‘A Unique Fusion of the Natural and the Man-Made’: The Trajectory of Swiss Nationalism,1933-39

Abstract

In 1996, a special commission of Swiss and foreign historians was set up to investigate Switzerland’s economic and business links with nazi Germany during the second world war. Among the few themes of a predominantly non-economic nature investigated by the commission was Switzerland’s refugee policy both before and during the war. While this has undoubtedly resulted in a number of new insights, the ideological climate in which this policy could take shape has received little attention. Above all, no reassessment of Swiss interwar nationalism has been undertaken. This article assumes this task, tracing the formation of the national revival in the period 1933-39 through an exploration of the links between public discourse and state-induced cultural policy. The essence of the cultural nationalism of the era is located in a complex fusion of voluntaristic and organic conceptions of national identity.