Union national (Switzerland)
The Union nationale was a political party in Switzerland that is attributed to the front movement .
history
In 1932, Georges Oltramare , who was also the undisputed leader of the party, founded the Union nationale in Geneva . On November 9, 1932, members of the Union nationale disrupted a socialist event in the communal hall of Plainpalais . This was followed by a mass rally by the socialists and then the riots in Geneva in 1932 . In 1936 the Union nationale, in conjunction with the bourgeois parties, won ten seats in the Grand Council elections in Geneva. In 1937 the party had around 2,000 party members.
In May 1937, Oltramare traveled to Rome and met Benito Mussolini . The Union nationale received money from the Italian government and was supposed to influence the League of Nations on the question of the Abyssinian War and the sanctions affair in favor of Italy . In 1939 the party tried to merge with the Liberal Democratic Party of the Canton of Geneva. When the project failed, Oltramare left the Union nationale, which dissolved shortly afterwards.
Political orientation
The Union nationale leaned heavily on the fascist models abroad. The party was built militaristically. The electorate came from the bourgeoisie , the party was anti-communist oriented. The party's motto was "One Doctrine, One Faith, One Leader".
literature
- Catherine Arber: Frontism and National Socialism in the City of Bern. Much ado, but little success . (PDF; 342 kB) Univ. Bern, Historical Institute, licentiate thesis, 2002; Slightly abridged in: Berner Zeitschrift für Geschichte , 01/03, ISSN 0005-9420 , pp. 3–55.
- Beat Glaus: The National Front. A Swiss fascist movement 1930–1940 . Benziger, Zurich / Einsiedeln / Cologne 1969 (also dissertation at the University of Basel ).
- Walter Wolf: Fascism in Switzerland. The history of the front movements in German-speaking Switzerland 1930–1945 . Flamberg / Zurich 1969 (also dissertation at the University of Zurich ).