State strike

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Call for a strike by the Olten Committee (page 1)
Strike call page 2
Poster of the troops of order in Zurich

The national strike was a general strike in Switzerland that lasted from November 12-14, 1918. Around 250,000 workers and trade unionists took part in the days of the strike. Three people were killed by forces of order during the strike. The national strike is considered to be the most important socio-political conflict in contemporary Swiss history and marked the start of numerous social and political changes.

prehistory

Culture of strikes before the First World War

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Switzerland was not a special case in terms of strike activity in an international comparison; since the late 1860s, work stoppages had risen sharply. In the 1870s, there were 71 strikes , in the 1880s 137 and in the 1890s 449. In the first decade of the 20th century, the number of people being struck down rose sharply to 1,418. There were also ten local general strikes between 1902 and 1912. The first occurred in Geneva, and in 1912 the workers in Zurich finally stopped working. The main supporter of the general strike in Switzerland was Robert Grimm , who was politicized on the left wing of the Social Democratic Party (SP). In contrast, the unions were initially very skeptical.

Supply and distribution crisis during the First World War

It was no accident that the idea of ​​a nationwide general strike became increasingly popular in the Swiss labor movement towards the end of the First World War . Since the outbreak of war, the living conditions of broad masses had increasingly deteriorated. If at the beginning of the war the social democrats - although they were not involved in the state government - had subscribed to the policy of the "truce" and the conflicts had tended to run along the border between the linguistic groups sympathizing with different warring parties, the gap between the workers widened and bourgeoisie more and more in the following years.

Rising inflation created winners and losers. Profiteers were the agriculture , in part, the industry , which often for both warring blocks produced . On the losing side were the wage earners , to whom the inflation adjustment was granted late and by no means in full, the military men and their families, who suffered great losses in income and often lost their jobs, as well as the consumers who suffered from the increasing shortage of food, energy and clothing and the massive rise in rents. The food crisis was even reflected in the weight and growth of children. In 1917 staple foods were rationed. In the last year of the war, more than a sixth of the population (in some of the cities even a quarter) was dependent on emergency aid, which, if at all, was only given after degrading official procedures. The food crisis went well beyond the end of the war. In October 1919, 7 percent of the population in the city of Zurich was still dependent on food aid. The average loss of around 30 percent in real wages suffered by workers and employees during the war was only gradually compensated for in 1919/20 after a wave of strikes. Food rationing lasted until April 1920.

In the army , too , the mood was by no means the best. The soldiers , who did an average of 500 to 600 days of military service during the war years, were financially very poorly protected and also suffered from the Prussian drill of General Ulrich Wille, who was friendly to Germany . Since there was no income replacement, military families became increasingly dependent on female incomes, which averaged little more than half of men's wages. Many families therefore fell below the poverty line.

Wave of strikes and protests from 1916

The growing social unrest led to an increase in strikes and demonstrations in the second half of the war. In 1916 there were 35 stoppages involving 3,330 people. In the following year there were already 140 strikes, in which 13,459 workers took part. In 1918 (not counting the national strike) 24,382 people went on strike in 269 cases. Since the summer of 1916 there have also been market demonstrations by desperate women workers, and in various cities, such as Zurich on June 10, 1918, actual hunger marches took place by women who wanted to rouse the authorities to action. On August 30, 1917, large demonstrations of price increases took place in numerous Swiss towns during working hours, in which tens of thousands of men and women took part. The social protest reached a climax in 1917 with the November unrest in Zurich . On November 15, following a meeting to celebrate the October Revolution in Russia, actions took place against two ammunition factories on Stauffacherquai, which were temporarily forced to stop production by a crowd of about a thousand under the leadership of the later legendary "Apostle of Peace" Max Daetwyler . In the following two days street battles broke out between demonstrators, the police and the military, which resulted in four deaths. In March 1918 desperate men and women plundered the milk center in Bellinzona. In July of the same year, a young man was shot and killed by the police in a hunger riot in Biel, which led to rising prices and food shortages leading to a local general strike in Lugano.

In addition, parts of the Swiss social democracy became radicalized. In September 1915 and April 1916, international conferences of left-wing socialists took place under the direction of Robert Grimm in Zimmerwald and Kiental , pleading for an end to the war as soon as possible. As early as November 1915, the SPS party congress supported the goals of this so-called "Zimmerwald movement". The 1917 SP party congress then brought the anti-militarists a decisive victory. In the autumn of 1914, the pre-war security policy, which called for a reduction in military spending and wanted to prevent the use of the army against strikers, but recognized national military defense in principle, was still confirmed, in June 1917 the left wing voted with 222 against 77 votes The motion initiated by Grimm was approved, which postulated the "intensification of the fundamental struggle against militarism and the nationalist and chauvinist efforts that rendered it supportive services" and the "fight against military institutions and the rejection of all military duties of the bourgeois class state by the party" and the social democratic federal parliamentarians committed to "rejecting all military claims and credits with fundamental motivation". This course was not without controversy, nine SP National Councilors publicly distanced themselves from it.

Spanish flu

Towards the end of the war, a flu epidemic also spread in Switzerland , from which around half of the Swiss population fell ill and killed around 22,000 people. This made 1918 the only year of the 20th century when more people died than were born in Switzerland. The vast majority of the dead came from the civilian population, but around 1,500 soldiers also fell victim to the flu. The first flu wave in the summer of 1918 coincided with the rapid worsening of supply shortages. In the press and on the part of the labor movement, there were violent attacks on the army leadership because of the housing conditions of active service soldiers that promoted the spread of the flu and inadequate preparation of the medical troops. The authorities, poorly prepared for this additional crisis, reacted only after a delay, pronounced assembly bans and published hygiene instructions. There were major inconsistencies in the regulations on event bans and restaurant closings between the individual cantons. The second, even more violent, flu wave in autumn coincided with an escalation in the conflicts between the labor movement and the political and military leadership, as well as the national strike.

In the state strike debates, the government and workers' representatives blamed each other for the soldiers who fell ill because of the security service. As a result, attempts were made to politically exploit the pandemic, especially from the right, in that the soldiers who had died from the flu were portrayed as victims of the general strike in election campaigns, sometimes with massively exaggerated numbers. From 1919 onwards, monuments were erected for them in around 70 localities , which were based on the war memorials in neighboring countries, while the twelve times more numerous civilian flu victims were hardly thought of. The spread of the flu was effectively accelerated by the massive military presence for internal operations at the beginning of November 1918, while the state strike itself, by paralyzing traffic and public life, helped to flatten the contagion curve.

The Olten Action Committee

In February 1918, the Olten Action Committee was founded as a link between the party and the trade unions, and Robert Grimm took over the presidency. The primary goal of the action committee was initially to combat compulsory civil service planned by the Federal Council for all 14 to 60 year olds, but other issues soon came to the fore. When the Federal Council raised the milk price in April, the committee first threatened a general strike and then called for price increases in June. The general strike was threatened again in July because of the federal decree on the subordination of the right of association, assembly and demonstration to the control of the cantons. As a result, on August 9th, the Federal Council set up a “State Strike Commission” as an internal anti-strike organ.

The way to the national strike

Outstanding claims by various groups in the autumn of 1918, civil fears of revolution and military presence

In the autumn of 1918, as the end of the war became increasingly apparent, the situation deteriorated more and more. On September 30, the Zurich bank staff went on strike for wage increases. After the workers showed solidarity with this demand and organized a local general strike, this labor dispute ended with complete success. On October 13, in a federal referendum, the proportional representation initiative recommended by the Federal Council for rejection was adopted with a two-thirds majority. This marked the end of the free-thinking hegemony that had existed since the state was founded. In the fall of 1917 had Liberals in recent majority system won a share of the vote of around 40 percent absolute majority, while the Social Democrats gained Although over 30 percent of the vote, however, were allocated only about 10 percent of the seats.

On October 22nd, the Swiss Bankers Association demanded from the Federal Council and the army leadership to take tougher action than in the Zurich bank strike. On October 29, the SP called for rallies on the occasion of the annual celebration of the Russian Revolution , whereupon General Wille applied to the Federal Council for a troop deployment for Zurich, citing alleged left-wing coup plans, but initially failed to do so.

On November 3rd, a first vigilante group was formed in Geneva under Théodore Aubert , who was to become the National Council of the Fascist Union Nationale in the 1930s . On November 4th General Wille wrote on the wall in a letter to the Federal Council (so-called "Wille Memorial") about the "possibility of a sudden unexpected outbreak of a revolution" in Switzerland and called for a massive military presence in the big cities. " to shoo this rabble back into its lair ". At the same time, he withdrew the previous occupation forces from Zurich in order to demonstrate to the Zurich cantonal government that it was dependent on the army command. On November 5th, the Zurich government council, terrified by this, asked for troop protection. On November 6, the Federal Council decided on a massive military presence to occupy the cities of Zurich and Bern and expel the Soviet mission. On November 8, 1918, a telephone operator overheard telephone conversations between Robert Grimm and Ernst Nobs and other parties involved and reported this to their superiors. These conversations made it clear that the authorities' fear of revolution was unfounded. The PTT attempted to break the connection between the local strike committees and the general strike leadership by censoring telegrams and telephones . The Ticino example, remained isolated communicative during the strike.

Listening record of a telephone conversation between Robert Grimm and Ernst Nobs on November 8, 1918

The occupation troops in Zurich recruited from rural areas were under the command of Emil Sonderegger . Sonderegger, later Chief of Staff of the Swiss Army, then an arms dealer on behalf of the SIG and finally a leading member of several frontist organizations in the early 1930s , banned the Zurich revolutionary celebration.

On November 9, the Olten Action Committee organized a 24-hour protest strike against the military occupation of Zurich in 19 cities. In Zurich, contrary to the instructions of the Action Committee, the Workers' Union decided on an indefinite general strike. On November 10th, despite the ban, a revolutionary celebration took place at the Münsterhof in Zurich, attended by around 7,000 people. The troops called up to prevent this event wore steel helmets for the first time in the war . One soldier was killed and several people injured in clashes on Münsterplatz, the cause of which remained controversial. As a result, representatives of the Action Committee spoke to the Federal Council and demanded the withdrawal of the troops. As a result, relations between the two bodies were broken off. On the following day, Sonderegger had hand grenades distributed to his troops and gave orders to use firearms against unruly civilians. An extraordinary session of the Federal Assembly met, the Federal Council issued a new troop contingent and made federal personnel subject to military legislation.

In view of these developments, the Olten Action Committee was faced with a groundbreaking decision: if it followed the Zurich decisions, it led to a general strike. If it did not do this, the influence on the workforce would wane. It then proclaimed an indefinite national strike for November 12th.

Events in neighboring states

The first half of November was a dramatic time in many countries. Revolutionary events took place simultaneously in two neighboring states. In Germany had on 29 October, after the defeat of the Central Powers was already clear sailors of the High Seas Fleet in Kiel and Wilhelmshaven to refuse obedience , not for their lives in a senseless last stand against British associations to save the honor of the Imperial Navy officers having to gamble . By November 10, revolutionary workers 'and soldiers' councils were formed in practically every major city and took over the city administration. On the morning of November 9, the revolution also reached the capital of the Reich. Chancellor Prince Max von Baden declared the resignation of the emperor on his own initiative and handed over the business of government to the SPD chairman Friedrich Ebert . He wanted to steer the revolution in an orderly manner and leave the question of the form of government to a democratically elected constituent body. At 2 p.m. Philipp Scheidemann , another leading exponent of the SPD, called the republic from the balcony of the Reichstag and two hours later the Spartacist Karl Liebknecht proclaimed the “free socialist republic”. The following day Wilhelm II traveled from the headquarters in Belgium to the neutral Netherlands and the social democratic “ Council of People's Representatives ” was constituted as the new government . On November 11, the armistice with the Western powers was signed in Compiègne .

At the same time, the Danube Monarchy also dissolved. On October 17th, in the hope of saving his throne , Emperor Karl I had promised a federal state structure for the future in a “ People's Manifesto ”. Four days later, however, there was a revolution in Vienna and the opening of a German-Austrian national assembly. A week later the independence of the Czechoslovak Republic was proclaimed and on November 1st an independent Hungarian government was formed. A South Slav Congress met in Zagreb and a few weeks later the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes , the future Yugoslavia, was founded. On November 11, Emperor Karl renounced any claim to the government; old Austria had ceased to exist.

Requirements catalog

Compared to the upheavals in neighboring countries, the catalog of demands that the Olten Action Committee presented for Switzerland was not very revolutionary:

  1. Immediate election of the new National Council according to the proportional system
  2. Women's suffrage
  3. Introduction of an obligation to work
  4. Limitation of weekly working hours (48-hour week)
  5. Reorganization of the army into a people's army
  6. Expansion of the food supply
  7. Old-age and disability insurance
  8. State monopolies for import and export
  9. Repayment of the national debt by the haves

Some of the strike demands took up old socio-political and constitutional concerns of the labor movement (such as the 48-hour week, old-age insurance and women's right to vote), and others related directly to war-related problems such as food shortages and national debt. On the morning of November 6, 1918, before the military presence became known, the Olten Action Committee had already considered a campaign for these concerns.

Course of the national strike

Troops on the Waisenhausplatz during the national strike
Cavalry on Paradeplatz Zurich during the protest strike of November 9, 1918
Guard in the Federal Palace during the state strike
Soldiers loading rail mail during the national strike

November 12th: the strike begins

The actual national strike began on November 12, 1918. To support the demands of the Action Committee, around a quarter of a million men and women across the country went on strike that day.

The state government mobilized around 95,000 troops to start the strike, 20,000 of them for Zurich and 12,000 for Bern. Without exception, the units came from “reliable” rural areas and from western Switzerland. In many places, such as in Zurich and Basel, also formed vigilante groups . The troops were very present on the streets, guarding strategically important buildings and rail traffic. The Federal Palace was occupied by the military. The troops in order not only supported the post office, but also the emergency operation of the bourgeois newspapers.

In most places, the strike was relatively calm, and unrest usually only broke out after the military had deployed. The deepest impression was made by the participation of the railway workers, who carried the movement to rural areas that were otherwise hardly involved. The strike call in western Switzerland and Ticino was also implemented rather weaker. Key services were maintained with the help of the military, senior officials, students, and vigilante groups.

At the extraordinary session of the Federal Assembly on November 12th , the free-spirited Federal President Felix Calonder promised social policy reforms and the participation of the SP in government, but rejected negotiations with the Olten Action Committee and in his speech sharply opposed the alleged " Bolshevik terror" and the "Unscrupulous agitators". The nationwide general strike was “a crime”, argued the bourgeois, political majority, while the Social Democrats again demanded early elections based on the proportional representation system, a working time limit of 48 hours a week and corresponding social insurance.

November 13: State government ultimatum

Both the bourgeois majority in the National Council and the Federal Council, in consultation with the army leadership, showed themselves to be relentless and issued an ultimatum to the strike leadership on November 13th. Thereupon the action committee against a minority around Robert Grimm decided to break off the strike on November 14th. The committee feared that the strike would be crushed by the army. According to the majority of the Olten Action Committee, this would most likely result in a civil war for which one is not prepared at all .

The army intelligence service had smuggled in a spy at the decisive meeting , who immediately forwarded the message under the code "Cheese would be cheaper". In the event that the strike continued, new troop deployments and the arrest of the strike leadership would have been planned.

November 14th: Last day of strike and deaths in Grenchen

According to the decision of the Olten Action Committee, November 14th was the last day of the national strike.

Also in Grenchen , known for the many watch factories, the workers continued to strike and demonstrated in various parts of the city, sometimes aggressively. Obviously, the information that the strike had broken off did not get through to Grenchen. At the Nordbahnhof, a group of around 2,000 strikers demolished the tracks late in the morning to prevent the train from Basel from entering . As a result, additional troops of order were ordered into the city to establish security.

Under the leadership of Major Henri Pelet, the military tried to break up the demonstrations in the afternoon. After the station was cleared, the congregations moved to the city center. In a small alley at right angles to Solothurnstrasse, between what was then the Ochsen restaurant and the Baumann café, there was then a confrontation between Pelet and fusiliers from the 6th Infantry Battalion in Vaud and strikers. The major ordered the alley to be cleared. The strikers did not give way, however, and threatened the forces of order. As a result, Major Pelet commanded the fire. According to official records, two shots were fired; three strikers, the three young watchmakers Marius Noirjean (17), Fritz Scholl (21) and Hermann Lanz (29), died. An injured striker who was shot through his arm was subsequently discovered. The inconsistencies in the investigation report (number of shots, missing autopsy) were never investigated. Based on the description of the gunshot wounds, it cannot be ruled out that Fritz Scholl von Pelet was targeted several times in the head with his officer's revolver. It was one of the last deployments of the Swiss Army against its own people .

The question of foreign influences

The question of foreign influences on the national strike was controversial at the time. In particular, the role of the Soviet mission led by the Baltic revolutionary Jan A. Berzin was discussed, which had been installed as a kind of unofficial embassy of the new Russian government in Bern in May 1918 and was initially tolerated by the Swiss authorities. On November 6, before the start of the state strike, the Federal Council decided, under pressure from the victorious powers of the world war, to expel the mission and on November 12 its members were deported in a night-and-fog operation. Contrary to contemporary conspiracy theories, which were to remain popular in the bourgeois culture of remembrance for a long time, there is no evidence from Swiss or Russian files that the Soviet mission was directly involved in the preparation of the strike.

In western Switzerland, the bourgeois press also suspected German revolutionaries as masterminds who allegedly tried to harm France through unrest in Switzerland in continuity with the Wilhelmine Empire. In addition, rumors circulated in Bern at the beginning of November that the Western powers intended to intervene in the event of revolutionary unrest in Switzerland. Here, too, the sources do not give any indications of specific planning.

The extensive propaganda, war economy, secret service and diplomatic activities of those involved in the war in Switzerland, which also influenced the history of the national strike, are undisputed. A number of bombs and bomb attacks on industrial facilities in Switzerland could be traced back to the work of German or French agents or the German consulate in Zurich during the war. An explosives store with material of German origin discovered on October 9, 1918 in the Seebach embankment near Zurich was traced back to a fictitious anarchist group by the right-wing district attorney Otto Heusser and increased the fear of revolution among the bourgeoisie, although it was material that had previously been found in another find Preparations for sabotage by the German consulate could be traced back.

There is some evidence that the question of the location of the peace conference, whether in Switzerland or France, played an essential role in the enormous military presence at the end of the war, as did the massive exaggeration of the alleged threat of revolution in Switzerland by French diplomacy.

After the national strike

Return to work and more strikes

On Friday, November 15th, work was resumed almost everywhere. Only in Zurich did the wood and metal workers continue to strike until the weekend. On November 16, a large parade of the troops of order took place in Zurich in the presence of General Wille and Emil Sonderegger. On the same day the dead watch workers from Grenchen were buried. According to the investigation report, the quick burial did not allow an autopsy.

In December 1918, around a month after the national strike, the Olten SP National Councilor Jacques Schmid took up the army deployment in Grenchen again with three dead. He asked if the guilty would be held accountable in the army. Federal Councilor Camille Decoppet , then head of the military department, argued that the troops in order had "done their duty". Those who provoked the troops and called for a revolution are guilty.

The wave of strikes that began in 1917 continued after the state strike until 1920. On February 23, 1919, economics minister Edmund Schulthess warned in a letter to employer president Gustave Naville that the 48-hour week should be implemented quickly: “If we do not achieve some positive concession in the shortest possible time, we will have the most difficult experience. […] The masses are excited, many are unemployed and a general strike would find much better ground under such conditions than at other times. ”In the summer of 1919 there were local general strikes in Basel and Zurich, in which military operations claimed five and one deaths respectively during which there was the possibility of a second national strike.

Legal consequences

After the strike was broken off , the military judiciary initiated criminal proceedings against 3,504 people, mainly railway workers, which led to 127 convictions. There were also 46 convictions for refusing to act as security personnel.

In March and April 1919 the state strike process against 21 members of the strike leadership took place. The subject of the process was not the strike itself, but the strike proclamation, which could be interpreted as an invitation to mutiny . Divisional Court III sentenced the defendants Robert Grimm, Fritz Platten and Friedrich Schneider to six months each and Ernst Nobs , who was then the first SP Federal Councilor from 1943 to 1951, to four weeks in prison. The remaining defendants were acquitted. Max Rüdt was sentenced twice in 1919 for his role as head of the Grenchen strike committee, in March by the Solothurn District Court to four weeks imprisonment and in November by the Territorial Court 4 to four months imprisonment and two years of suspension of active citizenship.

The deployment of the troops against the strikers had no consequences. Neither the cadre of the orderly troops on duty nor the fusiliers deployed in Grenchen were ever convicted.

Political polarization

The years immediately after the national strike saw a split in the left, a radicalization of the right and a general political and social polarization in Switzerland. In 1921 the left wing of the SP split away from it and established itself as the Communist Party . While the SP base had refused to join the newly founded Third International after its strong dependence on Moscow had become clear, the new KPS now took precisely this step. National Councilor Fritz Platten, one of the leaders of the state strike, became the new party's secretary. In 1923 he even emigrated to the Soviet Union to found an agricultural commune. He got into the 1930s into the vortex of Stalinist purges and ended by shooting in a labor camp. The vast majority of members and voters, on the other hand, remained loyal to the SP, which subsequently took over the government majority in some cities and also moved into various cantonal governments, but contrary to the bourgeois promises during the state strike, as the party with the largest number of voters, no representation in the Second World War Federal Council granted.

On the right-hand side there was an even closer union of the “civic bloc” and radicalization. The vigilante groups established during the state strike were expanded, partly with financial support from large corporations. With the "Swiss Patriotic Association" (SVV), a right-wing civil fighting organization was established in 1919, which not only - in cooperation with the EMD - organized a strike defense in vital companies and maintained an intelligence service for spying on left-wing organizations, but also tried to do so, in elections and Votes to coordinate the bourgeois forces against the labor movement. From 1919 onwards, SIA President Eugen Bircher also worked with paramilitary and right-wing extremist forces abroad, especially from Germany.

In general, Swiss society was deeply divided after 1918. This manifested itself in the rapid growth of independent workers 'culture and leisure organizations and the consolidation of the workers' milieu as a delimited subculture. It was not until the second half of the 1930s that the social democracy and the bourgeoisie came closer to one another, at least in part, under the sign of “intellectual national defense” .

The "Galop Social" and the fate of the state strike demands

At the same time, a reform period (“galop social”) unfolded after 1918, in which reform bourgeois and moderate left forces made a large number of socio-political proposals. In the spirit of “ economic democracy ”, the introduction of company co-determination , the participation of workers in company profits and equal business councils at cantonal and federal level were also discussed . Before the 1919 elections , the FDP announced that it was striving to "expand the state into a welfare state" with "extensive consideration of the interests of workers and employees" and "special reference to the efficient circles and the wealthy classes" to finance it. As early as December 1918, several left-wing national councilors had submitted a proposal for a total revision of the Federal Constitution, which aimed at "securing the cheapest possible food for the dependent classes" by creating state import monopolies and large consumer cooperatives as well as establishing a federal social insurance institution. With the fears of revolution subsiding in the bourgeoisie, the reform dynamic silted up at the beginning of the 1920s.

The general strike demands remained in the room at the end of 1918 and subsequently experienced different fates. While some have not yet been implemented - such as the repayment of national debts by the haves - others have been implemented relatively quickly. The first new election of the National Council based on proportional representation took place in the autumn of 1919. The SP was able to almost double its number of seats, while the Freinns lost their absolute majority. The 48-hour week was implemented across the board in 1919/20. In some cases, this meant massive reductions in working hours without any loss of wages. The introduction of the AHV was already welcomed by the Federal Council in the special session during the state strike and a corresponding commission of experts began its work a few weeks after the state strike. In 1925 the electorate approved the AHV article in the federal constitution. Only the fear of a “second 1918” during the Second World War accelerated the implementation, which became a reality in 1948. It took even longer for women to vote and vote. While in Germany and Austria the corresponding step was dared immediately after the upheavals in November 1918, in Switzerland they took their time until 1971.

Historical and political instrumentalization

The national strike was built into all kinds of conspiracy theories in November 1918, which continued thereafter. It was alleged, for example, that Robert Grimm had personally received instructions from Lenin (with whom he actually had a very tense relationship) for the national strike as the beginning of a communist revolution in Switzerland, which in turn would have been part of a Jewish-Bolshevik world conspiracy . Such legends were based largely on the forged documents published in the spring of 1919 by the exiled Russian writer and translator Serge Persky , who carried out anti-Bolshevik propaganda in collaboration with the French intelligence service . Accordingly, the plan was to establish Soviet Switzerland under Lenin's confidant Karl Radek . A large-scale investigation by the Federal Prosecutor's Office from November 1918 onwards did not reveal any evidence of an organizational connection between the strike leadership and the designated Soviet mission, and during the state strike process in 1919 the military prosecutor described the idea that “foreign money” played a role in the strike, even as a “legend”. .

Nevertheless, the negative myth of the coup attempt was formative in bourgeois historiography and journalism until the 1960s and was used as a political weapon against the left. The brochure Les troubles révolutionnaires en Suisse de 1916 à 1919 , which the military journalist Paul de Vallière published in 1926, had a great influence . De Vallière, who later worked for the army propaganda service "Heer und Haus" and was dismissed there in 1945 for the sexual abuse of children, claimed that the "revolutionary strike" was "decided in principle in Moscow" in September 1918 by mostly Jewish Bolsheviks. In 1938 the film Die Rote Pest , which was initiated by right-wing circles around former Federal Councilor Jean-Marie Musy and the later SS- Obersturmbannführer Franz Riedweg and produced in a studio in Nazi Germany, set the state strike together with unrest and conflicts around the world as Part of a Jewish-Bolshevik-intellectualist conspiracy.

With the increasing integration of the labor movement into the bourgeois state and the results of source-based research from the mid-1950s, the historical-political instrumentalization of the state strike as an alleged attempt at revolution largely disappeared in the second half of the century. It was not until 2018 that former Federal Councilor Christoph Blocher took up the old revolutionary legends again on the occasion of the 100th anniversary and said that Robert Grimm played a leading role in the Russian Revolution and intended to reshape Switzerland according to the Soviet model. The historical expert world rejected this interpretation due to fundamental factual errors and Blocher's unconscious assumption of communist propaganda lies, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung qualified it as "humbug", which "lacks any evidence", SGB President Paul Rechsteiner described Blocher as a " history clutter " and according to Frank A. Meyer mocked Blocher's statements of “every historical reality”. Other SVP exponents repeated Blocher's assertions.

Commemoration of the national strike

Memorial plaque in Grenchen

For around 40 years, only the memorial stone in the Grenchen cemetery was a reminder of the watch workers who were killed and thus of the state strike. The stone was removed around 1950.

In Olten , on November 11, 2008, on the 90th anniversary of the state strike, the first memorial to commemorate the state strike was inaugurated. A week later, on November 18, 2008, a memorial plaque in honor of Marius Noirjean, Fritz Scholl and Hermann Lanz was unveiled on the Zytplatz in Grenchen .

In November 2018, 100 years after the national strike, various memorial events were held across Switzerland. On November 10th, around 1,400 people in the SBB workshops , who were also on strike at the time, commemorated the state strike of 1918. On the occasion, which was organized by the SP among others , the focus was on the social achievements that followed the state strike. SP Federal Councilor Simonetta Sommaruga was invited to speak. In Grenchen , too, the population met on November 14th at the memorial plaque to lay a wreath in memory of the dead watch workers. A film about the state strike was then shown.

Movies

Zumstein's film was criticized for its focus on a few people and events, its disregard of the wave of strikes and protests against the supply crisis from 1916 to 1919, and its neglect of the perspective of the "common people".

literature

Source collections

Overview representations

  • Patrick Auderset, Florian Eitel, Marc Gigase, Daniel Krämer, Matthieu Leimgruber, Malik Mazbouri, Marc Perrenoud, François Vallotton (eds.): Der Landesstreik 1918 / La Grève générale de 1918 - crises, conflicts, controversies / Crises, conflits, controverses . Zurich / Lausanne 2018. Editorial
  • Franco Celio: Lo sciopero generale del 1918: Verso una Repubblica elvetica dei Soviet? Bellinzona 2018.
  • Bernard Degen : Landesstreik (Switzerland) , in: Daniel, Ute, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer and Bill Nasson (Eds.): 1914-1918-online: International Encyclopedia of the First World War, 29 January 2019.
  • Constant Frey: La grève générale de 1918. Legends et réalités , Geneva 1969: Ed. Générales.
  • Willi Gautschi : The state strike in 1918 . 3rd, revised edition. Chronos, Zurich 1988, ISBN 3-905278-34-0 .
  • Georg Kreis : Island of uncertain security: Switzerland in the war years 1914–1918 . Zurich 2014.
  • Konrad J. Kuhn / Béatrice Ziegler (eds.): The forgotten war: traces and traditions to Switzerland in the First World War . Baden 2014.
  • Thomas Maissen : Landesstreik 1918 , in: NZZ Geschichte 18 (2018). Pp. 25-31.
  • Fritz Marbach : The general strike in 1918: facts, impressions, illusions . Bern 1969.
  • Heinz K. Meier: The Swiss national general strike of November 1918 , in: Hans A. Schmitt (Ed.): Neutral Europe between war and revolution, 1917–1923 , University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville 1988, pp. 66–86.
  • Jean-Claude Rennwald and Adrian Zimmermann (eds.): La Grève générale de 1918 en Suisse: Histoire et répercussions . Neuchâtel 2018.
  • Roman Rossfeld / Thomas Buomberger / Patrick Kury (eds.): 14/18. Switzerland and the Great War. Here and now, Baden 2014.
  • Roman Rossfeld / Christian Koller / Brigitte Studer (eds.): The state strike. Switzerland in November 1918. Here and now, Baden 2018, ISBN 978-3-03919-443-8 .
  • Paul Schmid-Ammann : The truth about the general strike of 1918: its causes, its course, its consequences . Zurich: Morgarten 1968.
  • Jakob Tanner : Switzerland , in: Daniel, Ute, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer and Bill Nasson (Eds.): 1914-1918-online: International Encyclopedia of the First World War, May 13th 2019.
  • Marc Vuilleumier et al. (Ed.): La Grève générale de 1918 en Suisse . Geneva: Grounauor 1977.

Social situation, supply and distribution crisis

  • Ivo Berther: Social Democratic Food Policy during the First World War in Switzerland . Master thesis Univ. Zurich 2017.
  • Daniel Burkhard: Milk price control in Switzerland during the First World War: The public milk price discussions 1916–1918 in the run-up to the national strike . Master thesis Univ. Bern 2012.
  • Daniel Burkhard: Milk price control in Switzerland during the First World War: The public milk price discussions 1916–1918 in the run-up to the national strike , in: Berner Historische Mitteilungen 29 (2012). P. 13f.
  • Stefanie Eichenberger: "... how hunger and need are on the threshold": Hunger in the public media discussion among women workers in Zurich during the First World War . Licentiate thesis Univ. Zurich 2003.
  • Joël Floris / Marius Kuster / Ulrich Woitek: Poverty lines in the city of Zurich during the First World War , in: Traverse 24/3 (2017). Pp. 97-112.
  • Gustav A. Frey: The supply of raw materials to Switzerland during the war, especially in the textile and metal industry . Bern 1921.
  • Erwin Horat, “ Spared from war and yet plagued by worries”: Social and economic difficulties using the example of the Canton of Schwyz during World War I , in: Der Geschichtsfreund 169 (2016). Pp. 53-74.
  • Rudolf Jaun / Tobias Straumann : As a result of progressive impoverishment leading to a general strike? Contradictions of a popular narrative , in: Der Geschichtsfreund 169 (2016). Pp. 19-51.
  • Joseph Käppeli / Max Riesen: The food supply in Switzerland under the influence of the World War 1914–1922 . Bern 1925.
  • Daniel Krämer et al. (Ed.): "New surcharges every week": Food, energy and resource conflicts in Switzerland during the First World War . Basel 2016.
  • Josef Kühne: Investigations into the diet of the Basel workers under the influence of the war . Basel 1919.
  • Katharina Lüthi: Carefree to overwhelmed: Switzerland's bread supply policy during the First World War . Licentiate thesis Univ. Bern 1997.
  • Thomas Maissen : In times of need they took to the streets - a search for the causes of the state strike in 1918 . In: Aargauer Zeitung , August 18, 2018.
  • Maria Meier: "Where the need is greatest ...": The supply crisis in Switzerland as reflected in contemporary caricatures , in: Angela Müller / Felix Rauh (eds.): Perception and media staging of hunger in the 20th century . Basel 2014. pp. 53–73.
  • Maria Meier: Of emergency and prosperity. Basel's food supply during the war, 1914–1918 . Zurich 2020.
  • Heinrich Munzinger: Coal delivery to Switzerland during and after the war . Heidelberg 1924.
  • Gertrud Schmid-Weiss: Rural producers - urban consumers: Swiss food policy in the First World War and the activities of the Cantonal Food Office in Zurich . Master thesis Univ. Zurich 2013.
  • Gertrud Schmid-Weiss: Swiss Emergency War Aid in World War I: A micro-history of material survival with a special view of the city and canton of Zurich . Vienna 2019. ( Review )
  • Salome Schneider: The Swiss national nutrition before and during the war , in: Journal for Swiss Statistics and Economics 55 (1919). Pp. 7-20.
  • Jean-Jacques Senglet: The price policy of Switzerland during the First World War . Bern 1950.
  • Tobias Straumann : Wartime and Post-war Economies (Switzerland) , in: Daniel, Ute, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer and Bill Nasson (Eds.): 1914-1918-online: International Encyclopedia of the First World War, August 13, 2015.
  • Jakob Tanner : Factory meal: Nutritional science, industrial work and popular nutrition in Switzerland 1890–1950 . Zurich: Chronos Verlag 1999.
  • Roman Wild: Folk shoes and folk cloths at popular prices. On the management of leather and textile supplies during the First World War in Switzerland , in: Swiss Journal for History 63 (2013). Pp. 428-452.

Spanish flu

  • Walter Bersorger: When the fever came to Zug: The "Spanish flu" from 1918/19 , in: Tugium 34 (2018).
  • Patrick Imhasly: The Spanish flu - a forgotten catastrophe In: NZZ on Sunday from January 6, 2018.
  • Patrick Kury : Influenza Pandemic (Switzerland) , in: Daniel, Ute, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer and Bill Nasson (eds.): 1914-1918-online: International Encyclopedia of the First World War , October 19, 2015.
  • L. Marino: La Grippe espagnole en Valais (1918-1919) . Thèse, Institut d'histoire de la médecine et de la santé publique, Université de Lausanne 2014.
  • Christoph Mörgeli : When death bypasses: The flu epidemic of 1918 claimed more victims than the First World War: it paralyzed public life in Switzerland and conjured up a political crisis , in: NZZ Folio 11 (1995). Pp. 31-39.
  • Walter Nussbaum: The flu epidemic 1918-1919 in the Swiss army , in: Gesnerus 39 (1982). Pp. 243-259.
  • Amin Rusterholz: "Dying doesn't want to end!" The «Spanish flu epidemic» 1918/19 in the Swiss army with special consideration of the Glarus military victims , in: Yearbook of the Historical Association of the Canton of Glarus 90 (2010). Pp. 9-201.
  • Christian Sonderegger: The 1918/19 flu epidemic in Switzerland . Licensed thesis Univ. Bern 1991.
  • Christian Sonderegger: Flu . In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland.
  • The 1918 Spanish flu . Ed. Federal Statistical Office. Bern: BfS 2018.
  • Andreas Tscherrig: Visits to the sick are prohibited! The Spanish flu 1918/19 and the cantonal sanitary authorities in Basel-Landschaft and Basel-Stadt . Liestal 2016.
  • Emil Wyss: Memories of the flu epidemic in active service 1918 , in: Berner Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Heimatkunde 39 (1977). Pp. 118-130.
  • Andi Zogg: The "system" has the flu: dealing with an epidemic in the year of the Swiss national strike in 1918 . Licentiate thesis Univ. Zurich 2000.

Workers, protests, labor movement

  • Claude Cantini: La Grève générale de 1918 dans son contexte économique et social , in: ders .: Pour une histoire sociale et antifasciste: Contributions d'un autodidacte . Ed. Charles Heimberg. Lausanne 1999. pp. 104-140.
  • Julia Casutt-Schneeberger: The Influence of the Business Cycle on Strike Activity in Germany, Austria and Switzerland from 1901 to 2004 , in: Austrian Journal of History 18 (2007). Pp. 80-100.
  • Bernard Degen : Farewell to the class struggle: The partial integration of the Swiss trade union movement between the national strike and the global economic crisis (1918–1929) . Basel etc. 1991.
  • Bernard Degen et al. (Ed.): Robert Grimm: Marxist, fighter, politician . Zurich 2012.
  • Bernard Degen : Olten Action Committee , in: Daniel, Ute, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer and Bill Nasson (eds.): 1914-1918-online: International Encyclopedia of the First World War, 29. January 2019.
  • Bernard Degen / Christian Koller : Protest and strikes in Switzerland in the second half of the First World War , in: Journal of Modern European History 17/1 (2019).
  • Willi Gautschi : The Olten Action Committee and the state general strike of 1918 , Affoltern a. A. 1955.
  • Hans Hirter : The strikes in Switzerland in the years 1880–1914: Quantitative strike analysis, in: ders. Et al. (Ed.): Workers and the economy in Switzerland 1880–1914: Social situation, organization and struggles of workers and employers, political organizations and social policy , Vol. II / 2. Zurich 1988. pp. 837-1008.
  • Dieter Holenstein: Loyalty to the camp before workers' solidarity? The Christian Social Movement in Switzerland during the national strike in 1918 , in: Journal for Swiss Church History 85 (1991). Pp. 91-106.
  • Dieter Holenstein: The Christian Socials of Switzerland in the First World War. Development of Christian social organizations and their position in the Swiss labor movement and the Catholic special society 1914–1920 , Friborg 1993.
  • Elisabeth Joris : Women, Gender, Social Movements (Switzerland) , in: Daniel, Ute, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer and Bill Nasson (eds.): 1914-1918-online: International Encyclopedia of the First World War, June 1, 2017.
  • Hans Ulrich Jost : Left radicalism in German Switzerland 1914-1918 . Bern 1973.
  • Tobias Kästli: Ernst Nobs: From the fright of the citizens to the Federal Council: A political life . Zurich 1995.
  • Christian Koller : Load jams - strikes in the Swiss arms industry in the two world wars , in: Valentin Groebner et al. (Ed.): War economy and economic wars - économie de guerre et guerres économiques . Zurich 2008. pp. 213–229.
  • Christian Koller : Strike Culture: Performances and Discourses of Labor Struggle in a Swiss-Austrian Comparison (1860–1950) (= Austrian Cultural Research, Vol. 9). Münster / Vienna: Lit-Verlag 2009, ISBN 978-3-643-50007-6 .
  • Christian Koller : Labor, Labor Movements, Trade Unions and Strikes (Switzerland) , in: Daniel, Ute, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer and Bill Nasson (eds.): 1914-1918-online: International Encyclopedia of the First World War, October 29, 2015.
  • Markus Mattmüller : Leonhard Ragaz and religious socialism: A biography , vol. 2. Zurich 1968.
  • Regula Pfeifer: Women and Protest: Market demonstrations in German-speaking Switzerland in the war year 1916 , in: Anne-Lise Head-König / Albert Tanner (ed.): Women in the city . Zurich 1993. pp. 93-109.
  • Martha Rohner: “What we want!”: Rosa Bloch and the Zurich women's demonstrations 1916–1919 . Master thesis Univ. Zurich 2007.
  • Alain Schweri: La grève de 1917 aux usines d'aluminium de Chippis: Un exemple de traumatisme industriel en pays agricole . Geneva 1988.
  • Willy Spieler : A religious no to the ruling order: Leonhard Ragaz on the state general strike in 1918 . in: New Paths 103/1 (2009). Pp. 10-15.
  • Ilja Stieger: The Zurich Workers 'Union 1914 to 1918: The commitment of the Zurich Workers' Union from the outbreak of World War I in 1914 until the outbreak of the national strike in 1918 . Licentiate thesis Univ. Zurich 2013.
  • Christian Voigt: Robert Grimm: fighters, workers leaders, parliamentarians: a political biography . Bern 1980.
  • Adrian Zimmermann: Grimm, Robert , in: Daniel, Ute, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer and Bill Nasson (Eds.): 1914-1918-online: International Encyclopedia of the First World War, 23 March 2015.

Bourgeoisie, employers, farmers, vigilante groups

  • Werner Baumann: Farmers and Citizens 'Block: Ernst Laur and the Swiss Farmers' Association 1897–1918 . Zurich 1993.
  • Bernard Jean Chevalley: Les organizations paysannes suisses et la grève générale en 1918 . Geneva 1974.
  • Sébastien Guex: A propos des gardes civiques et de leur financement à l'issue de la Première Guerre mondiale , in: Jean Batou, et al. (Ed.): Pour une histoire des gens sans Histoire. Ouvriers, excluEs et rebelles en Suisse, 19e – 20e siècles , Lausanne 1995, pp. 255–264.
  • Daniel Hagmann: Citizens clean Basel . City.History.Basel 2019.
  • Charles Heimberg: La garde civique genevoise et la grève générale de 1918: Un sursaut disciplinaire et conservateur , in: Revue d'histoire moderne et contemporaine 44 (1997). Pp. 424-435.
  • Daniel Heller: Eugen Bircher: Doctor, Military and Politician: A Contribution to Contemporary History . Zurich 1990.
  • Christian Koller : La grève comme phénomène »anti-suisse«: Xénophobie et théories du complot dans les discours anti-grévistes (19e et 20e siècles) , in: Cahiers d'histoire du mouvement ouvrier 28 (2012). Pp. 25-46.
  • Christian Koller : 100 years ago: The paramilitarization of Europe and Switzerland , in: Social Archive Info 3 (2019). Pp. 5-25.
  • Renato Morosoli: "... facing the red tide": Zuger vigilante groups and anti-Bolshevik residents' associations 1918–1921 , in: Tugium 34 (2018). Pp. 189-192.
  • Christine Nöthiger-Strahm: German-Swiss Protestantism and the National Strike of 1918: The Church's Confrontation with the Social Question at the Beginning of the 20th Century . Bern 1981.
  • Roman Rossfeld: «Out to fight, you bourgeois brothers». How the bourgeoisie reacted to the end of the war and the state strike with a policy of fear in 1918 . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung , September 25, 2018.
  • Roman Rossfeld / Tobias Straumann (eds.): The forgotten economic war: Swiss companies in the First World War. Chronos, Zurich 2008, ISBN 978-3-0340-0882-2 .
  • Hanspeter Schmid: War of the Citizens: The bourgeoisie in the fight against the general strike in Basel in 1919 . Zurich 1980.
  • Oliver Schneider: Of stick guards, revolutionary heroes and brethren: The Lucerne militia after the national strike in 1918 , in: History Culture Society. Historical Society Lucerne Yearbook 31 (2013). Pp. 63-84.
  • Martin Stohler: 100 years ago the vigilante groups kept Basel clean. In: TagesWoche , January 19, 2018.
  • Andreas Thürer: The Swiss Patriotic Association 1919–1930 / 31 . 3 Vols. Phil. Diss. Basel 2010.
  • Andreas Thürer: "Roulez, tambours!", "Serrons les rangs!": Civil solidarity across the linguistic and cultural rifts under the sign of the Entente victory, state strike and fear of revolution in 1918 , in: Traverse 27/2 (2020). Pp. 119-147.
  • Carola Togni: Les gardes civiques en Suisse romande: Dossier de sources . Univ. Lausanne 2000.
  • Joanna Vanay: Les gardes civiques de Sierre (1918-1919) , in: Annales valaisannes 2004. pp. 93-129.
  • Erich Wigger: War and Crisis in Political Communication: From Burgfrieden to Citizens' Block in Switzerland, 1910–1922 . Seismo-Verlag, Zurich 1997, ISBN 3-908239-57-5 .
  • Dorothe Zimmermann: Swiss Patriotic Association , in: Daniel, Ute, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer and Bill Nasson (eds.): 1914-1918-online: International Encyclopedia of the First World War, 16 December 2015.

Authorities, army

  • Hermann Böschenstein: Federal Councilor and General in the First World War , in: Swiss Journal for History 10 (1960). Pp. 515-532.
  • Pälvi Conca sweater: Soldats au service de l'ordre public. La politique du maintien de l'ordre intérieur au moyen de l'armée en Suisse entre 1914 et 1949 . Neuchâtel 2003.
  • René Dubach: Strizzis, Krakeeler and Panduren: State security activities from the national strike to red Zurich . Dissertation University of Zurich, 1996.
  • Daniel M. Frey: Before the revolution? Security service - deployment of the army during the national strike in Zurich . Zurich 1998.
  • Hans Rudolf Fuhrer / Paul Meinrad Strässle (eds.): General Ulrich Wille. Role model for one - enemy image for the other , Zurich 2003.
  • Hans Rudolf Fuhrer (Ed.): Internal Security - Ordnungsdienst, Part I: until October 1918 (= publications of the Swiss Society for Military History Study Trips, Issue 39). Zurich: Swiss Society for Military History Study Tours 2017.
  • Hans Rudolf Fuhrer (Ed.): Internal Security - Ordnungsdienst, Part II: The General Strike in November 1918 (= publications of the Swiss Society for Military History Study Trips, Issue 40). Zurich: Swiss Society for Military History Study Tours 2018.
  • Uriel Gast: From Control to Defense: The Federal Aliens Police in the Field of Tension Between Politics and Business 1915–1933 . Zurich 1997.
  • Thomas Greminger : Order troops in Zurich: The deployment of the army, police and city defense from the end of November 1918 to August 1919 . Basel etc. 1990.
  • Army and House: The Swiss Army in Security Service 1856–1970 , o. O. u. J.
  • Niklaus Meienberg : The world as will & madness. Elements related to the natural history of a clan . Zurich 1987.
  • Lea Moliterni Eberle: «Don't let my life be lost!» Requests for pardon to General Wille in the First World War . NZZ Libro, Zurich 2019.
  • Michael Olsansky (Ed.): On the edge of the storm: The Swiss military in World War I (= Ares series, Bd. 4). Baden 2018.
  • Oliver Schneider: Switzerland in a State of Emergency: Expansion and Limits of Statehood in the Powers of the First World War, 1914-1919 . Zurich 2019.
  • Daniel spokesman: Chief of Staff Theophil spokesman von Bernegg: His military-political achievement with special consideration of neutrality . Zurich 2000.
  • Daniel spokesman: How the Federal Council and the army reacted to the national strike of 1918 . In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung , November 11, 2018.
  • Sebastian Steiner: Under Martial Law: The Swiss Military Justice 1914–1920 . Zurich 2018. ( Review )
  • Ueli Wild: Zurich 1918. Security service deployments by the Swiss Army in the spring and summer of 1918 in Zurich , Frauenfeld 1987.
  • Manuel Wolfensberger: "A bas l'armée et révolution!" Mutiny and riot in the Swiss Army during the First World War . Bern 2018.
  • René Zeller : Peace and order in Switzerland: The organization of the military security service from 1848 to 1939 . Bern 1990.
  • René Zeller : Emil Sonderegger: From Chief of General Staff to Front Leader . Zurich 1999.

Individual regions

  • B. Antenas: La presse romande et la grève générale de 1918 . Licentiate thesis Univ. Lausanne 1961.
  • Peter Arne: «Incitement against the religious and social»? The regional strike of 1918 in Graubünden and the religious-social pastors , in: Bündner Monatsblatt 39/1 (2007). Pp. 39-57.
  • Alain Berlincourt: July riot and general strike in Biel , in: Neues Bieler Jahrbuch, 7 (1968). Pp. 89-101.
  • Rolf Blaser et al .: General Strike 1918 in Grenchen: Illustrated description of the events in Grenchen and the region: Booklet for the exhibition of the Museum of Culture and History in the streets and train stations of Grenchen, October 23, 2008 to February 11, 2009 . Grenchen 2008.
  • Markus Bolliger: The Basel labor movement in the age of the First World War and the split in the Social Democratic Party. A contribution to the history of the Swiss labor movement . Basel 1970.
  • Thomas Bürgisser: "Storm shower" in "otherwise quiet streets": State strike in 1918 in the city and district of Lenzburg , in: Lenzburger Neujahrsblätter 80 (2009). Pp. 5-26.
  • Franz Cahannes: Graubünden during war (1914–1918) and state general strike . Licentiate thesis Univ. Zurich 1983.
  • Mauro Cerutti: Un tournant dans l'histoire du mouvement ouvrier genevois: La grève générale de novembre 1918: Les mouvements «de gauche» à Genève, de 1914 à 1918 . Geneva 1974.
  • Sonja Furger: fear of revolution, help for those in need and the profiling of the municipal executive , in: Uitikon: Christmas courier 2015. pp. 7–53.
  • Willi Gautschi : A confidential report by the Baden authorities on the general strike days of 1918: A previously unpublished document , in: Badener Neujahrsblatt 59 (1984). Pp. 84-96.
  • La Grève générale de 1918 à Bienne et dans le Jura Bernois (= Intervalles 11 (1918)). Biel 2018.
  • Fritz Grieder: From the minutes of the Basel government council on the state strike in 1918 , in: Basler Stadtbuch 1969. pp. 142–172.
  • Erika Hebeisen (ed.): Time of war and crisis: Zurich during the First World War . Zurich 2014.
  • Peter Heim : When the wheels stood still: One hundred years ago: Olten and the general strike in 1918 . In: Yearbook for Solothurn History 91 (2018). Pp. 9-96.
  • Peter Heim : "Finally act in Russian!" The Olten Young Socialists and the state strike in 1918 . In: Oltner Neujahrsblätter 77 (2019). Pp. 41-44.
  • Edith Hiltbrunner: General strike in 1918 in the Grenchen-Solothurn region . Friborg 2012.
  • Rudolf Hoegger: Revolution - also in the small town: The general strike in Baden , in: Badener Neujahrsblatt 44 (1969). Pp. 57-69.
  • Dieter Holenstein: Extreme social polarization: Economic-social development and national strike , in: Historischer Verein des Kantons St. Gallen (Ed.): 1914–1918 / 1919: Eastern Switzerland and the Great War . St. Gallen 2014. pp. 156–169.
  • Sibylle Hunziker: The state strike in 1918 on the Bödeli , in: Rebellisches Berner Oberland: From the struggle for independence . Edited by the Bernese Oberland Chamber of Commerce. Spiez 2013.
  • Adrian Jacobi: "As you may know, the general strike on the Zug square died out completely": The state strike in Zug in 1918 , in: Tugium 34 (2018). Pp. 181-192.
  • Christian Koller : The UZH in the state strike in 1918: " Unhinge the state" , in: UZH Magazin 3/2018. P. 62f.
  • Jonas Komposch: “Country idiot” against “city mob”: urban-rural discourse and peasant class ideology during the general strike in 1918 in the canton of Thurgau . Master thesis Univ. Zurich 2018.
  • Jonas Komposch: The state strike in Thurgau: 1918–2018 . Frauenfeld / Kreuzlingen 2018.
  • Robert Labhardt : War and Crisis: Basel 1914-1918 . Basel 2014.
  • Orazio Martinetti / Gabriele Rossi / Rosario Talarico: Ribellarsi per avanzare: Lo Sciopero generale del 1918 in Svizzera e Ticino . Bellinzona 2019.
  • Markus Mattmüller : The Zurich labor movement during the First World War , in: Zürcher Taschenbuch 90 (1970). Pp. 65-87.
  • Erich Meyer: The general strike in 1918 in Olten , in: Oltner Neujahrsblätter 27 (1969). Pp. 44-51.
  • Erich Meyer: Solothurn history in single pictures: From soldier patriotism to state strike . Olten 2002.
  • Marc Perrenoud: Les effets de la grève générale de 1918 sur le littoral neuchâtelois , in: Revue historique neuchâteloise 155 (2018). Pp. 103-120.
  • Jacques Rey: La grève générale de 1918 à la Chaux-de-Fonds . Lausanne / Geneva 1981.
  • Thomas Rohr: Schaffhausen and the state strike of 1918 , Schaffhausen 1972.
  • Joe Schelbert: The national strike of November 1918 in the Lucerne region. Its history, its course and its effect , Lucerne 1985.
  • Karin Schleifer: "Guilt and cause is unbelief": Why the state strike did not take place in Nidwalden , in: Historischer Verein Nidwalden (ed.): Nidwalden in the First World War . Stans 2018. pp. 136–155.
  • Matthias Schwank: The beginnings of the labor movement in Bülach until 1920: requirements, organization, conflicts . Licentiate thesis Univ. Zurich 1999.
  • Leonie Stalder: Everything stands still: The state strike in 1918 in the Bernese Oberland newspapers and reports from Bödeli , in: Uferschutzverband Thuner- und Brienzersee: Yearbook 2019 . Pp. 125-162.
  • Andreas Thürer: 1918, il Ticino alla fine della guerra , in: Archivio Storico Ticinese 166 (2019). Pp. 26-55.
  • Patrick Zehnder: Leaflets against bare sabers: Physical and symbolic occupation of space in Aargau during the state strike in 1918 , in: Argovia 129 (2017). Pp. 49-72.
  • Patrick Zehnder: Hundred years of struggle for the "correct interpretation": The state strike of 1918 in the Baden region , in: Badener Neujahrsblätter 93 (2018). Pp. 122-133.
  • Adrian Zimmermann: The state strike in the Bern region: Prehistory, course and effects , in: Berner Zeitschrift für Geschichte 81/2 (2019). Pp. 3-45.

International connections

Political reactions

Historiography, memorial culture

Documents in archives

Didactic materials

Web links

Commons : Landesstreik (Switzerland, 1918)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Robert Grimm: The political mass strike. Basel 1906
  2. ↑ Christian Koller : Weather lights of the overthrow - The Russian Revolution of 1905 and the mass strike debate in the international workers' movement , in: Rote Revue 83/4 (2005). Pp. 38-42.
  3. ↑ Daniel Krämer et al. (Ed.): "New surcharges every week": Food, energy and resource conflicts in Switzerland during the First World War . Basel 2016.
  4. ^ Gertrud Schmid-Weiss: Swiss emergency aid in the First World War: A micro-history of material survival with a special view of the city and canton of Zurich . Vienna 2019
  5. ↑ Schmid-Weiss, pp. 193–196.
  6. ↑ Thomas Maissen: In an emergency they took to the streets - a search for the causes of the state strike in 1918 In: Aargauer Zeitung of August 18, 2018
  7. ↑ Hannes Nussbaumer: When Zurich was rehearsing the revolution In: Tages-Anzeiger of November 17, 2017
  8. ↑ Adi Kälin: Four people died in the Zurich “youth riots” a hundred years ago. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung of September 30, 2017
  9. ↑ Patrick Kury: The virus of insecurity: The flu of the century of 1918/19 and the national strike . In: Roman Rossfeld et al. (Ed.): The national strike: Switzerland in November 1918 . Baden: Here + Now 2018. pp. 390–411
  10. ↑ Christian Koller: Archival clapping of hands: holdings on health care and health policy in the social archive , in: Social archive Info 2 (2020). Pp. 10-26
  11. ↑ Konrad J. Kuhn: Politics in bronze and stone: Monuments for the "fallen soldiers of the First World War" , in: Konrad J. Kuhn / Béatrice Ziegler (ed.): The forgotten war: Traces and traditions of Switzerland in the First World War . Baden 2014. pp. 211-231
  12. ^ Laurent Andrey: La mémoire des "sombres journées de novembre 1918" in Friborg: Monuments, rituels commémoratifs et perpétuation d'un mythe politico-militaire. Licentiate thesis Univ. Friborg 2002
  13. ↑ Christian Koller: The Swiss "border occupation 1914/18" as a place of remembrance of the "intellectual national defense" . In: Hermann JW Kuprian / Oswald übergger (ed.): The First World War in the Alpine region: experience, interpretation, memory . Innsbruck: Universitätsverlag Wagner 2006. pp. 441–462
  14. ↑ Georg Kreis: Memorials to the fallen in war-spared land. On the political death cult in Switzerland , in: Reinhart Koselleck / Michael Jeismann (eds.): The political death cult: War memorials in modernity . Munich 1994, pp. 129-143
  15. ^ E. Leu (ed.): Soldier memorials: 1914–1918, 1939–1945 . Belp 1953
  16. ↑ Danny Schlumpf: Study warns of a quick exit: the longer the lockdown, the better for the economy . In: SonntagsBlick from April 26, 2020.
  17. ↑ https://www.bar.admin.ch/bar/de/home/service-publikationen/publikationen/geschichte-aktuell/landesgeneralstreik--11--bis-14--november-1918.html
  18. ^ Historical Archives of the (Swiss) PTT. Retrieved August 25, 2018 .
  19. ^ Andreas Thürer: Ticino between victory celebrations and general strike in November 1918 . In: Roman Rossfeld et al (Ed.): The state strike. Switzerland in November 1918 . Baden 2018, p. 349 f .
  20. ↑ a b Bernard Degen : State strike. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . August 9, 2012 , accessed June 5, 2019 .
  21. ↑ https://www.srf.ch/news/regional/aargau-solothurn/100-jahre-landesstreik-die-drei-toten-von-grenchen
  22. ↑ https://www.srf.ch/news/regional/aargau-solothurn/100-jahre-landesstreik-die-drei-toten-von-grenchen
  23. ↑ https://www.grenchnertagblatt.ch/solothurn/kanton-solothurn/wer-toetete-die-drei-zivilisten-christian-lanz-ist-im-schiesskeller-dem-moerder-auf-der-spur-133713512
  24. ↑ https://www.oltnertagblatt.ch/solothurn/grenchen/weshalb-in-grenchen-1918-toedliche-schuesse-fielen-126027023
  25. ↑ https://www.solothurnerzeitung.ch/solothurn/grenchen/wurde-1918-der-mord-vertuscht-rechtsmediziner-aeussert-zweifel-an-der-offizialen-darstellung-133713346
  26. ↑ https://www.grenchnertagblatt.ch/solothurn/kanton-solothurn/wer-toetete-die-drei-zivilisten-christian-lanz-ist-im-schiesskeller-dem-moerder-auf-der-spur-133713512
  27. ↑ Dorothea Zimmermann: Remember the national strike: Anti-communist activities of the Swiss Patriotic Association 1919–1948, in: Swiss Journal of History 63 (2013). Pp. 479-504.
  28. ↑ Peter Collmer: Between Self-Definition and International Assertion: Early Bolshevik Diplomacy Using the Example of the Soviet Mission in Bern (May to November 1918), in: Thomas, Ludmilla and Victor Knoll (eds.): Between Tradition and Revolution: Determinants and Structures of Soviet Foreign Policy 1917 -1941. Stuttgart 2000. pp. 225-283.
  29. ↑ Jakob Tanner : In the state strike there was world politics . In: Tages-Anzeiger, October 31, 2018.
  30. ↑ https://www.grenchnertagblatt.ch/solothurn/kanton-solothurn/wer-toetete-die-drei-zivilisten-christian-lanz-ist-im-schiesskeller-dem-moerder-auf-der-spur-133713512
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  32. ↑ https://www.sozialarchiv.ch/2018/11/08/moskau-retour/
  33. ↑ Christian Koller : "The captain rules on a ship, not a sailor's council" - The codetermination debate after the Swiss national strike , in: Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Geschichte 69/1 (2019). Pp. 49-72
  34. ↑ Andreas Ernst / Erich Wigger: Innovation and Repression: The Restabilization of Bourgeois Switzerland after the First World War, in: Imhof, Kurt et al. (Ed.): Between conflict and concordance: Analysis of media events in Switzerland in the pre- and interwar period. Zurich 1993, p. 155f.
  35. ^ Peter Stadler : The discussion about a complete revision of the Swiss Federal Constitution 1933-1935 , in: Swiss Journal for History 19/1 (1969). P. 78.
  36. ↑ https://www.sozialarchiv.ch/2017/07/15/vor-70-jahren-gruenes-licht-fuer-die-ahv/
  37. ^ Michel Caillat, Jean-François Fayet: Le mythe de l'ingérence bolchevique dans la Grève générale de novembre 1918. Histoire d'une construction franco-suisse. In: Traverse . Vol. 25 (2018), H. 2, pp. 213-229.
  38. ↑ Daniel Artho: A Diabolical Plan to Terrorize Switzerland? In: Die Wochenzeitung , November 22, 2018.
  39. ↑ Daniel Artho: The general strike as a failed attempt at revolution? On the story of a fateful narrative , in: Roman Rossfeld et al. (Ed.): The national strike: Switzerland in November 1918 . Baden 2018. pp. 412–429.
  40. ↑ https://www.sozialarchiv.ch/2018/09/23/100-jahre-erinnerung-an-den-landesstreik-ein-schweizerspiegel/
  41. ↑ Daniel Artho: Revolution and Bolshevik terror in Switzerland? The conspiracy propagandist Serge Persky and the interpretation of the Swiss national strike of 1918 , in: Swiss Journal for History 69/2 (2019). Pp. 283-301.
  42. ↑ Daniel Artho: "A company for violent overthrow": As the Verschwörungspropagandist Serge Persky manipulated the interpretation of the Swiss national strike of 1918 , in: In Dialogue - contributions from the Academy of the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart 3 (2020). Pp. 107-120.
  43. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated August 6, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nb.admin.ch
  44. ↑ http://www.calames.abes.fr/pub/#details?id=FileId-1998
  45. ^ Adrian Zimmermann: Fake News: Bombs on the Bundeshaus , in: VPOD Magazin , October 2018 . P. 16f.
  46. ↑ Daniel Artho: "Fake News" support the Revolutionsnarrativ: Serge Perskys controversial revelations in Roman Ross Field et al. (Ed.): The national strike: Switzerland in November 1918 . Baden 2018. p. 423.
  47. ↑ http://wvps46-163-105-116.dedicated.hosteurope.de/bern-sgb/link_netbiblio/Generalstreik/LandesstreikProzessBd2_7837.pdf , p. 707
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  49. ^ Adrian Zimmermann: Fake News: Bombs on the Bundeshaus , in: VPOD Magazin , October 2018 . P. 16f.
  50. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z10BWRkRNnU
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  52. ↑ Daniel Artho: The Revolutionsnarrativ in the movies: The Red Plague of 1938 , in Roman Ross Field et al. (Ed.): The national strike: Switzerland in November 1918 . Baden 2018. p. 427.
  53. ↑ https://www.eda.admin.ch/dam/parl-vor/2nd-world-war/1970-1989/film-die-rote-pest.pdf
  54. ↑ https://www.nzz.ch/schweiz/der-altbundesrat-und-sein-hetzfilm-ld.1418663
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  56. ↑ http://www.weltwoche.ch/expenses/2018-1/artikel/buergerschreck-und-buergerkrieger-die-weltwoche-ausgabe-12018.html
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  58. ↑ https://www.aargauerzeitung.ch/leben/leben/jahrhundpolitiker-robert-grimm-wer-war-der-bedeutende-sozialdemokrat-132057978#
  59. ↑ https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/zuerich/region/wie-christoph-blocher-geschichte-schreiben/story/10783689
  60. ↑ http://www.robertgrimm.ch/icc.asp?oid=9052
  61. ↑ https://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/kultur/er-schludert/story/17455012
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  64. ↑ https://www.nzz.ch/feuilleton/was-bleibt-von-den-debatten-um-den-landesstreik-ld.1439167
  65. ↑ http://generalstreik.ch/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/bruder-grimm.pdf
  66. ↑ https://www.blick.ch/news/politik/fam/frank-a-meyer-die-kolumne-1918-id15023874.html
  67. ↑ http://www.politnetz.ch/artikel/23456-2018-ein-schluesseljahr-fuer-unser-land-die-schweiz
  68. ↑ https://www.grenchnertagblatt.ch/solothurn/kanton-solothurn/wer-toetete-die-drei-zivilisten-christian-lanz-ist-im-schiesskeller-dem-moerder-auf-der-spur-133713512
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  70. ↑ https://www.solothurnerzeitung.ch/solothurn/grenchen/ein-kranz-fuer-die-drei-opfer-des-landesstreiks-133692947
  71. ^ Charles Heimberg: La Grève générale de 1918 en Suisse: un documentaire qui brouille les esprits, April 2, 2018 .
  72. ↑ https://www.bluewin.ch/de/entertainment/tv/grosse-krise-vor-100-jahren-in-der-schweiz-wurde-damals-oft-gestreikt-58686.html
  73. ↑ https://www.woz.ch/1946/auf-allen-kanaelen/roebi-war-nicht-allein