Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Timeline of the Sister Republics (1794-1806)
- The political culture of the Sister Republics
- ‘The political passions of other nations’: National choices and the European order in the writings of Germaine de Staël
- 1 The transformation of republicanism
- The transformation of republicanism in the Sister Republics
- ‘Republic’ and ‘democracy’ in Dutch late eighteenth-century revolutionary discourse
- New wine in old wineskins: Republicanism in the Helvetic Republic
- 2 Political concepts and languages
- Revolutionary concepts and languages in the Sister Republics of the late 1790s
- Useful citizens. Citizenship and democracy in the Batavian Republic, 1795-1801
- From rights to citizenship to the Helvetian indigénat: Political integration of citizens under the Helvetic Republic
- The battle over ‘democracy’ in Italian political thought during the revolutionary triennio, 1796-1799
- 3 The invention of democratic parliamentary practices
- Parliamentary practices in the Sister Republics in the light of the French experience
- Making the most of national time: Accountability, transparency, and term limits in the first Dutch Parliament (1796-1797)
- The invention of democratic parliamentary practices in the Helvetic Republic: Some remarks
- The Neapolitan republican experiment of 1799: Legislation, balance of power, and the workings of democracy between theory and practice
- 4 Press, politics, and public opinion
- Censorship and press liberty in the Sister Republics: Some reflections
- 1798: A turning point?: Censorship in the Batavian Republic
- Censorship and public opinion: Press and politics in the Helvetic Republic (1798-1803)
- Liberty of press and censorship in the first Cisalpine Republic
- 5 The Sister Republics and France
- Small nation, big sisters
- The national dimension in the Batavian Revolution: Political discussions, institutions, and constitutions
- The constitutional debate in the Helvetic Republic in 1800-1801: Between French influence and national self-government
- An unwelcome Sister Republic: Re-reading political relations between the Cisalpine Republic and the French Directory
- Bibliography
- List of contributors
- Notes
- Index
The constitutional debate in the Helvetic Republic in 1800-1801: Between French influence and national self-government
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 December 2020
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Timeline of the Sister Republics (1794-1806)
- The political culture of the Sister Republics
- ‘The political passions of other nations’: National choices and the European order in the writings of Germaine de Staël
- 1 The transformation of republicanism
- The transformation of republicanism in the Sister Republics
- ‘Republic’ and ‘democracy’ in Dutch late eighteenth-century revolutionary discourse
- New wine in old wineskins: Republicanism in the Helvetic Republic
- 2 Political concepts and languages
- Revolutionary concepts and languages in the Sister Republics of the late 1790s
- Useful citizens. Citizenship and democracy in the Batavian Republic, 1795-1801
- From rights to citizenship to the Helvetian indigénat: Political integration of citizens under the Helvetic Republic
- The battle over ‘democracy’ in Italian political thought during the revolutionary triennio, 1796-1799
- 3 The invention of democratic parliamentary practices
- Parliamentary practices in the Sister Republics in the light of the French experience
- Making the most of national time: Accountability, transparency, and term limits in the first Dutch Parliament (1796-1797)
- The invention of democratic parliamentary practices in the Helvetic Republic: Some remarks
- The Neapolitan republican experiment of 1799: Legislation, balance of power, and the workings of democracy between theory and practice
- 4 Press, politics, and public opinion
- Censorship and press liberty in the Sister Republics: Some reflections
- 1798: A turning point?: Censorship in the Batavian Republic
- Censorship and public opinion: Press and politics in the Helvetic Republic (1798-1803)
- Liberty of press and censorship in the first Cisalpine Republic
- 5 The Sister Republics and France
- Small nation, big sisters
- The national dimension in the Batavian Revolution: Political discussions, institutions, and constitutions
- The constitutional debate in the Helvetic Republic in 1800-1801: Between French influence and national self-government
- An unwelcome Sister Republic: Re-reading political relations between the Cisalpine Republic and the French Directory
- Bibliography
- List of contributors
- Notes
- Index
Summary
Though the historiography of the Helvetic Republic has been re-evaluated over the last decades, one must admit that its outlines have long been influenced by the traditional interpretations of nineteenth-century historians. They mostly considered the Helvetic Republic a parenthesis in a long history of independence which had started in the fourteenth century. This observation might appear to be too sharply drawn, but it can be exemplified by three assumptions shared by most standard Swiss historiography.
First, the stay of the French army until 1803 was interpreted as proof that La Grande Nation regarded the Helvetic Republic far less as a sovereign state and an ally than as an occupied country. Second, this period was thought to be marked by internal disorder, as shown by the confrontation between the political parties. And finally, although the main narrative of this time was constructed in a context of nation-building by historians close to the Swiss Radical Party who did not consider the Helvetic Era to have been a time of darkness, and although several historians were convinced that this government opened a path towards modernity, they all wanted to anchor in the Swiss public opinion the fact that the modern Swiss state only began with the constitution of 1848. According to this viewpoint, the state model, based on unity, which had been created by the French Directory, was inapplicable to Switzerland because of the country's cantonal tradition and the variety of religions and languages. As a consequence, the Helvetic Republic was said to have never been accepted by the Swiss people. Therefore, there was no use in examining the national dimension of the political debates of this time.
I would certainly not contest the fact that the French government applied pressure on the Helvetic Republic and its leaders. But in this context, was there any scope left for the politicians to hold a debate on national political issues? To be able to answer this, one should investigate how the values of the Helvetic Republic were considered and how the statesmen attempted to include them into a national political project. Additionally, in order to explore their national dimension, one should scrutinize the French influence in these debates.
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- Information
- Political Culture of the Sister Republics, 1794–1806France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Italy, pp. 201 - 210Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2015