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Grand old Swiss party: a past and future for liberalism

The centre-right Radical-Liberal Party is celebrating 125 years of existence at a national level. But the Swiss champions of political longevity haven’t always known how to value this rich past, says historian Olivier Meuwly.  The modern Radical-Liberal Party has its roots in the liberal movements which flourished in western Europe in the first half of the 19th century. In Switzerland, the story of political liberalism has been a particular success.  From 1830 several cantons adapted their constitution in a liberal sense. The pinnacle was reached in 1848, with the creation of the modern federal state, spurred on by the radical movement.  Defeated by a Protestant-led coalition in the Sonderbund War, the conservative Catholics – the basis of the current centre-right Christian Democratic Party – were for a long time relegated to the opposition. The Radicals, who formally existed only at a cantonal level, had pretty much a monopoly on running the new state. They have been …