61340 Vorabseiten_e - Unabhängige Expertenkommission Schweiz

also committed to an ideological concept which only allowed limited
commitment to foreign policy. 78
Emergency Plenary Powers did not really strengthen the Federal Council. It
became more exposed to the influences of interest groups now that it only
required limited support from parliament, and it also had competition from the
General who was becoming increasingly more popular. The question as to
whether the Federal Council in its composition of May 1940 was the weakest
Federal Government since 1848, to quote a seemingly competent source, will
not be answered here. 79 There is, however, no doubt that the responsibilities in
these years were particularly demanding.
Various statements, public appearances, and files, especially of the Federal
Councillors Philipp Etter and Marcel Pilet-Golaz, created the impression that
the Federal Government would like to have imposed an authoritarian social
structure on the country in the style of French Pétainism, which was regarded
as exemplary in many respects. 80 For a time in 1940, a further debate regarding
the constitution seemed likely (following that in 1935). However, even Federal
Councillor Philipp Etter, who was perhaps its keenest advocate, wanted to wait
until the international situation was less confused. Federal Councillor Pilet-
Golaz publicly declared in September 1940 that the state institutions were not
«as bad as some people claimed», and that they were «in principle, healthy». 81
However, on a confidential level his opinion was remarkably different. On
9 September 1940 Pilet-Golaz wrote to General Guisan: «Personally, I am
convinced that we should be able to improve our relations with our northern
neighbour if we could free ourselves from an irritatingly ideological way of
seeing things, and from a certain demagogic ultra-democratism inspired by that
French-style parliamentarianism which has proved so deadly for France. But we
shall be able to achieve this only slowly, taking advantage of every opportunity,
and avoiding – if possible – any incident to the extent that it is in our power to
do so.» 82 In the summer of 1940, the media also expressed the desire for more
leadership and authority. 83 Those who wanted to strengthen the government,
such as the influential intellectual Gonzague de Reynold from the Catholic
Conservative Party, 84 were concerned with strengthening the leadership structures
on a cantonal level as opposed to the central Federal state powers.
However, with regard to Switzerland as a whole, the same forces wanted to
eliminate the influence of the parties and parliament and strengthen those of
the economy. The Federal Council wanted subordination and loyalty (hierarchy
was an integral concept in formative military service anyway), the smaller
lower-level authorities in both the public and private domains insisted more and
more on obedience and discipline.
The General, as an additional and in some respects even higher authority than
79