Swiss dissident

"Peasants, Lords and State. Comparing Peasant Conditions in Scandinavia and the Eastern Alpine Region, 1000-1750" is a heavy scholarly tome edited by Tove Iversen, John Ragnar Myking and Stefan Sonderegger. It was published by Brill in 2020. It forms part of Brill´s series "The Northern World". In this blog post, I will concentrate on Sonderegger´s incredibly entertaining revisionist history "Switzerland - A `Peasant State´?". Apparently, the self-conception of the Swiss is still that their little "confederacy" is some kind of special case in Europe (or the world), a nation founded by medieval peasants who valiantly fought for their freedom and direct democracy against the Habsburgs and other tyrannical overlords. Everyone has heard the stories of William Tell, and in Switzerland itself, Uli Rotach is another folk hero, associated with the historical canton of Appenzell. Rotach is often depicted in peasant dress and is said to have perished in the flames of his own farm, after killing twelve Habsburg enemies in man-to-man combat. Another similarity with Tell is that Rotach probably never existed in the first place...

In his contribution, Sonderegger systematically deconstructs the Swiss peasant myth. The real movers and shakers of Swiss constitutional development were not assemblies of peasants or cowherds, but the burghers in the towns. In 1377, five districts (Ländlein) of the Appenzell joined the Swabian League of Cities - the only rural areas allowed to do so. The reason was that Appenzell was economically connected to the town of St Gallen. Both town and hinterland saught liberation from the rule of the abbey of St Gallen (the abbot was also a powerful secular lord). The towns of St Gallen and Konstanz were tasked with representing the Appenzell Ländlein in the Swabian League. They also set themselves up as a "Schutzmächte" (protective power) over the Appenzell, with comprehensive powers to act in the name of the League. The towns demanded that the four Ländlein unite into one territory, the Land Appenzell (the future Swiss canton Appenzell). They were also told to elect a council of thirteen men to represent the Land when negotiating with the towns. The council was also supposed to become a kind of internal government of the Land Appenzell itself. That is, the constitutional development had nothing to do with free peasants meeting in a direct democratic assembly, rather it was an initiative of the cities from above. This is further shown by Appenzell´s first seal. It was adopted shortly after the rural districts had joined the League and was obviously based on the seal of St Gallen. Seals were associated with towns or the royal power, not with rural Länder. 

The battle of the Stoss on 17 June 1405 during the Appenzell Wars of Liberation has aquired a near-legendary status in patriotic Swiss historiography as a victory of armed peasants against an imperial army. It was during this pivotal event that Rotach supposedly died the death of a national martyr. Sonderegger believes that the real story shows that the town of St Gallen and the armed peasants cooperated against the army of the Duke of Austria, Frederick IV. The duke was never at the Stoss (a mountain pass), instead he made an attempt to besiege St Gallen. In the skirmishes that followed, 30 men from St Gallen were killed - their mass grave has been found. Ironically, there is no archeological evidence for the battle of the Stoss, although Sonderegger doesn´t deny that it took place. His point is that the resistance of the townspeople might have made it easier for the peasants to gain the upper hand at the pass. 

There were definite material reasons for the close alliance between St Gallen and the Appenzell. While the town was of course dependent on the rural hinterland for food, there were also dependecies the other way. In certain parts of the Appenzell, specialization in livestock rearing and viticulture developed. These areas were dependent on the town markets for their food (since they didn´t grow any food themselves). Much of the grain sold to these areas was originally imported all the way from Swabia! Above all, the townspeople extended credit to the peasants and pastoralists. There were also estates in the countryside owned by townspeople. The point is that the economies of St Gallen and the Appenzell were closely integrated. There was no special "peasant interest", but rather a joint regional interest transcending the urban-rural divide. 

The article also attacks the romantic view of the Swiss Confederacy that emerged during the 18th century. As an example, the author takes Frankfurt professor Johann Gottfried Ebel´s depiction of Switzerland from 1798. The Swiss peasants and herdsmen are depicted as simple, pure and strong, practicing a direct democracy which reminded Ebel of the ancient Greeks! Except, of course, that they were not. Sonderegger doesn´t deny that there might have been some kind of direct democracy in the Appenzell during the early 15th century, but during the late 16th century, power had slipped away from the popular assembly to the council. While the council was nominally elected by the assembly, it was dominated for centuries by the Zellweger family, rich burghers with substantial interests in the textile industry (during the 18th century, Appenzell Auserrhoden was apparently one of the most industrialized regions in Europe). To show their wealth and power, the Zellwegers even had stone palaces erected around the cantonal assembly place in the town of Trogen. For 74 years, a Zellweger sat in the "chair" at the assembly, the symbolically most prominent position. And not just symbolically, apparently! The democracy of pristine peasant and pastoralist savages turns out to be the flamboyant rule of textile barons...

I can´t say I´m entirely surprised by any of the above, provided the historical revisions are accurate. I´m not an expert on Swiss history! What national legends are true, anyway? Next, I´m going to read the chapter on Tyrol... 

Stay tuned for more myth-bashing.