Peter Ochs (20 August 1752,

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

, France – 19 June 1821, Basel,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

) was a Swiss politician who is best known for drawing up the first constitution of the short-lived

Helvetic Republic The Helvetic Republic (, , ) was a sister republic of France that existed between 1798 and 1803, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was created following the French invasion and the consequent dissolution of the Old Swiss Confederacy, ma ...

Biography

Born in France of a family that claimed roots in the Basel aristocracy, Ochs himself settled in Basel in 1769. In 1776 he obtained a doctorate of laws, became a magistrate and took up politics, making many useful contacts through his marriage.''Histoire de la Suisse'', Éditions Fragnière, Fribourg, Switzerland At the time Switzerland was a

confederacy Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between ...

of self-governing

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

s held together by a loose military alliance. There was little in terms of actual union and no central government. Like most of Europe, Switzerland was deemed

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a wa ...

in nature since the wealthiest members of society benefited from privileges that others were denied. There was much resentment over this which led to many conspiracies and uprisings, such as that led by Major Abraham Davel who protested at what he saw as the oppressive treatment that Berne meted out to his native Vaud which was then under Berne's control. Upon the outbreak of the French Revolution of 1789, Ochs joined the partisans of revolutionary reform. With Frédéric-César de La Harpe, he called for the French to send troops into Switzerland, overthrow the "decayed Confederation" and establish a unified nation. In 1798 the French did just that. Troops moved into Switzerland and, with little resistance, soon took over the whole country. Ochs himself drew up a new constitution, abolishing the Confederacy and establishing a new central government, inspired by the French model. The new regime included a two-chamber legislature in which Ochs served as first president of the Helvetic Senate and, later, as president of the state executive, the Directory. He later fell out with de La Harpe and was forced out of government on 25 June 1799. The Helvetic Republic was abolished by the Act of Mediation in 1803 and Switzerland became a confederacy once again. In Basel Ochs achieved local prominence for his part in devising new governmental and penal codes and reorganizing the city university. ''Peter-Ochs-Strasse'' in Basel is named for him.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ochs, Peter 1752 births 1821 deaths Swiss politicians 18th-century Swiss people 19th-century Swiss people 18th-century Swiss politicians 19th-century Swiss politicians

Biography

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