51.9.184.124

It seems that a foreigner wants to teach me the history of my own country. User 51.9.184.124 obviously doesn‘t know much about the Swiss Confederation, Swiss federalism, Swiss law, the ancient institution of a Landsgemeinde, or the traditional roles of men and women in rural Appenzell Innerrhoden, the smallest of Swiss cantons with a population of about 15,000.

After the Second World War, when most Western European countries had introduced women‘s suffrage, the pressure on Switzerland to do the same grew steadily. Resistance was strongest in the rural Catholic cantons in which the direct democratic institution of the Landsgemeinde survived into the modern era. Landsgemeinden have their origin in the late Middle Ages. In them, all able-bodied men who can bear arms come together to vote on taxes, war or peace, government etc. Women were excluded because they did not bear arms. The men in the cantons with a Landsgemeinde were afraid that the introduction of women‘s suffrage would spell the end of the institution of the Landsgemeinde. This fear was not without reason. In fact, in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden the place where the Landsgemeinde traditionally took place was too small for double the number of voters. For this reason the Landsgemeinde was abolished after the introduction of women‘s suffrage and people had thenceforth to vote at the ballot box. Ironically, Appenzell Innerrhoden, where men put up the strongest resistance to women‘s vote in spite of the growing pressure of the whole rest of Switzerland, the traditional place of the Landsgemeinde could be enlarged so that now men and women congregate every year in the cantonal Landsgemeinde, a festive occasion to which people are emotionally attached.

The Federal Council of Switzerland was divided about the issue of women‘s suffrage after the Second World War. The Social Democratic Councilors were in favor but the Catholic Conservative Councilors were against. As neither side prevailed, the Federal Council took no action. International pressure mounted constantly. Nevertheless, in a Referendum in 1959 the Swiss men rejected the introduction of women‘s suffrage on the Federal level. However, two cantons where the men had voted for women‘s suffrage (Vaud and Neuchatel) introduced women‘s suffrage on the cantonal level in the same year. Other cantons followed. In another referendum in 1971 a two-thirds majority of the Swiss men voted for the introduction of women‘s suffrage on the Federal level. From that time on all Swiss women, including those living in the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden as well as a few other cantons that had not yet introduced women‘s suffrage in their canton, could participate in federal elections and referendums. It is this date that must appear in the table under the name of Switzerland. The unusual fact that women‘s suffrage was introduced independently on the federal and on the cantonal level is mentioned in the accompanying text. There it is mentioned that the first canton, Vaud, introduced women‘s suffrage in 1959 and the last canton, Appenzell Innerrhoden, introduced it in 1990.

User:2001:1711:FA4E:A1:2566:4520:EB4C:786D don't forget to sign your posts with your signature on talk pages, However you must still sign your posts Chip3004 (talk) 01:48, 10 August 2022 (UTC)

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