Marcel Pilet-Golaz (31 December 1889 – 11 April 1958) was a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

politician. He was elected to the

Swiss Federal Council The Federal Council (german: Bundesrat; french: Conseil fédéral; it, Consiglio federale; rm, Cussegl federal) is the executive body of the federal government of the Swiss Confederation and serves as the collective head of state and governme ...

on 13 December 1928 and handed over office on 31 December 1944. He was affiliated to the Free Democratic Party. During his time in office he held the following departments: *

Department of Home Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

(1929) *

Department of Posts and Railways The Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC, german: Eidgenössisches Departement für Umwelt, Verkehr, Energie und Kommunikation, french: Département fédéral de l'environnement, des transports, de l'én ...

(1930–1939) * Political DepartmentIn current language the

Federal Department of Foreign Affairs The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA, german: Eidgenössisches Departement für auswärtige Angelegenheiten, french: Département fédéral des affaires étrangères, it, Dipartimento federale degli affari esteri, rm, ), so name ...

. (1940) *

(1940) * Political Department (1941–1944) He was

President of the Confederation The president of the Swiss Confederation, also known as the president of the Confederation or colloquially as the president of Switzerland, is the head of Switzerland's seven-member Federal Council, the country's executive branch. Elected by ...

twice in 1934 and 1940. Pilet-Golaz was said to be a pragmatic politician who tried to negotiate with the German and Italian

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

. He, therefore, had to face the reproach that he sympathized with fascism. As the head of the foreign affairs, he had to find a balance between the German requirements, the objections of the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

and the will of Switzerland to stay independent. His choice to build a relatively good rapport with

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

was very disputed, during as well as after the war. On 25 June 1940, Pilet-Golaz gave a speech containing numerous references to the coming of an authoritarian regime in Switzerland and to a "new order" in Europe. In September, he met with three representatives of the National Movement of Switzerland (''Nationale Bewegung der Schweiz/Mouvement national suisse''), the Swiss pro-Nazi party (the MNS was disbanded by the Federal government two months later). In 1944, when Pilet-Golaz tried to take up relations with the Soviet Union, the latter refused roughly. So he lost all support and had to resign.

Notes and references

* Werner Rings, ''Die Schweiz im Krieg''.

External links

* * * * 1889 births 1958 deaths People from Morges District Swiss Calvinist and Reformed Christians Free Democratic Party of Switzerland politicians Members of the Federal Council (Switzerland) Members of the National Council (Switzerland) World War II political leaders University of Lausanne alumni Foreign ministers of Switzerland {{Switzerland-politician-stub