Helvetic Republic
| Helvetic Republic | ||||||||||
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Helvetische Republik (German) République helvétique (French) Repubblica Elvetica (Italian) Republica helvetica (Romansh) |
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| Client state of France | ||||||||||
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 Helvetic Republic, with borders as at the Second Helvetic constitution of 25 May 1802
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| Capital | Aarau, later Lucerne | |||||||||
| Languages | Swiss French, Swiss German, Swiss Italian, Romansh | |||||||||
| Government | Constitutional republic | |||||||||
| Historical era | French Revolutionary Wars | |||||||||
| • | Confederation collapsed on French invasion | 5 March 1798 | ||||||||
| • | Proclaimed | 12 April 1798 | ||||||||
| • | Elections in Zürich | 14 April 1798 | ||||||||
| • | Mutual defence treaty with France | 19 August 1798 | ||||||||
| • | Diplomatic recognition by French allies | 19 September 1798 | ||||||||
| • | Malmaison constitution | 29 May 1801 | ||||||||
| • | Federal constitution | 27 February 1802 | ||||||||
| • | Act of Mediation | 19 February 1803 | ||||||||
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| Note: See below for a full list of predecessor states | ||||||||||
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In Swiss history, the Helvetic Republic (1798–1803) represented an early attempt to impose a central authority over Switzerland, which until then had consisted of self-governing cantons united by a loose military alliance (and ruling over subject territories such as Vaud).
The French invaded Switzerland and turned it into an ally known as the "Helvetic Republic." The interference with localism and traditional liberties was deeply resented, although some modernizing reforms took place. Resistance was strongest in the more traditional Catholic bastions, with armed uprisings breaking out in spring 1798 in the central part of Switzerland. The French Army suppressed the uprisings but support for revolutionary ideals steadily declined, as the Swiss resented their loss of local democracy, the new taxes, the centralization and the hostility to religion. Nonetheless, there were long-term impacts.
The Republic being named Helvetic after the Helvetii, the Gaulish inhabitants of the Swiss Plateau in antiquity, was not an innovation; rather, the Swiss Confederacy had occasionally been dubbed Republica Helvetiorum in humanist Latin since the 17th century, and Helvetia, the Swiss national allegory, made her first appearance in 1672.
During the French Revolutionary Wars of the 1790s, the French Republican armies expanded eastward. The French Republican armies enveloped Switzerland on the grounds of "liberating" the Swiss people, whose own system of government was deemed as feudal, especially for annexed territories such as Vaud.
Some Swiss nationals, including Frédéric-César de La Harpe, had called for French intervention on these grounds. The invasion proceeded largely peacefully, since the Swiss people failed to respond to the calls of their politicians to take up arms.
On 5 March 1798, French troops completely overran Switzerland and the Old Swiss Confederation collapsed. On 12 April 1798, 121 cantonal deputies proclaimed the Helvetic Republic, "One and Indivisible". On 14 April 1798, a cantonal assembly was called in the canton of Zürich, but most of the politicians from the previous assembly were re-elected. The new régime abolished cantonal sovereignty and feudal rights. The occupying forces established a centralised state based on the ideas of the French Revolution.
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Wikipedia