Why Switzerland? PDF
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Why 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, anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchwebsitesis,orwillremain, 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
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