Description
Book SynopsisA Very Civil War is the first complete account of the important but much neglected story of Switzerlands civil war of 1847. Fought over issues similar to those of the American Civil War, the comparative civility of the Swiss warthere were fewer than one hundred casualtiesis remarkable. Indeed, a war that might have destroyed Swiss union instead contributed to a sense of cohesion and established a firm foundation for modern Swiss society. A Very Civil War is the dramatic but little-known story of Switzerlands civil war of 1847, the Sonderbundskrieg. This conflict, as much as any other single event, inspired the revolutionaries of 1848 to action. As the German poet Ferdinand Freiligrath wrote at the time: In the highlands was the first shot fired./What now, we still are waiting./But I know that there will be/A new burst of liberty. Remaks is the first complete account of an important but much neglected turning point in Swiss and in European history. What will be most striking to American
Table of ContentsCompanions of the Oath: The Background; Look How They Ride in on a Sow: The Causes of Conflict; War on Lucerne: The Great Partisan Raid; A Separate League, and the Fight Is On; A Powerful, Painful Display of Force: The War Begins; Reluctant General: Guillaume Henri Dufour; War by Demonstration, or, the Army That Did Not March on Its Stomach: Fribourg Surrounded; No Dishonor: The Surrender of Fribourg; Next Target: Lucerne; Declare Yourself, General, Will You Fight or Wont You?: The Fate of Lucerne; The Sonderbund Vanishes: Ending the War; Intervention Resisted: Securing the Peace; To a Peaceful Life: Forming a New Union; Aftermath: Whatever Became of Them?
