SWISS NEUTRALITY

Auckland Star, Volume LXXV, Issue 180, 1 August 1944, Page 4

SWISS NEUTRALITY

LONG YEARS OF PEACE TO-DAY'S ANNIVERSARY (By DR. WALTER SCHMID, Swiss Consul in New Zealand). To-day the Swiss people are celebrating the 653 rd anniversary of the day when, in the year 1291, the settlers of the upper regions of Lake Lucerne concluded the alliance with which they actually set the cornerstone of the later Swiss Confederation. This alliance, in the light of world affairs at that time, was not an extraordinary political event; in that period of decay of the "Roman Empire of Germanic Nations" welded together by Charlemagne, such alliances were frequently formed in Italy and Western Europe. What is unique about the alliance of 1291 and other similar alliances on Swiss territory prior to 1291 and afterwards is the fact that they are the only ones of the many similar alliances which survived. These alliances still represent the historical, traditional basis upon which the modern structure of the Swiss Confederation rests. In the light of history, the Swiss people may, therefore, claim that their country is the oldest independent democracy in existence.

Most other modern democracies are based on the ideas of the French Revolution. These theories are rooted in the "law of nature" proclaimed in the eighteenth century and in the religious concept of English Puritanism in the seventeenth century. Swiss democracy is several hundred years older. What the Swiss people call democracy is the result of a consistent historical development over many centuries.

The years 1250-1273 were a time of chaos in the decaying Germanic Empire, with no emperor on the throne, greed and ambition for expansion of the local dynasties were rampant, and law and order in general had reached its very lowest ebb. In Switzerland, as in other parts of Europe, the inhabitants of town and country had to take the upkeep of public order in their own hands and thereby became used to the idea of looking after their own affairs without anybody interfering, and in many. cases conceived the idea of building up their own small states.

Alliance Concluded Emperor Rudolf, who finally came to the imperial throne in 1273 and reigned until 1291, did not succeed in putting the political clock back in Switzerland. In 1291, when he died, the inhabitants of his realm were facing renewed chaos and the future was also uncertain and dark for selfrule and order round Lake Lucerne. The people there, however, did not wait long to get together, and concluded the alliance of August, 1291.

So, in the light of the historical stage-setting, the meaning of the text of the alliance of 1291 becomes clear. This is a summary of it:—

"In the name of God, we men of Url, Schwyz and Unterwalden, in these evil times and for our better protection, promise and swear to help one another with advice and assistance, with our lives and

possessions, with might and main, against anybody and everybody who may threaten us with violence and injustice. Unanimously we promise one another not to tolerate any foreign judges in our vales. No one of us shall harm the other's life and possessions. He who has covered himself with guilt shall pay the penalty. If dissension arises amongst us, the worthiest from among us shall meet together for mediation. Our charter, concluded for the common weal of all, with the help of God, shall last for ever. Done in the year of Our Lord one thousand two hundred and ninety-one, in the beginning of the month of August."

Similar alliances with neighbouring counties and towns and some round-ing-out conquests in the course of the following three centuries, gradually grew into a loosely-linked Swiss Confederacy of 13 small, self-govern-ing States. While this was being achieved in the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the sacrifice of blood was heavy. The following centuries, however, with the exception of the Napoleonic interlude, brought peace with the outer world, due to an important change in the foreign policy of the small Swiss Confederacy. Confronted with growing and gradually consolidating national, autocratic States around her, a new basic principle of foreign policy was evolved, which was best suited to secure survival of the independence of Switzerland, the principle of non-interference in the almost continuous wars and quarrels of her neighbours.

Surprising Success The adoption of such a policy of neutrality has proved a surprising success. Switzerland's independence and the unique type of Swiss democracy have survived centuries of wars and revolutions on the European Continent. Peace was a safe foundation upon which Switzerland was able to build up an amazing economic development and prosperity, notwithstanding the absence of any resources of raw materials and an outlet to the sea. The traditional spirit of "the good neighbour" of the Swiss people, their firm belief in human dignity, and their inspiration for all cultural and humanitarian endeavours, are no doubt also the fruits of long-lasting peace.

When war and chaos broke out again in 1914 and 1939 the future of the Swiss people looked as uncertain and dark as it no doubt did to their ancestors in 1291. On both occasions —1914 and 1939—the proverbial neutrality was invoked at once by the Swiss Government. So the first world war of 1914-18 passed Switzerland by, and regarding the second world war, it is known where the Swiss stand to-day. The chances are that Switzerland may again escape the ordeals of this war, but, as yet, nothing can be taken for granted.

As in the previous world war the policy of Switzerland's neutrality has been a target for criticism from both sides of the belligerents, one side voicing distrust and accusations on account of her democratic make-up as a nation, the other side arguing that neutrality of a democratic country in a "world struggle for the survival of democracy" is illogical. There is no doubt, however, that neither the Swiss people nor the Swiss Government will, at the end of this war, agree to depart from a principle which has proved to be so successful over many centuries in the conduct of Switzerland's affairs as their principle of absolute neutrality. Its basic strength lies in the backing it has from a nation willing and prepared to defend it to the utmost, and in the absence of any opportunism and ambiguity in its application in the changing game of international politics.