News from Switzerland (November 24, 1848)

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Author(s) Friedrich Engels
Written 20 November 1848


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Source: Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 8, p. 55;
First published: in the supplement to Neue Rheinische Zeitung No. 151, November 24, 1848.
Collection(s): Neue Rheinische Zeitung
Keywords : Switzerland, Revolutions of 1848, Germany, Repression

Berne, November 20. I have just heard from officials of the Federal War Department that the German Central Authority is reported to have declared war on Switzerland.[1] The courier arrived yesterday evening, and the Vorort was said to have gone into session at 11 o'clock the same evening. Measures had already been taken for serious war preparations. It was stated further that 50,000 imperial troops were concentrating on the Swiss frontier to begin hostilities.

I am passing this news to you exactly as I heard it. I myself do not believe it, although the source is reliable. I would not credit even the Imperial Government with such lunacy.

  1. ↑ This rumour was based on the conflict between the German Central Authority, or the so-called Imperial Government, which acted in the name of the Frankfurt National Assembly, and the Swiss authorities. Early in October the Imperial Government sent a Note to Berne demanding the cessation of the actions of the German republican refugees and their expulsion from the cantons bordering on Germany. This and the next Note, of October 23, contained both demands and threats, which, however, were rejected by the Swiss Government. The conflict accompanied by frontier incidents continued. Its essence was revealed by Engels in his article “The German Central Authority and Switzerland”.
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