“Often, the Swiss minimize their role in the colonies”

The Swiss National Museum is devoting an exhibition to the links between our country and colonization. Although his participation was very real and documented, this part of Swiss history still remains largely unknown, including in Bern.

The title of the exhibition, on display at the Swiss National Museum in Zurich until January 19, is very explicit: “Colonialism – an involved Switzerland”. “From the 16th century^e century, citizens and businesses of the Confederation maintained close ties with the colonial system,” we can read on the presentation page.

In recent years, several academic studies have shed light on Switzerland’s active participation in European colonization. However, this is far from being obvious. Remember that in 2017, Federal Councilor Doris Leuthard said, during a visit to Benin:

The evidence, however, is not lacking. The involvement of the Swiss in European expansionism took different forms, recalls the Historical Dictionary of Switzerland (DHS). Swiss merchants grew rich through triangular trade and slave trading, while others owned plantations in colonies. Some banks financed the Atlantic slave trade, covered by insurance. Finally, several mercenaries participated in colonial conquests or massacres.

The painting “Fights and Games of the Negroes”, created by the Veyvesan painter François Aimé Louis Dumoulin in 1788.Image: Vevey Historical Museum

The state did not participate, but…

Seven years after Doris Leuthard’s controversial statements, have mentalities changed? “At the political level, I don’t have the impression that the vision has changed much,” says Letizia Gaja Pinoja, doctoral student at the Graduate Institute of Geneva. And to add:

“State bodies were not involved,” the federal councilor said at the SRF microphone. It is true that the Swiss state has never owned colonies. The federal authorities also stick to this story, underlines historian Fabio Rossinelli in an article in the journal of the Federal Commission against Racism.

However, the situation was more complex. According to Rossinelli, the Swiss state supported and subsidized expansionist economic projects launched by private companies. Additionally, beginning in the mid-19th century, federal authorities paid money to many people in the colonies.

Slavery is not a crime, according to the CF

In 1864, when most European countries had abolished slavery, the Federal Council officially declared that the practice involved “no crime”. The government was responding to a national advisor, outraged after discovering that Swiss traders established in Brazil owned slaves. The report, cited by RTS in a podcast, stated:

Federal Councilor Jakob Dubs (1822-1872) affirmed in 1864 that slavery was not a crime.Image: PHOTOPRESS-ARCHIV

In short, as the DHS summarizes, “Switzerland has not remained on the sidelines of Europe’s overseas expansion.” Academic research has made it possible to “establish evidence that took a long time to become established,” he continues. Despite this, “the subject has never really been addressed by the upper echelons of Swiss politics,” indicates Letizia Gaja Pinoja.

On the other hand, there are parallel initiatives, nuance the researcher. “The fact that the Swiss National Museum, subject to the supervision of the Federal Council, has organized an exhibition on the subject can be interpreted as an indirect position taken.”

Denial or ignorance?

Awareness has therefore not yet fully occurred at the political level. What about the population? “If we asked the Swiss what they think of their colonial history, most would answer that it does not even exist,” says Letizia Gaja Pinoja.

“I wouldn’t say that the population is in denial, that’s too strong a term,” she adds. “I rather see that the subject is still largely unknown.” She adds:

According to the researcher, one of the reasons explaining this lack of knowledge concerns education. “Swiss colonial history is not part of any official school curriculum, at least to my knowledge,” she says. “There are big gaps. Most of the time, students completely miss the point.

Traces of the colonial past are still present in Switzerland: a racist painting in Zurich, April 2021.Image: KEYSTONE

Letizia Gaja Pinoja says that she herself only encountered this theme during her master’s degree. “That said, there are gymnasium and high school teachers who decide to talk about it,” she admits. “For example, I participated in a project carried out with a school in Pully, but these remain one-off initiatives.”

A problematic image

Another reason explaining this situation must be sought at a deeper level. “Switzerland has a problem with its image,” said the director of Château de Prangins, Helen Bieri Thomson, in 2022: “It readily sees itself as neutral, democratic, humanitarian and therefore irreproachable, always on the side of good.”

“This idea is a consequence of the construction of our national identity, which took place at the end of the 19^e century,” reacts Letizia Gaja Pinoja. “As Switzerland did not have a common language, culture or religion, we had to put forward something else: neutrality, the Red Cross, pacifism,” she explains.

Despite this, things are moving, albeit slowly. “The Bergier commission played a very important role,” believes the researcher. “The question of Jewish gold opened Pandora’s box and showed that Swiss history also contained gray areas.” It was also from this moment, around the beginning of the 2000s, that academic research began to look into Switzerland’s colonial past.

“The arrival in Switzerland of the Black Lives Matter movement and the dismantling of statues in 2020 brought the subject back into the spotlight,” she continues. If this has prompted citizens to question themselves, something else is needed to bring about a profound change, believes Letizia Gaja Pinoja:

“For this reason, we must go through education,” she continues. And to conclude: “It is at this level that we can make the difference. Compulsory schooling can complement the existing historical narrative. And, for that, you need open-minded people.”

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