Page 487 - Le Operazioni Interforze e Multinazionali nella Storia Militare - ACTA Tomo II

1127
ActA
The Diamond Commemorations: Social memory and
politics of remembrance in the struggle against

the Swiss armed forces 1

martin BURgIN

nder the meaningful cipher of “Diamond” the Swiss Federal Military Department
U (“EMD”) organised during the months of August and September 1989 a national
commemoration in remembrance of the general mobilisation 50 years ago. Its political,
cultural and medial relevance was gained in correlation of the initiative “Für eine Sch-
weiz ohne Armee und für eine umfassende Friedenspolitik” (For a Switzerland without
armed forces and for a comprehensive peace policy) on which the Swiss citizens should
vote at the 26th of November 1989. Its initiators, the Group for a Switzerland without
armed forces (“GSoA”) and their supporters considered the Diamond Commemorations
as a governmental-funded propaganda campaign, which would have been disallowed
2
according to the Swiss laws. The GSoA complained, the EMD sought to influence the
public opinion with a historico-political narrative, by relating the perception that the
Swiss armed forces protected the country against a Nazi invasion during the Second
World War with the conclusion that protection and therefore armed forces would be still
demanded in 1989. Beside the doubted necessity of the troops they criticized a system-
atic mobilisation of the veterans to the poll, which was interpreted as tortious interfer-
ence by the Federal Government. In addition, critical historians spoke up, criticizing
the historical perceptions and discourses as simplistic and antiquated. They demanded a
historical reflection in a more comprehensive manner, embedded in contemporary aca-
3
demic debate.
Within this field the retrospection of Swiss History for the period of the Second World
War evolved into a historico-political controversy of an outstanding dimension. As a

1 This paper bases on the unpublished licentiate thesis at the University of Zurich under the supervision
of Professor Rudolf Jaun: Bürgin, Martin, Die Diamantreden: Erinnerungskultur, Geschichtsbilder und
Geschichtspolitik im Kontext der Abstimmung über eine “Schweiz ohne Armee” von 1989, Zürich, 2012.
Following an invitation by the Education Committee of the International Commission of Military History it
was presented as a speech at the Annual Congress held in Torino 2013.
2 As a prerequisite for a federal people’s initiative 100’000 signatures must be collected within a period of 18
months. Once accomplished and verified all citizens entitled to vote are invited to cast a ballot. People’s
initiatives strive to modify the Federal Constitution. Every citizen has the right to launch an initiative. Due to
the definition of the citizens as the sovereign over the Constitution, the Federal Government is technically not
allowed to spend money for public persuasion.
3 With prominent positions: Tanner, Jakob, Bundeshaushalt, Währung und Kriegswirtschaft: Eine
finanzsoziologische Analyse der Schweiz zwischen 1938 und 1953, Zürich 1986. Tanner, Jakob, “Bewaffnete
Neutralität” und Igelmentalität, in: Gross, Andreas, Crain, Fitzgerald, Erne, Roland, Furrer, Stefan,
Denkanstösse zu einer anstössigen Initiative: Sozialdemokratinnen und Sozialdemokraten für eine Schweiz
ohne Armee, Zürich, 1989, 91-104. Tanner, Jakob, Einige feierten schon 1940: Feiern zum Verdrängen, in: