Bundesrat Arthur Hoffmann

100 years ago, Federal Councillor Arthur Hoffmann Knall had to resign on a case-by-case basis. A secret telegram he had sent to the Socialist leader Robert Grimm in Petersburg had reached the press. The turmoil in Switzerland was huge - it seemed as if the most powerful man in the Federal Council wanted to bring about a separate peace between the revolutionaries in Russia and the German Reich. This also angered the Entente. Hoffmann, who appeared in public as an advocate of strict neutrality, secretly pursued a different policy. Out of concern for the desperate economic situation in Switzerland, but also out of personal ambitions, he tried to use risky actions to speed up peace. He failed. After the fall, he affirmed that he was not aware of any guilt. Paul Widmer analyses the affair thoroughly and uncovers how Hoffmann got involved in the German.