Charles Pictet de Rochemont
Encyclopedia
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
's permanent neutrality
Neutral country
A neutral power in a particular war is a sovereign state which declares itself to be neutral towards the belligerents. A non-belligerent state does not need to be neutral. The rights and duties of a neutral power are defined in Sections 5 and 13 of the Hague Convention of 1907...
ratified by the great powers in 1815.
Charles Pictet was born on 21 September 1755 at Cartigny
Cartigny, Geneva
Cartigny is a municipality of the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland.-Geography:Cartigny has an area, , of . Of this area, or 55.5% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 29.2% is forested...
near Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
into an aristocratic but tolerant family. He is the son of a colonel, Charles Pictet (1713–1792) and of Marie, born Dunant. Since his young age, he wanted to dedicate himself to a military career. At the age of 20 he went to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and for twelve years pursued a career in the French Army. After his marriage in 1786 to Adélaïde Sara de Rochemont he modified his name to the more aristocratic "Pictet de Rochemont". Two years later he entered the governing council of Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
and was made responsible for reorganizing the urban militia.
In 1792 the former city councils of Geneva were suspended and a provisional government took over, declaring all citizens equal. In 1794 Pictet was placed under house arrest for a year. His father-in-law, Jean-François de Rochemont, was less lucky; he was executed.
Later, Switzerland became a theatre of war. Napoleon had invaded in 1798 and everywhere egalitarian ideas took root and the old aristocracy was swept away. Armies devastated the countryside and the winter of 1800 would long be remembered as one of misery and starvation. Geneva was annexed to France. A few weeks later Napoleon issued a new constitution for a Helvetic Republic
Helvetic Republic
In Swiss history, the Helvetic Republic represented an early attempt to impose a central authority over Switzerland, which until then consisted mainly of self-governing cantons united by a loose military alliance, and conquered territories such as Vaud...
trying to replace the former archaic system of cantonal authorities with a centralized executive. This caused such a violent reaction that Napoleon withdrew his troops in 1802.
The power vacuum thus created set off a civil war, during which Napoleon offered his services as arbitrator. He urged the Swiss to come up with a constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
themselves. The new constitution restored the notion of autonomous cantons, created six new cantons and gave a new name to the country - the Swiss Confederation. Meanwhile, in 1798, Pictet de Rochemont had acquired seventy-five hectares of land at Lancy
Lancy
Lancy is a municipality of the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland.-Geography:Lancy has an area, , of . Of this area, or 5.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 6.5% is forested...
, centred on the present mairie de Lancy, and led the life of a gentleman farmer. He concentrated on the breeding of merino sheep and introduced the culture of maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
to the Geneva region. His agrarian innovations spread. Alongside his life as a farmer, he wrote a great deal and founded a review entitled La bibliothèque britannique. From 1796 to 1815 he wrote the agricultural column in it.
Napoleon’s downfall led to the liberation of Geneva by Austrian troops. A new republican government was declared on 1 January 1814 and Pictet read the public proclamation, probably written by himself. Napoleon’s brief return to power in 1815 - the Hundred Days
Hundred Days
The Hundred Days, sometimes known as the Hundred Days of Napoleon or Napoleon's Hundred Days for specificity, marked the period between Emperor Napoleon I of France's return from exile on Elba to Paris on 20 March 1815 and the second restoration of King Louis XVIII on 8 July 1815...
- ending at the Battle of Waterloo
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815 near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands...
does not seem to have had any effect on the events that followed.
Two apparently contradictory objectives of the new government, much favoured by Pictet, were to restore Genevan independence but also to make Geneva part of the Swiss Confederation. To achieve this it was necessary to:
(a) to make Genevan territory homogenous (it consisted of several fragmented communes); and
(b) to connect it physically to the canton of Vaud
Vaud
Vaud is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland and is located in Romandy, the French-speaking southwestern part of the country. The capital is Lausanne. The name of the Canton in Switzerland's other languages are Vaud in Italian , Waadt in German , and Vad in Romansh.-History:Along the lakes,...
and thus to Switzerland as a whole (Versoix
Versoix
Versoix is a municipality in the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland, which sits on the right bank of Lac Léman. It is the last town of the Canton of Geneva on the road northeast towards Lausanne, before the Canton of Vaud starts. It is a train stop on the SBB-CFF-FFS railway line running between...
was in France). Pictet participated in the first deputation sent in 1814 to request that the Great Powers support Geneva’s position. He then represented Geneva and Switzerland in several rounds of meetings held in Paris (Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1815)
Treaty of Paris of 1815, was signed on 20 November 1815 following the defeat and second abdication of Napoleon Bonaparte. In February, Napoleon had escaped from his exile on Elba; he entered Paris on 20 March, beginning the Hundred Days of his restored rule. Four days after France's defeat in the...
) and Vienna (Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
) during 1814 and 1815. While the victors were mainly interested in sharing the spoils of war, Pictet de Rochement’s political talent and diplomatic skills were aimed precisely at recovering Geneva’s independence and joining it to the twenty-one cantons then forming the Swiss Confederation, Valais
Valais
The Valais is one of the 26 cantons of Switzerland in the southwestern part of the country, around the valley of the Rhône from its headwaters to Lake Geneva, separating the Pennine Alps from the Bernese Alps. The canton is one of the drier parts of Switzerland in its central Rhône valley...
and Neuchâtel having just entered as full and equal cantons.
The first confrontation in Paris was not a success since the French negotiator, Talleyrand, refused to let go of any part of the Pays de Gex. Later, in October 1814 there was the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
. Pictet participated actively in the relevant conclaves and negotiations, not waiting for suitable outcomes to come his way. The idea that Geneva should form part of the Swiss Confederation became a reality on 19 May 1815.
However, Geneva had been not yet been able to consolidate its fragmented territory. But now, following the change in Geneva’s status, Pictet could count on the backing of the Swiss Government and was given full powers to negoatiate. He soon achieved the territorial success he sought.
North of the lake, six communes were transferred from the pays de Gex, thus giving Geneva its connection with the canton of Vaud. As had already been decided in Vienna and Paris, by the Treaty of Turin in 1816 on the left bank another twenty-three communes were transferred from Savoy
Savoy
Savoy is a region of France. It comprises roughly the territory of the Western Alps situated between Lake Geneva in the north and Monaco and the Mediterranean coast in the south....
and became part of the canton. King Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia
Victor Emmanuel I of Sardinia
Victor Emmanuel I was the Duke of Savoy and King of Sardinia from 1802 to 1821, and Jacobite Pretender from 1819 until his death.-Biography:...
had himself only just recently recovered this territory. This extension of the cantonal land became known as the "communes réunies", hence the road of this name in Grand-Lancy
Lancy
Lancy is a municipality of the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland.-Geography:Lancy has an area, , of . Of this area, or 5.2% is used for agricultural purposes, while or 6.5% is forested...
. It was also stated that the non-Swiss customs posts were to be situated at least one league (approximately five kilometres) from the new Swiss frontier, thus creating the "zone franche" on both sides of the canton. Into the bargain, the Great Powers meeting in Paris recognized the "permanent neutrality of Switzerland" and agreed that Swiss neutrality was, indeed, in the common interest of all European countries. Pictet himself wrote the text of the declaration of neutrality.
In the summer of 1816 Pictet-de-Rochemont returned to his sheep and his maize fields having perfectly succeeded in his mission. The Swiss parliament or Diet (Tagsatzung
Tagsatzung
The Swiss Tagsatzung was the legislative and executive council of the Swiss confederacy from the beginnings until the formation of the Swiss federal state in 1848. It was a meeting of delegates of the individual cantons...
), as it was at that time, expressed its recognition of his services.
He died on 28 December 1824 at Lancy.