Confederation of Switzerland

Schweizerischer Bund

Confédération de la Suisse

Confederazione Svizzera

Confederaziun Svizra

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The **Confederation of Switzerland** (3 June, 2901- 21 November, 2908) was a country in south-central Europe, and a successor to the Swiss Confederation. The state was founded after a Swiss popular revolt broke out in the German, French, and Italian occupied region in the Alps in 2901. After the success of the revolt, several small Swiss divisions served in the final battles of the Decade's War, but after the war ended, Switzerland returned to its neutral policy. Unlike the first Swiss state, this Switzerlad had a litney of issues. Guillermo de Lipeli, an Italian and Romansh speaker who co-led the Swiss Popular Front in the 2901 revolution, was ousted from the government in 2903 by his former ally, the German-speaking Marvin Liedrich. This led to malcontent in the French, Italian, and Romansh-speaking regions in the country, and due to the decentralised nature of Switzerland, they were able to disobey the national government with relative ease. During the Alpine War (2907-2908), in which Switzerland defended against the invading Liechtenstein, the French, Italian, and Romash-speaking cantons refused to provide aid to the German-speaking majority. This was a major factor in Switzerland's defeat in the war, and shortly thereafter, the Zürich government attempted to penalize these cantons. This backfired, however, and created only more divison in the country. Throughout the November of 2908, numerous cantons, especially in the south and west, declared independence as the Zürich government frantically attempted to maintain control. The Swiss government was officially dissolved on November 21st, 2908, when Federal President Victor Leer established the Republic of Zürich. After Switzerland's collapse, the new states were slowly absorbed into larger countries. The Italian and Romansh republics were annexed into Italy, the French into France, and lasty the Republic of Zürich was annexed into Germany.

## History

### Background

During the Decade's War, the German, French, and Italian armies divided the Alpine region based on the majority language in the region. In 2900, Hans-Adam V, at the time Prince of Liechtenstein, demanded that the Germans release Liechtenstein as an independendent state that controlled around 4-5 times as much territory as the original Principality of Liechtenstein controlled. When the Germans refused, he rallied his supporters in revolt, and it was during this war, which became known as the Liechtenstin Revolt, that the ineffectivity of the European powers in the Alps became clear. Hans-Adam's supporters eventually outlasted the Germans, and while their state was not as large as the Prince had envisioned, it was still much larger than the first state of Liechtenstein. After the Liechtenstein Revolt, the local population of the Alps recalled the memory of the great Alpine state of Switzerland, which lasted hundreds of years until the EGR divided their territory. Swiss nationalism saw a huge spike, and at the forefront were Marvin Liedrich and Guillermo de Lipeli. Liedrich had been born in Innsbruck in Austria, but had considered himself a Swiss national since the early 2980s. de Lipeli was born in Chur, and was fluent in both Romansh and Italian. Together, on April 22nd, 2901, they rallied supporters in Geneva, Chur, Zürich, Bern, Sion, and Basel to rise up to reform the Swiss state.

### Reform War

The Swiss revolution, known today as the Reform War, began when Marvin Liedrich read aloud the new Swiss constitution in Zürich on April 22nd, 2901. Across the Alpine region, Swiss revolts broke out agains the French, German, and Italian occupiers. Guillermo de Lipeli led a series of southern armies against the Italians, while Liedrich focused on the French and Germans.

The opponents were stunned when the Swiss rose up, as they had assumed any Swiss nationalism had fizzled away over the 900 years of EGR rule. The French and Italian in particular were unprepared, but the Germans, who had recently fought Liechtensteiner rebels in the Liechtenstein Revolt, still had troops in the region. Regardless, the fighting was brutal for the occupiers. de Lipeli, who at this point had been proclaimed "Generalissimo of the Southern Armies," was on a steady march throughout the countryside. He had already planned an attack on the southern city of Lugano. His main army, marching from Chur, would launch a major frontal attack, while his secondary army, under the command of Desir Choumme, would march from Sion to flank the Lugano defense. The plan was an astounding success, and Lugano became the base of oparations for defending against Italian counter-attacks. Choumme's army then marched on to Lausanne, connecting with Liedrich's northern army and providing some relief on the French front. With the much-needed relief on the French front now achieved, Liedrich's northern armies were able to finally push the Germans in the north out of Swiss territory. With Liedrich's army now threatening the border, and the French and Italians being unable to break de Lipeli and Choumme's lines, the three occupiers sued for peace on June 1st, 2901. On June 3rd, the documents guaranteeing Switzerland's independence were signed, and Switzerland became an autonomous country once again.

### Post-War

After the end of the Reform War, Liedrich and de Lipeli, with influence of Choumme, set on establishing the new Swiss government. Liedrich pushed for a more centralized government than the first Swiss State, whereas de Lipeli preferred preserving the more autonomous and liberal system preferred by the previous Swiss government. Liedrich has the support of Choumme, however, and thus the number of votes in Liedrich's favor overcame those of de Lipeli. The new Swiss government would be headed in Zürich, an unpopular move among the convention. de Lipeli proposed that the capital be Bern, a more central and traditional option, or for there to be no official capital to speak of, as was the system of the first Swiss state. Among the people and among the convention, these were the popular proposals. But Choumme and his supporters were behind Liedrich's Zürich proposal, which was unpopular as Zürich was far too within German territory, leaving the Italian, French, and Romash populations feeling ostricized from the national government. Furthermore, the new Swiss government would be headed by a directly-elected President, which flew in the face of the first Swiss state's government, in which the country would be headed by a Federal Council, and the position of Federal President would rotate between its members each year. de Lipeli supported the latter option, believing it to be a more direct revival of the Swiss state, but Liedrich believed that without a central federal leader, Switzerland would be doomed to be invaded by its more hostile neighbors. Again, due to Choumme's support, Liedrich's ideas made it to fruition.

The first Swiss presidential elections were set to be held in 2902, and Liedrich was sworn in as acting President. de Lipeli announced in late 2901 he would run in the 2902 elections, much to Liedrich's disgrace. de Lipeli promised to reform the Swiss government to be more decentralized, like the first Swiss state. This was to Liedrich's charign, who now began to despise the man who he once fought alongside. In the 2902 election, de Lipeli ran a largely successful campaign, running for what he called the "Liberal Party." To counter de Lipeli, Liedrich formed the "Conservative Party" and ran on the platform of being a war hero. This point was largely moot considering de Lipeli was also a war hero, but regardless, Liedrich won the election. It was called by Herman Loure, a Swiss political theorist, "the most corrupt election in the aftermath of the Decade's War." Liedrich continued the centralized Swiss governing system throughout his presidency, even ramping up military spending in the fear that Switzerland may face invasion if he didn't. His presidency became incredibly unpopular as a result, and it became clear to many that de Lipeli would be able to successfully challenge Liedrich for the presidency in the 2904 election. Fearing the worst if de Lipeli won, Liedrich convinced Choumme to oust de Lipeli from the country with a small paramilitary force. de Lipeli fled the country to Liechtenstein on December 14th, 2903, after being confronted by Choumme and a small army.

With de Lipeli gone, the Conservative party felt confident in its ability to dominate in 2904 elections. Liedrich himself recognized he was too unpopular to run, so he stepped down and allowed Choumme to take over for the Conservative party. The main opposition leader became Herman Loure, the aforementioned political theorist, but due to Loure being an unknown with little experience as an actual politician, as well as Choumme's status as a war hero, the Conservatives smashed the Liberals in the 2904 elections. However, Choumme was elderly and in poor health, and his 2905 death led to his Vice-President, Roum Laquer, taking over as President. Laquer was a weak leader, a much more moderate conservative than Choumme or Liedrich. He was unable to effectively unite the country, and many of his policies had a pro-German bias, much like Liedrich's. Laquer was not a German himself, but many of the members of the Federal Senate, appointed by Liedrich, were, and pressured him into signing pro-German bills. Thus he became seen as a traitor to the southern and western minorities, and was ousted by popular demand in early 2906. Liedrich briefly retook power as acting President in this period, but due to the unpopularity of his first Presidency, he refrained from running in the 2906 elections. Having suffered a string of weak and unpopular leaders, the well-spoken hardliner conservative Victor Leer dazzled the people with his grand speeches and promises. Loure, still leading the opposition, warned of Switzerland becoming a one-party state under the Conservatives, but the German population ignored him. Leer won by a landslide in 2906, becoming the fourth President of Switzerland. Little did he know, however, he would be the last.

### The Leer Presidency and the Collapse

Leer, an ethnic German, annunciated the pro-German bias even furthern than Liedrich and Laquer. He made the German language a mandatory second-language option in all schools, and discouraged predominantly German-speaking schools from teaching any of the other three languages of the country. He expanded the German-speaking cantons in size, allowing them to eat small chunks of French, Italian, and Romansh territory. This was to the shock and horror of the minority language population, protested against the Leer presidency and took to the streets. These protests were met with violence from Federal Police and some Swiss-German nationalist groups. Upon seeing the extremist groups working together with the police, Loure proclaimed that the Swiss state was unsalvagable, and a new consitution needed to be drafted for reforms to properly take place. This was seen by the Federalists as a threat to undermine the state itself, and Loure was arrested in July 2907. This was met with outrage, and as the opposition grew, so too did opposition to the very institution of the Swiss government. By December, ethnic violence had consumed the country. The nation was in a state of practical civil war, with Leer's hardliner government barely being able to maintain the country. In 2908, with an election coming up, some of the violence calmed as the various groups hoped to vote the Liberal party into power to reform the government. Loure, now released from prison, ran once again, but due to election fraud by Leer's government, the Conservatives won. This was the last straw for the opposition.

   Loure, a French-Swiss, fled to Geneva and proclaimed the Republic of Liber, which occupied several French-speaking cantons in the West. This was the first of many declarations of independence throughout the country in 2908, ending in the final dissolution of the Swiss state on November 21st, 2908, when President Leer proclaimed the Swiss people had become "Ungovernable," and that "we Alpine Germans have lost the unity which we so desired, and thus it is no longer appropriate to refer to the state of which I am President as Switzerland." The new state he formed, the Republic of Zürich, would last until 2909, when it was incorporated into the German Reich.

### Post-Collapse

Following the collapse of the Confederation, all of the successor states were absorbed into surrounding countries. The Republic of Romanshi, and Romash state, and the Italo-Alpine republic were peacefully annexed into Italy. The Republic of Liber fought a long, bloody war against the French, in which President Loure was killed and the state was annexed by France. Fribourg also came under French administration. The Republic of Zürich was annexed in 2909 after President Leer was assassinated and a Germand general was put in charge. Walden was taken over in a bloodless invasion, in which the local government was overthrown and the Germans took direct control.

## Legacy

Switzerland remains as a reminder of the dangers of ethnic tensions, and as a lesson to polyethnic states to maintain peace and not allow for the majority to take too much power. To some, the death of Switzerland marks the final end of ideals of the old era, as Switzerland was among the last states captured by the EGR. Some Swiss nationalists exist in the area today, but these movements are dwarfed by the Liechtensteiner Princely Front.