Fig. 18—The boundary between French and German in Switzerland. Scale, 1:1,435,000.
From Fribourg the line takes a straight course to the Oldenhorn. Here it elbows eastward to Wildstrubel and attains the Valais country. In the upper valley of the Rhone, the line becomes well defined as it coincides with the divide between the Val d’Anniviers and Turtman Thal. In the Haut Valais the construction of the Simplon tunnel appears to have affected German adversely and to have caused an extension of French speech in the region. The recession of German from the Morge valley to the east of Sierre lies within the memory of living natives. The linguistic line finally cuts across the Rhone valley above Sierre and strikes the Dent d’Hérens on the Italian frontier. In southeastern Switzerland, French surrounds the uninhabited massif Mont Blanc. One would naturally expect to find this language confined to the western slopes of the uplift only. But the inhabitants of Bas-Valais districts and of the Aosta valley speak French as fluently as the population of the elevated valleys of Savoy.
The prevalence of French has been shown to be due to the direction of travel in this mountainous region. The two St. Bernard Passes, the “Col du Grand St. Bernard” and the “Col du Petit St. Bernard,” have determined the route along which human displacements could be undertaken with a minimum of effort.[43] The road encircles that famous Alpine peak. It has acted as a channel through which French has flowed into areas of Italian and German speech. This instance may well be adopted as a classical example of the influence of geography in the distribution of linguistic areas.
The origin of linguistic differences in Switzerland may be traced to the dawn of the period that followed Roman conquest. At the time of Caesar’s invasion of Helvetia, the mountainous land was peopled by men of Celtic speech. Barbarian invasions put an end to the uniformity of language prevailing in the country. Romance language survived in the highlands of the Jura and throughout the western sections of Switzerland. The Celtic and Latin languages spoken in the first five centuries of our era gave birth to French. The Burgundian conquerors themselves adopted this language at the time of the foundation of the first kingdom of Burgundy. German, on the other hand, is a relic of Teutonic invasion of eastern and central Switzerland. In the sixth century, the Alemanni took advantage of the weakening of the Burgundian Kingdom to spread beyond the Aar and overrun the attractive lake district. By the eleventh century they had succeeded in imposing their language on the native populations of the Fribourg and Valais country. The reunion of the two states under the reign of Clovis failed to unify the language of Switzerland. A split occurred again after the partition of Charlemagne’s dominions, followed by another period of joint political life until the death of Berthold V of Zähringen. After this event the consolidation of languages became impossible in Switzerland. The rivalry of the Alemanni and Burgundian kingdoms was maintained among Swiss populations. In feudal days, German Switzerland acknowledged the suzerainty of Hapsburg counts. Romanic Switzerland, on the other hand, leaned towards the House of Savoy.
That the area of French speech has receded during our era cannot be doubted. There was a time when French was spoken on the left bank of the Aar, from its headwaters to below Berne. At three different periods of history the German language made notable strides in Switzerland. Its earliest forward move occurred between the fifth and ninth centuries. Another advance took place between the eleventh and the thirteenth. The language made further progress during the religious struggles of the Reformation. Each of these periods was followed by partial regain of lost territory by French language. But the French gains fell short of the Germanic advances. Since the eighteenth century very little variation in the line has been recorded. A slight advance of French in the nineteenth century can be traced.
In the minds of Pan-Germanists a significant proof of the progress of French is seen in cases of the replacement of the word “Bahnhof” by “gare” at railroad stations—as for example along the mountainous tract between Viège and Zermatt. They also complain of the introduction of French words and expressions in the German spoken by Swiss citizens. To the tourist’s eye the advance of German in the Swiss villages of the Grisons Alps is indicated by the red-tiled roofs in the midst of gray shingled roofs. This is noticeable in the Albula valley where Romansh was formerly the only language of the natives. Now the old Romansh dwellings with their low roofs, white walls and narrow windows are disappearing before the wooden houses of the German settlers.
According to the census of 1910 there were 796,244 inhabitants of Switzerland who spoke French. This was about one-third of the country’s total population. Of this number, 765,373 were dwellers in French Switzerland, which comprises the cantons of Geneva, Vaud, Neuchâtel, a portion of the cantons of Valais and Fribourg and the Bernese Jura. The remainder were scattered in the German and Italian districts of the Republic. Notable colonies of French-speaking Swiss in the midst of the area of German speech are found at Berne and Basel. In all, three of the twenty-two cantons are of French speech. Fribourg and Valais contain French-speaking majorities.[44] The canton of Tessin with its 140,000 inhabitants is Italian in language. In Berne the majority of the city’s population speak German, only 120,000 inhabitants out of a total of 600,000 using French.
The history of Switzerland shows that at bottom neither language nor physical or racial barriers suffice to constitute nationality. Human desire to achieve and maintain national independence, or to establish liberal institutions, depends on will or purpose far more than on physical facts. Diversity of language never impaired Switzerland’s existence as a sovereign nation. Racial heterogeneity in its population likewise failed to weaken national feeling. Over such natural drawbacks the indomitable determination of free-born Helvetians to maintain their country’s sovereignty has prevailed. Frenchmen and Germans have always been warring elements in Switzerland, but animosity bred by racial differences invariably disappeared in matters where national existence was at stake. A bond of patriotism based on common religious and democratic ideals proved strong enough to overcome divergencies due to natural causes.