Canton of Geneva

The Republic of Geneva existed, depending on sources, either from 1534,[4] or from 30 November 1541,[5] when the General Council ratified the ecclesiastical ordinances of John Calvin, until 26 April 1798, when it was annexed by France, and then from 31 December 1813, until 19 May 1815, during the Restoration of the Republic. It was given a constitution (Édits civils) in 1543, and it effectively functioned as a Protestant theocracy. The Republic of Geneva reinforced its alliance to the Protestant cantons of the Swiss Confederacy, becoming an "everlasting ally" in 1584.

The County of Geneva and surrounding territories in around 1200.

L'Escalade, the last attempt by Savoy to take Geneva by force, 1602

Territories acquired by Berne from Geneva, 1339-1798

The cantons and allies of the Old Swiss Confederacy in the 18th century. Geneva is a group of small territories in the southwest.

Compared to other urban cantons of Switzerland (Zurich, Berne, Basel before it split, Fribourg, Lucerne), Geneva's geographical size is relatively small. Geneva was controlled by the Allobroges tribe until 121 BC. It was then annexed to the Roman Empire in 121 BC and remained part of it until 443, after which the Burgundians took over the city. In 532, the land controlled by Burgundians became part of the Frankish Empire and the area of the mondern-day canton became a part of the Kingdom of Burgundy in 888.

Some of the most important nobles began to offer some lands to the Church, such as in 912 when Eldegarde (probably a Countess in an area near Nyon) gave up her lands in the area of Satigny which eventually became the Mandement, or in 962 when Queen Berthe offered lands in Saint-Genis. The income of the Kingdom suffered from these transfers of lands and, in an attempt to stop the process, in 995 King Rudolph III tried to withdraw the hereditary rights away from some of his nobles. However, the King was defeated in this power struggle, and this led to a weakening of the central power. As the King weakened, some of his local officers such as the Counts rejected his authority and even opposed him. Several independent fiefdoms emerge from this time, including the County of Geneva.[6]

In 1032 Rudolph III dies without an heir. The Kingdom of Burgundy then reverts to HRE Conrad II, who tries to re-assert control of the lands by rallying the nobles who opposed Rodolph III. In exchange for his loyalty, Gerold, count of Geneva, obtains full powers over his County, becomes a direct vassal of the Emperor and so his lands became part of the Holy Roman Empire.[7]

However, the counts of Geneva had to share their power over the city of Geneva with the Prince-Bishopric of Geneva. From 1078 to 1129, Count Aymon I was in a very good position, as his brother Guy de Faucigny had become the bishop of Geneva. Aymon took advantage of this situation by transferring the administration of some of the lands away from the Diocese of Geneva to the priory of Saint-Victor, of whom he was the protector at the request of the Bishop, and siphons the resources of the priory to himself.

The successors of Guy de Faucigny were outraged by this situation, specially Bishop Humbert de Grammont, and request the restitution of the churches transferred to the administration of the Count. Pope Callixtus II pressures Aymon going as far as excommunicating him. The Count repents, and greets the Bishop on the border of his County in Seyssel[8] as the Bishop was on his way back to Geneva from Vienne, whose Bishop had been tasked by the Pope to mediate in the conflict.[9] There, they conclude a treaty (the Traité de Seyssel), whereby the Count restitutes to the Bishop of Geneva some of the churches whose rights and revenues he had acquired. Although this treaty did not fully solve the conflict, which only got fully resolved by the treaty of Saint-Sigismond in 1156 which confirmed all the provisions, it marked an important step for Geneva as the count also gave up his temporal rights over the City of Geneva to the Bishop. It is some time around 1219 that the Counts of Geneva completely quit the city and move their capital to Annecy.[10]

This is important for the future evolution of the canton of Geneva, as for the first time there was a complete separation of the ruling of the city of Geneva from the ruling of its hinterlands.

At the same time, the county was in a continuous power struggle with the House of Savoy. After the death of antipope count Robert in 1394, the county passes to the house of Thoire-Villars. Eventually they lost in the struggle, and the County of Geneva disappears when it is sold to Amadeus VIII of Savoy for 45,000 gold francs on 5 August 1401.[11] The count of Savoy then restarts the conflict with the Bishops of Geneva as he intends to retake control of the city and make it the count's capital. He initially fails in this task, but Amadeus VIII manages to get elected as antipope Felix V in 1439. When Bishop François de Metz dies in 1444, Amadeus becomes the administrator of the bishopric and becomes de facto, but not de jure, ruler of the city.

When he renounced his position as Pope, he kept a degree of control over the city, and succeeded in agreeing that the future Bishops of Geneva must be designated by the house of Savoy. Two of his grandchildren became Bishops, and it was at this time that Genevans, fearing for their Independence, first concluded a treaty of alliance (combourgeoisie) in 1477 with the Swiss cantons of Berne and Fribourg, but not without reprisals by Duke Charles III against those who organised the alliance. For a time, the city was divided between those who supported the Duke (the Mammelus) and those whose supported the Swiss Confederation (the Eidguenots). In 1525, Charles III, in the “Council of the Hallebardes” forced the city authorities to promise to not form an alliance with the Swiss. However, the Eidguenots negotiated a new alliance with Berne and Fribourg, concluded in 1526. At the time there were few Protestants in Geneva, but after the alliance with Berne, which had already fully adopted the reformation, some Genevans were attracted to Protestantism, led by preachers such as Guillaume Farel. A few years later, in 1533, the Catholic Bishop of Geneva Pierre de la Baume finally quit Geneva, and all the assets of the church in the city and its lands were confiscated by the secular authorities.

Charles III took advantage of this situation to attempt to conquer the city in 1535–36,[12] but an army of Bernese in alliance with France defeated Savoy and occupied the lands of the Savoy in the Genevan basin (including all the Pays de Gex).[13] On 21 May 1536, the General Council of Geneva fully adopted the reformation; with this decision the commune of Geneva merged with new institutions, including the territories that depended on the Bishop, the mandements. This act of independence marked the birth of the Republic of Geneva,[14] then still mostly confined to the city and the few medieval territories gifted to the Bishops, the largest of which were Satigny, Peney, and an area around modern-day Jussy.

The son of Charles III, Emmanuel Philibert, defeated the army of French king Henri II in the battle of Saint-Quentin in 1557 and recovered the lands conquered by the French. However, Berne did not participate in the initial negotiations, and only in the Treaty of Lausanne of 1564 did Savoy recover the lands around Geneva, while losing forever the Pays de Vaud to Berne. Until his death, Emmanuel-Philibert practiced tolerance with his non-Catholic subjects and largely respected the "cujus regio, ejus religio" principle for Geneva. However, his son, Charles Emmanuel I began plotting against Protestants and employed mercenaries to intimidate the Protestants converted by Bernese preachers. In response, Geneva intermittently occupied the Pays de Gex from 1589, but the city was finally forced to abandon it when France defeated Savoy and annexed the Pays de Gex for itself in the Treaty of Lyon of 1601. This marked the point where most of Geneva's hinterland was divided between two different strong states along the Rhone banks: the Kingdom of France on the east, and the Duchy of Savoy on the west.

This event largely explains why, unlike the Swiss urban cantons mentioned in the introduction, Geneva was unable to expand geographically, as its borders were dominated by those two powerful states which, at the same time, and since the failed attempt of 1602 to take the city, largely respected Geneva's independence protected by its strong walls, guaranteed by its alliance with the Protestant cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy of Zurich and Berne, and respected by France, an ally of the old Swiss confederacy.

Since then, no major changes occurred in Geneva's borders until 1749. In an effort to rationalise the borders marked by the medieval territories gifted to the Bishops in the Middle Ages, the Republic and France exchanged territories in that year: Geneva swapped its rights over Challex, Thoiry, Fenières, and some enclaves it possed in the Pays de Gex, for Chancy, Avully, and Russin. In a similar treaty with Savoy in 1754, Geneva received from Savoy Cartigny, Jussy, Vandoeuvres, Gy, and some other smaller territories, in exchange for its rights on Carouge, Veyrier, Onex, Lancy, Bossey, Presinge, and others.

During the baroque and classical periods, Europe saw the emergence of several planned towns. Save for the reconstruction of towns destroyed by fires (such as Schwyz in 1642, Sion in 1788, or La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1794), Switzerland did not jump on this trend mostly circumscribed to the large monarchies and princely states. However, the desire to possess or weaken Geneva by France and Savoy provides two good examples of this urban planning, both of which are now Genevan towns. In the 18th century under Louis XV, France intended to build a large port city in Versoix to deviate the traffic en route to Lake Geneva and from there to the Swiss confederation. The city, intended for around 30,000 inhabitants, would have been bigger than Geneva (by then the largest Swiss city) and included large squares and ports. Voltaire, who had settled in Ferney, was particularly rejoiced about the idea of ruining Geneva. However, opposition from Berne to a new fortified town in its border in Pays de Gex, and budgetary problems in France, finally stopped the project of which few items finally were built and survive. A more lasting project was launched by Savoy in 1777, which transformed Carouge into the gateway to the northern provinces and conferred the village the status of city in 1786. The planned city was particularly innovative in the way that streets were symmetrically laid and by the total absence of fortifications.[15]

Map of the French département of Léman established in 1798

Charles Pictet de Rochemont, the Geneva envoy to the Congress of Vienna who negotiated the canton's borders

Map of the canton of Geneva after the first peace of Paris May 1814

Map of the canton of Geneva after the treaty of Paris 1815

Map of the canton of Geneva after the treaty of Turin 1816

Borders after the Congress of Vienna: in yellow, the previous lands of Geneva; in blue, towns ceded by France; in pink, towns ceded by Savoy.

The French Revolution reached Geneva in 1792, and in February 1794, the Republic gave itself a new, revolutionary constitution which proclaimed the equality of all citizens. Like many men from the Lumières, Robespierre idealised the Old Swiss Confederation as the home of William Tell, the land where men had already freed themselves from feudal lords. Although misguided, this means that he was mostly favourable to respect the confederation's neutrality. However, after the death of Robespierre in July of the same year, there was a counter-revolution, which gained the upper hand by 1796.

Robespierre's death prompted the French invasion of 1798, and the annexation of Geneva which became the capital of the French département du Léman. The Napoleonic army left Geneva on 30 December 1813, and on the next day the return of the Republic (Restauration de la République) was proclaimed.

Following these events that transformed Switzerland under the Helvetic Republic, Geneva joined the Swiss Confederation in 1815 as the 22nd canton. The territory of the present canton of Geneva was largely established as a result of the Congress of Vienna, in order to provide contiguity between the city of Geneva and its satellite territories established during the previous negotiations with France and Savoy, such as the Mandement, and to physically join the canton to the rest of Switzerland.

During the negotiations, the authorities were split between those who sought to maximise the gain in territory for the new canton at the expense of France and Sardinia, and the conservatives who wanted to minimise the gain in territory to avoid including a large number of Catholics in the new canton. The former were led by Charles Pictet de Rochemont, a Genevan statesmen and diplomat. The conservatives, formed largely of old Genevan aristocracy, were led by Joseph des Arts who in addition preferred to keep Geneva's independence. However, in the end neither side got what they wanted as larger events dominated the situation.

Charles Pictet de Rochemont was tasked with the negotiations with the powers in Paris and later Vienna. In his initial plans presented to the Emperor Alexander I, he suggested a new canton extending from the summits of the Jura surrounding the city (Crêt de la Neige), all the way to mount Salève and les Voirons. This, therefore, included the Pays de Gex and all the lands in the Genevan basin. In part of these negotiations, it was even suggested to transfer the area of Porrentruy to France in exchange for the Pays de Gex. However, Louis XVIII was adamantly opposed to transferring catholic subjects to the "Protestant Rome", so France did not have to cede any territory to Geneva in the Peace of Paris in May 1814. Only after the return of Napoleon and the second Treaty of Paris Geneva could achieve limited territorial gains to link to the canton to Vaud and break the isolation of the enclaves in the Mandement. One town in particular, Ferney, continues to act today as a bottleneck in the connection to the rest of the country, as France was emotionally attached to the chosen home of Voltaire and refused to cede it. The negotiations with France were concluded by the Treaty of Paris of 1815, whereby the canton added the current municipalities of Versoix (which provided the geographical link with neighbouring Vaud), Collex-Bossy, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Meyrin and Grand-Saconnex.[16]

In similar negotiations with the Kingdom of Sardinia, Charles Pictet de Rochemont pursued the acquisition of the lands adjoining Geneva and included the slopes of mount Salève. However, Turin opposed this demand as the area contained the important road linking Thonon-les-Bains and the Faucigny with Annecy. In the end, the diplomat managed to swap this demand, as well as a demand for a longer portion of the coastline of the lake, for a large gain in territory from Chancy to Geneva (what is now the Campagne), as well as lands around the mandement of Jussy. These negotiations were concluded by the Treaty of Turin of 1816 with Sardinia, from which the new canton gained the present municipalities of Laconnex, Soral, Perly-Certoux, Plan-les-Ouates, Bernex, Aire-la-Ville, Onex, Confignon, Lancy, Bardonnex, Troinex, Veyrier, Chêne-Thônex, Puplinge, Presinge, Choulex, Meinier, Collonge-Bellerive, Corsier, Hermance, Anières, and Carouge.[17]

In total, the canton added 159 square kilometres of territory, settled with over 16,000 inhabitants, mostly catholic and rural. At the time, the city and its possessions had 29,000 inhabitants.[18]

Initially, many of the new villages were grouped together by the Genevan government. For example, the hamlets of Avusy, Soral, and Laconnex formed one single municipality. The same occurred to Bernex, Onex, and Confignon, or to Plan-les-Ouates, Bardonnex, Perly, and Certoux (the four villages formed 'Compèsieres'). However, the Paris and Turin treaties did not deal with the issue of common land in those villages (nor with the issue of common land that was now separated by international borders). This resulted into tensions as villagers did not want to share their local common land with villagers from the same municipality as the distribution of land and the resulting revenue was highly uneven. A cantonal law from 5 February 1849 required municipal acts be voted by counsellors, and to identify in the minutes the position of each counsellor and the reason for their vote. This increased transparency but it led to tensions related to the placement of schools, townhalls and other public buildings and services in addition to the issue on communal lands. Eventually, these tensions led to the separation of those villages in the second half of the 19th century, which led to the present-day municipal borders for those newly acquired lands.[19]

The last municipal border change occurred in 1931. As a result of a push towards the rationalisation of resources following the 1920s economic crisis, the municipalities that formed the ancient urban part of the Republic of Geneva (Eaux-Vives, le Petit-Saconnex, Plainpalais, and Geneva) merged to form the modern city of Geneva.[20]

In 1956, as a result of the planned expansion of Geneva Airport, both countries agreed to exchange a piece of territory to fit in the new runway, affecting the French municipality of Ferney-Voltaire.[21]

The last change of the canton's borders occurred in 2003, when the construction of the border crossing in the new section of highway linking the Swiss A1 to the French A41 required an exchange of territories. Land was transferred from the municipality of Bardonnex, to St-Julien-en-Genevois. To compensate for the loss of Genevan soil, the municipality of Soral gained territory from Viry and St-Julien. [22]

Cross border cooperation began only a century after the creation of the canton. In 1913, an agreement was sealed between Switzerland and France to build the Chancy-Pougny electric dam. Completed in 1925 to supply energy to the steel mills in Creusot, it began to supply electricity to the Services Industriels de Genève by 1958.

Cross-border working movements had existed in Geneva since the Middle Ages and the city was traditionally more open to immigration than others. Around the year 1700, Swiss cities and their allies such as Geneva, had two types of residents: the bourgeois, who held political rights (and a minority of whom formed the patrician class), and the inhabitants, who had no say in the ruling of the city. Amongst the latter, there were the 'established', who had full residence permits, and the 'tolerated' with time-limited permits. The proportion of bourgeois over the total residents in Basle was 70% in 1795; 61% in Zurich in 1780, and 26% in Geneva in 1781. The proportion of 'inhabitants' in Zurich in 1795 was of 8%, whereas in Geneva, a more liberal city, it was 46% in 1764.[23] Note that the remaining residents were 'foreigners', people from other villages and cities.

Building on the liberal roots, in 1882 a convention allowed French citizens a certain degree of freedom to work in Switzerland and vice versa.[24] However, the 1950s and 1960s were years of very high economic growth in Geneva. This led to an increasing need to employ workers from across the border, from Pays de Gex and the Haute-Savoie - from 6,750 workers in 1966 to 22,500 in 1972.[25] Since Geneva refused to participate in the Franco-Swiss agreements for the distribution of income taxes levied on cross border workers of 1935 and 1966 that covered all the other cantons, the municipalities from the neighbouring French regions were increasingly suffocated by the need to finance public equipment for a population that did not financially contribute to the budgets. This situation led to a first grouping of municipalities to defend their interests, the “Association de Communes Frontalières”. Acknowledging the problem, Geneva agreed in 1973 to transfer 3.5% of the gross income of those workers directly to the French municipalities, equivalent to around CHF330 million/year nowadays.[26]

Cooperation increased following the 1980 Madrid accords on the Outline Convention on Transfrontier Co-operation. However, it was the 2002 agreement on the free movement of people between the European Union and Switzerland[27] that had a bigger impact on Geneva's economy and society. The number of cross-border workers increased from 35,000 in 2002 to 92,000 in 2020.[28] This vastly increased the need for cooperation, notably in transportation. It led to the creation of the “Agglomeration Franco-Valdo-Genevoise”, later renamed “Grand Genève“ in 2012, which roughly corresponds in geographical extension to the 1-million inhabitants metropolitan area of Geneva extending beyond the cantonal borders across Vaud, Ain, and Haute-Savoie. Its major achievements include the push towards the construction and operation of the Léman Express rail network and the projected extensions of the tpg tram network to Annemasse, St-Julien-en-Genevois, and Ferney-Voltaire.[29]

Municipalities of the canton of Geneva

There are 45 municipalities in the canton.[31]

The canton of Geneva is not divided into any administrative districts. There were 13 cities with a population of over 10,000 as of 2020:[2]

• Geneva, 203,856
• Vernier, 34,898
• Lancy, 33,989
• Meyrin, 26,129
• Carouge, 22,536
• Onex, 18,933
• Thônex, 14,573
• Versoix, 13,281
• Le Grand-Saconnex, 12,378
• Chêne-Bougeries, 12,621
• Veyrier, 11,861
• Plan-les-Ouates, 10,601
• Bernex, 10,258

The constitution of the canton was established in 1847 and has since been amended several times. The cantonal executive government (Conseil d'État) has seven members, who are elected for five years.

The last regular election for the legislation 2018-2023 were held on 15 April 2018 and 6 May 2018.[32]

Michèle Righetti is the chancellor of the canton (Chancilière d'Etat) since 2018.

The legislature, the Grand Council (Grand Conseil), has 100 seats, with deputies elected for four years at a time.[35]

The last election was held on 15 April 2018.[36]

In a similar way to what happens at the Federal level, any change to the Constitution is subject to compulsory referendum. In addition, any law can be subject to a referendum if it is demanded by 7,000 persons entitled to vote,[37] and 10,000 persons may also propose a new law.[38]

In 2019 the Republic and Canton of Geneva gained a seat and sent a total of 12 representatives to the National Council. The federal election held on 20 October 2019 did result in an electoral breakthrough for the Green Party (PES/GPS) which for the first time was the most popular party with a vote share of 24.6%. The Liberals (PLR/FDP) were relegated to the second place, losing 2.6% of their vote share and a seat in the National Council. Two mandates were also allotted to the Social Democratic Party (PS/SP) and the UDC/SVP receiving 14.7% or 13.7% respectively. The Christian Democratic People's Party (PDC/CVP) managed to hold their seat with 7.7% while the EAG coalition gained 7.4% of the votes and a seat. The election also resulted in the Geneva Citizens' Movement (MCG) losing their only seat with a decreased vote share of 5.4% compared to 7.9% in 2015. Voter turnout decreased to 38.2%, the lowest recorded among all cantons in 2019.[39]

The last elections to the Council of States (Switzerland) were held in two rounds taking place on 20 October 2019 and 10 November 2019 within the federal elections. The election resulted in two new members being seated after the second round of voting. Councillor Lisa Mazzone of the Green Party (PES/GPS) was elected with 45,998 votes and councillor Carlo Sommaruga, member of the Social Democratic Party (PS/SP) was elected with 41,839 votes. Outgoing councillors were Liliane Maury Pasquier of the Social Democratic Party and Robert Cramer of the Green Party which were both first elected in 2007. Both parties therefore maintained their representation in the council.[40]

^a FDP before 2009, FDP.The Liberals after 2009

^b "*" indicates that the party was not on the ballot in this canton.

^c Part of the FDP for this election

^d Combined with the SD for this election

^e Part of the EAG coalition for this election

^f Part of the MCR coalition for this election

Village square in Meyrin

As home of John Calvin's Reformation, the canton of Geneva has traditionally been a Protestant Christian stronghold. However, during the 19th and 20th centuries, the Roman Catholic population of the canton increased dramatically, largely due to the expansion of the border in 1815 towards Catholic areas and to immigration from Catholic European countries; their community numbered 220,139 people or 44.5% as of 2017. Roman Catholics now outnumber members of the Swiss Reformed Church (65,629 people or 13.3% as of 2017) in the canton by far; .[44] However, the canton is still officially considered Protestant. The surrounding regions of France are mostly Roman Catholic.

In 2012, 5.4% of the Genevan population (aged 15 years and older) belonged to other Christian groups, 5.5% were Muslims, and 5.9% belonged to other religious groups.[45][46] The remainder of the population was religiously unaffiliated or did not answer the census question.

The historical population is given in the following table: