Stecklikrieg facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Stecklikrieg
Part of the French Revolutionary Wars
The death of Lieutenant Rudolf von Werdt on 18 September 1802, an episode of the Stecklikrieg. Pen and ink drawing by Karl Ludwig Zehender (1751–1814).
Date August – October 1802 Location Helvetic Republic Result Federalist victory Fall of the Helvetic Republic New French military occupation Act of Mediation (10 March 1803)
Belligerents
Helvetic Republic	Federalists City of Zürich Bern Luzern Uri Schwyz Unterwalden Glarus Solothurn Appenzell      Aargau

The Stecklikrieg ("War of Sticks") of 1802 resulted in the collapse of the Helvetic Republic, the renewed French occupation of Switzerland and ultimately the Act of Mediation dictated by Napoleon on 19 February 1803. The conflict itself was between insurgents, mostly drawn from the rural population, and the official forces of the Helvetic Republic. The term Stäckli, or "wooden club," from which the conflict draws its name, refers to the improvised weaponry of the insurgents.

The Swiss war

Following the Treaty of Lunéville, the French troops left Switzerland during the summer of 1802, resulting in rapid destabilization of the country. This instability reached a head with the open rebellion which originated in Central Switzerland and was centered around the cities of Zürich and Bern, as well as rural parts of the Swiss plateau in the cantons Aargau and Solothurn. The war began with an engagement at Rengg pass in Pilatus on 28 August, followed by artillery attacks on Bern and Zürich during September, and a skirmish at Faoug on 3 October. After several hostile clashes with the under-equipped and less motivated forces of the Helvetic Republic, the central government capitulated militarily on 18 September, retreating from Bern to Lausanne, and then collapsed entirely. It was succeeded by cantonal governments, and a Tagsatzung in Schwyz led by Alois von Reding.

With the more liberal order of the Helvetic Republic, anti-Jewish sentiment rose, as accusations emerged that Jews were unfairly profiting from the unpopular new order. On the 21st of September 1802, the hatred and resentment came to a head in the so-called “Zwetschgenkrieg” or plum war. In an outbreak of violence, spurred on by antisemitic rumours, an armed horde of 800 farmers, craftsmen and some patricians assaulted the Surbtal Jews, looting and destroying their homes and belongings. The attack was not entirely unexpected, tensions having built up over several days, and the Christian inhabitants of Endingen and Lengnau were largely unaffected. The Jews did not receive compensation for the damages, and the perpetrators did not face any consequences.

Napoleon was concerned that the instability of Switzerland could infect Europe at large, and was authorized to negotiate a settlement between the feuding sides. His Act of Mediation made concessions to the demands of the insurgents, abandoning the centralist structure of the Helvetic Republic in favor of a more federalist approach. He likewise stated the natural state of Switzerland was federal and that attempts to force any other system upon them were unwise.