Switzerland acquires the Austrian bundesland of Voralberg in 1919

basileus

Petike said:
Seriously :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerland_during_the_World_Wars#Interwar_period

Would anyone give it a try ? Ori is it too ASBish ?
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Not ASB. but the Swiss just couldn't swallow a German-speaking land with hundreds of thousands of people without seriously imbalancing their ethnic structure. To go along, they should have politely asked Italy for Val d'Ossola, Luino, Valtellina and Valle d'Aosta (French-speaking at the time), and France for the Franc-Comté, just for the sake of keeping an equilibrated mix...
 

Susano

Banned
Well, the Franche Comte would be a wee bit too large for rebalance ;)
(And IMO, the Aosta Valley, and the Valleys between it and Tessin would make nice additions to Switzerland :D )

But would the ethnic problem really be such a problem? I mean, I know the concordance system of Swiss politics is based on a formula for government council members that also includes religion and language, but 1) would the German Swiss grumble that much about keeping it even if Vorarlberg joined and 2) would the French and Italian Swiss grumble that much if it is justifiedly changed to reflect the inclusion of Vorarlberg?
 

altamiro

Banned
Wouldn't that provide Hitler with a nice little reason for an ultimatum later on - assumed the Nazi takeover is not butterflied away by this change?

I would guess, however, that the disparity between Switzerland which came out of the war unscathed, and Vorarlberg whose citizens experienced the privations of the war will make extremist parties more popular in Vorarlberg than in the rest of Switzerland later on, again, assumed that a Great Depression still takes place.

I know, butterflies...
 
Dan1988

Dan1988

altamiro said:
I would guess, however, that the disparity between Switzerland which came out of the war unscathed, and Vorarlberg whose citizens experienced the privations of the war will make extremist parties more popular in Vorarlberg than in the rest of Switzerland later on, again, assumed that a Great Depression still takes place.
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At least we know who the Evangelical People's Party of Switzerland is going to get their support from. :D

Seriously, though, Vorarlberg is probably culturally closer to Switzerland than the rest of Austria, so there wouldn't be much of a culture shock.
 
Petike

Petike

Thanks for the ideas. :)

And sorry for the late response - I had to solve a few problems with my PC in the last few weeks...
 

altamiro

Banned
Dan1988 said:
At least we know who the Evangelical People's Party of Switzerland is going to get their support from. :D

Seriously, though, Vorarlberg is probably culturally closer to Switzerland than the rest of Austria, so there wouldn't be much of a culture shock.
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I would rather assume it`s the SVP that takes over?
I know abiout the cultural proximity of Vorarlberg and Switzerland - but the ECONOMICAL divide will be quite large. The cultural proximity of Thuringia and Frankonia is indisputable, nevertheless there is still A LOT of moaning about the reunification, and this under much better conditions...
 
Dan1988

Dan1988

altamiro said:
I would rather assume it`s the SVP that takes over?
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There was a running joke in Chat, around European election time, when everyone seemed to be near the Evangelical People's Party of Switzerland on a European level according to some bloody website on party/ideological alignment.
 

altamiro

Banned
Dan1988 said:
There was a running joke in Chat, around European election time, when everyone seemed to be near the Evangelical People's Party of Switzerland on a European level according to some bloody website on party/ideological alignment.
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Oh. Sorry - didn't get the reference...
 
Grey Wolf

Grey Wolf

Donor
Hmmm, shall I ask again, this time with a picture

What does this mean for Liechtenstein since the incorporation of the Voralberg into Switzerland would leave it surrounded by Swiss territory ? Does it have a chance of surviving like San Marino ?

Best Regards
Grey Wolf

.

vorarlberg-map.gif
 

Zajir

Grey Wolf said:
Hmmm, shall I ask again, this time with a picture

What does this mean for Liechtenstein since the incorporation of the Voralberg into Switzerland would leave it surrounded by Swiss territory ? Does it have a chance of surviving like San Marino ?

Best Regards
Grey Wolf

.
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I doubt it as Liechtenstein is a monarchy and thus it is doubtfull that it would join republican Switzerland.
 

altamiro

Banned
Valdemar II said:
Liechtenstein was a Central Power and may very well just be annexed into Voralberg.
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Liechtenstein entered customs union with Switzerland 1918 - so I don´t think anything would change. There is only one road and rail connection to Austria (via Feldkirch) vs. a number of Rhine bridges to Switzerland, almost all traffic has to go through Switzerland now anyway. So I don't foresee any significant difference between the almost surrounded state Liechtenstein exists in right now, and the completely surrounded state it would exist in after Vorarlberg accession to Switzerland.
 

Chris S

Grey Wolf said:
Does this make Liechtenstein something of an island amidst a sea of Swiss ?

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
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Yep - and Liechtenstein becomes a source of "Swiss cheese" jokes.;)

But seriously, don't see why not. San Marino, Monaco and Lesotho are all like that.
 

Geekhis Khan

basileus said:
Not ASB. but the Swiss just couldn't swallow a German-speaking land with hundreds of thousands of people without seriously imbalancing their ethnic structure. To go along, they should have politely asked Italy for Val d'Ossola, Luino, Valtellina and Valle d'Aosta (French-speaking at the time), and France for the Franc-Comté, just for the sake of keeping an equilibrated mix...
Click to expand...

Would Italy go for that, particularly considering the contemporary irredentist/nationalist feelings of betrayal after WWI? The Liberal gov't would commit suicide even faster than OTL if they even entertained the idea. 1919 was a time of "Red" upheaval and the birth year of Fascism as a formal movement.

Perhaps if the radical international socialists somehow got their act together and forged a unified and organized front (rather than the "giant with feet of clay" of OTL). Maybe if the ATL united Redshirts (unfortunate association there, eh?), being "internationalists", bartered away the provinces for arms? Highly improbable, but conceivable under the right conditions...
 
Grey Wolf

Grey Wolf

Donor
Geekhis Khan said:
Would Italy go for that, particularly considering the contemporary irredentist/nationalist feelings of betrayal after WWI? The Liberal gov't would commit suicide even faster than OTL if they even entertained the idea. 1919 was a time of "Red" upheaval and the birth year of Fascism as a formal movement.

Perhaps if the radical international socialists somehow got their act together and forged a unified and organized front (rather than the "giant with feet of clay" of OTL). Maybe if the ATL united Redshirts (unfortunate association there, eh?), being "internationalists", bartered away the provinces for arms? Highly improbable, but conceivable under the right conditions...
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I thought he was joking.....

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 
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