The creation of the new canton of the Helvetian Confederation: the Jura secession

Abstract

This texts analyses the antecedents and circumstances of the creation of a new canton in the Helvetic Confederation in the 1970s, the Canton of Jura. With a population of approximately 70.000 inhabitants, mainly francophone catholics, it is situated in the extreme Northwest of the country. From the start of the XX Century, the tension between the germanophone canton of Bern and the francophone minority increased and provoked the creation of groups whose aim was to reaffirm the identity of Jura and create a canton of their own. The Moeckli affair in 1947 was the trigger of the Jura issue.

In the 1960s, some groups went from verbal demand to action and even terrorist acts. In 1970 the reform of the Canton of Bern’s Constitution was adopted by referendum, recognising the right to self-determination of the people of Jura, paving the way to a plebiscite. The referendum on the creation of the new canton was finally held on 23 June 1974. The result was very close: the motion to create a new canton won by only 3.000 votes. But the unity of the historical region of Jura was shattered to pieces: the sectors against separation decided to make use of their right to demand a consultation in the regions where they had a majority. In 1975, three districts decided to remain in the Bern canton.

The Jura nationalists have never given up the idea of reunification. In 1997 the new canton’s constituent assembly approved the Constitution of the Republic and Canton of Jura, ratified by a big mayority. The next year, all the Swiss citizens and all the cantons expressed their assent to Jura becoming the Confederation’s twentythird canton. The 1999 Federal Constitution of Switzerlan refers in Article 1 to the Alliance of the peoples of the 23 cantons that form the Confederation and names the Canton of Jura.

Submission date: 17/02/2006
Aceptance date: 22/04/2006