Switzerland and the Great War - 100 Years of Historiography
←
→
Transkription von Seiteninhalten
Wenn Ihr Browser die Seite nicht korrekt rendert, bitte, lesen Sie den Inhalt der Seite unten
Switzerland and the Great War – 100 Years
of Historiography
Marcel Berni
“Then it came down like a bolt of lightning from above: The war had begun!”1
∵
Introduction
Even though Switzerland was not directly involved in World War One and re-
mained neutral, economic ties to the parties at war had serious social, politi-
cal, economic and cultural repercussions. According to the popular narrative,
these tensions became manifest during the war, especially because of the fact
that serving militiamen were left without financial security and the working
class in the major cities felt alienated from the government and the army. The
latter two collaborated in crushing a nationwide general strike in November
1918, the deepest crisis confronting the Swiss federal state in history. Shortly
thereafter, a class struggle between the leftist working class and the established
bourgeoisie took on a more concrete form, a tension that was only modified
in around 1937 in the wake of the national socialist threat from Germany and
Italy. Although direct acts of war did not occur within Switzerland, this small
country in the middle of Europe was soon confronted with new challenges in
the wake of the conflict. The impoverishment of a large part of the population
and an advancing polarization within Swiss society became formative issues
of the inter-war period.
Although Swiss historians seldom challenge the importance of World War
One, detailed studies have largely been absent and only started to emerge in
the last few years in the context of the centenary.2 This renaissance has not yet
1 Jacob Ruchti, et al., Geschichte der Schweiz während des Weltkrieges 1914–1919: Politisch,
wirtschaftlich und kulturell, Vol. 1: Politischer Teil (Bern: P. Haupt, 1928), 8. All translations,
including the above, were made by the author of this article. In original: “Da fuhr es nieder
wie ein Blitzstrahl aus der Höhe: Der Krieg brach los!”
2 In particular, regional studies have flourished, see for example: Erika Hebeisen, Peter Nie-
derhäuser, Regula Schmid, eds., Kriegs- und Krisenzeit: Zürich während des Ersten Weltkriegs
(Zürich: Chronos, 2014); Johannes Huber, ed., 1914–1918/1919: Die Ostschweiz und der Grosse
© Verlag Ferdinand Schoningh, 2019 | doi:10.30965/9783506788245_005 Marcel Berni - 9783657788248
Downloaded from Schoeningh.de02/23/2021 10:22:29AM
via free access86 Marcel Berni
produced a new overall view of Switzerland in World War One; Georg Kreis’
study “Island of Doubtful Security” is a rare exception.3 Historiographically
speaking, World War Two overshadows its forerunner in Swiss history by far.4
Yet there are still grounds for optimism: Since the year 2000 more than 50 mas-
ter’s or licentiate theses focusing on different aspects of Switzerland’s role in
the First World War have been written. Additionally, the project “Switzerland
in the First World War: Transnational Perspectives on a Small State in Total
War”, supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, promises to pro-
duce a new, transnational history.5
The aim of this paper is to investigate to what extent the Great War and re-
lated events of this period have found their way into Swiss national historical
narratives. How have historians studied and interpreted the war? What kinds
of images of the Great War predominate? And how have they been diffused? In
doing so, the paper discusses the impact and consequences of the First World
War on Swiss history from a national point of view.
Naturally, historians over time have judged the war in somewhat different
ways. This tendency can be observed in almost all countries, especially with
regard to the breakout of the Second World War. But Switzerland promises to
be an especially interesting case study for a variety of reasons. Firstly, it was
linked geographically, economically and socially in interdependent relation-
ships with other countries at war. Secondly, parts of the Swiss population have
always studied its history idiosyncratically and a holistic perspective on the
Great War promised different interpretations. Thirdly, the state of research has
evolved in the more recent past, making it possible to incorporate the latest
perspectives into larger narrative of Swiss history in general6 and about the
Krieg, (St. Gallen: Historischer Verein des Kantons St. Gallen, 2014); Urban Fink, ed., Der Kan-
ton Solothurn vor hundert Jahren: Quellen, Bilder und Erinnerungen zur Zeit des Ersten Welt-
kriegs (Baden: Hier und Jetzt, 2014); Otto Wicki, Anton Kaufmann, Der Erste Weltkrieg: Die
Entlebucher an der Landesgrenze (Schüpfheim: Druckerei Schüpfheim, 2008).
3 Georg Kreis, Insel der unsicheren Geborgenheit: Die Schweiz in den Kriegsjahren 1914–1918
(Zürich: Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 2014).
4 See Roman Rossfeld, “1914–1918: Neue Zugänge zur Geschichte der Schweiz im Ersten Welt-
krieg”, Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Geschichte 63 (2013): 337–342; Daniel Marc Segesser,
“Nicht kriegführend, aber doch Teil eines globalen Krieges: Perspektiven auf transnationale
Verflechtungen der Schweiz im Ersten Weltkrieg”, Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Geschichte 63
(2013): 364–366.
5 Rossfeld, Zugänge, 341–342; see also “Die Schweiz im Ersten Weltkrieg: Transnationale Per-
spektiven auf einen Kleinstaat im totalen Krieg”, Swiss National Science Foundation. Ac-
cessed August 6, 2015. http://p3.snf.ch/Project-141906.
6 Thomas Maissen, Geschichte der Schweiz (Baden: Hier und Jetzt, 2010); Volker Reinhardt, Die
Geschichte der Schweiz: Von den Anfängen bis heute (München: Beck, 2011); André Holenstein,
Mitten in Europa: Verflechtung und Abgrenzung in der Schweizer Geschichte (Baden: Hier und
Jetzt, 2014); Georg Kreis, ed., Die Geschichte der Schweiz (Basel: Schwabe, 2014).
Marcel Berni - 9783657788248
Downloaded from Schoeningh.de02/23/2021 10:22:29AM
via free accessSwitzerland and the Great War 87
First World War in particular.7 In fact, the year 2014 marks the completion of
the “Historical Dictionary of Switzerland” after 25 years of work, costing more
than 100 Million Swiss Francs.8
Early Studies
During the war the chief of the general staff authorized the production of a
“Swiss War History”, which appeared in 12 booklets until 1935 and became an
important source of information for regular soldiers.9 In a more academic
context, the two Swiss historians Jacob Ruchti and Traugott Geering were the
first scholars to study the role of Switzerland in the First World War. Although
Ruchtis two-volume work “History of Switzerland in the World War 1914–1919”
was essentially finished in 1920, it took another eight years for the publication
of the first volume and ten for the second.10 While Ruchtis work is the first
grand overview of Switzerland in this period, Geering focusses on commerce
and industry.11 Ruchti wrote his work as a reminder for the Swiss people. By
way of an introduction, he wrote:
May [this] Swiss book contribute to our heeding the insistent teaching of
the heavy past in order to strengthen the love of fatherland and to preserve
the gratitude towards all the men who have stood in tumultuous, dan-
gerous times at their posts or fallen as simple heroes while doing their
duty!12
7 Roman Rossfeld, Thomas Buomberger, Patrick Kury, eds., 14/18: Die Schweiz und der grosse
Krieg (Baden: Hier und Jetzt, 2014); Konrad J. Kuhn, Béatrice Ziegler, eds., Der vergess-
ene Krieg: Spuren und Traditionen zur Schweiz im Ersten Weltkrieg (Baden: Hier und Jetzt,
2014); Kreis, Insel.
8 Marco Jorio, ed., Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz, (Basel: Schwabe, 2002–2014), also on-
line, http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch. For a dictionary in English see Leo Schelbert, Historical
Dictionary of Switzerland (Lanham, Md: University Press of America, 2007).
9 Marcus Feldmann, Hans Georg Wirz, eds., Schweizer Kriegsgeschichte (Bern: E. Kuhn,
1916–1935).
10 Ruchti, Geschichte, Vol. 1, IX–X.
11 Ruchti, Geschichte, Vol. 1: Politischer Teil (Bern: P. Haupt, 1928), Vol. 2: Kriegswirtschaft
und Kulturelles (Bern: P. Haupt, 1930); Traugott Geering, Handel und Industrie der Schweiz
unter dem Einfluss des Weltkriegs (Basel: Schwabe, 1928).
12 Ruchti, Geschichte, Vol. 1, X. In original: “Möge [dieses] Schweizerbuch dazu beitragen, die
eindringlichen Lehren der schweren Vergangenheit zu beherzigen, die Liebe zum Vater-
lande zu stärken und die Dankbarkeit wachzuerhalten gegenüber all den Männern, die in
wildbewegter, gefahrvoller Zeit auf ihrem Posten gestanden oder als schlichte Helden im
Dienste der Pflicht gefallen sind!”
Marcel Berni - 9783657788248
Downloaded from Schoeningh.de02/23/2021 10:22:29AM
via free access88 Marcel Berni
Ruchtis work has been important and had a long-lasting influence on Swiss
historiography. In fact, Konrad J. Kuhn and Béatrice Ziegler point out that the
narrative that was established by Ruchti has endured and only been marginally
altered during the 21st century.13 As Ruchti had wished, his main line of argu-
ment was well received by many authors. It states that the war posed a crucial
test to Swiss society in different regards: Firstly, it lead to a cultural polarization
between the German-speaking parts of Switzerland and the French speaking
“Romandie”. Secondly, social tensions between the upper and the lower classes
caused by inflation, military service and poor provisions led to a social polar-
ization. This lead, thirdly, to a political polarization between the bourgeoisie
and emerging left-leaning social-democratic parties.14 Furthermore, Ruchti in-
dicates that the general strike could have had devastating effects “for the inner
and outer security of the country”:15
News of the capitulation of the action committee [of Olten] and the utter
failure of the revolutionary organization has been received in all parts of
the land with great satisfaction. For three days the country had been hov-
ering in such danger that the most important events abroad completely
receded into the background and the message from the just concluded
ceasefire on the western front could enthuse nobody. However, when the
termination of the strike had been reported, a sigh of relief went through
the people: democracy had triumphed over anarchy.16
Ruchti also indicated the danger of the Spanish fever that became apparent
after the general strike was settled. Young soldiers were especially likely to be
13 Konrad J. Kuhn, Béatrice Ziegler, “Dominantes Narrativ und drängende Forschungsfragen:
Zur Geschichte der Schweiz im Ersten Weltkrieg”, Traverse Zeitschrift für Geschichte 18
(2011): 123–124. For the state of the current research see Roman Rossfeld, Tobias Strau-
mann, “Zwischen den Fronten oder an allen Fronten? Eine Einführung”, in Der vergessene
Wirtschaftskrieg: Schweizer Unternehmen im Ersten Weltkrieg, eds. Roman Rossfeld, To-
bias Straumann (Zürich: Chronos, 2008), 16–18. See also Sacha Zala, Krisen, Konfrontation,
Konsens (1914–1949), in Kreis, Geschichte, 536–537.
14 See Kuhn, Ziegler, Narrativ, 123–124.
15 Ruchti, Geschichte, Vol. 1, 445.
16 Ruchti, Geschichte, Vol. 1, 451. In original: “Die Kunde von der Kapitulation des Aktion-
skomitees und vom völligen Misslingen des revolutionären Unternehmens wurde
im ganzen Lande mit grosser Genugtuung aufgenommen. Drei Tage lang hatte das Vater-
land in solcher Gefahr geschwebt, dass die wichtigsten Ereignisse im Ausland vollständig
in den Hintergrund traten und über die Nachricht vom soeben abgeschlossenen Waffen-
stillstand an der Westfront niemand froh werden konnte. Als jedoch der Abbruch des
Streikes gemeldet wurde, ging ein Aufatmen durch das Volk: Die Demokratie hatte über
die Anarchie gesiegt.”
Marcel Berni - 9783657788248
Downloaded from Schoeningh.de02/23/2021 10:22:29AM
via free accessSwitzerland and the Great War 89
v ictims of this pandemic.17 Ruchti also made reference to Swiss neutrality,
which was officially declared at the outbreak of the war and was largely main-
tained, although sometimes for very pragmatic reasons, particularly concern-
ing the supply of provisions.18 Ruchti and corps commander Eduard Wildbolz
– who authored the third chapter “The Swiss Army” – attributed to the Swiss
population in general and the army in particular a strong determination to
defend their home soil:
The historian may confidently assert that our system of military defense,
founded on the readiness for self-sacrifice and the strong will of our people,
has contributed crucially to the fact that Switzerland was spared the misery
of war which raged for 41/2 [sic!] years in almost all of Europe. The people
bow to these soldiers who repeatedly stood on the border for many months
during the four and a half years of war suffering storm, bad weather and
sunburn, true to their oath and their duty. They are entitled to the gratitude
of their fatherland, and the acknowledgement of posterity and history.19
As indicated, Ruchti and Wildboltz saw the World War mainly as a European
war. They also saw some complications in the person of the commanding Gen-
eral Ulrich Wille, whose sympathies for Germany were obvious.20 Indeed, as the
commanding officer of the third army corps, Wille was previously responsible
for the so called “Kaisermanöver”, a military maneuver that was orchestrated
for the state visit of the German Emperor Wilhelm II in 1912.
Carl Spitteler as a Seminal Source
One of Ruchti’s main topoi of a lingual-cultural polarization within Switzer-
land had already been addressed by contemporaries. In 1914 the famous Swiss
17 Ruchti, Geschichte, Vol. 1, 58, 68, 454.
18 Ruchti, Geschichte, Vol. 1, 32–48, 82–97.
19 Ruchti, Geschichte, Vol. 1, 80–81. In original: “[D]er Geschichtsschreiber darf wohl fest-
stellen, dass unsere auf die Opferwilligkeit unseres Volkes gegründeten und aus dessen
Willen hervorgegangen Wehreinrichtungen in entscheidendem Masse dazu beigetragen
haben, dass die Schweiz vom Kriegselend, das 41/2 Jahre [i. O.] lang in fast ganz Europa
wütete, verschont geblieben ist. Das Volk verbeugt sich vor diesen Soldaten, die während
der vierundeinhalb Kriegsjahre wiederholt viele Monate lang an der Grenze gestanden, in
Sturm, Wetter und Sonnenbrand, getreu ihrem Eide und ihrer Pflicht. Sie haben Anspruch
auf den Dank des Vaterlandes, auf die Anerkennung der Nachwelt und der Geschichte.”
20 Ruchti, Geschichte, Vol. 1, 25–28. Ulrich Wille’s son with the same name became an impor-
tant militia officer who was – like his father – fond of the German Army and its esprit de
corps.
Marcel Berni - 9783657788248
Downloaded from Schoeningh.de02/23/2021 10:22:29AM
via free access90 Marcel Berni
author Carl Spitteler, whose work “Olympic Spring” earned him the Noble Peace
Prize in 1919, warned of a deep rooting cultural and linguistic divide between
the German-speaking parts of the population, who largely had sympathies with
Germany, and the Romandie, which tended to look upon France with favor. In
his famous speech “Our Swiss Position”, his first and only political manifest,
Spitteler called for a reunification of Switzerland and pleaded for more toler-
ance between the different Swiss linguistic cultures. In doing so, he challenged
the German-speaking Swiss in a speech given in Zurich on 14 December 1914:
The enemies of the German Reich are not at the same time our enemies
[...] We as neutrals owe to other nations the same fairness of judgement
that we grant to the Germans, whose image we do not allow to be im-
posed upon us by the French distortion [...] One thing is certain, we must
come closer together. For this we need to better understand ourselves.
But in order to understand ourselves better, we have to get to know each
other better. What is the state of our knowledge on the French part of
Switzerland? And their literature and press?21
Considering the fact that Switzerland was in Spitteler’s eyes torn apart between
different allegiances, he urged the German-speaking parts of Swiss society:
Despite the cordial friendship that unites us in the privacy of thousands of
German subjects, in all solidarity that we piously feel with German intellec-
tual life, in all the homelike intimacy sensed from the common language,
we must not assume any other position towards the political Germany,
the German Empire than toward any other state: the position of neutral
restraint at a neighbor-friendly distance this side of the border.22
21 Dominik Riedo and Carl Spitteler, eds. Unser Schweizer Standpunkt (Luzern: ProLibro,
2009 [1914]), 322, 325. In original: “Die Feinde des Deutschen Reiches sind nicht zugleich
unsere Feinde […] Wir sind als Neutrale den übrigen Völkern jene Gerechtigkeit des Ur-
teils schuldig, die wir den Deutschen gewähren, deren Bild wir uns ja auch nicht in der
französischen Verzerrung aufnötigen lassen […] Eins ist sicher, wir müssen uns enger
zusammen schliessen. Dafür müssen wir uns besser verstehen. Um uns aber besser ver-
stehen zu können müssen wir einander vor allem näher kennen lernen. Wie steht es mit
unserer Kenntnis der französischen Schweiz? Und ihrer Literatur und Presse?”
22 Spitteler, Standpunkt, 317. In original: “Bei aller herzlichen Freundschaft, die uns im Priva-
tleben mit Tausenden von deutschen Untertanen verbindet, bei aller Solidarität, die wir
mit dem deutschen Geistesleben pietätvoll verspüren, bei aller Traulichkeit, die uns aus
der gemeinsamen Sprache heimatlich anmutet, dürfen wir dem politischen Deutschland,
dem deutschen Kaiserreich gegenüber keine andere Stellung einnehmen als gegenüber
Marcel Berni - 9783657788248
Downloaded from Schoeningh.de02/23/2021 10:22:29AM
via free accessSwitzerland and the Great War 91
Switzerland indeed stayed neutral, but Spitteler’s speech affected him nega-
tively in one of his most important book markets, Germany. After his speech
he became increasingly disrespected among Germans. Nonetheless, Spitteler,
among others, was one of the first representatives to ascribe this cultural divide
as being rooted in differences in the languages spoken among the Swiss. This
was picked up by Ruchti and has since endured as a seminal phenomenon of
Swiss historiography of the First World War. Most historians have since inter-
preted this divide as a danger that greatly threatened Switzerland as a nation
created by voluntary association (“Willensnation”).23
The “Historical Biographic Dictionary of Switzerland”, which was published
in 1926 in French and 1934 in German, dedicated ten pages to the First World
War. After a short overview, the war is portrayed in three chapters. The first
chapter, “The Political State”, illustrates the domestic developments which are
largely linked to neutrality.24 Like Ruchti, the author views the general strike
as a “socialist revolutionary” threat, an impending revolution against which
the well-organized federal state had to fight. 25 Although Swiss neutrality is
an omnipresent fact, the author is remarkably honest and sober, for example,
when he states: “For the nourishment of the people and the needs of indus-
try, the Federal Council had to continuously appeal to the goodwill of foreign
governments, who literally had the fate of Switzerland in their hands”.26 The
second part of the article focuses on military activities and shows the impact
of the mobilization of the Swiss Army.27 The third and last chapter is devoted
to nourishment and the provision of food for the population.28
jedem anderen Staate: die Stellung der neutralen Zurückhaltung in freundnachbarlicher
Distanz diesseits der Grenze.”
23 Kuhn, Ziegler, Narrativ, 128.
24 Allgemeine Geschichtforschende Gesellschaft der Schweiz, ed., Historisch-Biographisches
Lexikon der Schweiz (Neuenburg: Administration des Historisch-Biographischen Lexikons
der Schweiz, 1934), 471–477.
25 Allgemeine Geschichtforschende Gesellschaft der Schweiz, Lexikon, 476.
26 Allgemeine Geschichtforschende Gesellschaft der Schweiz, Lexikon, 471. In original: “Für
die Ernährung des Volkes und die Bedürfnisse der Industrie musste der Bundesrat fort-
gesetzt an das Wohlwollen der ausländischen Regierungen appellieren, die das Schicksal
der Schweiz buchstäblich in der Hand hatten.” See also Konrad J. Kuhn, Béatrice Ziegler,
“Tradierungen zur Schweiz im Ersten Weltkrieg: Geschichtskulturelle Prägungen der Ge-
schichtswissenschaft und ihre Folgen”, Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Geschichte 63 (2013):
518.
27 Allgemeine Geschichtforschende Gesellschaft der Schweiz, Lexikon, 477–479.
28 Ibid., 479–480.
Marcel Berni - 9783657788248
Downloaded from Schoeningh.de02/23/2021 10:22:29AM
via free access92 Marcel Berni
The First World War in the Historiographical Context of
the Cold War
In 1968, Willi Gautschi published his monumental study on the general
strike.29 His book has since been well received by almost all scholars who work
on Swiss history in the First World War. Gautschi’s main contribution is an in-
terpretation of the strike that focuses on the long tradition of welfare policy
within Switzerland. He devotes three out of five chapters to the prehistory of
the strike and to the preparations by both the organizational committee, the
so-called “Committee of Olten”, and its adversary, the authorities.30 Gautschi
clearly shows that the strikers did not pursue a revolutionary uprising. He be-
lieves that their demands were moderate:
The culmination of the struggle for emancipation of the Swiss work-
ers’ movement must be seen in the general strike of 1918 [...] Although
the working class was a minority, it wanted to be taken seriously as an
important element of economic and political life. In the fight for its rec-
ognition, it had not shown itself to be choosy in the choice of means [...]
In a confessionally and linguistically diverse Switzerland, whose history
repeatedly taught the importance of balance, the idea of a class struggle
was not destined to flourish.31
Despite these new findings, no further studies were undertaken, neither in
welfare policy nor in the fields of the evolving trade unions at the time.32
In the Cold War context, the Great War was a large topic in Edgar Bonjour’s
extensive study on Swiss neutrality. He cited Spitteler but also insisted on the
fact that Paul Seippel, a French speaking Swiss, made a similar plea in Gene-
va to the one Spitteler had asserted in Zurich.33 More importantly, Bonjour
interprets the First World War as a test for armed neutrality. Accordingly, his
29 Willi Gautschi, Der Landesstreik 1918 (Zürich: Chronos, 1988).
30 Gautschi, Landesstreik, 13–224.
31 Ibid., 384. In original: “Im Generalstreik von 1918 darf der Höhepunkt des Emanzipation-
skampfes der schweizerischen Arbeiterbewegung erblickt werden […] Die Arbeiterschaft
war zwar eine Minderheit, aber sie wollte als wichtiges Element des wirtschaftlichen und
staatlichen Lebens ernst genommen sein. Im Kampf um ihre Anerkennung hatte sie sich
in der Anwendung ihrer Mittel nicht wählerisch gezeigt […] In der nach Konfessionen
und Sprachen verschieden gearteten Schweiz, deren Geschichte immer wieder den Aus-
gleich lehrte, wollte der Gedanke des Klassenkampfes nicht gedeihen.”
32 Kuhn, Ziegler, Tradierungen, 515.
33 Edgar Bonjour, Geschichte der Schweizerischen Neutralität: Vier Jahrhunderte eidgenös-
sische Aussenpolitik, Vol. 2 (Basel: Helbing & Lichtenhahn 1970), 156–157.
Marcel Berni - 9783657788248
Downloaded from Schoeningh.de02/23/2021 10:22:29AM
via free accessSwitzerland and the Great War 93
c hapter “Preparations For Defending Neutrality”, the prelude to the chapter on
Switzerland in the First World War, views the time prior to 1914 at least partially
as an opportunity to strive to endure the impending war as securely as pos-
sible. Bonjour views Swiss neutrality as inevitable and a logical development
of its cumulative history within Europe as well as and particularly due to the
Great War; a status respected by foreign countries in light of Swiss history:
This [neutral] attitude, shaped through historical developments and the
present situation, seemed so self-evident that on the national front and
in foreign countries no one had expected anything else [...] The neighbor-
ing countries hence assured Switzerland of their keen observance of its
neutrality.34
Bonjour concluded that the First World War helped Switzerland to define its
clear neutral role within Europe:
The Swiss were brought up by the First World War to have a clearer and
more contemporary notion of neutrality. While this had been taken as a
self-evident fact in the recent period of peaceful respite, the Swiss now
had to give account of their rights and duties anew. These had to be
drawn up with greater precision, not only in accordance with their own
needs, but also in accordance with the demands of foreign countries.35
Also during the 1960s, Ruchti’s influence prevailed largely within the field, in-
cluding, for example, in Peter Stadler’s work. Like Ruchti, Stadler emphasizes
Swiss neutrality, cultural differences, a significant economic dependence on
overseas trade, as well as the general strike and its lessons. He also quotes Carl
Spitteler and his speech “Our Swiss Position” briefly.36 Ulrich Im Hof mostly
34 Bonjour, Neutralität, Vol. 2, 134. In original: “Diese durch geschichtliche Entwicklung und
Gegenwartslage bestimmte Haltung erschien so selbstverständlich, dass In- und Ausland
nichts anderes erwartet hatten […] So versicherten denn auch die Nachbarstaaten die
Schweiz der peinlichen Achtung ihrer Neutralität.”
35 Bonjour, Neutralität, Vol. 2, 249–250. In original: “Die Schweizer […] wurden durch den
Ersten Weltkrieg zu einer deutlicheren und zeitgemässeren Vorstellung von der Neu-
tralität erzogen. Hatte man diese in der bisherigen friedlichen Geborgenheit als eine
selbstverständliche Tatsache genommen, so gab man sich jetzt von ihren Rechten
und Pflichten erneut Rechenschaft. Man musste sie schärfer erfassen, nicht nur nach den
eigenen Bedürfnissen, sondern auch nach den Forderungen des Auslandes.”
36 Peter Stadler, “Die Schweiz von der Verfassungsrevision 1874 bis zum Ersten Weltkrieg
(1874–1914)”, in Geschichte der Schweiz, eds. Hans von Greyerz, et al. (Ernst Klett: Nördlin-
gen 1968), 138–152.
Marcel Berni - 9783657788248
Downloaded from Schoeningh.de02/23/2021 10:22:29AM
via free access94 Marcel Berni
repeats this narrative, albeit very briefly in his “History of Switzerland”. It first
appeared in 1974 and has since been republished many times.37
Roland Ruffieux produced a survey of the First World War as part of his work
on Switzerland between the two world wars.38 However, it was frequently cited
in the coming years; German-speaking historians, in particular, neglected his
contribution.39
Heinz Ochsenbein and Pierre Luciri showed in the 1970s that Switzerland
was limited in its actions due to restrictions on its foreign trade due primar-
ily to considerations concerning neutrality.40 Recent scholarship has explicitly
linked this issue with neutrality.41
Gautschi’s as well as Ruchti’s interpretations and, in a limited way, also the
state of research, represented in the Historical Biographic Dictionary of Switzer-
land were later picked up by historian Hans von Greyerz.42 After the Second
World War and still in the context of the Cold War his article, “The Federal State
Since 1848”, appeared in the “Handbook of Swiss History” in 1977. He emphasiz-
es the lessons learned from World War One, especially those that were domesti-
cally applied. Von Greyerz cites Ruchti on many occasions. Neutrality, economic
supplies, social cohesion and the general strike as well as the introduction
of proportional representation in the National Council are the main themes.
Additionally, he views the cultural lessons applied during the Second World
War such as intellectual national defense (“Geistige Landesverteidigung”),43
wartime economic preparations and other prearrangements as direct lessons
from World War One. With regard to the First World War, von Greyerz mainly
accepts Ruchti’s historical research and enlarges it. Still, von Greyerz sees the
general strike as a system conflict and much less as a reaction against long
37 Ulrich im Hof, Geschichte der Schweiz (Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2007 [1974]), 134–135.
38 Roland Ruffieux, La Suisse de l’entre-deux-guerres (Lausanne: Payot 1974), 9–48.
39 Kuhn, Ziegler, Narrativ, 137.
40 Heinz Ochsenbein, Die verlorene Wirtschaftsfreiheit 1914–1918: Methoden ausländischer
Wirtschaftskontrollen über die Schweiz (Bern: Stämpfli, 1971); Pierre Luciri, Le prix de la
neutralité: La diplomatie secrète de la Suisse en 1914–1915 (Genève: Institut universitaire de
hautes études internationales, 1976).
41 Andreas Sutter, “Neutralität: Prinzip, Praxis und Geschichtsbewustsein”, in Eine kleine
Geschichte der Schweiz: Der Bundesstaat und seine Traditionen, eds. Manfred Hettling, et
al. (Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1998), 171–174; Hans Ulrich Jost, “A rebours d’une neu-
tralité suisse improbable”, Traverse Zeitschrift für Geschichte 18 (2013): 205.
42 Hans von Greyerz, “Der Bundesstaat seit 1848”, in Handbuch der Schweizer Geschichte, eds.
Hanno Helbling, et al. (Zürich: Berichthaus, 1977), 1019–1267.
43 The “Geistige Landesverteidigung” incorporated a political-cultural movement which
sought to strengthen typical Swiss values in order to protect Switzerland from the fascis-
tic, national socialist and communist influences.
Marcel Berni - 9783657788248
Downloaded from Schoeningh.de02/23/2021 10:22:29AM
via free accessSwitzerland and the Great War 95
established welfare policy, as suggested by Gautschi.44 Like Spitteler and Ruchti
earlier, von Greyerz emphasizes the cultural conflict between German and
non-German-speaking Switzerland, suggesting that this linguistic divide was
replaced towards the end of the war with a social divide, ultimately culminat-
ing in the general strike.45
Another interpretation of the division between German and Latin speaking
Switzerland was put forward in 1983 by Pierre DuBois. He was one of the first
scholars who explicitly suggested that Italian speaking Switzerland should be
included in the study of the great divide. So he asked:
The image that history has transferred of a climate within Switzerland
during World War One seems to consist of a gap between the three parts
of Switzerland: German-speaking Switzerland, and the French-speaking
and Italian-speaking regions. But is this what really happened?46
In his contribution, DuBois studies public opinion and softens the danger of a
separation:
However, did the differences separate German-speaking Switzerland
from the French or Italian-speaking regions of Switzerland? The answer
is difficult [...] Patriotism remains for and against division [...] Thus, patri-
otism on the one hand, and reproaches, resentments, and suspicions on
the other hand are a characteristic combination of Swiss attitudes during
the Great War.47
Hans-Ulrich Jost was one of the first historians who explained Swiss history
in the First World War through a lens of social and cultural history. He in-
sisted on the importance of lesser studied subfields such as, for example, the
44 Von Greyerz, Bundesstaat, 1133–1140.
45 Von Greyerz, Bundesstaat, 1131–1133.
46 Pierre DuBois, “Mythe et réalité du fossé pendant la Première Guerre mondiale”, in Union
et division des Suisses: Les relations entre Alémaniques, Romands et Tessinois aux XIX et XXe
siècles, ed. Pierre DuBois (Lausanne: Editions de l’Aire: 1983), 65. In original: “L’image que
l'histoire a transmise du climat intérieur en Suisse pendant la Première Guerre mondiale
semble consister en un fossé entre les trois Suisses alémanique, romande et italienne.
Rend-elle compte de ce qui est réellement advenu?”
47 DuBois, Mythe, 90–91. In original: “Des différences séparent-elles néanmoins la Suisse alé-
manique de la Suisse romande ou du Tessin? La réponse est malaisée […] Le patriotisme
demeure envers et contre la division […] Ainsi amour de la patrie d’une part, reproches,
ressentiments, suspicions d’autre part constituent-ils une combinatoire caractéristique
des attitudes des Suisses durant la Grande Guerre.”
Marcel Berni - 9783657788248
Downloaded from Schoeningh.de02/23/2021 10:22:29AM
via free access96 Marcel Berni
relationship of Switzerland with the “third world”, demographic growth, the
role of foreigners in Switzerland and cultural factors like architectural, movie
and media history.48 Jost therefore opened up a new perspective on the study
of Switzerland in the First World War.
Recent Interpretations and Historiographical Turns
Jost’s perspective was later picked up by François Walter in the 4th volume of
his “Swiss History”, written in French. Walter, like Jost, focuses largely on social
history.49 He also interprets Swiss history in a European context but his narra-
tive bears many similarities with the old account of Ruchti and von Greyerz.
Accordingly, he places great emphasis on the social divide and the language
difference, stating that at the beginning of the war these feelings were very
strong:
“From autumn 1914 very strong expressions reflecting the cultural and moral
tensions began to be herd. A new awareness of a cultural divide separating the
two language groups became evident!”50
But the divide in Walter’s eyes was larger than just a cultural one. He also
interprets societal and political events determining the cultural divide. So, for
example, he views the Kaisermanöver as an event that interfered with Swiss
neutrality and was only set up in order to show Willhelm II that the Swiss Army
could withstand a French attack against Germany via Switzerland.51 Walter is
one of the only historians who has placed the Kaisermanöver in this context.
Before Walter’s publication, Max Mittler explicitly asked “how neutral Swit-
zerland was” and studied the issue of neutrality that had already been largely
addressed by Bonjour from a post-Cold War perspective. Mittler studied con-
temporary media outlets and came to a similar conclusion as Volker Reinhart
seven years later,52 that is, that it was inevitable that the Great War would be
a crucial test to the Swiss nation. Both also focused on neutrality and came to
48 Hans-Ulrich Jost, “Bedrohung und Enge (1914–1945)”, in Geschichte der Schweiz und der
Schweizer, eds. Ulrich Im Hof, et al. (Basel: Helbing & Lichtenhahn, 1986 [1983]), 731–819.
49 François Walter, Histoire de la Suisse: La création de la Suisse moderne, Vol. 4 (Neuchâtel:
Éditions Alphil-Presses universitaires Suisses, 2010), 119–136.
50 Walter, Histoire, Vol. 4, S. 128. In original: “Dès l’automne 1914, ce sont des expressions très
fortes qui rendent compte des tensions culturelles et morales. On évoque un véritable
“fossé” (Graben) qui séparerait les deux Suisses!”
51 Walter, Histoire, Vol. 4, 122.
52 Max Mittler, Der Weg zum Ersten Weltkrieg: Wie neutral war die Schweiz? (Zürich: Verlag
Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 2003); Reinhardt, Geschichte.
Marcel Berni - 9783657788248
Downloaded from Schoeningh.de02/23/2021 10:22:29AM
via free accessSwitzerland and the Great War 97
similar conclusions, although Konrad J. Kuhn and Béatrice Ziegler think that
Reinhardt’s sources could have been interpreted differently.53
Mario König largely recounts well chartered ground in his contribution
“Politics and Society in the 20th Century: Crises, Conflicts, Reforms”, which
appeared as a part of the book “A Short History of Switzerland” in 1998.54 Social
tensions between the German-speaking and the French-speaking population
(a “language-ethnic pressure test”), 55 the general strike as well as the post-war
period form the main elements in König’s narrative, whereas the war in Europe
per se is addressed very briefly.
The transnational interpretation of Switzerland in the First World War, al-
ready addressed by Walter, was deepened by André Holenstein. His most recent
work bears the title “In the Midst of Europe”. Accordingly, he also interprets the
period 1914–1918 as a time in which entanglement and delimitation were a par-
ticular characteristic in Swiss history.56 Similarly Roman Rossfeld and Daniel
Marc Segesser recently demanded a transnational view of Switzerland in the
Great War, which is currently being written by numerous historians.57
From a military history perspective there are quite a lot of research topics
that require treatment. A start was made by Rudolf Jaun, Hans Rudolf Fuhrer
and Hans Rapold, to name a few.58 For a long time the role of Ulrich Wille and
his commanding officers was at the center of the research. Young historians
have recently continued to study the role of the Swiss Army in the First World
War, investigating somewhat different research questions. Nonetheless, most
military history impulses have come from the Military Academy at ETH Zu-
rich, and the subfield has not yet been institutionalized in other universities.
Recently, studies on gender have become increasingly popular. Yet this sub-
field still lacks comprehensive research.59 Significantly, more studies have dealt
53 Kuhn, Ziegler, Narrativ, 125.
54 Mario König, “Politik und Gesellschaft im 20. Jahrhundert. Krisen, Konflikte, Reformen”,
in Hettling, Geschichte, 21–90.
55 König, Politik, 35.
56 Holenstein, Mitten in Europa.
57 Rossfeld, Zugänge; Segesser, Teil.
58 Hans Rapold, Zeit der Bewährung? Die Epoche um den Ersten Weltkrieg 1907–1924 (Ba-
sel: Helbing & Lichtenhahn, 1988); Rudolf Jaun, Das Schweizerische Generalstabskorps
1875–1945: Eine kollektiv biographische Studie (Basel: Helbing & Lichtenhahn, 1991); Rudolf
Jaun, Preussen vor Augen: Das schweizerische Offizierskorps im militärischen und gesell-
schaftlichen Wandel des Fin de siècle (Zürich: Chronos, 1999); Hans Rudolf Fuhrer, Die Sch-
weizer Armee im Ersten Weltkrieg: Bedrohung, Landesverteidigung und Landesbefestigung
(Zürich: Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 2001).
59 Regula Stämpfli, Mit der Schürze in die Landesverteidigung: Frauenemanzipation und Sch-
weizer Militär, 1914–1945 (Zürich: Orell Füssli, 2002); Béatrix Messmer, Staatsbürgerinnen
Marcel Berni - 9783657788248
Downloaded from Schoeningh.de02/23/2021 10:22:29AM
via free access98 Marcel Berni
with the economic implications of the Great War; Roman Rossfeld and Tobias
Straumann have contributed extensively to this area of research. An innovative
study which they edited suggests a model of five phases for understanding the
evolution of the Swiss economy for the time period of 1914 to 1923.60 Rossfeld
and Straumann show in detail that the war was also an economic chance for
various branches in the Swiss wartime economy. A new study, which should
appear in 2016, will continue this research focus on economic history during
the war.61
A very popular contribution to Swiss History was brought forward by Thom-
as Maissen in 2010. His 334-page long survey entitled “History of Switzerland”
features the impact of the First World War primarily from an economic, politi-
cal and demographic perspective.62 His focus on military developments is very
short, although he mentions some domestic particulars, for example the war
finances, the number of soldiers who lost their lives during service, the inad-
equate military equipment of the army as well as the Kaisermanöver, which he
partially – like Walter – interprets as a way to show Germany that its southern
flank could be protected in the case of a French attack. The cultural division
was in Maissen’s eyes also a political one, he suggests:
Ulrich Wille was not the only German-speaking Swiss who admired the
military, economic, scientific and cultural achievements of the united
Germany of 1871, which seemed to replace Great Britain as the model
of an efficient and successful nation-state [...] In the early 20th century,
Germany had replaced protectionist France as the main trading partner;
more than 200’000 Germans were living in Switzerland, and many Swiss
spent at least their years of study in Germany. For the French speaking
Swiss, however, Paris remained the cultural home [...] Since 1914, the
fronts in the population largely followed the linguistic border [...].63
ohne Stimmrecht: Die Politik der schweizerischen Frauenverbände 1914–1971 (Zürich: Chro-
nos, 2007).
60 Rossfeld, Straumann, Wirtschaftskrieg, 23–28.
61 See Daniel Krämer, Christian Pfister, Daniel Marc Segesser, eds., “Woche für Woche neue
Preisaufschläge”: Nahrungsmittel-, Energie- und Ressourcenkonflikte in der Schweiz des Er-
sten Weltkrieges (Basel: Schwabe, forthcoming).
62 Maissen, Geschichte, 240–252.
63 Maissen, Geschichte, 241. In original: “Ulrich Wille war nicht der einzige Deutschsch-
weizer, der die militärischen, wirtschaftlichen, wissenschaftlichen und kulturellen Leis-
tungen des 1871 geeinten Deutschland bewunderte, das weltweit Grossbritannien als
Modell für einen effizienten und erfolgreichen Nationalstaat abzulösen schien […] Im
frühen 20. Jahrhundert hatte Deutschland das protektionistische Frankreich als wichtig-
sten Handelspartner abgelöst; über 200‘000 Deutsche lebten in der Schweiz, und viele
Marcel Berni - 9783657788248
Downloaded from Schoeningh.de02/23/2021 10:22:29AM
via free accessSwitzerland and the Great War 99
Maissen’s contribution to Swiss history is largely based on his own research as
well as the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland (HDS), which was finished in
2014. The HDS provides up-to-date research in the three national languages:
German, French and Italian as well as a shorter version in Rhaeto-Romanic.
The article on World War One provides a comparatively detailed overview. Af-
ter a broad introduction by the editors of the HDS, various authors focus on
subfields. In short, the article recounts the implications of the war in military
and economic terms, with regard to foreign and domestic politics, and with
respect to social and cultural matters. The last chapter, again written by the
editorial staff, synthesizes the war as an end to an era and the beginning of
changes, particularly in Swiss politics and the economy.64
Sacha Zala interprets the historical period during the two World Wars as a
single entity extending from 1914 to 1949. Not only does he acknowledge the
significant difference between the post-49 era and the war period, but he also
focuses on continuities such as technical innovations, the integration of the
working class in the political system during this time and the failure of insti-
tutionalizing equal (political) rights for women. Still, he emphasizes at the end
of his article that the emerging trend in European history of interpreting the
period from 1914 to 1945 as an era of world war would only partially apply to
Switzerland. In Zala’s eyes, the continuities – first and foremost the fact of non-
participation in wars – continued into the Cold War era.65 Zala’s up-to-date
publication recounts in particular the recent research on economic, financial,
social and gender history. Moreover, it places the First World War in a wider
context, suggesting that it caused a “long shadow” primarily because it polar-
ized Switzerland along language lines.66
As mentioned already, Georg Kreis has studied the First World War in Swiss
history extensively. He deepened our understanding of the language barrier and
its implications and also made it clear that Switzerland in 1914 and Switzerland
in 1939 were two significantly different nations.67 More recently he explicitly
Schweizer verbrachten zumindest Studienjahre in Deutschland. Für die Welschen blieb
jedoch Paris die kulturelle Heimat […] Die Fronten in der Bevölkerung folgten seit 1914
weitgehend der Sprachgrenze […]” For German influences in Switzerland see: Klaus Urn-
er, Die Deutschen in der Schweiz. Von den Anfängen der Koloniebildung bis zum Ausbruch
des Ersten Weltkriegs (Frauenfeld: Huber, 1976).
64 “Weltkrieg, Erster”, in Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz, ed. Marco Jorio. Accessed August
6, 2015. http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/d/D8926.php.
65 Zala, Krisen, 536.
66 Ibid., 494–500.
67 See for example: Georg Kreis, “Kein ‘fossé‘ in den Kriegsjahren 1939–1945: Abklärungen zu
einem Topos und seinem Realitätsgehalt”, Zeitschrift für schweizerische Archäologie und
Kunstgeschichte 60 (2003): 141–152; Georg Kreis, “Krisenreaktionen in der französischen
Marcel Berni - 9783657788248
Downloaded from Schoeningh.de02/23/2021 10:22:29AM
via free access100 Marcel Berni
pointed out that there are still many existing research desiderata and, like Zala,
concluded that the Second World War has received much more attention from
historians.68 His study “Island of Doubtful Security” has to be one of the most
up-to-date historical accounts of Switzerland in the First World War. In the
introduction, Kreis clearly distinguishes his book from the rest of the existing
literature. His work focuses more on the impacts of the First World War and ex-
amines previously lesser studied journals as well as pictures as primary sources.
One of the most important contributions of this book is that it clearly shows
that most parts of Swiss society were not prepared for a four-year long war. In
Kreis’ eyes, the narrative of Switzerland as an island which prevailed after 1918
was strongly coined during the First World War.
Conclusion
As has become apparent, a large part of the existing literature is based on the
early narrative of Jacob Ruchti. Ruchti’s triad of cultural, social and political
polarization has been well received. Apart from a history of events, structural
phenomena such as impoverishment, a rise in prices, a socio-lingual gap, a
political crisis as well as a focus on neutrality are all omnipresent throughout
the narrative. According to the well-established narrative, they all culminated
in the general strike of 1918. Recently, voluminous overall views on Swiss his-
tory have largely supported this narrative. Only in the very recent past have
serious questions about the plausibility of this argument been brought for-
ward. For example, Konrad J. Kuhn and Béatrice Ziegler as well as Rudolf
Jaun requested more research in the field on Switzerland in the First World
War in general and on the general strike in particular. They caution research-
ers from accepting the established causal narrative and demand more de-
tailed studies. In this regard, Rudolf Jaun states: “Why the numerous strikers
really participated in the general strike has been largely unexplored. [...] The
culmination narrative must be [...] questioned and re-evaluated [...] A new,
modern, social and cultural-historical study of the general strike is urgently
needed.” 69
Schweiz vor 1914”, in Die neue Schweiz? Eine Gesellschaft zwischen Integration und Pola-
risierung (1910–1930), eds. Andreas Ernst and Erich Wigger (Zürich: Chronos, 1995), 21–39.
68 Kreis, Insel, S. 11–12.
69 Rudolf Jaun, “Der Erste Weltkrieg und das Generalstreiks-Narrativ”, Neue Zürcher Zeitung
NZZ, September 25, 2014, 23. In original: “Weshalb die zahlreichen Streikenden wirklich
am Generalstreik teilnahmen, ist weitgehend unerforscht […] Das Kulminations-Narrativ
ist […] zu hinterfragen und neu zu bewerten […] Eine neue, moderne, sozial- und kul-
turgeschichtliche Untersuchung des Generalstreiks ist dringend notwendig.”
Marcel Berni - 9783657788248
Downloaded from Schoeningh.de02/23/2021 10:22:29AM
via free accessSwitzerland and the Great War 101
This demand can be expanded to all aspects concerning implications of the
First World War for Switzerland, from domestic issues to foreign affairs. Kon-
rad J. Kuhn and Béatrice Ziegler express similar concerns, for example, when
they state:
“The analytical view on the existing narrative about Switzerland in World
War One makes it clear how much the historical work since the 1930s has
been marked by the omnipresent interpretations of historical-cultural
narratives nourished during the period of the nation’s intellectual de-
fense. [“Geistige Landesverteidigung”] [...] In a similar manner to how
these historical-cultural interpretations prevailed during the Cold War,
the traditional narratives continued to maintain their status in the disci-
pline until the 1970s and beyond […] [The] historical science neither ques-
tioned the gaps in these stories, nor did it develop alternative interpreta-
tions. In this way it failed to absorb certain “non-issues” in its research.”70
One can only hope that new research and innovative methodical approaches
will be applied by future scholars. As has been shown, there is an optimistic
trend that has been evident in recent years: social, cultural, economic, gender
and transnational history by younger scholars have become more popular, albe-
it far from exhausted. This trend will hopefully lead to a more balanced picture
of the implications of the First World War for Switzerland.
Works Cited
Allgemeine Geschichtforschende Gesellschaft der Schweiz, ed. Historisch-Biogra-
phisches Lexikon der Schweiz. Neuenburg: Administration des Historisch-Biogra-
phischen Lexikons der Schweiz, 1934.
Bonjour, Edgar. Geschichte der Schweizerischen Neutralität: Vier Jahrhunderte eidgenös-
sische Aussenpolitik. Basel: Helbing & Lichtenhahn, 1970.
70 Kuhn and Ziegler, Tradierungen, 514–515. In original: “Der analytische Blick auf das beste-
hende Narrativ zur Schweiz im Ersten Weltkrieg macht deutlich, wie stark die geschich-
tswissenschaftliche Bearbeitung seit den 1930er Jahren von den omnipräsenten Deutun-
gen durch die geschichtskulturellen Erzählungen in der Geistigen Landesverteidigung
geprägt worden ist […] In ähnlicher Weise wie diese geschichtskulturellen Deutungen
sich in der Geschichtskultur des Kalten Krieges halten konnten, blieb auch die Geschich-
tswissenschaft bis in die 1970er Jahre und darüber hinaus gekennzeichnet von den tradi-
tionellen Mustern der Überlieferung […] [Die] Geschichtswissenschaft befragte weder
Leerstellen dieser Erzählungen, noch entwickelte sie alternative Deutungen. Auf diese
Weise nahm sie also gewisse ‘Nicht-Themen’ gar nicht in ihre Forschung auf.”
Marcel Berni - 9783657788248
Downloaded from Schoeningh.de02/23/2021 10:22:29AM
via free access102 Marcel Berni
“Die Schweiz im Ersten Weltkrieg: Transnationale Perspektiven auf einen Kleinstaat
im totalen Krieg”, Swiss National Science Foundation. Accessed August 6, 2015.
http://p3.snf.ch/Project-141906.
DuBois, Pierre. “Mythe et réalité du fossé pendant la Première Guerre mondiale”. In:
Union et division des Suisses: Les relations entre Alémaniques, Romands et Tessinois
aux XIX et XXe siècles, ed. Pierre DuBois, 65–91. Lausanne: Editions de l’Aire, 1983.
Feldmann, Marcus, Wirz Hans Georg, eds. Schweizer Kriegsgeschichte. Bern: E. Kuhn,
1916–1935.
Fink, Urban, ed. Der Kanton Solothurn vor hundert Jahren: Quellen, Bilder und Erinner-
ungen zur Zeit des Ersten Weltkriegs. Baden: Hier und Jetzt, 2014.
Gautschi, Willi. Der Landesstreik 1918. Zürich: Chronos, 1988.
Hebeisen, Erika, Peter Niederhäuser, Regula Schmid, eds. Kriegs- und Krisenzeit: Zürich
während des Ersten Weltkriegs. Zürich: Chronos, 2014.
Holenstein, André. Mitten in Europa: Verflechtung und Abgrenzung in der Schweizer Ge-
schichte. Baden: Hier und Jetzt, 2014.
Im Hof, Ulrich. Geschichte der Schweiz. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 2007 [1974].
Johannes, Huber, eds. 1914–1918/1919: Die Ostschweiz und der Grosse Krieg. St. Gallen:
Historischer Verein des Kantons St. Gallen, 2014.
Jorio, Marco, ed. Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz, Basel: Schwabe, 2002–2014, also on-
line, http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch.
Jost, Hans Ulrich. “A rebours d’une neutralité suisse improbable”. Traverse Zeitschrift
für Geschichte, 18, 2013, 205–214.
Jost, Hans-Ulrich. “Bedrohung und Enge (1914–1945)”. In: Geschichte der Schweiz und
der Schweizer, eds. Ulrich Im Hof, et al., 731–819. Basel: Helbing & Lichtenhahn, 1986
[1983].
König, Mario. “Politik und Gesellschaft im 20. Jahrhundert. Krisen, Konflikte, Refor-
men”. In: Eine kleine Geschichte der Schweiz: Der Bundesstaat und seine Traditionen,
eds. Manfred Hettling, et al., 21–90. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1998.
Krämer, Daniel, Christian Pfister, Daniel Marc Segesser, eds. “Woche für Woche neue
Preisaufschläge”: Nahrungsmittel-, Energie- und Ressourcenkonflikte in der Schweiz
des Ersten Weltkrieges. Basel: Schwabe, forthcoming.
Kreis, Georg, ed. Die Geschichte der Schweiz. Basel: Schwabe, 2014.
Kreis, Georg. Insel der unsicheren Geborgenheit: Die Schweiz in den Kriegsjahren
1914–1918. Zürich: Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 2014.
Kuhn, Konrad J., Béatrice Ziegler. “Tradierungen zur Schweiz im Ersten Weltkrieg:
Geschichtskulturelle Prägungen der Geschichtswissenschaft und ihre Folgen”. Sch-
weizerische Zeitschrift für Geschichte, 63 (2013): 505–526.
Kuhn, Konrad J., Béatrice Ziegler. “Dominantes Narrativ und drängende Forschungs-
fragen: Zur Geschichte der Schweiz im Ersten Weltkrieg”. Traverse Zeitschrift für
Geschichte 18 (2011): 123–141.
Marcel Berni - 9783657788248
Downloaded from Schoeningh.de02/23/2021 10:22:29AM
via free accessSwitzerland and the Great War 103
Kuhn, Konrad J., Béatrice Ziegler, eds. Der vergessene Krieg: Spuren und Traditionen zur
Schweiz im Ersten Weltkrieg. Baden: Hier und Jetzt, 2014.
Luciri, Pierre. Le prix de la neutralité: La diplomatie secrète de la Suisse en 1914–1915. Ge-
nève: Institut universitaire de hautes études internationales, 1976.
Maissen, Thomas. Geschichte der Schweiz. Baden: Hier und Jetzt, 2010.
Mittler, Max. Der Weg zum Ersten Weltkrieg: Wie neutral war die Schweiz? Zürich: Verlag
Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 2003.
Ochsenbein, Heinz. Die verlorene Wirtschaftsfreiheit 1914–1918: Methoden ausländischer
Wirtschaftskontrollen über die Schweiz. Bern: Stämpfli, 1971.
Reinhardt, Volker. Die Geschichte der Schweiz: Von den Anfängen bis heute. München:
Beck, 2011.
Riedo, Dominik, and Carl Spitteler, eds. Unser Schweizer Standpunkt. Luzern: ProLibro,
2009 [1914].
Rossfeld, Roman. “1914–1918: Neue Zugänge zur Geschichte der Schweiz im Ersten
Weltkrieg”. Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Geschichte, 63 (2013): 337–342.
Rossfeld, Roman, and Tobias Straumann. “Zwischen den Fronten oder an allen Fronten?
Eine Einführung”. In: Der vergessene Wirtschaftskrieg: Schweizer Unternehmen im
Ersten Weltkrieg, eds. Roman Rossfeld, Tobias Straumann, 16–18. Zürich: Chronos,
2008.
Rossfeld, Roman, Thomas Buomberger, and Patrick Kury, eds. 14/18: Die Schweiz und der
grosse Krieg. Baden: Hier und Jetzt, 2014.
Ruchti, Jacob et al., Geschichte der Schweiz während des Weltkrieges 1914–1919: Politisch,
wirtschaftlich und kulturell, Vol. 1: Politischer Teil. Bern: P. Haupt, 1928.
Ruchti, Jacob. Geschichte der Schweiz während des Weltkrieges 1914–1919: Politisch,
wirtschaftlich und kulturell, Vol. 2: Kriegswirtschaft und Kulturelles. Bern: P. Haupt,
1930.
Ruffieux, Roland. La Suisse de l’entre-deux-guerres. Lausanne: Payot, 1974.
Schelbert, Leo. Historical Dictionary of Switzerland. Lanham, Md: University Press of
America, 2007.
Segesser, Daniel Marc. “Nicht kriegführend, aber doch Teil eines globalen Krieges: Per-
spektiven auf transnationale Verflechtungen der Schweiz im Ersten Weltkrieg”. Sch-
weizerische Zeitschrift für Geschichte 63 (2013): 364–366.
Stadler, Peter. “Die Schweiz von der Verfassungsrevision 1874 bis zum Ersten Welt-
krieg (1874–1914)”. In: Geschichte der Schweiz. eds. Hans von Greyerz, et al., 138–152.
Nördlingen: Ernst Klett, 1968.
Sutter, Andreas. “Neutralität: Prinzip, Praxis und Geschichtsbewustsein”. In: Eine kleine
Geschichte der Schweiz: Der Bundesstaat und seine Traditionen, eds. Manfred Hettling,
et al., 133–188. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1998.
Urner, Klaus. Die Deutschen in der Schweiz: Von den Anfängen der Koloniebildung bis
zum Ausbruch des Ersten Weltkriegs. Frauenfeld: Huber, 1976.
Marcel Berni - 9783657788248
Downloaded from Schoeningh.de02/23/2021 10:22:29AM
via free accessSie können auch lesen
