Do the people of Vorarlberg wish the Landesrat to announce the Vorarlberg people's intent to join the Swiss Confederation and to enter into negotiations with the Swiss federal government?
Outcome
Referendum successful; failure to unite
Results
Choice
Votes
%
Yes
48,302
80.70%
No
11,552
19.30%
Results by municipality
A referendum on whether the Provisional Provincial Assembly of Vorarlberg should announce the intention of the people of Vorarlberg to join the Swiss Confederation and to enter into negotiations with the Swiss Federal Government was held on 11 May 1919. The proposal received substantial support, with 80.7% of voters and a majority in 93 out of 96 municipalities voting in favor.
Opinions on the integration of Vorarlberg, a predominantly Catholic and rural region with a concentrated industrial sector, into the Swiss Confederation were mixed. A petition for a popular initiative for union failed and only one member of the seven-person Swiss Federal Council, Foreign Affairs Minister Felix Calonder, strongly endorsed the idea. The Swiss government did, however, provide aid to the region, allowing the local government to avoid a serious famine.
The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, signed on 10 September 1919, made no provision for a plebiscite in Vorarlberg and with no support from any outside power, the province was to remain with Austria as the independence of Austria was "inalienable otherwise than with the consent of the Council of the League of Nations."
Background
The idea of Swiss annexation of Vorarlberg wasn't new. In 1798, the newly formed Helvetic Republic entered into an alliance treaty with France, which included a secret clause stipulating that several territories, including Vorarlberg, would be annexed to Helvetia with French assistance. This move aimed to round off Switzerland's eastern border. French Foreign Minister Talleyrand emphasised France's interest in this for economic, geographical, and military reasons.[1]
However, by the summer of 1801, nothing had come out of it and First ConsulNapoleon Bonaparte believed that circumstances did not allow him to help Switzerland acquire Vorarlberg. The situation in Switzerland was too confusing for Napoleon and the Treaty of Lunéville had ended the war against the Holy Roman Empire and Austria.[1]
120 years later, on 3 November 1918, following the collapse of Austria-Hungary, the Provisional Provincial Assembly of Vorarlberg declared the region's succession from its union with Tyrol and the formation of an independent country within the framework of the German-Austrian state.[1]
The movement for a referendum for union with Switzerland began around the same time with Ferdinand Riedmann, a trained teacher, cinema owner, conservative, and member of the Linz Soldier Soviet of the Common Army. In a speech to his comrades, he advocated for the union of Vorarlberg with Switzerland, and shortly after the Armistice of Villa Giusti, returned to his home province.[2][1]
With the support of local craftsmen, tradesmen, small entrepreneurs, farmers, and petit bourgeoisintelligentsia,[2][1] Riedmann founded the committee to Campaign for Union with Switzerland on 13 November 1918.[3] Amid an uncertain future of Austria following the collapse of Austria-Hungary, widespread economic hardship, and a prevailing sense of neglect by the government in Vienna,[4] many in Vorarlberg viewed Switzerland as a place that offered employment and economic stability.[2] Riedmann also praised the Swiss model of democracy and believed that Vorarlberg shared closer ties in terms of language, culture, lifestyle, and mindset with Switzerland than with the rest of Austria.[1] In its campaigning the group employed anti-semitic rhetoric, referring to Austria as the "Jewish State of Vienna"[5] and saying that they did "not want to know anything about the Jews of Vienna."[4]
"Confederates, help your brothers in need", poster of the Swiss Pro Vorarlberg aid campaign, 1919
Between its founding and February 1919,[6] the group collected signatures from 71% of the Vorarlberg electorate in favor of union with Switzerland.[2] On 1 March,[3] Riedmann passed the signatures to the then Christian Social Party lead provincial assembly,[2] which on 15 March declared that its affiliation with German-Austria was to be regarded as provisional only and that a plebiscite should determine any union with a larger state, including a possible option for union with Bavaria or Württemberg. Provincial Governor Otto Ender, while leaning towards remaining in German-Austria, commented that:[3]
I am of the opinion that, when we look at our geographical position, it is obvious that we are open towards Switzerland, not closed off from Germany, but definitely cut off by mountains from German-Austria.
In Switzerland, the opinions on the integration of Vorarlberg, a predominantly Catholic and rural region with a concentrated industrial sector, into the Swiss Confederation were mixed. A group of conservatives such as Gonzague de Reynold supported the idea and founded the Pro Vorarlberg movement. Its goal was to collect 50,000 signatures for a popular initiative for a union. The group was only able to collect 29,000 signatures and only one member of the seven-person Swiss Federal Council, Foreign Affairs MinisterFelix Calonder, strongly endorsed the idea.[2] While German-speaking Swiss Catholics were in support of union, French-speaking Swiss and Ticino Swiss feared that Vorarlberg's accession would shift the balance of languages, religions, and parties of the country.[6]
Opposition to the union also came from the Labour Party, Liberal Party,[2] wealthy individuals, Social Democratic Party, German Freedom Party, Pan-German Party, and representatives of the textile and wood industries. The latter five instead advocated for union with Germany or the establishment of a Swabian state with Württemberg, creating the Vorarlberg Swabian Chapter in April 1919.[3][1] They saw Switzerland as a free vassal of France and a place where too many Jews were in charge. Socialists, on the other hand, hoped that joining Germany would lead to a continuation of the revolution and the transformation of society.[1]
Results
Result of the Vorarlberg referendum, published in the Vorarlberger Tagblatt on 14 May 1919
The referendum was held on May 11 and showed that 80.7% of voters and a majority in 93 out of 96 municipalities voting in favor. The only municipalities with a majority opposing the proposal were Bludenz, Bolgendach and Hittisau.[3] The exact numbers for the referendum have been contradicted by several sources due to errors in the transmission of results from several municipalities, leading to manual corrections of previously printed announcements. According to Ulrich Nachbaur, head of the Vorarlberg State Archives, the final count was 48,302 yes and 11,552 no.[1]
At the Paris Peace Conference, the Vorarlberg question was treated as a secondary matter, despite the presence of Provincial Governor Ender with the Austrian delegation. Ender participated as a representative of Vorarlberg but was only considered an expert with internal say. The authority to raise the Vorarlberg question to the Allied powers rested solely with Austrian Chancellor Karl Renner and a few of his close advisors, who aimed to prevent the loss of any province. Switzerland refrained from expressing support for Vorarlberg's desire for union to the Allied powers as the Swiss Federal Council did not want to interfere in another state's internal affairs and force a secession,[1] and although the French initially showed some willingness to agree, they ultimately opposed the union. The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, signed on 10 September 1919, made no provision for a plebiscite in Vorarlberg and with no support from any outside power, the province was to remain with Austria as the independence of Austria was "inalienable otherwise than with the consent of the Council of the League of Nations."[3][6]
While the Swiss government never expressed support for union, the Swiss government did, however, provide aid to the region, allowing the local government to avoid a serious famine. Campaigning for the cause would continue into the mid-1920s in both Austria and Switzerland but would eventually die out. Efforts by the people of Vorarlberg to get the League of Nations to agree to a union with Switzerland were also failures.[2]
Related Research Articles
Political identity came to the territory now occupied by the Principality of Liechtenstein in 814, with the formation of the subcountry of Lower Rhætia. Liechtenstein's borders have remained unchanged since 1434, when the Rhine established the border between the Holy Roman Empire and the Swiss cantons.
National referendums are seldom used in Canada. The first two referendums in 1898 and 1942 saw voters in Quebec and the remainder of Canada take dramatically-opposing stands, and the third in 1992 saw most of the voters take a stand dramatically opposed to that of the politicians in power.
A federation is an entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-governing status of the component states, as well as the division of power between them and the central government, is constitutionally entrenched and may not be altered by a unilateral decision, neither by the component states nor the federal political body without constitutional amendment.
Felix Louis Calonder was a Swiss politician, member of the Swiss Federal Council from 1913 to 1920, and President of the Confederation in 1918. He was affiliated to the Free Democratic Party. During his tenure of office, he held the Department of Home Affairs from 1913 to 1917, and the Political Department from 1918 to 1919. As of 2022, Felix Calonder has been the Federal Council's only native Romansh speaker.
The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye was signed on 10 September 1919 by the victorious Allies of World War I on the one hand and by the Republic of German-Austria on the other. Like the Treaty of Trianon with Hungary and the Treaty of Versailles with the Weimar Republic, it contained the Covenant of the League of Nations and as a result was not ratified by the United States but was followed by the US–Austrian Peace Treaty of 1921.
The First Austrian Republic, officially the Republic of Austria, was created after the signing of the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye on 10 September 1919—the settlement after the end of World War I which ended the Habsburg rump state of Republic of German-Austria—and ended with the establishment of the Austrofascist Federal State of Austria based upon a dictatorship of Engelbert Dollfuss and the Fatherland's Front in 1934. The Republic's constitution was enacted on 1 October 1920 and amended on 7 December 1929. The republican period was increasingly marked by violent strife between those with left-wing and right-wing views, leading to the July Revolt of 1927 and the Austrian Civil War of 1934.
Switzerland is not a member state of the European Union (EU). It is associated with the Union through a series of bilateral treaties in which Switzerland has adopted various provisions of European Union law in order to participate in the Union's single market, without joining as a member state. Among Switzerland's neighbouring countries, all but one are EU member states.
The Republic of German-Austria and German-Austria was an unrecognised state that was created following World War I as an initial rump state for areas with a predominantly German-speaking and ethnic German population within what had been the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with plans for eventual unification with Germany. The territories covered an area of 118,311 km2 (45,680 sq mi), with 10.4 million inhabitants.
Relations between Austria and Germany are close due to their shared history and culture, with German being the official language and Germans being the major ethnic group of both countries.
The Anschluss, also known as the Anschluß Österreichs, was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938.
The states of the Weimar Republic were the first-level administrative divisions and constituent states of the Weimar Republic. The states were established in 1918–1920 following the German Empire's defeat in World War I and the territorial losses that came with it. They were based on the 22 states and three city-states of the German Empire. During the revolution of 1918–1919, the states abolished their local monarchies and adopted republican constitutions.
Alemannic separatism is a historical movement of separatism of the Alemannic-German-speaking areas of Austria, France, and Germany, aiming at a unification with the Swiss Confederacy. The historic origins of the movement lay in the Napoleonic era and it was briefly revived both after the end of World War I (1919) and after the end of World War II (1946–1952).
The territorial evolution of Switzerland occurred primarily with the acquisition of territory by the historical cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy and its close associates. This gradual expansion took place in two phases, the growth from the medieval Founding Cantons to the "Eight Cantons" during 1332–1353, and the expansion to the "Thirteen Cantons" of the Reformation period during 1481–1513.
A sham referendum on the Anschluss with Germany was held in German-occupied Austria on 10 April 1938, alongside one in Germany. German troops had already occupied Austria one month earlier, on 12 March 1938. The official result was reported as 99.73% in favour, with a 99.71% turnout.
Jodok Fink was an Austrian farmer and politician who served as the first Vice-Chancellor of Austria from 15 March 1919 to 24 June 1920.
A mandatory referendum, also known as an obligatory referendum, is a referendum that is legally required to be held under specific circumstances. This is in contrast to an optional referendum, which comes from either by public or legislative request. The actions that require mandatory referendums are set by law and normally concern major governmental actions or matters of large public significance. The most commonly found example worldwide of a mandatory referendum is a required referendum to adopt or amend a national constitution, which exists in many countries.
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This article summarises referendum laws and practice in various countries.
The Federal Constitutional Law is a federal constitutional law in Austria serving as the centerpiece of the Constitution. It establishes Austria as a democratic federal parliamentary republic.
The dissolution of Austria-Hungary was a major geopolitical event that occurred as a result of the growth of internal social contradictions and the separation of different parts of Austria-Hungary. The more immediate reasons for the collapse of the state were World War I, the 1918 crop failure, general starvation and the economic crisis. The Austro-Hungarian Empire had additionally been weakened over time by a widening gap between Hungarian and Austrian interests. Furthermore, a history of chronic overcommitment rooted in the 1815 Congress of Vienna in which Metternich pledged Austria to fulfill a role that necessitated unwavering Austrian strength and resulted in overextension. Upon this weakened foundation, additional stressors during World War I catalyzed the collapse of the empire. The 1917 October Revolution and the Wilsonian peace pronouncements from January 1918 onward encouraged socialism on the one hand, and nationalism on the other, or alternatively a combination of both tendencies, among all peoples of the Habsburg monarchy.
The German–Polish Convention on Upper Silesia, also known as the Geneva Convention of 15 May 1922, dealt with the constitutional and legal future of Upper Silesia, part of which became Polish territory after the 1921 Upper Silesia plebiscite.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
