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robou

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Introduction​


Switzerland had come through some hard times during the late 18th and early 19th Centuries. These times began in 1791, when revolution broke out in France, Switzerland's large neighbour, the Swiss knew it would only be a matter of time before the revoultion spread over the border and into the Cantons. The Swiss became even more worried when the revolutionary French Army defeated the Prussians at the Battle of Valmy, and the French became much more agressive to their neighbours.

Bataille_de_Valmy_ag1.jpg

The French Victory, though only slight, at Valmy

The Swiss could have prepared for a war, but if the Prussian Army, one of the worlds finest, could be beaten, then the Swiss militia would be no match for French troops. When the revolutionary hordes did overrun Switzerland in 1798, they met little resistance from the disorganised Swiss.

The French decided not to spare Switzerland the horrors of revolution, and abolished the Cantons and the Federal Ancien Régime which had presided over Switzerland for so long. The Helvetic Republic, set up as a puppet, was not popular, and Switzerland would eventually break free.

However, it would not be until 1815 that this chance would come. The Congress of Vienna gave Switzerland it's independance, also having it's neutrality guarenteed, and expanded it with three new Cantons. Through the Restauration, led by Charles Pictet de Rochemont, the Ancien Regimé was restored. The French were thrown out, hopefully for good. de Rochemont became the first chairman of the new Swiss Parliment, the Tagsatzung.

Charles_pictet_de_rochemont.jpg

Charles Pictet de Rochemont, 1755-1824

When he died in 1824, the Tagsatzung ruled the confederation of Cantons. The Katholic Fraktion had the majority out of all the parties in the Tagsatzung, and therefore led the way. That would all change in 1836, and a new era for Switzerland began.

cantons.jpg

The Organisation of the 25 Cantons of the Swiss Confederation, 1836

----------------------​



 
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Hello all, and welcome to my new History book AAR, covering Switzerland in the period between 1836-1936. Now this is going to, hopefully, be educational for both the readers and myself. I will be playing switzerland as the welfare state, so don't expect any wars, and seeing i have only ever tired this once before, don't expect me to run a welfare state well, i am learning while writing this too :). Other than that, not much to say at the momment, except have fun and i hope you enjoy reading.

And for those who are reading my narrative AAR, that is not over, i just have too much time on my hands ;)

Thanks!
 
Will look forward to it :)
 
Switzerland! \o/

*subscribed*

As a personal favour, could you please replace the title flag with a proper square-format one? We Swiss are so cool that we don't use the silly rectangular format used by 99,99999% of the world >.> <.<
 
Switzerland can be really fun. I'll watch this.
 
The last one was great, looking forward to this.:)
 
stnylan, Nikolai, likk9922: Thank you, enjoy :)

Mishgan: I have replaced it, but i think photonucket stretched it... :(

Ahura Mazda: Well not really, as long as you keep with that promise ;)

qwerkus: Well, i suppose, to some extent, but not totally.

Sematary: It's a pleasure to write them for you!

asd21593: Neither have I!

Now for those of you who read my last AAR, many people enjoyed it. However, i was not overly happy with it, as it had many flaws. The main one was that it didn't know wether it was a History-Book or a gameplay AAR, so this time, this will be History book totally, as having few battles would make this quite short, so expect some things to be expanded on hugely to add serious flavour to said events. Other things include a definate style, which by the end of Rocky Road i had worked out, and i will attempt to stcik to within this. All in all, i hope this to be a work that is refined from Rocky Road to be 10 times better. I pray i can keep to that promise!

update coming sometime this afternoon...
 
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Ah, so it has begun. I'll be following.
 
1836: Reforms


1.


To understand the start of the "New Era" it is needed to look at the period of the winter 1835-36. By this time the power holdings in the Tagsatzung were changing as the political situations of the world changed. The old Katholic Fraktion (Catholic Faction), which had been in control of the ancient council since the Restoration of Swiss independence in 1814-15, began to lose its grip and its members to other, newer parties. The leader of the Katholic Fraktion, Johann-Ulrich von Salis-Soglio, decided it was time, to hold an election of sorts among the population of the Alpine country. He would need to win another election to stop his party fragmenting.

33-08.gif

Johann-Ulrich von Salis-Soglio, leader of the Katholic Fraktion

In an attempt to raise his popularity among the people of the nation, even before he had annouced the elections, he initiated a long series of reforms that would radicalize the way things were done in Switzerland. Not only would political reforms, centered around greater freedom, be enacted, but projects to build an army for the Swiss to defend themselves with, and also projects to modernise the country and bring it up to par with some of the other nations of Europe.

His first move came on January 1st, when he brought into being the Schweizer Nationalverteidigung (Swiss National Defence or SND), which was a form of army. Though not strong enough to ward of any significant attack, the SND would be able to help the police control internal affairs, and deter any man, Swiss or not, to try and make civil unrest in the nation. The Armies strength would be 3800 men of a semi-permenant Cadre, which would train 60,000 men as reserve troops every year. If a war befell Switzerland in a certain year, then the Reserve of that year would be called upon to fight. the semi-permenant force would also be able to take in a further 16,200 men into that force from the past years reserves (chosen by lot from the previous 60,000 men). Therefore, at full strength the SND could muster a strength of 80,000 men.

army.jpg

The Two Brigades of the SND

Due to the nature of Swiss politics, offensive action outside of Swiss territory would not be allowed. Therefore, the construction of several fortifications inside interior of Switxerland, called Réduit, would be needed when funds could be arranged. As for the layout of the Swiss forces, the 3800 men would be seperated into two Battalion sized Brigades, with the HQ's of the two at Bern and Luzern. Having them in the centre of the country meant they could respond quickly to any threat. Put in charge of this force was General Henri Dufour, an intelligent man who had been one of Napoleon's Generals and had then gone into bridge building and the like. He would be based with the 2nd Brigade at Bern.

466px-Guillaume-Henri_Dufour.jpg

General Henri Dufour, commander of the SND

The next reform came a day later, when it was decided to modernize the country to good European standards. It was a hard decision to take make, as to what to begin research in. Some members of the Tagsatzung, mainly the older members who remebered the French invasion of 1798, favoured making the army more professional, and getting rid of commisions, just as was happening in some more advanced militaries of the world. Some favoured the building of the Bern Stock-exchange, just like had hapened in New York, to bolster Switzerland's fledgling economy. Some, and a majority, wanted to being work into a steam engine that was practical, which could eventually be mastered in a steam egine, like were being experimented on in the United Kingdom and France.

research.jpg

Switzerland's Technological choices, January 1836

In the end, the Practical Steam Engine, which had the support of most of the Faction and the leader himself, won the day, and work began immediately. Experts from all over Europe were brought in to assist the development. It was estimated that the project would be finished in a year, but it would most likely run over that. However, it needed to be done if Switzerland was going to develop its infrastructure.

pracsteam.jpg

Development of the Practical Steam Engine Begins

The last section of reforms that Salis-Soglio made were in the political section. This was an area that meant a lot to the Swiss people, and as Switzerland was a democratic nation, it decided how they could vote as well. In hope that it would gain him the respect, and hence the votes, of the more liberal sections of society, of which there were now many in Switzerland, he liberalized the Political system. All those things that had been called out for by the Liberals were allowed. The Freedom of Liberty Act, was enacted on January 16th, just before the election was called. The main parts were the formation of a free press, which had been state run since 1815, the destruction of the right of the Chairman of the Tagsatzung to ban other political parties and the right of all people to form trade unions. While this agrivated the high society of Switzerland, the liberals were happy.

politics.jpg

The Freedom of Liberty Act

It was still debateable if the Factions reforms were enough to secure them election victory, but there was simply no way to tell. The election would acctually have to be held and then the results counted before the Faction could see if they had done the right things. On February 6th, the election campaign was launched, with several new parties emerging to fight in it. We will look through these in the next chapter.

election.jpg

The Election Begins
 
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Yay, Liberals! and Liberty!

Very well-written.

I don't think this will include much war, I mean, did the Swiss/Helvetians ever even have a large empire or we're they always peace-loving hippies. :p

Great start!



:) asd
 
I also would be surprised if there were too much war with Switzerland, though certainly anything is possible.
 
Well, the Graubunden canton did use to own the Valtellina, which is the northern part of the Bergamo province in the game. At different points in time, Bern also owned the Chablais, which is the area south of the Leman in nowadays France.

So, we did have an Empire! RAWR! :p
 
Vive le Switzerland!

How do you intend to expand? Switzerland, in some respects, is in a very enviable position: easily defendable, high plurality for immigrants and a beacon of democracy in a Europe of tyrannies. In other respects, your prospects of getting a port are nill, and all your neighbours are either great powers/allied to great powers.

I'll be watching this one with interest :D
 
IMMIGRATION!

(Just a tiny bit of advise. ;) )