Special case in Switzerland

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The term special case plays a role in politics and self-perception in Switzerland . It is Switzerland and its history that is viewed as a “special case” within the history of Europe . It is primarily about explanations for the above-average economic and political stability of Switzerland since the foundation of the federal state in 1848. Explanations of the nature of the "special case of Switzerland" can take up actual historical or territorial unusualness, but also exaggerate them in the direction of a political myth . often in the direction that Switzerland as a state should serve as a role model .

Often cited aspects of the special case are:

  • the geographical location of Switzerland in the Alps and the ethnic characteristics of the population as an “alpine shepherd people” or Switzerland as a “peasant nation”. This goes hand in hand with an alleged mentality with virtues such as great enthusiasm for work, frugality, cleanliness and contract loyalty.
  • modern Switzerland (and also the old Confederation) as a “ nation of will ”, based on voluntary contracts and not on the basis of compulsory national togetherness, along with the strong tradition of federalism
  • Swiss foreign policy neutrality and the sideline from European great power politics
  • a tradition of personal freedom and direct democracy

The German term "Sonderfall" is considered untranslatable and is adopted as a German loan word in French and Italian Switzerland. Historically, "special case thinking" goes back to the 19th century. It appears fully expressed in the famous speech by Carl Spitteler, Our Swiss Standpoint , given in 1914 on the question of Swiss neutrality in the First World War. In the 1930s and 1940s, the Spiritual National Defense took up the idea of ​​special cases.

The term “special case” had a positive connotation until the 1970s. With the start of European integration in the post-war period, however, the idea of ​​the “special case” was also extended to Switzerland's “ going it alone ” and, since the 1990s, increasingly as “out of date” or “out of date” by circles that wanted closer rapprochement with Europe. looking backwards ”or even portrayed as a national-conservative “ myth ”. In the late 1990s the term “ Swissness” was coined, which as a political catchphrase became the actual opposite of the “special case”, expressing globalization and cosmopolitanism, while the latter is characterized by a complex of threats and fear of foreign infiltration .

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ «A whole series of significant developments and events had shaken the traditional self-image of the country in the 80s and 90s. The formation of the EU, globalization and the end of the Cold War presented the country with new challenges. The growing contradictions between the generations, the individual parts of the country and between urban and rural areas created uncertainty. In addition, the new look at the history of Switzerland in the Second World War destroyed the myth of the defensive and independent small state. The heroic historical image of Switzerland that was staged at the diamond celebrations of 1989, as well as the historical understanding of a continuous development of the special case of Switzerland, which had been conjured up in 1939, 1964 and even 1991, could no longer be maintained. [...] In addition, a large part of the Swiss treasure trove of myths, especially the image of heroic Switzerland, which always defended its independence and freedom, no longer played a role in the discourse on the genesis of the latest national exhibition. Only the myth of the willing nation and the Swiss special case were discussed. While the myth of the special case reflected the outdated self-image of the post-war period and was accordingly criticized, the idea of ​​the willing nation embodied the modern, efficient, cosmopolitan and creative Switzerland that the organizers of the most recent national exhibition wanted to show at the beginning of the third millennium. The idea of ​​the nation of will was perceived as an identity-creating myth that embodied the present and future as well as historical tradition, without paying homage to the principle of the traditional special case. " Andreas Müller: Expo.nentielle Imagi.nation: The media discussion on the genesis of Expo.02 (1993-2002). A contribution to the historical culture of remembrance and the identity debate in Switzerland in the 1990s. (2005).
  2. ↑ Hannes Nussbaumer: Revive or dispose of the special case? Tages-Anzeiger, December 6, 2007, p. 53 , archived from the original on October 10, 2012 ; Retrieved May 17, 2011 .