Frédéric-César de La Harpe
Encyclopedia
Rolle
Rolle is a municipality in the Canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It was the seat of the district of Rolle until 2006, when it became part of the district of Nyon. It is located on the northwestern shore of Lake Geneva between Nyon and Lausanne...
, Vaud
Vaud
Vaud is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and is located in Romandy, the French-speaking southwestern part of the country. The capital is Lausanne. The name of the Canton in Switzerland's other languages are Vaud in Italian , Waadt in German , and Vad in Romansh.-History:Along the lakes,...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
— died March 30, 1838, Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
) was a Swiss political leader and Vaudois patriot, who played a leading role in the creation of the Helvetic Republic
Helvetic Republic
In Swiss history, the Helvetic Republic represented an early attempt to impose a central authority over Switzerland, which until then consisted mainly of self-governing cantons united by a loose military alliance, and conquered territories such as Vaud...
.
Biography
La Harpe came from the Swiss canton of Vaud. At the time Switzerland was a confederacyConfederation
A confederation in modern political terms is a permanent union of political units for common action in relation to other units. Usually created by treaty but often later adopting a common constitution, confederations tend to be established for dealing with critical issues such as defense, foreign...
of mainly self-governing canton
Cantons of Switzerland
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the federal state of Switzerland. Each canton was a fully sovereign state with its own borders, army and currency from the Treaty of Westphalia until the establishment of the Swiss federal state in 1848...
s held together by a loose military alliance. Some of the cantons were what was referred to as subject lands since they were governed by other cantons: Vaud, for example, had been under the control of Bern since the 16th-century. There was little in terms of actual union and no central government. Like most of Europe, Switzerland was deemed feudal in nature since the wealthiest members of society benefited from privileges that others were denied. There was much resentment over this which led to many conspiracies and uprisings. In Vaud itself Major Abraham Davel led a revolt against Bern, in protest at what he saw as the denial of political rights of the French-speaking Vaudians by the German-speaking Bernese. He was beheaded in 1723.
La Harpe was born in 1754. Having obtained a doctorate of Laws at the University of Tübingen in 1774, he travelled abroad and became tutor to the children of Tsar Paul I
Paul I of Russia
Paul I was the Emperor of Russia between 1796 and 1801. He also was the 72nd Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta .-Childhood:...
of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
. Following the outbreak of the French Revolution of 1789, he began to plot a Vaudois uprising from St. Petersburg. In 1794 he returned to Switzerland and thence to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where he and other exiles sought French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
assistance for releasing Vaud and Fribourg
Fribourg
Fribourg is the capital of the Swiss canton of Fribourg and the district of Sarine. It is located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss plateau, and is an important economic, administrative and educational center on the cultural border between German and French Switzerland...
from Bern's domination.
La Harpe published his Essay on the Constitution of the Vaud, an anti-Bernese tract. On the 10 December 1797 he addressed the French Directory
French Directory
The Directory was a body of five Directors that held executive power in France following the Convention and preceding the Consulate...
, stating that commitments made by the Duke of Savoy in treaties signed with Bern at Lausanne
Lausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
in 1564 where now the responsibility of the French and thus gave them the right to assist the people of Vaud against the Bernese.
In fact, by the time the French did send troops into Vaud in late January 1798, the locals had already risen up and driven away the Bernese baillis (or governor
Governor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
) and proclaimed the Lemanic Republic. This did not stop the French who proceeded to a largely peaceful invasion of Switzerland and brought about the Helvetic Republic
Helvetic Republic
In Swiss history, the Helvetic Republic represented an early attempt to impose a central authority over Switzerland, which until then consisted mainly of self-governing cantons united by a loose military alliance, and conquered territories such as Vaud...
, established by La Harpe and Peter Ochs
Peter Ochs (politician)
Peter Ochs was a Swiss politician who is best known for drawing up the first constitution of the short-lived Helvetic Republic.-Biography:...
.
The Helvetic Republic abolished the cantons and established a central government. On June 29, 1798, La Harpe himself entered the Swiss Directory (chief executive committee). A year later he deposed Ochs and sought dictatorial power only to be deposed himself in a coup in January 1800. He subsequently fled the country.
The Republic itself was unpopular with the people and relied on French troops for support. The French pillaging of state coffers, the curbing of the right to worship and the heavy-handed crushing of resistance, most notably in Nidwalden
Nidwalden
Nidwalden is a canton of Switzerland. It is located in the centre of Switzerland. The population is 40,287 of which 4,046 are foreigners. The capital is Stans.-History:...
, caused considerable resentment. What's more, the treaty of alliance with France undermined Swiss neutrality and led to subsequent invasions/liberations by Austrian
Habsburg Monarchy
The Habsburg Monarchy covered the territories ruled by the junior Austrian branch of the House of Habsburg , and then by the successor House of Habsburg-Lorraine , between 1526 and 1867/1918. The Imperial capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, when it was moved to Prague...
and Russian
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
troops.
Eventually, in 1803, Napoleon Bonaparte, then First Consul of France, instigated the Act of Mediation
Act of Mediation
The Act of Mediation was issued by Napoleon Bonaparte on 19 February 1803 establishing the Swiss Confederation. The act also abolished the previous Helvetic Republic, which had existed since the invasion of Switzerland by French troops in 1798. After the withdrawal of French troops in July 1802,...
which abolished the Helvetic Republic and turned Switzerland back into a confederacy. La Harpe himself refused to take part in the negotiations, in fact he wrote to his former pupil, Tsar Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....
, complaining that "So much trouble has gone into doing such detestable work, whereas a week would have been enough to supplement all that was required for a single, central government". He did however get some satisfaction in that Vaud was declared a sovereign canton, independent of Bern.
During 1813 and 1814, with Napoleon's empire on the verge of collapse, La Harpe and his friend Henri Monod lobbied Tsar Alexander who persuaded the other Allied powers opposing Napoleon to recognise Vaudian and Aargau
Aargau
Aargau is one of the more northerly cantons of Switzerland. It comprises the lower course of the river Aare, which is why the canton is called Aar-gau .-History:...
ian independence, in spite of Bern's attempts to reclaim them as subject lands. La Harpe attended the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
where the major powers set about redrawing the map of Europe following Napoleon's defeat. He gained further recognition for Vaud's rights, though he opposed the Federal Treaty of 1815 which established Switzerland's post-Napoleonic arrangements
Restauration (Switzerland)
The periods of Restoration and Regeneration in Swiss history last from 1814 to 1847. "Restoration" refers to the period of 1814 to 1830, the restoration of the Ancien Régime , reverting the changes imposed by Napoleon Bonaparte with the centralist Helvetic Republic from 1798 and the partial...
.
La Harpe then served on Vaud's legislative council until 1828.
Legacy
Opinions on La Harpe are mixed in Switzerland. In Vaud he is highly regarded as a liberator and an artificial islandArtificial island
An artificial island or man-made island is an island or archipelago that has been constructed by people rather than formed by natural means...
is named after him. Others, however, see him as largely responsible for the occupation of Switzerland under the French and the subsequent chaos of the Helvetic Republic. It might be noted that aspects of the Republic, such as the 7-member executive Swiss Federal Council
Swiss Federal Council
The Federal Council is the seven-member executive council which constitutes the federal government of Switzerland and serves as the Swiss collective head of state....
, were adopted in the Swiss Federal Constitution
Swiss Federal Constitution
The Federal Constitution of 18 April 1999 is the third and current federal constitution of Switzerland. It establishes the Swiss Confederation as a federal republic of 26 cantons , contains a catalogue of individual and popular rights , delineates the responsibilities of the...
of 1848, which has been the basis of subsequent constitutions.