Regeneration and the confessional struggle

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The 1830s brought the movement known as the Regeneration, in which liberal forces in many cantons replaced the Restoration constitutions with liberal and democratic ones. The movement was strongest in the Protestant and industrialising cantons of the Swiss plateau. In the Catholic cantons of central Switzerland, it met with resistance. The conflict between liberals and conservatives acquired a confessional dimension, as liberal governments closed monasteries and restricted the influence of the church, and as conservative governments sought the support of the Jesuits and of Catholic powers abroad.¹ Zug was a moderate participant in this conflict. Although it belonged to the conservative camp, its proximity to Zurich and its nascent industry gave it a liberal minority. Its political class, moreover, had long practised the art of compromise. In the town, the demolition of the fortifications began in 1835, a symbolic opening of the old town towards the countryside and towards the future.² In the Ägeri valley, the first cotton spinning mill was founded in 1834, as Chapter III describes.³ The economic transformation of the canton began at the same time as its political crisis.

Notes

René Roca, "Sonderbund", HLS, version of 20 December 2012, hls-dhs-dss.ch: the Aargau monastery dispute (1841–1843) sharpened the conflict between liberal radicals and conservatives; in Lucerne, after the conservative-democratic turn of 1841, the circle around Josef Leu pushed through the calling of the Jesuits; Heidi Bossard-Borner, "Leu, Josef", HLS, version of 3 March 2016: the calling of the Jesuits to the Höhere Lehranstalt came about in 1844. ↩
HLS, "Zug (Gemeinde)": defortification began in 1835. ↩
Zug in der Welt, "Villen der Wirtschaftskapitäne": in 1834, Wolfgang and Alois Henggeler founded the Innere Spinnerei in Unterägeri. ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of October 2026.

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Regeneration and the confessional struggle

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