of the Axis powers and their new order supported by military successes during World War II . He cultivated relations with the Swiss National Movement and published the weekly La Jeune Suisse . Forced by the turn of the war, Musy gave his activity a new humanitarian direction (although the exact motives have not yet been clarified). Asked for support by a Jewish organization, he used his relationships with Himmler to achieve the liberation of Jewish prisoners from the Theresienstadt concentration camp . This agreement between Himmler and Musy , made at a secret meeting in Bad Wildbad on January 12, 1945 , which was supposed to wash him and high-ranking Nazis clean, enabled a convoy of 1,200 Jews to enter Switzerland and later to leave the United States . After the war, Musy gave up all political engagement. He continued to work in various banking institutions and went to Iraq in 1949 to clean up the kingdom's finances. He died in isolation in 1952 at the age of 76.

literature

Web links

Commons : Jean-Marie Musy  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Kaiser: Federal Councilor Jean-Marie Musy, 1919–1934. Pp. 22-24.
  2. ^ Kaiser: Federal Councilor Jean-Marie Musy, 1919–1934. P. 25.
  3. ^ Kaiser: Federal Councilor Jean-Marie Musy, 1919–1934. P. 40.
  4. ^ Kaiser: Federal Councilor Jean-Marie Musy, 1919–1934. Pp. 41-44.
  5. ^ Kaiser: Federal Councilor Jean-Marie Musy, 1919–1934. Pp. 45-48.
  6. ^ Kaiser: Federal Councilor Jean-Marie Musy, 1919–1934. Pp. 49-52.
  7. ^ Kaiser: Federal Councilor Jean-Marie Musy, 1919–1934. Pp. 61-66.
  8. ^ Python: The Federal Council Lexicon. P. 313.
  9. ^ Python: The Federal Council Lexicon. Pp. 313-314.
  10. ^ Hermann Böschenstein : Federal Councilor Schulthess: War and crises. Verlag Paul Haupt, Bern 1966. pp. 153–156.
  11. ^ Böschenstein: Federal Councilor Schulthess: War and crises. Pp. 166-171.
  12. ↑ Federal Act on the Temporary Reduction of Wages, Salaries and Wages for Persons in the Service of the Federation. admin.ch , accessed on April 29, 2019 .
  13. ^ Python: The Federal Council Lexicon. Pp. 315-316.
  14. ↑ a b Python: The Federal Council Lexicon. P. 316.
  15. ↑ A. den Doolard: Het Hakenkruis over Europa . Amsterdam 1938, p. 66.
  16. ↑ Marc Tribelhorn: How a former federal councilor produced the worst inflammatory film in Swiss history among the Nazis. Neue Zürcher Zeitung , September 9, 2018, accessed on April 29, 2019 .
  17. ↑ La Peste Rouge on YouTube , accessed April 29, 2019.
  18. ↑ Bruno Jaeggi et al .: The Red Plague: Anti-Communism in Switzerland . In: Film - Critical Film Magazine . No. 1 , p. 49-86 .
  19. ^ Fritz Barth: Secret negotiation shortly before the end of the war in Wildbad in the Black Forest. Wildbader Werbungblatt, May 28, 2008, accessed on April 29, 2019 .
predecessor Office successor
Gustave Ador Member of the Swiss Federal Council
1920–1934 		Philipp Etter
personal data
SURNAME Musy, Jean-Marie
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss politician (CVP)
DATE OF BIRTH April 10, 1876
PLACE OF BIRTH Albeuve
DATE OF DEATH April 19, 1952
Place of death Freiburg in Üechtland