The Triumph of Liberalism: Zurich in the Golden Age, 1830-1869

This is an unusually well written history of the success of 19th century liberalism in Switzerland. We are used to thinking of Switzerland as a small and because of its traditional neutrality, largely irrelevant European nation. Craig points out that in 19th century Europe, Switzerland occupied a place out of proportion to its size. Diverse in terms of ethnicity, language, and religion, and with formidable geographic barriers to political unity, Switzerland was a weak and disunited state in the post-Napoleonic period. Liberal politicians, particularly after 1830 and during the 1840s-1850s, led a program of strenghtening of the central government, the establishment of a liberal constitutional regime, and economic expansion/modernization. While these events were hardly free of conflict, Switzerland was spared the much of the violence and reaction occurring in surrounding states. Switzerland was an important example for liberal political movements in the rest of Europe. Craig provides a really nice thematic narrative of the major events, concentrating on the role of politicians and others in the city of Zurich. He emphasizes the key leadership roles played by politicians and others from Zurich. This is not just a political history, Craig does a nice job of integrating the history of educational reform, economic development, and high culture. The late Gordon Craig was a leading authority on German history and the author of several fine books in that area. A major theme of his writing on Germany is the failure of liberal movements in German politics and society, leading ultimately to disastrous consequences. This book appears to have been written as something of a counterpoise to his work on German political history.

This is a very good book on Zuerich during one of its more turbulent and innovative periods. At this time (summer '98) the German version of this book "Geld und Geist - Zuerich im Zeitalter des Liberalismus" is still widely available.