Léman Republic

(République Lémanique), a state in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland (its center was the city of Lausanne) that existed from Jan. 24 to Apr. 12, 1798. The Léman Republic was proclaimed at a meeting of representatives of city and country communes. On February 9, the meeting in Lausanne adopted a constitution based on the French constitution of 1795. The people were designated the bearers of sovereignty; feudal privileges and the division of society into estates were abolished; and democratic freedoms were proclaimed. After the creation of the Helvetic Republic, the Léman Republic joined it as the canton of Léman.