61340 Vorabseiten_e - Unabhängige Expertenkommission Schweiz

«original» Swiss values, so to speak. 66 On the protestant side, the mass
meetings, in particular the People’s Day in Vindonissa in June 1942 with
10,000 participants or the Oerlikon Day of the Young Church (Junge Kirche)
in August 1942 with 6,000 participants, were typical for the time. Of the truce
obtaining on the party political scene there was, very little trace in relations
between the two denominations, where intolerance, sometimes extreme,
continued to prevail. 67 A factional dispute also existed in the Reformed
Evangelical Church between the conservative «positivist thinkers» («Positive»)
and the «liberal thinkers» («Freisinnige»). There was also a third position,
formed by followers of the dialectical theology of the famous theologian Karl
Barth, who was very critical of the government, and also followers of Leonard
Ragaz’s socio-religious movement. The conviction of Karl Barth voiced publicly
as early as 1938, that every Czech soldier was also fighting for Switzerland and
the Christian Church was not very widespread. 68 The Jewish side sought to
co-operate cautiously with the churches, and in doing so emphasised the
common sources of Christian and Jewish ethics. However, any hope for
co-operation and support in the war years was usually proved vain and dialogue
would only commence after the war on a step-by-step basis. 69
Critical as one may be of its authoritarian characteristics, one should not
overlook the liberal impact of the «Geistige Landesverteidigung» movement and
its promotion of social reform and basic democracy when considering its
historical significance. On the political scene, this was embodied in the «Aktion
Nationaler Widerstand» (National Resistance Movement) which resulted in the
reformist elements of the bourgeoisie co-operating with nationally conscious
Social Democrats. Intellectually, too, the «Geistige Landesverteidigung» was
considered to have a broadening rather than a restricting effect.
The passing of a financial bill in June 1939 combining improved military
defence of the country with the fight against unemployment, underlined the
growing convergence of the previously diverging forces. In January 1940, no
one disputed the fact that a compensation system for the loss of earnings of
persons entitled to support benefits because of having done military service was
imperative in order to ease the social crisis. This would have been inconceivable
in the First World War. The system was based on a combination of funding:
employers and employees contributed two percent of wages each, the state
(Federal 2/3, and cantonal 1/3) contributing the same amount. The success of
the system induced the Swiss state pension scheme (Alters- und Hinterlassenenversicherung,
AHV) to adopt the same financing principle in 1947. The fact that
this social security system, which was approved in principle on a Constitutional
level as early as 1925, was implemented so late is but one example of the belated
reforms that had to be introduced after 1945.
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