Crisis initiative

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As a crisis initiative was in contemporary political jargon the federal popular initiative to combat the economic crisis called, which was launched in 1934 by the Action Committee to combat the economic crisis. The initiative failed in the referendum on June 2, 1935.

Effects of the global economic crisis on Switzerland

The world economic crisis began to affect the Swiss economy in 1930. First exports declined and in the autumn of 1931, after the devaluation of the British pound , sank to a low point by mid-1932, around 55% below the level of 1929. The domestic economy was affected by the crisis only after a delay because of the continuing construction activity. However, as a result of the crisis in the export industry in 1933, the number of unemployed rose to an average of around 68,000. Agriculture was also hit hard by the crisis. Between 1928 and 1934, the net income per hectare fell from CHF 228 to CHF 81. The average earnings per working day fell from CHF 5.1 to CHF 0.9 in the same period, and the income from shares and assets also decreased noticeably .

After the domestic economy also cooled off as a result of the export crisis, the number of unemployed rose to around 94,200 people in 1936, at times the unemployment rate reached around 10% (1928: 8,380; 1930: 12,881; 1932: 54,366; 1933: 67'867; 1935: 82'468). The nominal national income sank to a low point of 7.7 billion francs, while in 1930 it was still 9.7 billion francs. It was not until the devaluation of the Swiss franc in 1936, together with clearing agreements and the ongoing military armament, that a trend reversal was initiated. However, around 40,000 unemployed were still counted in 1939 and the national income had only recovered to CHF 8.64 billion. Only the upturn in employment during the war brought the definitive recovery of the Swiss economy.

Political reactions to the economic crisis

The two main problems faced by politics were the rising unemployment figures and the numerous bank failures, especially that of the Swiss Volksbank . Export-oriented industry was particularly hard hit by unemployment. Since the unemployment funds only paid compensation for a few months at that time, public welfare had to intervene, which meant an increasing burden on the budget of the municipalities and the federal government. At the same time, tax revenues collapsed and the state-owned companies also got into an awkward financial situation.

Since the Federal Constitution did not provide any effective instruments for such a crisis, the Federal Council had to proceed through exceptional ordinances based on urgency. On December 23, 1931, the Federal Assembly authorized the Federal Council to take measures “to protect national production”. The latter used these powers to quota imports and to balance the federal budget through austerity measures. In 1933, the salaries of federal staff and ongoing subsidies were cut and an indirect and direct federal tax was levied. In addition, the appreciation of the Swiss franc against the US dollar and the British pound was accepted as a deflationary measure and even politically defended as a necessary adjustment. In view of these extraordinary crisis measures, contemporaries spoke critically of a “legal crisis”.

There was widespread political opposition to this disconnected economic policy, which was limited to passive measures. While the Swiss Communist Party and parts of the Social Democrats considered the introduction of the state-planned economy and nationalization of the banks to be the more correct crisis policy, trade unionists and left-liberal forces demanded an active fight against the crisis through stimulus packages and purchasing power improvements. The American economic policy of the New Deal and the economic theoretical approaches of the British economist John Maynard Keynes served as a model . In competition with the social democratic plan of work , which was based on the De Man plan , the Swiss Confederation of Trade Unions (SGB) launched the so-called crisis initiative in 1934 with the support of other workers 'organizations and the young farmers' movement to force the Federal Council to actively fight the crisis. The Catholic Conservative Party as well as the fronts, on the other hand, demanded an authoritarian transformation of the state in order to implement dictatorial measures to combat the crisis, as had happened in fascist Italy or in Nazi Germany after 1933.

The two camps were represented in the Federal Council by Edmund Schulthess , head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs , and Jean-Marie Musy , head of the Federal Department of Finance and Customs. While the former wanted to accommodate the concerns of the peasant movement and the trade unions and advocated an active social policy, the latter demanded energetic austerity measures to balance the federal budget. Both failed with their plans, however: in 1931 the creation of an old-age and survivors' insurance operated by Schulthess was rejected by the people, in 1933 also the lowering of the salaries of the federal staff demanded by Musy.

Initiative Committee

The initiative committee was formed in May 1934 as the «Action Committee to Combat the Economic Crisis» from representatives of a number of political organizations:

Content of the initiative

According to the initiative, the Federal Constitution of 1874 should be supplemented with the following text:

1. The Confederation is taking comprehensive measures to combat the economic crisis and its consequences. The aim of these measures is to ensure a sufficient livelihood for all Swiss citizens.

2. For this purpose, the federal government ensures:

a) Granting of wage and price protection to ensure sufficient income from work;
b) Preservation of the people's power to consume by combating the general reduction in wages for agricultural workers. and commercial Product prices;
c) Scheduled procurement of work and appropriate organization of proof of work;
d) Preservation of efficient farming and tenant families on their homes by relieving overindebted businesses and by easing interest payments;
e) Relief of companies in distress through no fault of their own;
f) ensuring adequate unemployment insurance and crisis relief;
g) Exploitation of the purchasing power and the financial strength of the country to promote the industr. and agr. Exports and tourism;
h) Regulation of the capital market and control of capital exports;
i) Control of cartels and trusts.

3. The Confederation can call upon the cantons and business associations to perform these tasks.

4. The Confederation can deviate from the freedom of trade and industry to the extent that the implementation of this measure requires it.

The initiative was signed by 334,699 voters.

The initiators mainly planned to stimulate domestic demand by supporting domestic incomes and thereby compensate for the loss of export income. For this reason, the federal government should counter further wage cuts and the collapse in prices. Planned public investments should create jobs, which would also reduce unemployment insurance expenditure. The remaining unemployed should be guaranteed sufficient income to stimulate consumption.

In the area of ​​foreign trade, the plan was to increasingly source imports from where exports could be sold at the same time. In addition, capital movements should be controlled to ensure that no excessive capital flowed out of Switzerland. Large companies and monopolies should in future be controlled by the state in order to put capital movements and price policy at the service of the domestic economy.

In principle, no new taxes were planned to finance these measures, although expenditure inevitably had to rise in the short term. Since the federal government assumed an anti-cyclical budget policy, the resulting debts would have had to be settled in a future phase of the upswing.

Voting battle

Poster against the crisis initiative

The bourgeois parties and the Federal Council resolutely opposed the “socialist” crisis initiative. The communists and parts of the SPS also rejected the proposal because it did not go far enough for them. The bourgeois parties accused the initiators of the crisis initiative being a large-scale offensive for the breakthrough battle for socialism. The initiators propagated the initiative through the so-called “Front der Arbeit” and the newspaper “ Die Nation ”, whereby opponents were labeled “enemies of the people” in an almost fascist manner. Bourgeois circles began a vigorous defensive battle against the initiative, in the course of which even bank customers were made aware of the dangers of the initiative at the counter. The central reproach in the referendum campaign was that the crisis initiative was the first step towards the introduction of the socialist dictatorship and that the right to property and economic freedom were in danger.

Both sides operated with a flood of posters, leaflets and newspaper articles in the respective party press. The voting struggle reached an unfamiliar sharpness for Swiss standards. The fight for the crisis initiative was much more intense than later the fight for the front-line initiative and also achieved a significantly higher turnout.

Voting result

The participation in the vote on June 2, 1935 was comparatively high at 84.4%. 425,242 voters (42.8%) accepted the initiative, while 567,425 (57.2%) rejected it. The popular majority was clearly missed. With four accepting cantons versus 18 rejecting cantons, the necessary number of cantons was clearly not achieved.

consequences

Despite its failure, the crisis initiative brought the parties to the left of the center closer together and laid the foundation for the guideline movement aimed at rallying these groupings and creating a new democratic majority left of the center. On the other hand, the unification of workers 'and employers' organizations in the metal and watch industry in 1937 laid the foundation for a truce and the social policy of Switzerland based on political concordance after the Second World War.

literature

  • Hans Simmler: Farmers and workers in Switzerland from an organizational, political and ideological point of view . PG Keller, Winterthur 1966.
  • Peter Dürrenmatt : Swiss History, Vol. 2 . New Swiss Library, Zurich 1976.

Web links

Commons : Crisis Initiative  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ a b Simmler, Bauer und Arbeiter, p. 75.
  2. ^ Dürrenmatt, Schweizer Geschichte Vol. 2, p. 822.
  3. ^ Dürrenmatt, Schweizer Geschichte Vol. 2, pp. 822f.
  4. ↑ Dürrenmatt, Swiss History Vol. 2, p. 823.
  5. ↑ Vote on the federal law on old-age and survivors' insurance on Swissvotes
  6. ↑ Vote on the federal law on the temporary lowering of salaries, salaries and wages for persons in the service of the federal government on Swissvotes
  7. ↑ Quoted from Simmler, Bauer und Arbeiter, p. 76f.
  8. ↑ Willy Bretscher: «The fight». In: In the storm of crisis and war. Neue Zürcher Zeitung 1933–1944. Seventy editorials by Willy Bretscher . NZZ, Zurich 1987.
  9. ↑ Information on the vote of June 2, 1935 on Swissvotes