Tagsatzung

<h2 id="traditional-organisation">Traditional organisation</h2>
<p>Organised as a Diet since 1500, the seat of the Swiss legislature was called the Federal Diet. This was not the sole source of authority in the loosely joined country, as each canton had relatively independent diets as well. Though a representative body, it differed from modern constitutional assemblies as its member were drawn almost exclusively from the picked interest of the landed and mercantile elite.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:1" href="#fn:1"><sup>1</sup></a> The presiding canton of the Federal Diet was known as the <i>Vorort</i> and was usually the canton which had called the Diet. The Diet was held in varying locations, with <a href="/facts/Z%C3%BCrich/dXpgq7df">Zurich</a> becoming increasingly important following the 16th century. The last three presiding cantons before the French invasion were <a href="/facts/Bern/weUyCRsh">Bern</a>, <a href="/facts/Lucerne/VIVKyRVM">Lucerne</a>, and <a href="/facts/Z%C3%BCrich/dXpgq7df">Zürich</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a>
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<h2 id="changes-following-1798">Changes following 1798</h2>
<p>Following the invasion and victory of the French Republican forces, the <a href="/facts/Old_Swiss_Confederacy/0j0hp0V1">Old Swiss Confederation</a> was disbanded and replaced by the <a href="/facts/Helvetic_Republic/8GJR7yze">Helvetic Republic</a>. This was a more centralized form of government than the previous and it was widely opposed as revoking the traditional liberties of local powers. Opposition was particularly fierce among the Catholic population, for whom the French imposed government was associated with the <a href="/facts/Anti-clericalism/b8Vf1NB0">radical anti-clericalism</a> of the French Revolution.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> This opposition eventually lead to the <a href="/facts/Stecklikrieg/CPr83KGU">Stecklikrieg</a>, which pitted a Swiss rebellion against the forces of the <a href="/facts/Helvetic_Republic/8GJR7yze">Helvetic Republic</a>. The opposition was successful in forcing the <a href="/facts/Helvetic_Republic/8GJR7yze">Helvetic Republic</a> to accepting the French negotiated <a href="/facts/Act_of_Mediation/Mw4PxXbe">Acts of Mediation</a> in 1803. These acts secured the federal, decentralized nature of Switzerland.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a>
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<h2 id="end-of-the-federal-diet">End of the Federal Diet</h2>
<p>Switzerland was organized according to the terms of the <a href="/facts/Act_of_Mediation/Mw4PxXbe">Acts of Mediation</a> under the defeat of the <a href="/facts/First_French_Empire/b16nSfY7">French Empire</a> in 1815. The "Long Diet" had been in session for over a year until 1815, when the Congress of Vienna decided the shape which Europe would take following the Coalition's victory. The Swiss government maintained its federal structure, though no longer under the forms of the Acts of Mediation and coordinated by a re-named Federal Assembly.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> This is the system which would govern the Swiss for over three decades, seeing the addition of new, French-speaking cantons. The system showed its weaknesses in 1845, when a league of Catholic cantons joined together in opposition to Federal authority and formed the <a href="/facts/Sonderbund_War/msvdFLUS">Sonderbund League</a> in 1845.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> This was the beginnings of a civil war, which lasted through 1848 and saw the Federal forces victorious. Following their victory, a new constitution was adopted and the <a href="/facts/Federal_Assembly_(Switzerland)/WqDqFfwY">Federal Assembly</a> of Switzerland was created in its modern form. Bern was chosen as the 'federal city,' or Bundesstadt, in a deliberate avoidance of the term 'capital city,' or Hauptstadt. In its modern form, the Federal Assembly is a true representative body which elects its members according to the votes of the citizens of each canton.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a>
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<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/List_of_presidents_of_the_Swiss_Diet/SEgxwqNm">List of presidents of the Swiss Diet</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Landammann/5LcG32c7">Landammann</a></li>
<li><a href="/facts/Landsgemeinde/8yux7eu5">Landsgemeinde</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="external-links">External links</h2>

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tagsatzung.

<ul><li><i>Tagsatzung</i> in  <a href="http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/d/D10076.php">German</a>, <a href="http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/f/F10076.php">French</a> and <a href="http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/i/I10076.php">Italian</a> in the online <i><a href="/facts/Historical_Dictionary_of_Switzerland/hmyF48aE">Historical Dictionary of Switzerland</a></i>.</li>
<li><i>Vorort</i> in  <a href="http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/d/D10077.php">German</a>, <a href="http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/f/F10077.php">French</a> and <a href="http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/i/I10077.php">Italian</a> in the online <i><a href="/facts/Historical_Dictionary_of_Switzerland/hmyF48aE">Historical Dictionary of Switzerland</a></i>.</li></ul>

<ul><li>Marabello, Thomas Quinn (2023) "The Origins of Democracy in Switzerland," <i>Swiss American Historical Society Review</i>, Vol. 59: No. 1, Available at: <a href="https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sahs_review/vol59/iss1/4">https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/sahs_review/vol59/iss1/4</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>"Diète fédérale". HLS-DHS-DSS.CH (in French). Retrieved 12 December 2016. <a href="http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/f/F10076.php" target="_blank">http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/f/F10076.php</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>"Parcours à travers l'histoire de la Chancellerie fédérale". www.admin.ch. Retrieved 12 December 2016. <a href="https://www.admin.ch/ch/f/bk/rundgang/1803-1809.html" target="_blank">https://www.admin.ch/ch/f/bk/rundgang/1803-1809.html</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>"Diète fédérale". HLS-DHS-DSS.CH (in French). Retrieved 12 December 2016. <a href="http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/f/F10076.php" target="_blank">http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/f/F10076.php</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>PM, Andreas Fankhauser /. "Médiation". HLS-DHS-DSS.CH (in French). Retrieved 12 December 2016. <a href="http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/f/F9798.php" target="_blank">http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/f/F9798.php</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>"Parcours à travers l'histoire de la Chancellerie fédérale: 1810-1819". www.admin.ch. Retrieved 12 December 2016. <a href="https://www.admin.ch/ch/f/bk/rundgang/1810-1819.html" target="_blank">https://www.admin.ch/ch/f/bk/rundgang/1810-1819.html</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>PM, René Roca /. "Sonderbund". HLS-DHS-DSS.CH (in French). Retrieved 12 December 2016. <a href="http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/f/F17241.php" target="_blank">http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/f/F17241.php</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:7"><p>OME, Georg Kreis /. "Ville fédérale". HLS-DHS-DSS.CH (in French). Retrieved 12 December 2016. <a href="http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/f/F10102.php" target="_blank">http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/f/F10102.php</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Tagsatzung open-in-new

Tagsatzung