Gryutli Union

The Union was founded as a discussion club for merchants and artisans in Geneva on May 20, 1838 by Johannes Niederer (one of Pestalozzi ’s closest associates) and Geneva professor of German in Geneva Albert Galeer.

The name is derived from Rütli (Grütli) - an important place in the creation of the old Swiss Confederation : a meadow on which in 1307 three Swiss communes made an allied vow of mutual assistance and support, which allowed the fight against the Habsburgs.

The organization was initially focused on educational work, but later began political activity and had a significant impact on the labor movement, playing a leading role in the establishment of trade unions, health insurance, mutual assistance cash desks and consumer associations. However, its role has declined since the 1860s after the creation of the International Workers' Partnership (First International) .

The central press organ of the Grütli Union was the Grütlianer newspaper (Grütlianer), founded in 1851, and the newspaper Le Grutli (1862–1871, 1888–1943) in French.

In 1878, the Union agreed to adopt a socialist platform ^[2] , although in 1868 it refused to enter the First International and henceforth did not want to merge with its Swiss section. By 1891, the organization numbered 353 sections with 16391 members, which was much more recently (in 1888) created by the Social Democratic (Socialist) Party (SP) ^[3] .

In 1892, some members of the Grütli Union helped found the Union of Peasants and Workers ( Bauern- und Arbeiterbund ) party in Basel Land . Adopted in 1893, the new charter provided for the accession of the Grutli Union to the Swiss Social Democratic Party, and in 1901 the Union merged with the joint venture. This event became known as the " Solothurn Wedding." By then, the two organizations had approximately the same number of members.

Disagreements with the joint venture, especially on the First World War (the Gryutli Union held a social chauvinistic position, while the Social Democratic Party, including its leaders such as Friedrich Platten , defended internationalist and antiwar), led to their split: in November 1916, the Zurich Congress of the joint venture decided to consider the activities of the Union incompatible with membership in the party.

In the elections in 1917, the Union won three seats, and all three of its deputies joined the joint venture faction in the National Council . In the 1919 federal elections, the Union won two seats on the National Council , gaining representation in Bern and Zurich ^[4] . However, he lost both seats in the elections in 1922 ; also failed to win a seat in the elections in 1925 , in which he received only 427 votes. In the same year, the Union, in which about 2700 members remained, joined the joint venture and was officially disbanded.

With a sharp criticism of the Gryutli Union as "a conductor of bourgeois influence in the Swiss labor movement," V. I. Lenin spoke ^[5] .

Anjala Union