Helvetic Republic Research Paper

As Napoleon continued in his campaign against Europe, he turned his sights to Switzerland. After his arrival, he successfully conquered Switzerland in 1798. His plans were to centralize the loosely governed country by imposing a constitution. In doing so he created the Helvetic Republic, a regime greatly disliked by Swiss natives. It is easy to reason that the regime was disliked since it was imposed by an invading country, but a big factor in the opposition was that the regime failed to observed the Swiss ways. Unfortunately for the Swiss people, centuries of Swiss tradition we destroyed by the Helvetic Republic’s disregard for the culture, reducing Switzerland to a satellite state of the French. The dislike for the imposed regime eventually …show more content…
This constitution featured a federal layout, very similar to the American system. The constitution created a central government and allowed cantons to have self-governance on local issues. The constitution created a legislature called the National Assembly. The National Assembly featured the upper house, the Council of States, and the lower house, the National Council. The upper house had two representatives from each canton and the lower house featured representatives elected from across the country. The constitution also featured a referenda as well. What’s interesting about this constitution is that it contained a clause that allowed the constitution to be rewritten if need be. Such a clause would allow the constitution to evolve as a whole. In the midst of this reorganization, the Swiss Franc becomes the Swiss currency in 1850.
The constitution's special revision was evoked due to the rise in the population and the Industrial Revolution. In 1874, referendum for laws at the federal level, and federal responsibility for defense, trade, and legal matters were added. In 1891, the constitution was revised with oddly strong elements of direct democracy, extremely unusual, even