In the summer of 1919, Switzerland was caught in the same unrest shaking much of the postwar world. Rising prices, labor anger, and fear of Bolshevism turned strikes in Basel and Zurich into violent confrontations between workers and the state.
When government troops were sent in to restore order, the clashes escalated sharply.
At Basel, strikers tore up pavement and hurled it at soldiers, while troops answered with machine guns mounted on automobiles. By the time the disorders were brought under control, several strikers had been killed or wounded, many others were under arrest, and the unrest had become another grim sign of a world still unsettled after the war.
Strikers Mowed Down
SWITZERLAND. — Troops sent by the government to quell strike riots at Basel and Zurich were forced to use machine guns mounted on automobiles during the disorders.
The strikers at Basel ripped up the pavements and bombarded the troops, injuring many. A number of strikers were killed and wounded and many were arrested.
At Basel, the outbreak was said to be of a Bolshevist character, while at Zurich the disorders were attributed to the increasing cost of living.
Source: Arizona State Miner. Wickenburg, Ariz. August 8, 1919.
