Federal Pact

The Federal Pact of 1815 established Switzerland as a confederation of sovereign states united for common defense and internal order. This pact replaced the Mediation Act and meant that a unified foreign policy was still impossible. Each canton maintained its own laws, currency, postal service, and system of weights and measures, creating legal barriers between them. Civil liberties were limited, and religious differences resurfaced, with the Roman Catholic hierarchy aligning with reactionary antimodernism.1

The July Revolution of 1830 inspired reform movements, leading to popular sovereignty and equality in most cantons. However, political polarization between liberal and conservative cantons prevented the adoption of a new liberal constitution in 1832. This tension eventually led to the formation of the Sonderbund, a separatist league of Catholic cantons in 1845, which was dissolved after a brief civil war in 1847. The victory of the liberal cantons paved the way for the federal constitution of 1848, which created a unified federal state.1