Page 45 - DIVA_1_2008_No.32

Ai'nong his most presti- set a brass plate in tlie larg- exception of tlie United @ iiiipnrsunsslopo.cli/fi'/basics/

gious accomplishinents er rock fuithest from the Kingdom) condeinned geo/fcrq{horizori

@College-de-veve)+sid.cli/eleves/
was the preparation of tlie left bank at 373.64 metres Switzerland for this action, Rues-de-veveyhiou.general-gursan.lyhn

topograpliical maps of above sea level.) but by an unfortunate coiii- @siryiryvmemo.filarficle.asp?
@ unvutasst.cly/PIONNIERS/05.

Switzerland. During the cidence these governments
Drrfow:FR libnl
Napoleonic Wars tlie It was, neveitheless, tlie faced revolutions of their @svurwgeneve.cly/fao/2003/20030903
.asp
impoitance of accurate Sonderbu'id ciisis of 1847 own in 1848, wlffch meant
maps liad come to be that was to make Dufour a that Switzerland could-and
HAYWARD BEYWOOD
understood. In 1832 he per- national hero (see box). did-ignore these protests.
suaded the autlioi'ities that When six Catholic cantons
the mapping of Switzerland seceded from the federa- Dufour was opposed to any
could only be cari'ied out if tion, Dufour was placed in forin of vanity or excess
he was provided with suffi- cliarge of a national aimy to and became laiown for
cient funding and adequate bring the ening cantons always seeking le juste
manpower. In tlie face of back into tl'ie fold. He had inilieu-the middle course-
considerable difficulties, more and better traiiied sol- even if it sometimes placed
the project was completed diers, better guns and better hiin in an uncomfortable
iii 1865 and became well equipment, and he used position. The indefatigable
known througl'iout tlie them to decisive effect to cliampion of national unity,
world for a level of accura- overcome the rebels in described as conservative,
cy "never before achieved". twenty-five days. A gratefiil upriglit and unselfish, died
At first, Beme was used as Swiss govei'nment gave iii his family home on 14
tlie oi'igin of the measure- Dufour 40,000 Swiss francs July 1875. We may nowa-
ments, but tlte poiiit of ref- for his role in tl'iis affair, days admire the equesh'ian
erence has now been fixed wliicli he partly distributed statue of General Dufour in
on the Pierre dri Niton, a to the wounded on both the middle of Place de
glacial ei'ratic bloc in sides. Many European gov- Neuve in Geneva.
Geneva Harboir. (Dufour eriu'nents (with the notable

THE SONDERBUND CRISIS

The oiigin of tlic Sondcibund Ciisis lay ui tl'ie canton ofAaigari wlicie in 1840 tlie Catliolic i'iiinoiity were ieqriired to

swcai an oatli of loyalty and rose up in piotest On 13 Januai'y 1841 tlic cantonal govemmcnt dissolved tlic eiglit
monasteries tliat had staitetl tlie ievolt Howevei, the Fedeial Pact of 1815 had specifically piotected the monastet-ies
cmd placcd tliem undei fedeial, not cantonal, control Tlic Catliolic cantons piotestcd and a guei'iilla war bioke orit bet-
wccnAaigau and Lriccine On 11 Dcccmbci 1845 the Catliolic cantons of Fiibourg, LLICCIIIC, Scl'iwytz, Untci'waldcn,
Uii, Valais aiid Zug foiined tlieinselves into a secict con[edeiation-tlie Sondeibund [sel:iaiatealliance]-to insist tliat tl'ie

tcmis of tlie Fedcral Pact were obseived j'cpait from Fribourg, wl'iicl'i was completely isolated, these cantons fori'ned
acontiguoustcuitotyintl'ieagiicultinalandmorintainouslicaitlandofSwitzeiland TheyinvitcdJctiuitpiicststotake
cliaigco[icligioustcacliing Theopposition,ccnticdontliecantonsorBemc,Geneva,StGallen,Solotluun,Vaudand
Zuiicli, begcm to oiganize itself The fcdctcil Diet meeting in Beme in luly 1847 voted by a tnajonty of twelve out of
tlic twcnty-two ccintons to dissolvc tlie Sondcrtuind Appenzcll Innei-Rhoden and NcucMtel cfeclared tlieii neutrality
(and WCI C subscqricntly ('incd fox tliis) Tlic Sondeibund Wai bcgan oi'i4 Novcmlici 1847 nibouig capitiilatcd alinost

witl'iout a figlit I-l'ie iast ccmton-Valciis-sriuendered on tlie twcnty-fiftli d,iy 'Tlie loss or life WclS modest and tl'ie victo-
iious troops weie ordered by Duforu to iefiain fiom any acts of vcngean<,e, Tlic Jcsuitb fled

12008 Diva 43

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