After the outbreak of World War I, the Federal Assembly elected Ulrich Wille (* 1877, † 1959) on August 3, 1914as general and commander-in-chief of the Swiss army mobilized up to August 10th and granted the Federal Council extensive powers (“powers of attorney”). In the form of the border occupation, the army took over the military security of neutrality. The influences of German and French nationalism, which were already noticeable before the war, sparked a tense contrast (“rift”) between German and French-speaking Swiss, which threatened the internal cohesion of the Confederation. In view of the war, the economic situation in Switzerland, which had been completely surrounded by belligerent states since 1915, was difficult: it had to give these powers guarantees for their own use of the imported food and raw materials and set up appropriate monitoring bodies. In order to become more independent of foreign deliveries, according to aristmarketing, Switzerland intensified the cultivation of grain and initiated the electrification of the railways. The Federal Council sought to cover the costs with a “one-time war tax” (1915) approved by the population. Against the background of rising costs of living, social tensions increased in the course of the First World War; Starting in 1917, social democracy, turning away from the previous “truce policy”, stepped into more and more open opposition. In November 1918, revolutionary socialists tried, particularly Against the background of rising costs of living, social tensions increased in the course of the First World War; Starting in 1917, social democracy, turning away from the previous “truce policy”, stepped into more and more open opposition. In November 1918, revolutionary socialists tried, particularly Against the background of rising costs of living, social tensions increased in the course of the First World War; Starting in 1917, social democracy, turning away from the previous “truce policy”, stepped into more and more open opposition. In November 1918, revolutionary socialists tried, particularly R. Grimm and the Olten Action Committee he founded to bring about a social upheaval through a “state general strike” failed, however, due to the resistance of the bourgeoisie and peasantry. With the introduction of the 48-hour week and the holding of new elections to the National Council (1919, on the basis of the proportional representation system approved by the people in October 1918), the Federal Council was able to counteract social tensions.
In its foreign policy (Federal Councilor F. Calonder, 1913–1920), Switzerland adhered to a strict line of neutrality during the First World War; the USA’s request to break off relations with the German Reich (February 1917), she refused. In the humanitarian field, she emerged in the investigation of missing persons and prisoners of war as well as in the exchange of seriously wounded between the warring powers.
Swiss International Air Lines Ltd.
Swiss International Air Lines Ltd. [sw ɪ s ɪ ntə næ ʃ nl eəla ɪ nz l ɪ m ɪ t ɪ d], since 1. 7. 2002 New name of Swiss intercontinental airline Crossair AG; Headquarters: Basel. Air traffic is operated under the SWISS brandguided; In 2017, Swiss carried 16.9 million passengers to 108 destinations in 43 countries with a fleet of 91 aircraft. Turnover (2017): 4.95 billion Swiss francs, employees: 9,100. The aircraft have the inscription “SWISS” on a white fuselage in red, next to them is the name of Switzerland in the four national languages in smaller letters, and the tail fin shows that Swiss cross on a red field.
Since July 1, 2007, Swiss has been wholly owned by Deutsche Lufthansa.
Swiss Federal Railways
Swiss Federal Railways, acronym SBB, French Chemins de fer suisses fédéraux [ ʃ mε d fεr fede ro s ɥ is], acronym CFF, Italian Ferrovie federali svizzere, acronym FFS, owned by the Swiss Confederation, since 1999 “special law” stock corporation, previously an independent public company. The SBB Group is divided into the four divisions Passenger Transport, Freight Transport (SBB Cargo), Infrastructure and Real Estate; In addition, there are control and service functions (including human resources and finance). Subsidiaries are SBB Cargo AG, Thurbo AG, RegionAlps AG and AlpTransit Gotthard AG.
Measured in terms of earnings, SBB developed from a freight railroad to a passenger railroad at the end of the 20th century (2015: 18.56 billion pkm). Trains have been running every hour since 1982, today every 30 minutes on all major routes. The basis is the Bahn 2000 concept, approved by the people in 1987, with expansion and construction of individual sections such as the Mattstetten – Rothrist high-speed line on the main Bern – Zurich line, in operation since the end of 2004. The Zurich S-Bahn was built in 1990 with a tunnel under the city center . The new rail-Alpine transversal is intended to create the prerequisites for handling transit traffic through Switzerland in the north-south axis largely by rail, which will also increase its importance in freight traffic.
Swiss Federal Railways: key data
Swiss Federal Railways (2013)
Operating length
3 138 km
from that:
electrified
3 138 km
Narrow gauge (1 m)
99 km
in the tunnel
269 km
on bridges
92 km
Number of tunnels
310
Number of bridges
6 088
people carried
347 million
transported goods
50 million tons
Transport services
Passenger kilometers
17.8 billion
Ton kilometers
12.3 billion
Operating length of the private railways
> 2,000 km
History: The SBB came into being through a referendum on February 20, 1898 to nationalize important private railways. The federal government took over the Central Railway and the Nordostbahn (1. 1. 1902), the United Swiss Railway (1. 7. 1902), the Jura-Simplon Railway (1. May 1903) and the Gotthard Railway (1. May 1909). Electrification began in 1906 and was completed in 1960 with 99.5% of the network length. In Switzerland, compared to other countries, around 60 private railways still have an above-average share of the entire network and traffic volume.
