Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 8,995
Money!
The French Revolution also spread to neighboring Switzerland! On January 17, 1798, a liberty tree is erected in Basel for the first time...
...and the previous subjects storm the castles, the seats of the city bailiffs.
The government resigns and on February 5 the Basel National Assembly convenes as Switzerland's first revolutionary parliament.
When French General Philippe Romain Ménard was advancing with French troops on the Bernese border...
...assures support for the Swiss revolutionaries in a proclamation...
...the Lemanic Republic is proclaimed on January 24, 1789 in Vaud.
From this the "Helvetic Republic" developed, shaped by the ideals of the French revolution - independent, but regarded by the French (and also many Swiss) as a "daughter republic"!
The republic no longer carries the traditional white Swiss cross on a red background as its flag, but a tricolor...:
The cantons, which were previously virtually sovereign, are now downgraded to purely administrative divisions. In order to smash the old structures, the canton borders are also being redrawn!
The plan to introduce departments based on the French model in place of the cantons...
...is no longer realized, since the "Helvetic Republic" ceases to exist in 1802 - and again makes way for a modernized Switzerland.
Nevertheless, the Helvetic Republic produced something enduring that still exists today:
On March 19, 1799, the "Franc" was introduced as the first nationwide currency; before that, practically every city and canton had its own money.
The Franc is divided into 100 "Batzen"...
...the smallest coin is "Half Batzen"...:
The "Franken" still exists today, highly valued not only by the citizens of the country but also by many thousands of tax evaders and numbered account owners...
The French Revolution also spread to neighboring Switzerland! On January 17, 1798, a liberty tree is erected in Basel for the first time...
...and the previous subjects storm the castles, the seats of the city bailiffs.
The government resigns and on February 5 the Basel National Assembly convenes as Switzerland's first revolutionary parliament.
When French General Philippe Romain Ménard was advancing with French troops on the Bernese border...
...assures support for the Swiss revolutionaries in a proclamation...
...the Lemanic Republic is proclaimed on January 24, 1789 in Vaud.
From this the "Helvetic Republic" developed, shaped by the ideals of the French revolution - independent, but regarded by the French (and also many Swiss) as a "daughter republic"!
The republic no longer carries the traditional white Swiss cross on a red background as its flag, but a tricolor...:
The cantons, which were previously virtually sovereign, are now downgraded to purely administrative divisions. In order to smash the old structures, the canton borders are also being redrawn!
The plan to introduce departments based on the French model in place of the cantons...
...is no longer realized, since the "Helvetic Republic" ceases to exist in 1802 - and again makes way for a modernized Switzerland.
Nevertheless, the Helvetic Republic produced something enduring that still exists today:
On March 19, 1799, the "Franc" was introduced as the first nationwide currency; before that, practically every city and canton had its own money.
The Franc is divided into 100 "Batzen"...
...the smallest coin is "Half Batzen"...:
The "Franken" still exists today, highly valued not only by the citizens of the country but also by many thousands of tax evaders and numbered account owners...
