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| e. Switzerland |
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(See 1845, Dec. 11)| RADICALISM had spread in Switzerland on the heels of the conservative limitations of the press. Radical exiles who fled their own countries often set up print shops in Switzerland and even imported radical literature. The Swiss cantons were divided by the Sonderbund (See 1845, Dec. 11), which reinforced the religious distinctions between the Catholics and the Protestants and proved to be the catalyst for the revolution. | 1 |
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| 1846, Oct. 7 |
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| Revolutionaries in Geneva installed a new government. They had gained control following a bloody revolution within the city under the leadership of James Fazy. The revolutionaries established barricades and, with the assistance of Catholics from the countryside, overthrew the government. The revolutionary government gave the canton a new constitution (1847), which included liberal demands such as freedom of education and election of members to the State Council. | 2 |
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| 1847, Jan |
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| Diplomats from the conservative powers of Austria, Russia, and Prussia left Berne. | 3 |
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| July 20 |
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| The Federal Diet dissolved the Sonderbund after a radical victory in St. Gall gave the Diet the necessary majority. This move resulted in a protracted struggle between Catholic and radical cantons. | 4 |
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| Nov. 4 |
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| The Diet declared war on the Sonderbund, with Gen. Dufour in command of the army. In less than a month, the Catholic forces had been defeated, and the Swiss Diet could establish a government on the basis of liberal and radical ideas. | 5 |
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