Marcel Pilet-Golaz

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Federal Councilor Marcel Pilet-Golaz, around 1929

Marcel Pilet-Golaz (born December 31, 1889 in Cossonay , † April 11, 1958 in Paris ) was a Swiss politician ( FDP ) from the canton of Vaud . As Federal Councilor , he was Minister of the Interior, Minister of Transport, and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and twice held the office of Federal President , including in 1940 at the beginning of the Second World War .

Life

Marcel Pilet-Golaz was the son of the commercial agent and city council president of Lausanne Edouard Pilet-Golaz and his wife Ella nee. Gift Pilet-Golaz studied law and obtained a Dr. iur. from the University of Lausanne . He then worked as a lawyer and was an officer (most recently major) in the Swiss Army . Since 1915 he was married to Mathilde Golaz, daughter of the free-thinking politician Donat Golaz .

Political beginnings

Pilet-Golaz served from 1921 to 1928 as a Cantonal Councilor for the Free Democratic Party of Vaud and sat on the National Council from 1925 to 1928 . During this time he sat down u. a. against the right to strike for civil servants.

Federal Council

Marcel Pilet-Golaz

The United Federal Assembly elected Marcel Pilet-Golaz as the successor to Ernest Chuard on December 13, 1928 in the first ballot in the Federal Council . On January 1, 1929, he took over the Federal Department of Home Affairs from his predecessor and party colleague . After Robert Haab's resignation , he moved to the Federal Post and Railway Department on January 1, 1930 . He took over the Federal Political Department on March 1, 1940 from the late Giuseppe Motta . Parliament confirmed him in office in 1931, 1935, 1939 and 1943. He was Vice President of the Federal Council in 1933, 1939 and 1944, and Federal President in 1934 and 1940 . After Giuseppe Motta's death, he was the oldest member of the government from 1940 to 1944. On November 7, 1944, he announced that he would resign on December 31, 1944.

In numerous jokes, a personal rivalry between the French-speaking Pilet-Golaz and his Swiss-German colleague Rudolf Minger has been assumed.

Foreign policy

After the annexation of Austria , Marcel Pilet-Golaz supported the proclamation of the Federal Council and the parliamentary groups regarding the neutrality of Switzerland.

As head of foreign policy since March 2, 1940, Pilet-Golaz had to find a balance between the German demands, the Allied objections and Switzerland's independence will. His way of establishing a relatively good relationship with the German Reich was highly controversial, both during the war and afterwards.

When Switzerland experienced the German campaign in the west and the defeat of France in 1940 , Pilet-Golaz headed the Department of Outer Affairs . He was considered a pragmatist who wanted to come to terms with German and Italian fascism at least peacefully; some also accused him of personal sympathy for fascism.

In particular, the radio address that Pilet-Golaz gave as Federal President on June 25, 1940, shortly after the capitulation of France, allowed for a wide range of interpretations. The speech coordinated with the rest of the Federal Council was intended to assure the people of their independence despite the new situation. However, through his choice of words he achieved the opposite.

On behalf of the Federal Council, Pilet-Golaz spoke of the fact that Switzerland's three large neighbors had now embarked on the path of peace, and that it was now time for Switzerland to look forward and help rebuild the world in upheaval. The time for inner rebirth is there, and each of the confederates has to cast off the "old man".

evaluation

Many thought they heard these words adopting the National Socialists' ideas. For the words customary before the German campaign in the west such as "resistance", "armed neutrality", "independence" did not appear in the speech.

This interpretation of Pilet-Golaz's words was reinforced by the fact that in September 1940 he received the leaders of the National Socialist-oriented Swiss National Movement (NBS) for a personal audience. As a result, Pilet-Golaz had to face the fierce criticism from broad sections of the public and parliament. Already at this point in time there were calls for resignation, which Pilet-Golaz knew how to evade. The NBS was banned by the Federal Council in November 1940 along with the communists on the left.

On the other hand, any provocation by the “Third Reich” seemed dangerous for Switzerland in June 1940. The downing of German aircraft by the Swiss Air Force in the border area with France had led to massive threats of retaliation. Quite a few considered restraint and adjustment to be the price necessary to maintain independence.

A month after that radio address announcing the military commander General Henri Guisan the Rütli Rapport the Réduit strategy for maintaining Swiss independence. This has often been interpreted as an answer to the "conformist" speech by Pilet-Golaz.

However, Pilet-Golaz's ideas as to the compromises that Switzerland should have made, in his opinion, never went as far as those of the Swiss minister (envoy) in Berlin, Hans Frölicher . Modern history has abandoned Pilet-Golaz as the sole bogeyman in Switzerland during the Second World War and a potential collaborator, as was the case in popular opinion and in numerous historical publications of the post-war period. Rather, it is necessary to view Pilet-Golaz's opinion as being exemplary for one part of the Swiss population, albeit a small number, on the one hand, and the state organs on the other. General Guisan is also seen in a much more sober light today than in the immediate post-war decades.

End of career

After his announcement in 1944 that he would establish diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union , which was followed by a sharp rejection, Pilet-Golaz lost all support and had to resign.

After the war, Pilet-Golaz did not comment on his behavior. He retired to his estate in Essertines-sur-Rolle .

Election results in the Federal Assembly

  • 1928: Election to the Federal Council with 151 votes (absolute majority: 113 votes)
  • 1931: Re-election as Federal Council with 119 votes (absolute majority: votes)
  • 1932: Election for Vice-President of the Federal Council with 156 votes (absolute majority: 86 votes)
  • 1933: Election to the Federal President with 137 votes (absolute majority: 77 votes)
  • 1935: Re-election as Federal Council with 119 votes (absolute majority: 93 votes)
  • 1938: Election of Vice President of the Federal Council with 99 votes (absolute majority: 52 votes)
  • 1939: Re-election as Federal Council with 145 votes (absolute majority: 88 votes)
  • 1939: Election to the Federal President with 142 votes (absolute majority: 80 votes)
  • 1943: Re-election as Federal Council with 154 votes (absolute majority: 114 votes)
  • 1943: Election of Vice President of the Federal Council with 147 votes (absolute majority: 97 votes)

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Federal Council (Switzerland) : Proclamation of the Federal Council and the parliamentary groups regarding neutrality. Swiss National Sound Archives , March 21, 1938, accessed on October 26, 2019 .
  2. ^ Proclamation of the Federal Council and the parliamentary groups regarding neutrality. In: Stenographic Bulletin of the Federal Assembly. National Council (Switzerland), March 21, 1938, accessed October 26, 2019 .
  3. ↑ See. Discours du Président de la Confédération radiophonique, M. Pilet (French) in the database Dodis the Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland
  4. ↑ Marc Tribelhorn: Most notorious speech in Swiss history. «The moment of inner rebirth». In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . June 22, 2015.
  5. ↑ Speeches, wrote the story on SRF 1
predecessor Office successor
Ernest Chuard Member of the Swiss Federal Council
1929–1944 		Max Petitpierre
personal data
SURNAME Pilet-Golaz, Marcel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pilet-Golaz, Marcel Edouard (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss politician (FDP)
DATE OF BIRTH December 31, 1889
PLACE OF BIRTH Cossonay
DATE OF DEATH April 11, 1958
Place of death Paris