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Switzerland Sonderbund War (1847)
The Sonderbundskrieg was a Swiss civil war and lasted from 3 to 29 November 1847. The occasion was the founding of the Sonderbund by the conservative-ruled Catholic cantons of Lucerne, Schwyz, Uri, Zug, Obwalden and Nidwalden, Fribourg and Valais. On 4 November 1847, the Tagsatzung in Bern decided to take up arms and dissolve the Sonderbund by force. The federal army of almost 100,000 men under General Henri Dufour advanced against Lucerne from 11 November. Already on 29 November, the last canton of Valais capitulated. As a result, the Federal Constitution was revised in 1848 in the liberal sense and Switzerland was united from a confederation of states to a federal state. The Federal Assembly took the place of the old Tagsatzung - the new Switzerland was born. (luk)