Swiss parliamentary elections 1914

← 1911General election of
the National Council in 19141917 →

Turnout: 46.4%

 %

60

50

40

30th

20th

10

0

56.1

21.1

10.1

7.4

2.7

2.6

FDP

KVP ^b

SP

LPS ^d

DP

Otherwise.

Gains and losses

compared to

 % p

   8th

   6th

   4th

   2

   0

  -2

  -4

  -6

  -8th

-10

+6.6

+2.0

-9.9

+0.6

-0.4

+1.1

FDP

KVP ^b

SP

LPS ^d

DP

Otherwise.

Remarks:

^b 1911: KK

^d 1911: LM

The Swiss parliamentary elections in 1914 took place on October 25, 1914. 189 seats in the National Council were available for election . The elections were made according to the majority vote , with the country divided into 49 national council constituencies of different sizes . Because of the outbreak of World War I , the parties largely refrained from campaigning and there were only a few postponements. The newly elected parliament met for the first time in the 23rd legislative period on December 7, 1914.

Election campaign

The outbreak of World War I on July 28, 1914 and problems with mobilization led to considerations to postpone the elections. However, due to constitutional concerns, the Federal Council refrained from doing so. The parties then tried to hold the elections without campaigning as much as possible. Only the Liberal Party of Switzerland , which emerged in 1913 from the faction of the liberal center, did not keep to this agreement of a "truce", since no concessions had been made to it in the canton of Geneva . Otherwise there was only competition in the cantons of Uri and Thurgau , where a bank failure caused political excitement, as well as in the cantons of Basel-Landschaft and Vaud . In Thurgau, freedom began to break up into rival groups three years earlier than in the rest of Switzerland (agriculture, trade, young liberals, previous “old liberals”).

During the 22nd legislative period , there were 24 replacement elections in 13 constituencies due to vacancies , in which the Social Democrats were able to gain five seats (mainly at the expense of the liberals). In 1914 there were a total of 55 ballots (one more than three years earlier). In 43 of 49 constituencies, the elections were decided after the first ballot. Only in four constituencies did more candidates run than seats were available, which underlines the almost complete lack of an election campaign. With the last ballot on November 8, 1914, the National Council was complete. The turnout fell by 6.3 percentage points compared to 1911. The canton of Aargau had the highest value, with 85.9% casting their vote. Otherwise only the canton of Uri recorded more than 80% participation. The turnout was lowest in the canton of Zug , where only 21.2% took part in the elections. Most of the seat shifts had already taken place before 1914 in substitute elections, and there were only minor changes on the actual election day. The fact that the Social Democrats lost almost ten percent of the vote compared to 1911, despite three seat wins, is solely due to the fact that they renounced all hopeless candidacies. The seat of the disbanded Aargau Rhine District Party fell back to the FDP. The Democratic-Economic Association , an FDP split in the canton of Basel-Landschaft , was able to win a seat, as did an independent farmer candidate in the canton of Thurgau .

Result of the National Council elections

→ Main article : Swiss parliamentary elections 1914 / Results of the National Council elections

Overall result

Of 851,377 adult male eligible voters, 395,431 took part in the elections, which corresponds to a turnout of 46.4%.

The 189 seats in the National Council were distributed as follows:

18th

4th

112

1

16

1

37

18th 4th 112 1 16 1 37 

A total of 189 seats

• SP : 18
• DL : 4
• FDP : 112
• DVV : 1
• LPS : 16
• independent : 1
• KVP : 37

Political party Seats 1911 before dissolution Seats 1914 +/- Share of voters +/- FDP 115 110 112 −3 56.1% +6.6% CIP 38 38 37 −1 21.1% + 2.0% SP 15th 19th 18th +3 10.1% −9.9% LPS 14th 14th 16 +2 07.4% + 0.6% DL 6th 6th 4th −2 02.7% −0.4% kl. Parties * 1 2 2 +1 02.0% +1.1% Various - - - - 00.6% - * 1 seat for DVV, 1 seat for independents

FDP = Liberal Democratic Party LPS = Liberal Party of Switzerland KVP = Conservative People's Party DL = Democratic Left (sociopolitical group, Democratic Party ) SP = Social Democratic Party DVV = Democratic-Economic Association RP = Rhine District Party (left FDP dissidents in the canton of Aargau)

Results in the cantons

The table below shows the distribution of seats won by cantons.

Canton	seats total	electoral circles	participating pation	FDP		CIP		SP		LPS		DL		DVV		independent		RP
Aargau	12	4th	85.9%	9	+1	3												-	−1
Appenzell Ausserrhoden	3	1	67.3%	2				1
Appenzell Innerrhoden	1	1	71.2%			1
Basel-Country	4th	1	47.0%	3								-	−1	1	+1
Basel city	7th	1	29.4%	2	−1			3	+1	2
Bern	32	7th	29.1%	24	−1	2		4th	+1	2
Freiburg	7th	2	35.7%	2		5
Geneva	8th	1	52.9%	3	−2	1		1		3	+2
Glarus	2	1	57.0%	1	+1							1	−1
Grisons	6th	1	47.3%	4th		1				1
Lucerne	8th	3	31.4%	3		5
Neuchâtel	7th	1	52.3%	4th	−1			2	+1	1
Nidwalden	1	1	27.8%			1
Obwalden	1	1	30.7%			1
Schaffhausen	2	1	78.7%	2
Schwyz	3	1	22.7%	1		2
Solothurn	6th	1	31.9%	4th		1		1
St. Gallen	15th	5	70.1%	7th		6th						2
Ticino	8th	2	29.5%	5		2				1
Thurgau	7th	1	78.8%	4th	−1	1						1				1	+1
Uri	1	1	82.4%	1	+1	-	−1
Vaud	16	3	37.2%	11	−1					5	+1
Valais	6th	2	44.9%	1		5
train	1	1	21.2%	1
Zurich	25th	5	51.2%	18th	+1			6th		1	−1
Switzerland	189	49	46.4%	112	-3	37	-1	18th	+3	16	+2	4th	-2	1	+1	1	+1	-	-1

Council of States

The members of the Council of States in 18 cantons were able to choose who were eligible to vote : in the cantons of Aargau , Basel-Landschaft , Basel-Stadt , Geneva , Graubünden , Lucerne , Schwyz , Solothurn , Ticino , Thurgau , Zug and Zurich at the ballot box, in the cantons Appenzell Ausserrhoden , Appenzell Innerrhoden , Glarus , Nidwalden , Obwalden and Uri an der Landsgemeinde . In all other cantons, the election was made indirectly by the respective cantonal parliaments . In many cantons the elections to the Council of States did not take place at the same time as the elections to the National Council.

Distribution of seats

The distribution of seats in the Council of States was as follows:

1

1

24

2

16

1 1 24 2 16 

A total of 44 seats

• SP : 1
• DP : 1
• FDP : 24
• LPS : 2
• KVP : 16

Political party	Elections 1914	Elections 1911
FDP	24	25th
CIP	16	16
LPS	2	1 1
DP	1	1
SP	1	1

¹ Central Liberal Group

Elected Councils of State

Canton	1. Seat of the Council of States	2. Seat of the Council of States
Aargau	Peter Emil Isler , FDP	Gottfried Keller , FDP
Appenzell Ausserrhoden	Johannes Baumann , FDP	only 1 seat
Appenzell Innerrhoden	Johann Baptist Edmund Dähler , KVP	only 1 seat
Basel-Country	Gustav Johann Schneider , FDP	only 1 seat
Basel city	Paul Scherrer , FDP	only 1 seat
Bern	Gottfried Kunz , FDP	Adolf von Steiger , FDP
Freiburg	Georges Python , KVP	Ernest de Weck , CIP
Geneva	Adrien Lachenal , FDP	Jacques Rutty , LPS
Glarus	David Legler , DP	Philippe Mercier , FDP
Grisons	Andreas Laelys , FDP	Friedrich Brügger , KVP
Lucerne	Josef Dürig , KVP	Josef Winiger , CIP
Neuchâtel	Auguste Pettavel , FDP	Paul Robert-Tissot , LPS
Nidwalden	Jakob Konstantin Wyrsch , KVP	only 1 seat
Obwalden	Adalbert Wirz , CIP	only 1 seat
Schaffhausen	Albert Ammann , FDP	Heinrich Bolli , FDP
Schwyz	Martin Ochsner , CIP	Josef Maria Schuler , KVP
Solothurn	Casimir von Arx , FDP	Oskar Munzinger , FDP
St. Gallen	Johannes Geel , FDP	Heinrich Scherrer , SP
Ticino	Stefano Gabuzzi , FDP	Adolfo Soldini , FDP
Thurgau	Johann Georg Leumann , FDP	Albert Böhi , FDP
Uri	Florian Lusser , CIP	Franz Muheim , KVP
Vaud	Adrien Thélin , FDP	Henri Simon , FDP
Valais	Joseph Ribordy , KVP	Heinrich von Roten , KVP
train	Josef Andermatt , KVP	Josef Hildebrand , KVP
Zurich	Oskar Wettstein , FDP	Paul Usteri , FDP

literature

• Erich Gruner : The elections to the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 . tape 1 , first part. Francke Verlag, Bern 1978, ISBN 3-7720-1442-9 .
• Erich Gruner: The elections to the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 . tape 1 , second part. Francke Verlag, Bern 1978, ISBN 3-7720-1443-7 .
• Erich Gruner: The elections to the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 . tape 2 . Francke Verlag, Bern 1978, ISBN 3-7720-1444-5 (notes).
• Erich Gruner: The elections to the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 . tape 3 . Francke Verlag, Bern 1978, ISBN 3-7720-1445-3 (tables, graphics, maps).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, second part, pp. 784–785.
2. ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 3, p. 369.
3. ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 1, second part, p. 786.
4. ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 3, p. 485.
5. ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 3, pp. 313–323
6. ↑ Gruner: The elections in the Swiss National Council 1848-1919 , Volume 3, p. 367.