Table Of ContentWhy Switzerland?
RevisedandcompletelyupdatededitionofJonathanSteinberg’sclassic
account of Switzerland’s unique political and economic system. Why
Switzerland?examinesthecomplicatedvotingsystemthatallowscitizens
toadd,strikeoutorvotemorethanonceforcandidates,withextremely
complicated systems of proportional representation; a collective and
consensualexecutiveleadershipinbothstateandchurch;andthecreation
oftheSwissideaofcitizenship,withtoleranceofdifferencesoflanguage
and religion, and a perfectionist bureaucracy which regulates the well-
orderedsociety.ThisthirdeditiontriestotesttheflexibilityoftheSwiss
wayofpoliticsintheglobalisedworld,socialmedia,thehugeexpansionof
moneyinworldcirculationandthevasttsunamisofcapitalwhichthreaten
to swamp it. Can the complex machinery that has maintained Swiss
institutions for centuries survive globalisation, neo-liberalism and mass
migrationfrompoorcountriestorichones?
Jonathan Steinberg is the Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Modern
EuropeanHistoryattheUniversityofPennsylvania(emeritus)andan
Emeritus Fellow, Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge. He was the
principalauthorofTheDeutscheBankandItsGoldTransactionsduringthe
SecondWorldWar(1999).HeisalsotheauthorofYesterday’sDeterrent:
TirpitzandtheBirthoftheGermanBattleFleet(1965),AllorNothing:The
AxisandtheHolocaust,1941to1943(2002)andBismarck:ALife(2011).
Why Switzerland?
ThirdEdition
Jonathan Steinberg
UniversityofPennsylvania
UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom
CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge.
ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof
education,learningandresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence.
www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9780521883078
©JonathanSteinberg1976,1996,2015
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements,
noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished1976
Reprintedwithcorrections1978
Firstpaperbackedition1980
Reprinted1984,1985,1987,1991
Secondedition1996
Seventhprinting2005
Thirdedition2015
PrintedinUnitedKingdombyTJInternationalLtd.PadstowCornwall
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloguinginPublicationdata
Steinberg,Jonathan.
WhySwitzerland?/JonathanSteinberg,Universityof
Pennsylvania.–Thirdedition.
pages cm
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-521-88307-8(hardback)–ISBN978-0-521-70955-2(paperback)
1. Switzerland–Civilization. 2. Nationalcharacteristics,Swiss. I. Title.
DQ17.S7 2015
949.4–dc23
2015021262
ISBN978-0-521-88307-8Hardback
ISBN978-0-521-70955-2Paperback
CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof
URLsforexternalorthird-partyinternetwebsitesreferredtointhispublication,
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accurateorappropriate.
To Marion Kant
My partner in this work and in life
DaLuganosisaletraivignette,traigiardini,tralevilleeleganti;leAlpi
sono vicine ma la dolce Italia vive ancora e prima di morire brilla nel
lago,nelcielo,neicolli.Eunapateticachiusadiunosplendidopoema.
Maqualcosaèfiltratad’Oltrealpe:lalinduradellecasine,dellecrottinon
èitaliana.
AntonioFogazzaro
Überhauptistnichtgrossoderklein,wasaufderLandkartesoscheint:
eskommtaufdenGeistan.
JohannesvonMüller
TroisSuissesvontàlachasseauxescargotsetilscomparentleursprises
enfindejournée.–‘Moi’,ditleGenevoisrapide,‘j’enaicent.’–‘Moi’,
dit le Bernois, ‘j’en ai attrapé quatre.’ – ‘Et moi’, dit le Vaudois
(imaginezl’accent),‘j’enaibienvuun,maisilm’aéchappé.’
DenisdeRougemont
Contents
Listofillustrations pageviii
Listoftables xi
Prefacetothethirdedition xiii
1 WhySwitzerland? 1
2 History 8
3 Politics 81
4 Language 140
5 Wealth 171
6 Religion 217
7 WhyItalianSwitzerland? 243
8 SwitzerlandandtheEuropeanUnion 282
9 ThecrisisofSwissidentity 307
Notes 328
Index 358
vii
Illustrations
1 TheRütliOath(ca1291).RepresentativesofUri,Schwyzand
UnterwaldenmetontheshoreoftheLakeofLucernetoswear
theRutliOath,onwhichSwissfreedomwasfounded.Undated
engraving. page16
2 WilliamTell.Swissfolkhero.Hislegendissetintheperiodof
theoriginalfoundationoftheOldSwissConfederacyinthe
earlyfourteenthcentury.Accordingtothelegend,Tellwasan
expertmarksmanwho,withacrossbow,assassinatedGessler,a
tyrannicalAustrianVogtofAltdorfinthecantonofUri.Heis
seenhererowingaboatacrossaragingmountaintorrent. 17
3 StatueofaSwisssoldierfromthefifteenthcenturywiththelong
pike. 23
4 PortraitUlrichZwingli,1484–1531,Swissreformer,patriot
andtranslatorwithJudaoftheZurichBible. 32
5 PortraitofJean-Jacques(JeanJacques)Rousseau(1712–78),
Swissphilosopher.Illustrationfrom‘LePlutarqueFrançais’by
EdmondMennechet,1836(colourengraving). 41
6 BernischesKantonalSchützenfest,posterfor1926shooting
competitioninBern,Switzerland.Manholdingrifle. 60
7 GeneralHenriGuisanemergesfromtheSwissParliamentafter
hiselectionasGeneral,anofficeonlyheldinwartime,on30
August,1939. 66
8 FederalCouncillorGiuseppeMottawithdelegatesofthe
LeagueofNations’memberstatesaheadofaconferencein
1938inGeneva,Switzerland.Motta(1871–1940)servedasthe
League’spresidentin1924andasaFederalCouncillorof
Switzerlandfrom1912until1940. 67
9 Historicmachinegunstandinthe‘SassoSanGottardo’
fortress.ThehistoricundergroundSwissarmyfortress‘Sasso
SanGottardo’hadbeenbuiltinsidethemountainsnearthe
SwisspassofSanGottardo.Itwasinuseuntilthe1990sandis
nowamuseumandopentothepublic. 70
viii
Listofillustrations ix
10 Swissofficerinasnowcave,1940.10,000feetupthe
mountainswiththeSwissSkiingTroops. 71
11 ALandsgemeindefrom1May1922.Thephotodoesnotidentify
whichcantonitis. 82
12 ChristmasdecorationsinMalters,CantonLuzern. 94
13 Awomanpassesbyaposteroftheright-wingSwissPeople’s
Party(SVP/UDC),whichshowsforeignhandstakingSwiss
passports,inGeneva,Switzerland.Thephotowastaken28
April2008. 130
14 MemberoftheSwissPeople’sParty(SVP)NationalCouncillor
andformerSwissMinisterChristophBlocherspeakingduring
anewsconferenceonasyluminBern,20February2012. 131
15 Acowrunsinameadownexttoadisplayadvertisingthe
initiativeagainsttheconstructionofnewminaretsin
Switzerland,inZwillikon,13November2009. 133
16 AphotoofPhilipEtter,memberoftheSwissFederalCouncil
since1934,whowaschosenPresidentofSwitzerlandin1942,a
posthepreviouslyhadheldin1939,isshown.Only50years
old,President-electEtterwastheyoungestofthesevenFederal
Councillors. 137
17 Posterinfavourof‘No’voteforthe‘SaveourSwissgold’
referendumisdisplayedbeforeanewsconferenceinBernon23
October2014.TheSwiss‘Sovereign’rejectedthereferendum
on30November2014. 138
18 PortraitofGottfriedKeller(1819–90),Swisswriterandpoet,
themostpopularSwissnovelistofthenineteenthcentury.
Engraving. 146
19 PhotoofMaxFrisch,(1911–91)themostimportantSwiss
Germanwriterinthesecondhalfofthetwentiethcentury,
undated. 174
20 Afine,hunting-cased,keyless,minute-repeating,14Krose
goldpocketwatchwithconcealederoticautomatonmadeca
1890byLugrin,picturedduringanauctionpreviewinGeneva,
24March2011. 175
21 ShopwindowofajewellerandluxurywatchshoponZurich
Bahnhofstrasse. 198
22 OutgoingUBSChairmanKasparVilligershakeshandswith
CEOSergioErmotti(L)duringageneralshareholdersmeeting
inZurich,3May2012. 208
23 StUrsenCathedral,Solothurn,althoughitistheseatofa
bishop,belongstotheKirchengemeindeandnotthediocese. 224
