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Sonderbund War

"Sonderbund" redirects here. For the art movement, see Sonderbund westdeutscher Kunstfreunde und Künstler. For the jungle area in the Ganges delta, see Sundarbans.
Sonderbund War

  •   Confederates
  •   Sonderbund
  •   Neutrals
Date3–29 November 1847 (3 weeks and 5 days)
Location
Switzerland
Result

Confederate victory

Belligerents

Swiss Confederation

Sonderbund

Commanders and leaders
Canton of Geneva Guillaume Henri Dufour Canton of Lucerne Johann Ulrich von Salis-Soglio
Strength
99,000 79,000
Casualties and losses

The Sonderbund War (German: Sonderbundskrieg, French: Guerre du Sonderbund, Italian: Guerra del Sonderbund) of November 1847 was a civil war in Switzerland, then still a relatively loose confederacy of cantons. It ensued after seven Catholic cantons formed the Sonderbund ("separate alliance") in 1845 to protect their interests against a centralization of power. The war concluded with the defeat of the Sonderbund. It resulted in the emergence of Switzerland as a federal state, concluding the period of political "restoration and regeneration" in Switzerland.[3]

The Sonderbund consisted of the cantons of Lucerne, Fribourg, Valais, Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden and Zug,[4] all predominantly Catholic and governed by conservative administrations. The cantons of Ticino and Solothurn, also predominantly Catholic but governed by liberal administrations, did not join the alliance.

After the Tagsatzung (Federal Diet) declared the Sonderbund unconstitutional (October 1847) and ordered it dissolved by force, General Guillaume Henri Dufour led the federal army of 100,000 and defeated the Sonderbund forces under Johann Ulrich von Salis-Soglio in a campaign that lasted only a few weeks, from November 3 to November 29, and cost about 100 lives. Dufour ordered his troops to care for the injured, anticipating the formation of the Red Cross in which he participated a few years later. Major actions were fought at Fribourg, Geltwil (12 November), Lunnern, Lucerne, and finally at Gisikon (23 November), Meierskappel, and Schüpfheim, after which Lucerne capitulated on 24 November. The rest of the Sonderbund surrendered without armed resistance in the subsequent weeks.[5]

  1. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference HDS_Sonderbund was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Cambridge was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Joachim Remak, A very civil war. The Swiss Sonderbund War of 1847 (1993).
  4. ^ Stasi-Lauterburg, Jürg (2011). "200 Jahre Ulrich Ochsenbein". Allgemeine Schweizerische Militärzeitschrift: 34–35 – via E-Periodica.
  5. ^ Ralph Weaver, Three Weeks in November: A Military History of the Swiss Civil War of 1847 (2012).

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