Canton of Raetia

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The canton Raetia , ( Romansh Chantun Rezia ) was a canton of the Helvetic Republic from 1799 to 1803 on the territory of today's canton of Graubünden . He is considered the successor to the Republic of the Three Leagues , an independent state which was allied with the Old Confederation , a predecessor of today's Switzerland.

The Republic of the Three Leagues denied the Italian-speaking, Catholic subject areas any further autonomy or even equal treatment as the Fourth League. Since the subject areas Valtellina , Bormio and Chiavenna and the other areas had a larger population than the Three Leagues, they feared a shift in power in favor of the Catholics. Therefore, in 1797, the subject areas broke away from the Three Leagues and joined the Cisalpine Republic . Napoleon had tried in vain to find a compromise. The republic of the three leagues lost its economically important areas in today's Italy , the area of ​​today's province of Sondrio .

On August 6, 1798, a referendum was supposed to decide whether the three leagues should join the Helvetic Republic created at the beginning of the year or remain independent. The French had established the Helvetic Republic, like the Cisalpine Republic, as a buffer state to protect their revolution against the aristocratic powers of Europe. The Graubünden Alpine passes were important to connect the two territories. So France urged the Three Leagues to join the Helvetic Republic. Austria, on the other hand, offered the Graubünden their protection as they did not have their own army.

Of the 61 courts, 34 voted in favor of maintaining the status quo, i.e. independence, 11 voted in favor of joining the French-dominated Helvetic Republic, the rest demanded that the decision be postponed. The majority opted for protection by Austria. The loss of the subject territories had certainly played a role in the decision, since the French had founded the Cisalpine Republic .

On October 18, 1798, Austrian General Franz Xaver von Auffenberg, with the support of local anti-Swiss and anti-French militias , marched into the Republic of the Three Leagues as part of the Second Coalition War . The republic had thus given up its neutrality and placed itself under the protection of the Austrians. In March 1799, French troops under General Masséna marched into what is now Graubünden and defeated General Auffenberg on March 7, 1799 in the Battle of St. Luzisteig . 800 Austrian soldiers were captured. Masséna continued to advance towards Chur and in the following days was not only able to capture the entire artillery, ammunition and supplies of the Austrians and make many prisoners of war, but also to take General Auffenberg prisoner. On April 21, 1799, the Republic of the Three Leagues in Chur signed a treaty with the Helvetic Republic and became a member of the French-controlled unitary state

After the armistice signed by Parsdorf on July 15, 1800, the canton was divided into three parts. The areas west of the Alpine Rhine and the Hinterrhein were occupied by French troops, the Engadin and the Münstertal by Austria . The remaining areas of the former Republic of the Three Leagues were not occupied by any of the warring powers.

In 1802 the imperial troops were driven out. Because of this, the canton hoped for independence. But a short time later, other forces tried to tear the covenants. The only way out to save and preserve a remnant of his Graubünden or Rhaetian identity was to become an integral part of the Helvetic Republic. At first, other cantons were hostile to Graubünden's accession, because they were already at odds with one another. The Anschluss was nevertheless carried out and welcomed by the Unitarians , but not by the opposing party, the Federalists . After long power struggles between the two parties, it was decided to join the Helvetic Republic with a treaty. This decision turned out to be sensible insofar as Raetia suffered an invasion by French troops in January 1802 and was dependent on the support of the other cantons. In 1803, through Napoleon's mediation act, the Canton of Graubünden was created from Raetia .

The two parties and the government

The government consisted mainly of two parties. They each had an important representative:

  • The federalists were represented by Joseph Leonz Andermatt from Zug , who was always very undecided externally. He stood up for the old, conservative rule and did not want to join the Helvetic Republic.
  • The Unitarians, who were outnumbered, had the main representative Gaudenz Planta , who was known for his radical nature. He was an advocate of the higher national interests and the new Swiss order. Due to his eloquence, he was able to assert himself well in the government, despite the large number of his opponents.

In October 1801 Gaudenz Planta was removed from office and deposed. Just 4 days later, the Diet was replaced by a federalist-ruled Senate. Before that, the Unitarians were mostly in charge with Gaudenz Planta.

Since the quarrels also often had an impact on the citizens, there was partly reason to assume an impending civil war, because there were always situations in which the people rebelled strongly.

The Constitution

Since Napoleon wanted to make a state like France out of Helveticia, he had the Malmaisoner constitution established in April 1801, as there was no uniform constitution at that time. It was passed on May 29th and served to unite the cantons and lay down laws that should apply to everyone. In October the constitution was improved, amended and the Unitarians gave their approval. The constitution said u. a. that each canton is assigned a statesman who ensures compliance with the law and is responsible for peace and order among the people.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Alfred Collenberg Istorgia Grischuna page 203 Gia ils 21 d'avrigl 1799 è il contract d'union vegni suttascrit a Cuira. Il Grischun è vegni declerà sco district administrativ da la Republica Helvetica.
  2. ^ Alfred Collenberg Istorgia Grischuna page 205 Tenor il Contract d'armistizi da Parsdorf è il Grischun vegni dividi ils 15 da fanadur 1800 en trais zonas.
  3. ^ A b c d Peter Metz: History of the Canton of Graubünden . tape 1 . Calven Verlag, Chur, S. 78-94 .
  4. Simonett, Jürg and Roger Sablonier: Handbuch der Bündner Geschichte . tape 2 . Association for Bündner Kulturforschung, Chur, S. 200 .