The launching of the Gotthard League Fearing that defeatism and the effects of the Nazi propaganda would lead the federal government to submit to the Germans and give up the traditional democratic values of Switzerland, a group of young people led by
Denis de Rougemont and Professor
Theophil Spoerri founded the Gotthard League on 30 June 1940 in order to defend both these values and the independence of Switzerland. On 22 July an “Appeal to the Swiss People” written by de Rougemont was published in the Swiss press to rally support for the movement. Signatories were, besides de Rougemont and Spoerri, , who was at the time a military instructor and later became a politician within the
Radical-Democratic Party (PRD); , from the conservative-liberal movement Redressement national; Christian Gasser, from the liberal “Ligue des Non-Subventionnés”; , a
social-democrat Christian
trade-unionist;
Philippe Mottu, from
Moral Rearmament; Paul Schäfer, also from
Moral Rearmament; Heinrich Schnyder, a manager from the
Migros groceries firm. soon joined the signatories and worked efficiently to spread the League's message. Among the most notable supporters of the Gotthard League are
Gottlieb Duttweiler, founder of the
Migros chain of grocery stores, Protestant theologian
Emil Brunner, conservative historian
Gonzague de Reynold and socialist philosopher and psychologist Philippe Müller. It must be added that the opinion differences between
Denis de Rougemont and
Gonzague de Reynold did create serious difficulties which prevented the Gotthard League to communicate consistently and that the hurried departure of de Rougemont for a 5-year exile in the USA under pressure of the Germans probably helped tilt the balance towards the more conservative side of the Gotthard League. However the launching of the Gotthard League, facilitated by a personal gift of 50’000 Swiss francs, was a major event. The League’s manifesto was carried by no less than 74 Swiss newspapers and was followed by more publications in the following ten days, including one appeal signed by the respected Zurich professor Theo Spoerri, regarded as the leader of
Moral Rearmament in Switzerland, who had been elected to lead the governing body of the Gotthard League.
Ideology Denis de Rougemont wrote a 10-page manifesto entitled What Is the Gotthard League? ("Qu'est-ce que la Ligue du Gothard ?") explaining its principles: on one hand active neutrality and on the other hand faithfulness to the fundamental values of Switzerland such as
federalism, in order to resist "at all costs" to totalitarianisms. It went on to add that the immediate means of action of the League rested entirely on its members' public expression. It appealed strongly in favour of the military defense of the
réduit national around the
Saint-Gotthard Massif – as advocated by
General Guisan, of intelligence gathering, of a series of economic and political reforms and of a "struggle against defeatism and deceitful propaganda". The plea in favour of the country’s military defense was totally in line with
General Guisan’s strategy. (On 25 July 1940, General Guisan had delivered a historic address to the entire Swiss Officer Corps assembled on the
Rütli, a location identified as the site of the founding act of the Swiss confederation in 1291. He had taken every disposition so that Switzerland could resist Nazi invasion and had made it very clear there would never be any surrender; Swiss citizens had been instructed to disregard any surrender broadcast, as it would either be done under threat or be enemy propaganda.) This is hardly surprising since both Denis de Rougemont and Philippe Mottu worked for the "Army and Home" section at the Swiss Army's headquarters, an internal propaganda department which
General Guisan strongly developed during the war years. However, the Gotthard League slowly shifted towards structures inspired by past regimes. The federal assembly representing the cantons was for instance named "Diète" (
Diet) as in the
Ancien Régime of Switzerland (prior to the 1798 French invasion). In the same spirit the Gotthard League decided in November 1940 to base its principles exclusively on
Christianity; therefore, somewhat surprisingly albeit with chosen words, it kept Jews and Freemasons at bay: "The Gotthard League holds that emotional campaigns against Jews or Freemasons are not desirable. It believes that this country’s Christian traditions will remain the basis of our political life and that, in the future, the greatest clarity and candour will need to be applied. Given these principles, people to whom Christian traditions are foreign or belonging to organisations subject to secret or foreign influence are not eligible as Gotthard League members."
Early development Working through press conferences, « patriotic evenings », meetings, courses, advertisements, posters and pamphlets, the circa 8000 members of the League campaigned for collective social responsibility on matters such as agricultural development (to achieve food
self-sufficiency, see
:fr:Plan Wahlen), family protection, elderly care, and job creations. Their programme also included a revision of the political system introducing more authority in democracy and a corporatist organisation of the economy. The League adopted a federal structure, local teams being part of a federation, which itself was headed by a governing body (
directoire) in charge of coordination the initiatives of the local groups.
Post-War Life In 1951, activities were focalised on the national level. The main post-war issues were dealt with through over 300 « open letters » advocating solutions to the Swiss society’s new challenges. The Gotthard League was dissolved in 1969. Professor Spoerri remained its president until the end. ==Evaluation==