See Also: Sonderbund(dictionary)
Sonderbund(encyclopedia)

Sonderbund (sh)




(German; "Separatist League")

League formed in 1845 by the seven Roman Catholic Swiss cantons.

After the Protestant cantons sought to prevent the Jesuits' takeover of religious education in Lucerne, the Catholic cantons formed the Sonderbund, which further angered the liberal cantons. In 1847 a reformist majority in the Swiss Diet voted to dissolve the Sonderbund and expel the Jesuits. In November 1847 the league took up arms, but its forces were quickly subdued. The new Swiss constitution adopted in 1848 strengthened the central government.