DAVID HESSE AND PHILIPP LOSER For centuries, Switzerland was a country of emigrants. Men, women and children left the alpine valleys to seek their fortune abroad. Mercenaries, confectioners, architects, nannies, merchants, dairy farmers, chimney sweeps and others joined the exodus. It was not until the end of the 19th century that immigration began to outstrip emigration. In 1914, the official number of Swiss citizens abroad was put at a sizeable 380,000 – a not inconsiderable figure, as the domestic population back then was less than four million. The federal government and cantons either had little interest in these emigrants or were happy to have exported some of Switzerland’s homegrown poverty. “They were glad they were gone,” says historian Patrick Kury. Anyone who had left the country lost their entitlement to state protection and welfare. Nevertheless, in 1874 the federal government began checking up on the private agencies that conducted the emigration process, because fraud was rife. And in 1900, a state-run office of emigration was opened for the purpose of advising people against leaving the country “recklessly”. Attitudes to the diaspora changed during the First World War. National emphasis was put on the collective and the importance of strengthening the social fabric. Emigration began to be questioned. It was seen as a drain on the nation. The New Helvetic Society (NHS), founded in 1914 with the aim of “preserving the nation’s genetic heritage”, tried to promote cooperation with expatriate associations and Swiss schools abroad. The NHS established its own sister organisation in London in 1916 as well as the forerunner of today’s Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA), the Auslandschweizerwerk, in 1920. Following the birth of the federal Swiss state in 1848, emigrants had repeatedly called on their home country to take greater care of them and give them the right to vote. But it was not until the start of the 1960s that the federal government began addressing their concerns, viewing the diaspora increasingly as an asset to be nurtured for the good of the nation. In its message to the Federal Assembly on 2 July 1965, the Federal Council wrote: “Switzerland is a small landlocked country poor in raw materials with a highly developed, globally connected economy. As such, it relies on a strong and healthy network of hard-working expatriates abroad.” The day the “Fifth Switzerland” became official A referendum on 16 October 1966 redefined the relationship between Switzerland and its diaspora, when voters said yes to a constitutional clause dedicated to the Swiss Abroad. In their recently published book “Heute Abstimmung!”, David Hesse and Philipp Loser pick out the vote as one of the 30 popular decisions that changed Switzerland. Here is the relevant chapter in full. The expatriate community became an economic proposition. Consequently, the Federal Council wanted its responsibility for Swiss Abroad to be enshrined in the Federal Constitution. A new article in the constitution would empower the government to govern the “rights and obligations” of expatriates, specifically in relation to “the exercise of political rights in the Confederation, the fulfilment of the obligation to perform military or alternative service, welfare support and social security”. Voting in the referendum to decide this constitutional change was mandatory. Referendum debate The year of the referendum, 1966, became a landmark year for expatriates. Three former federal councillors – Traugott Wahlen, Max Petitpierre and Giuseppe Lepori – lobbied hard for the OSA in 1966, the year in which the OSA also celebrated its 50th anniversary. Swiss Post issued an expatriate-themed stamp, while the Swiss National Library in Berne put on an exhibition devoted to the diaspora. Suddenly, the consensus was that Switzerland should in fact be proud of its emigrants. Sceptics were very much in the minority. Shortly before the vote, the NZZ called the proposal “completely indisputable”. The vote was about more than just a clause in the constitution, it said. “Switzerland owes a debt of gratitude to its compatriots abroad for their economic, political and cultural endeavours. This is about cementing unity.” According to the National Council, Swiss Abroad would now become “equal citizens”. There were a number of outside factors at play here. One of them was the end of colonialism. Poster promoting the “Fifth Switzerland” in the 1966 referendum campaign; 68 per cent voted yes. Photo: Prints and Drawings Department of the Swiss National Library, Berne Swiss Review / April 2025 / No.2 20 Books
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