Republic of Geneva
The Republic of Geneva was an independent city-state in present-day Switzerland that emerged in the early 16th century following its break with both the Catholic Church, the political authority of the Bishop of Geneva, and the political influence of the House of Savoy. Strongly influenced by the Protestant Reformation, and particularly by the work of Guillaume Farel and later John Calvin, the city became a leading center of Calvinism and a refuge for Protestants from across Europe. Politically, Geneva developed republican institutions modeled on some of the Swiss cities, asserting its sovereignty against the Duchy of Savoy and navigating a precarious position between powerful neighbors such as France and the Swiss cantons.
From its declaration of independence in 1534 until its annexation by revolutionary France in 1798, Geneva evolved into a prosperous hub of trade, finance, watchmaking, and publishing, while maintaining a distinctive identity as both a fortified “Protestant Rome” and a cosmopolitan republic. The republic was restored in 1813, and briefly existed again before joining the Swiss Confederation as a canton in 1815.
History
Formation
At the beginning of the sixteenth century, Geneva was formally governed by the prince-bishop of Geneva, but civic power was increasingly exercised by councils of citizens, creating tensions between episcopal authority, the influence of the neighboring House of Savoy, and the city’s municipal institutions.The relations between the House of Savoy and Geneva’s civic authorities had been declining through the late fifteenth century but this came to the fore in 1513, when Charles III secured the papal appointment of his relative Jean de Savoie as bishop. Opposition to Savoyard influence coalesced in the faction of the Eidguenots, led by Besançon Hugues and Philibert Berthelier, who sought closer ties with the Old Swiss Confederacy. Their opponents, favouring accommodation with Savoy, were derisively called Mammelus after the Mamluks of Cairo. The execution of Berthelier in 1519 and Amé Lévrier in 1524 weakened the Eidguenots, many of whom fled to Fribourg.
In 1525 they secured an alliance with Fribourg and Bern, aided by Bern’s shift away from Savoy following the Perpetual Peace (1516) with France. The treaty was ratified in Geneva in February 1526, despite the protests of the bishop Pierre de la Baume and the Mammelus. After violent reprisals against their rivals, the Eidguenots gained control of the city, while the bishop permanently departed in 1533. From bases in the Pays de Vaud, Savoyard supporters continued to threaten Geneva, culminating in failed assaults in 1529 and 1530. Berne and Fribourg intervened with several thousand troops, forcing a treaty that ended the attacks but at heavy financial cost to the city. These struggles set the stage for Geneva’s eventual declaration of independence from episcopal and Savoyard authority in 1534.
Early Reformation
At the time of the alliance with the confederates in 1525, there were few Protestants in Geneva, and many of them were Huguenot refugees from France. Bern, however, had converted to Protestantism in 1528. Bernese troops displayed a brutal conviction in their new faith by destroying images, statues, and other objects of worship. The troops quickly spread Protestant ideas, and in 1532, supported by Bern, Guillaume Farel arrived at the city to preach the new faith.Meanwhile, the authorities had been reforming the governing bodies of the city. In 1526, they set up a Council of Two Hundred, emulating the Swiss model. In 1528, the right to appoint the 4 mayors was granted to the Council of Two Hundred, which also received, from 1530, the task to appoint the members of the Little Council, which itself appointed the members of the Council of Two Hundred. This circular election system characterised the government system of Geneva until 1792. So it was that when in 1533 the Bishop Pierre de la Baume arrived to Geneva to exercise his right of justice on the murder of a canon, he expressed his opposition to the new Councils by leaving the city forever. He then sided with Charles III, and in August 1534, he excommunicated the city. In response, the city authorities declared in October of the same year the vacancy of the Bishopric and claimed for themselves all signorial rights. This act of independence marked the birth of the Republic of Geneva, then still mostly confined to the city and the few medieval territories gifted to the Bishops, the largest of which were Satigny, Peney, and an area around modern-day Jussy.
In addition, owing to the increased rate of conversions to Protestantism, on the 21May 1536, the General Council of Geneva fully adopted the Reformation and confiscated all the assets of the Catholic Church. With this decision, the commune of Geneva, the civil authority of the city, merged with new institutions, including the territories that depended on the Bishop, the mandements. As a response, the Catholic Canton of Fribourg broke its alliance with the city.
Savoyard invasion
took advantage of the tumultuous situation in Geneva to attempt to conquer the city in 1535–36, but coming to the aid of Geneva, a new army of Bernese in alliance with France defeated Savoy. It occupied the lands of Savoy in the Genevan basin, marking the end of the Duchy as a threat to Geneva and the recognition of Geneva's sovereignty. This was not without risk to Geneva, given how Bernese troops conquered Lausanne despite the cities' alliance.John Calvin
In the summer of 1536, John Calvin, a then 26-year old French theologian, spent some time in Geneva and was convinced by William Farel to stay and establish together a new Church. In January 1537 they presented their project to the mayors, who were initially reluctant to adopt Farel and Calvin's ideas of a Church that would again take control over the city, and were also displeased by both men's refusal to adopt some of the Lutheran liturgy. In April 1538, as the government was torn between supporters of state religion following the Bernese model, and supporters of French reformation, the authorities asked both of the men to leave the city. However, soon after in September 1541, Calvin was asked by Geneva to return. Upon his arrival he began to leave his mark on Church with the Ecclesiastical Ordinances and, although he had no official role other than Head of the Ministers, he outmanouvered political opponents to redact part of the Civil Edicts in 1543, a sort of constitution, which fixed the form of government, the electoral rules, and powers of the members of the Councils. These two texts, revised over time, governed the Republic until the end of the 18th century.If the political Edicts brought only minor changes to prior dispositions adopted over the previous decades, the Ecclesiastical Ordinances revolutionised the organisation of religious institutions. Thus, the creation of the Consistory launched the period that some historians call the "regime of moral terror" with numerous prohibitions that were severely applied, such as in the sentencing to the pyre of theologian and doctor Michael Servetus in 1553 for heresy, or the marginalisation of ancient, pro-Bernese and anti-French bourgeois families in 1555. The removal of this last opposition marked the end of Geneva's distinctive identity founded on the memory of the fights for independence and conviviality practices that Calvin could not tolerate.
Protestant refuge
Internationally, thanks to Calvin's religious reforms, Geneva becomes a beacon for the reformation, attracting thousands of Protestant refugees from all over Europe, but especially from France and to a lesser extent Italy and Spain. With the influx of refugees, the population grew from 10,000 residents in 1550 to 25,000 in 1560. However, many of the new arrivals did not want or could not relocate permanently, and the population stabilised around 14,000 by 1572. Like in other cities in the Swiss landscape, the rights to live in the city was highly organised as follows:Habitant : those with the right to live in the Geneva, to acquire goods and to practice all trades except liberal professions;- The children of habitants were natifs, with limited economic and political rights;
- Bourgeois, the sole status that conferred the political rights to participate in the conseil général, and be eligible for the Council of Two-Hundred. The right to become bourgeois had to be granted by the council, in addition to having to buy the letter of Bourgeoisie, which would fetch for 50 to 100 florins in the second half of the 16th century and jump to over 8,000 florins by the mid-18th century;Citoyens, the children of bourgeois if they were born in the city.
Suspicion of Savoy
After the defeat of Charles III by French and Bernese forces, Savoy had temporarily given up on its efforts to take Geneva. However, in the second half of the 16th century the Dukedom allies with Spain and regains some of its power. The son of Charles III, Emmanuel Philibert, defeated the army of French king Henri II in the battle of Saint-Quentin in 1557 and recovered the lands conquered by the French in 1535. In 1559, in the Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis, France restores an independent Savoy. However, Bern did not participate in the initial negotiations, and only in the Treaty of Lausanne of 1564 did Savoy recover the lands around Geneva, while losing forever the Pays de Vaud to Bern. Until his death, Emmanuel-Philibert practiced tolerance with his non-Catholic subjects and largely respected the "cujus regio, ejus religio" principle for Geneva. However, the Genevan authorities were highly suspicious and worked towards obtaining the support of catholic Solothurn and France, who agree to protect the city against potential attacks from Savoy.In effect, the threats to the city materialise with Emmanuel-Philibert's son, Charles Emmanuel I, who dreams of conquering the city and he begins plotting against Protestants, employing mercenaries to intimidate those converted by Bernese preachers. Intensifying its diplomatic efforts, Geneva obtains the alliance with Zürich in 1584.
Between 1586 and 1587 large outbreaks of the plague affects Geneva and Savoy, which came coupled with bad harvests and famines affecting the continent. In these conditions, it was difficult to supply with food the 15,000 inhabitants of the city, despite diplomatic efforts to seek help from its allies. The Council forbids the production of white bread and pastries and bans some residents from the city. The catastrophe affected Savoy equally, and in response Charles Emmanuel I forbids the export of grains from his lands, which in essence means blockading Geneva from any supplies since the city was surrounded by the Duchy except for what goods could be imported by the lake.
In response, Geneva, supported by France and a contingent of 12,000 Swiss soldiers, intermittently occupied the Pays de Gex from 1589, but the city was finally forced to abandon it when France defeated Savoy and annexed the Pays de Gex for itself in the Treaty of Lyon of 1601. This marked the point where most of Geneva's hinterland was divided between two different strong states along the Rhone banks: the Kingdom of France on the right, and the Duchy of Savoy on the left.
This event and the prior domination of the area by Savoy and the Counts of Geneva, largely explains why, unlike other Swiss urban cantons, Geneva was unable to expand geographically, as its borders were dominated by those two powerful states.
Unwilling to give up on the city, Savoy launched one last attempt to conquer the city during the events of the Escalade in 1602. This incursion against the “Protestant Rome” would paradoxically lead to the recognition of the city's independence. The negotiations between Savoy and Geneva from spring 1603 were successfully completed in July the same year with the treaty of Saint-Julien. Thanks to the arbitration provided by several Swiss cantons as well as France, the Republic obtained a very advantageous deal that politically placed the city in equal terms with Savoy. In addition, it obtained economic and military rights, that would guarantee the city's independence and prosperity. In addition, Geneva also obtained an annual subsidy from France, and a permanent garrison funded by the Kingdom.
Role of France
Since then, both Savoy and France largely respected Geneva's independence, protected by its strong fortresses, and guaranteed by its alliance with the Protestant cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy of Zürich and Bern. Nevertheless, the threats to the Republic's existence did not disappear, particularly as France switched its European alliances and the Kings became less tolerant of Protestants. Threatened by these changing winds and traumatised by the events of the Escalade, Geneva enlarged and professionalised its permanent garrison and fortified itself behind mighty walls that become increasingly claustrophobic as the lands in Chablais and the Pays de Gex were progressively converted back to Catholicism by the future Bishop and Saint Francis de Sales from 1594, who even entered the city de incognito in an attempt to convince Theodore de Beze to hold a public debate on religion. The authorities found themselves unable to respond to the Catholic threat, as they could not afford to irritate the French king, and at the same time the local economy increasingly depended on the use of Catholics as domestic labour and in the textile industry.Playing now on the defensive, the Republic multiplied the number of population surveys to track poor Catholics and beggars, while it was forced to accept in 1679 by king Louis XIV the presence of a permanent representative who demanded to be allowed to celebrate the Catholic Mass in his home for his workers and neighbours, dealing a blow to the city's religious purity, particularly because the first representative, Laurent de Chavingy was very provocative.
In 1681, as France annexed Strasbourg, Geneva fears for the worst and the councils must skilfully navigate the diplomatic situation to safeguard the Republic's independence. The major advantages that the councillors had for this task were on the one hand the strategic position of the city, as France was interested in keeping the status quo with Savoy as well as in respecting Geneva's alliance with the Swiss cantons in order to maintain the supply of Swiss mercenaries, and on the other hand economic interests given that the city was centrally located in the trade routes linking north and south, and that it provided a significant amount of capital to finance France's debt. Tensions were highest during the 1685 second wave of Huguenot refugees forced into exile after the revocation of the Nantes edict since Geneva was a favored passage for the refugees heading to Switzerland and historians estimate that between 100,000 and 120,000 huguenots transited through the city. Buoyed by the economic prosperity and relative peace between 1654 and 1688, when France went to war against the league of Augsburg and blockaded its enemies, Geneva provided much aid to the refugees, some of whom permanently moved to the city and helped to develop new industries such as indiennes and contributed to the watchmaking industry, displeasing France in the process. No major changes occurred in Geneva's borders until 1749. In an effort to rationalise the borders marked by the medieval territories gifted to the Bishops in the Middle Ages, the Republic and France exchanged territories in that year: Geneva swapped its rights over Challex, Thoiry, Fenières, and some enclaves it possed in the Pays de Gex, for Chancy, Avully, and Russin. In a similar treaty with Savoy in 1754, Geneva received from Savoy Cartigny, Jussy, Vandoeuvres, Gy, and some other smaller territories, in exchange for its rights on Carouge, Veyrier, Onex, Lancy, Bossey, Presinge, and others. During the baroque and classical periods, Europe saw the emergence of several planned towns. Save for the reconstruction of towns destroyed by fires, Switzerland did not jump on this trend mostly circumscribed to the large monarchies and princely states. However, the desire to possess or weaken Geneva by France and Savoy provides two good examples of this urban planning, both of which are now Genevan towns. In the 18th century under Louis XV, France intended to build a large port city in Versoix to deviate the traffic en route to Lake Geneva and from there to the Swiss confederation. The city, intended for around 30,000 inhabitants, would have been bigger than Geneva and included large squares and ports. Voltaire, who had settled in Ferney, was particularly rejoiced about the idea of ruining Geneva. However, opposition from Bern to a new fortified town in its border in Pays de Gex, and budgetary problems in France, finally stopped the project of which few items finally were built and survive. A more lasting project was launched by Savoy in 1777, which transformed Carouge into the gateway to the northern provinces and conferred the village the status of city in 1786. The planned city was particularly innovative in the way that streets were symmetrically laid and by the total absence of fortifications.
Protestant Rome
After the aura of a highly fortified "Protestant Rome", came an image during the 18th century of a very wealthy, elegant city behind its walls. Except for the periods of crises from the Great Plague of Marseille and the crash of the John Law monetary system in France, the century was prosperous until 1785, driven by the production and exports of luxury goods, most notably watches. Between 1760 and 1790, the watchmaking industry employs around 4,000 workers, a third of the men residents. During the century, the government also invests in public parks, most notably the Bastions park in 1720, one of the earliest examples of a public park in Europe created from the start for the public and by the public authorities; in beautifying the city, improving the public lighting amongst others. In a latter in 1775 the writer and philosopher Georges Sulzer wrote "Mr Bonnet was kind enough to accompany me to Geneva. It is well known that this city is, in proportion to its size, one of the richest in Europe. Its avenues already announce its opulence; everything indicates a people who live in the midst of abundance. Nowhere have I seen so many country houses as in the territory of this little Republic: the banks of the lake are entirely covered with them. These buildings all have a pleasant exterior which announces, if not magnificence, at least the last degree of cleanliness. Each house has its own well-tended gardens, often even vineyards, meadows and ploughed land. The main road was swarming with pedestrians, horses and carriages, and the surroundings were as busy as they are elsewhere on days of great solemnity".Early political upheavel and 1782 revolution
At the same time, political troubles were brewing. In 1526 as the Republic institutions were created, most of the power was given to the Council of Two Hundred. However, the Little Council had little by little nibbled its power, the Republic having effectively surrendered the power to the small number of bourgeois who controlled the Little Council. In 1707 the lawyer and member of the Council of Two Hundred Pierre Fatio was executed for his attempt to cut back on the powers of the Little Council, by leading a new faction called the representatives that called for a greater share of powers between the two councils. In addition, owing to increased demographic growth and an increase in the price of bourgeoisie, the proportion of eligible men eligible to the governing councils fell from 28% in 1730 to 18% in 1772, as the majority of the population were then natives and residents, many of whom were educated traders or craftsmen who increasingly rejected being excluded from politics.With increased realisation of their weight, and supported by Voltaire, the natives joined forces with the faction of representatives to overthrow the councils in April 1782 and start a revolution that would facilitate the acquisition of bourgeois rights by the natives. However, only three months later, Bernese, French, and Savoy troops entered the city to re-appoint the ancient government and undo the reforms.
Revolutionary period
The harsh winter of 1788-1789 and the riots provoked by a spectacular rise in the price of bread made the government fear more serious troubles. An edict issued on 10 February 1789 authorized the return of the exiles of 1782 and revoked several unpopular counter-revolutionary measures. Nevertheless, a new political faction inspired by the French Revolution, known as the egaliseurs, was formed in 1790. The group included natives and inhabitants, as well as a few sympathetic bourgeois and citizens, and demanded equal political rights for all. Concerned by an escalation of the revolts, the government implemented several reforms to appease the population, including the grant of citizenship to natives and residents of the countryside villages.After the French invasion of Savoy on 23 September 1792, Bernese colonel Wilhelm Bernhard von Muralt, who was appointed supreme commander of Swiss forces by the Federal Diet, led a Confederate army formed mainly of Bernese troops to Geneva and reinforced the city's garrison on 30 September, in response to a request for help issued by the Genevan government. For nearly two months, Genevan and Swiss troops found themselves face to face with a French army, under General Montesquiou, stationed across the Arve river in Carouge. Following lengthy negotiations, the Swiss army withdrew on 27 October after France agreed not to occupy Geneva.
Unrest resumed in Geneva after the National Convention issued a decree on 19 November 1792 promising "fraternity and aid to all peoples who wish to recover their liberty". Encouraged by the French annexation of Savoy in September 1792, the Egaliseurs managed to unite and take control of the Genevan government in December 1792. A first decree established equality between citizens, bourgeois, natives, inhabitants and subjects, putting an end to the old regime represented by the social hierarchy of Geneva. On 5 February 1794, a new constitution was adopted, establishing for the first time the separation of powers, popular sovereignty and direct democracy. In July 1794, extremist political clubs staged an insurrection and took control of the Republic. A revolutionary tribunal sentenced to death thirty-seven aristocrats and their suspected sympathizers, and eleven people were executed by firing squad.
The fall of Maximilien Robespierre in Paris soon afterwards brought an end to the "Genevan Terror", and a second revolutionary tribunal sentenced five extremists to death. In September 1795, an 'act of forgetfulness' annulled all the trials in the revolutionary courts. Old symbols of the Republic of Geneva were restored, and in October 1796 a new, more conservative constitution, was adopted.
French annexation
Things would quickly evolve when France officially annexes Savoy in the spring 1796 and Geneva is increasingly denounced by Paris as a "den of contrabandists, aristocrats, and emigrants". In January 1798, the French army invades the Swiss confederation and begins a trade embargo on Geneva, but the Directory wishes to annex the city on demand by its citizens and not by force. The wish would be granted on 15 April 1798 when the Genevan government is coerced by economic and political pressure to request the annexation by France. The treaty was relatively favourable to Geneva, whose citizens preserved the assets of the Republic, are left alone in regards to education and the economy, and granted a 5-year exemption from conscription. The city's fortifications are also kept intact and preserved, and the Protestant religion is largely tolerated, although with strict conditions such as the demotion of its status to a simple association.After long debates in Paris, Geneva is then made capital of a new Léman, which resembled the old catholic diocese of Geneva prior to the Protestant reformation.
Restoration and accession to the Swiss Confederation
The Napoleonic army left Geneva on 30 December 1813 under pressure from the Austrian general Ferdinand von Bubna und Littitz, and on the next day the return of the Republic was proclaimed.At the Congress of Vienna of 1814–15, Geneva was admitted as a canton to the Swiss Confederation ending its status as an independent republic. The city's neutrality was guaranteed by the Congress.
Geneva's territory was extended to cover fifteen Savoyard and six French parishes, with more than 16,000 Catholics; at the same time the Congress expressly provided—and the same proviso was included in the Treaty of Turin —that in these territories transferred to Geneva the Catholic religion was to be protected, and that no changes were to be made in existing conditions without the approval of the Holy See.
Government
By adopting the Protestant Reformation in 1536, Geneva underwent a religious and political revolution, separating itself from the spiritual and temporal power of the Bishop to become an independent, sovereign republic. Along with other legal documents which governed it throughout the ancien régime, Calvin's ordinances on political offices and officeholders, issued in 1543 and revised in 1568, consacrated the existing political institutions of Geneva by regulating their powers and form of election. The Republic's government was structured as follows:- The General Council, i.e. the electoral body, composed of all male citizens and burghers aged at least 25 years old. Its members had the right to vote and run for political office. On presentation of a list of candidates by the Small Council, the General Council elected the four Syndics in January, and in November the Lieutenant, his six assessors, the auditors, as well as the Prosecutor General.
- The Council of Two Hundred or Grand Council, established in 1527 on the Bernese model. It met about once a month to discuss matters submitted by the Small Council. While it had the authority to enact laws, it did so only upon the Small Council's recommendation.
- The Council of Sixty, originally the Council of Fifty, created in 1457 as an advisory body during times of emergency. Its members were selected by the Small Council. It gradually ceased to convene during the 18th century.
- The Small Council, consisting of 25 members along with two secretaries of state. It served as the main executive authority of the Republic. Additionally, it was responsible for drafting laws and convened, in a limited capacity, as both a civil court of appeals and a criminal court. The members of the Small Council appointed those of the Council of Two Hundred and vice versa.
- The four Syndics, elected once a year from among the citizens, existed since the late 13th century, and their magistracy was officially confirmed in 1309. As the supreme magistrates of the Republic, they presided over the Small Council and oversaw current affairs, with a "First Syndic" taking precedence based on seniority in office.