On 12 April 1798 121 cantonal deputies proclaimed the Helvetic Republic, "One and Indivisible". The new régime abolished
cantonal sovereignty and
feudal rights. The occupying forces established a centralised state based on the ideas of the
French Revolution. Before the Helvetic Republic, each individual canton had exercised complete sovereignty over its own territory or territories. Little central authority had existed, with matters concerning the country as a whole confined mainly to the Diet, a meeting of leading representatives from the cantons. The constitution of the Helvetic Republic came mainly from the design of
Peter Ochs, a
magistrate from
Basel. It established a central two-chamber
legislature which included the Grand Council (with 8 members per canton) and the Senate (4 members per canton). The
executive, known as the Directory, comprised 5 members. The Constitution also established actual Swiss
citizenship, as opposed to just citizenship of one's canton of birth. No general agreement existed about the future of Switzerland. Leading groups split into the
Unitaires, who wanted a united republic, and the
Federalists, who represented the old
aristocracy and demanded a return to cantonal sovereignty.
Coup-attempts became frequent, and the new régime had to rely on the French to survive. Furthermore, the occupying forces plundered many towns and villages. This made it difficult to establish a new working state. Many Swiss citizens resisted these "
progressive" ideas, particularly in the central areas of the country. Some of the more controversial aspects of the new regime limited
freedom of worship, which outraged many of the more devout citizens. Several uprisings took place, with the three
Forest Cantons (
Uri,
Schwyz and
Unterwalden) rebelling in early 1798. The Schwyzers, under
Alois von Reding, were crushed by the French on the heights of
Morgarten in April and May, as were the Unterwaldners in August and September. Due to the destruction and plundering, the Swiss soon turned against the French. On the morning of 27 May, Hotze assembled his force into three columns and marched toward Winterthur. Opposite him, Michel Ney deployed his force around the heights, the so-called Ober-Winterthur, a ring of low-lying hills some north of the city. The overall commander of the forward line,
Jean Victor Tharreau, had informed Ney that he would send
Jean-de-Dieu Soult's division to support him; Ney understood this to mean he was to make a stand along the entire outpost line, and that he would not be isolated. He expected his small force would receive reinforcements from Soult's division. Consequently, Ney directed the weakest brigade, under the command of
Théodore Maxime Gazan, to move up a long valley toward Frauenfeld, and another brigade, under the command of
Dominique Mansuy Roget, to take the right, preventing any Austrian flanking maneuver. By mid-morning, Hotze's advanced guard had encountered moderate French resistance first from the two brigades Ney had at his disposal. The Austrian advance troops quickly overran the weaker brigade and took possession of the woods surrounding the village of Islikon. After securing the villages of Gundeschwil, Schottikon, Wiesendangen, and Stogen, further west of Islikon, Hotze deployed two of his columns facing the French front, while a third angled to the French right, A day later, Hotze's force united with the main Austrian force of Archduke Charles.
Battles for Zürich In the
First Battle of Zürich, on 4–7 June 1799, approximately 45,000 French and 53,000 Austrians clashed on the plains around the city. On the left wing, Hotze had 20 battalions of infantry, plus support artillery, and 27 squadrons of cavalry, in total, 19,000 men. On the right wing, General
Friedrich Joseph, Count of Nauendorf commanded another 18,000. The battle cost both sides dearly; General of Brigade Cherin was killed, on the French side, and on the Austrian side,
Feldzeugmeister (General of Infantry)
Olivier, Count of Wallis, was killed. On the French side, 500 died, 800 were wounded and 300 captured; on the Austrian side, 730 killed, 1,470 wounded, and 2,200 captured. When the Austrians took the French positions in the city, they also captured over 150 guns. Ultimately, French general André Masséna yielded the city to the Austrians, under Archduke Charles. Massena retreated beyond the river
Limmat, where he managed to fortify his positions. Hotze's force harassed their retreat, and secured the river shoreline. Despite Hotze's aggressive harassment of the French retreat, Charles did not follow up on the withdrawal; Masséna established himself on the opposite bank of the Limmat without threat of pursuit from the main body of the Austrian Army, much to the annoyance of the Russian liaison officer,
Alexander Ivanovich, Count Ostermann-Tolstoy. On 14 August 1799, a Russian force of 6,000 cavalry, 20,000 infantry, and 1,600 Cossacks, under
Alexander Korsakov, joined Archduke Charles' force in
Schaffhausen. In a vice-like operation, together with the Russians, they would surround André Masséna's smaller army on the banks of the Limmat, where it had taken refuge the previous spring. To divert this attack, General
Claude Lecourbe, attacked the pontoon bridges over which the Austrians crossed the Rhine, destroying most of them, and making the rest unusable. '' by
François Bouchot, 1835. Masséna at the
Second Battle of Zurich Before Charles could regroup, orders arrived from the
Aulic Council, the imperial body in Vienna charged with conduct of war, to countermand his plan; Charles' troops were to leave Zurich in the supposedly capable hands of Korsokov, re-cross the Rhine and march north to
Mainz. Charles stalled this operation as long as he could, but eventually he had to concede to Vienna's orders. Consequently, the Russian troops under a novice general replaced the Austrian troops and their seasoned commander. Charles withdrew his force to the north of the Rhine. Although the order to Charles to recross the Rhine and march north was eventually countermanded, by the time such instructions reached him, they were too late to reverse. In the
Second Battle of Zürich, the French regained control of the city, along with the rest of Switzerland. Notably, Massena out-generaled Korsakov; surrounded him, tricked him, and then took more than half his army prisoner, plus captured the baggage train and most of his cannons, and inflicted over 8,000 casualties. Most of the fighting took place on both banks of the
Limmat up to the gates of Zürich, and part within the city itself. Zürich had declared itself neutral, and was spared general destruction. General
Nicolas Oudinot commanded the French forces on the right bank and General
Édouard Mortier, those on the left. On the same day,
Jean-de-Dieu Soult and about 10,000 troops faced Hotze and 8,000 Allies in the
Battle of Linth River. Soult sent 150 volunteers to swim the river in the middle of the night. Most carried a saber in their teeth and a pistol and cartridges tied to their heads; others carried drums or bugles. These soldiers killed the Austrian sentries, overran an outpost, made much confusing noise, and signaled Soult's main force to cross in boats. Hotze was killed during this maneuver when Soult's men surprised him on an early morning reconnaissance.
Franz Petrasch assumed command but his troops were badly beaten and forced to retreat, losing 3,500 prisoners, 25 field guns, and four colors. While Masséna and Soult were drubbing the Allies,
Alexander Suvorov's 21,285 Russians arrived in Switzerland from Italy. In the
Battle of Gotthard Pass from 24–26 September, Suvorov's army pushed aside Lecourbe's 8,000 troops and reached
Altdorf near
Lake Lucerne. From there, Suvorov led his army across the
Kinzig Pass hoping to make a junction with the other Allied forces. At
Muotathal, Suvorov finally learned that disaster had overtaken the Allied forces and that his army was marooned. The Russians broke out of the trap and were at
St. Gallen in early October. Suvorov was forced to lead his men over the Alps to the
Vorarlberg, resulting in additional losses.
Civil war and the end of the Republic Instability in the Republic reached its peak in 1802–03—including the
Stecklikrieg civil war of 1802. Together with local resistance, financial problems caused the Helvetic Republic to
collapse, and its government took refuge in
Lausanne. Due to the instability of the situation, the Helvetic Republic had over six constitutions in a period of four years. It represents the first time that Switzerland as a unified country existed and a step toward the
modern federal state. For the first time the population was defined as Swiss, not as members of a specific canton. For cantons like Vaud, Thurgau and Ticino the Republic was a time of political freedom from other cantons. However, the Republic also marked a time of foreign domination and revolution. For the cantons of Bern, Schwyz and Nidwalden it was a time of military defeat followed by occupation. In 1995 the Federal Parliament chose to not celebrate the 200 year anniversary of the Helvetic Republic, but to allow individual cantons to celebrate if they wished. ==Act of Mediation==