The Swiss Sonderbund War: Civil War That Forged a Nation

In 1847, Switzerland fought a brief but decisive civil war that ended centuries of cantonal sovereignty and paved the way for the modern federal state. This episode dives into the Sonderbund War — the alliance of seven Catholic cantons that seceded, the Protestant-led federal response, and the unlikely general who made victory swift and merciful. We meet Guillaume-Henri Dufour, the humanitarian cartographer who commanded the federal army and deliberately minimized casualties. We explore the religious and economic tensions that split the cantons, the role of the Jesuits as a flashpoint, and how the war's aftermath produced Switzerland's 1848 constitution — a blueprint for democracy that endures today. From the battlefields of Geltwil to the halls of the Tagsatzung, this is the story of how Switzerland nearly tore itself apart and then came together. #Sonderbund #Sonderbundskrieg #GuillaumeHenriDufour #SwissCivilWar #Tagsatzung #Jesuitenartikel #Bundesverfassung #1848Constitution #Eidgenossenschaft #CatholicCantons #ProtestantCantons #Lucerne #Fribourg #UlrichOchsenbein #SwissHistory #EuropeHistory #FederalState #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo