1839 Reaction in Zurich against radicals and freethinkers. (Strauss’ Life of Jesus).
1840 Clericals revolt against the radicals in Aargau.
1841 They are put down. Eight monasteries in Aargau are suppressed. The quarrel provokes disputes in the diet.
1843 The diet effects a compromise in the religious quarrel in Aargau by which four instead of eight of the monasteries are suppressed. The seven Catholic cantons, Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden, Lucerne, Zug, Fribourg, and Valais hereupon form a separate league, the Sonderbund.
1844 The Sonderbund declares for the reopening of all the monasteries in Aargau. The clericals in Lucerne, the Vorort, give high posts to Jesuits. Parties of free-lances attempt to capture the city.
1845 The attack on Lucerne is renewed but is unsuccessful. The radicals gain control in Zurich.
1846 The radicals become the majority in Bern and Geneva.
1847 The radicals get a majority in St. Gall. The diet in which the radicals are now in the majority declares the Sonderbund contrary to the Federal Pact. The diet resolves to revise the pact and asks the cantons to expel the Jesuits. The attempt to enforce the decree leads to the Sonderbund War. This is quickly ended by the defeat of the rebellious Catholic cantons at Gislikon, largely because of the good generalship of Dufour.
Switzerland as a Federal State
1848 A new constitution is accepted by the majority of the cantons. Switzerland becomes a federal state (Bundesstaat). A central government is organised consisting of a council of states (Ständerath), a national council (National Rath) and a federal council or executive (Bundesrath). German, French, and Italian are recognised as national languages. Bern is chosen the national capital.