Mennonite German Soldiers

Mark Jantzen

Description

Mennonite German Soldiers traces the efforts of a small, pacifist, Christian religious minority in eastern Prussia-the Mennonite communities of the Vistula River basin-to preserve their exemption from military service, which was based on their religious confession of faith. Conscription was mandatory for nearly all male Prussian citizens, and the willingness to fight and die for country was essential to the ideals of a developing German national identity. In this engaging historical narrative, Mark Jantzen describes the policies of the Prussian federal and regional governments toward the Mennonites over a hundred-year period and the legal, economic, and social pressures brought to bear on the Mennonites to conform. Mennonite leaders defended the exemptions of their communities' sons through a long history of petitions and legal pleas, and sought alternative ways, such as charitable donations, to support the state and prove their loyalty. Faced with increasingly punitive legal and financial restrictions, as well as widespread social disapproval, many Mennonites ultimately emigrated, and many others chose to join the German nation at the cost of their religious tradition.

Jantzen tells the history of the Mennonite experience in Prussian territories against the backdrop of larger themes of Prussian state-building and the growth of German nationalism. The Mennonites, who lived on the margins of German society, were also active agents in the long struggle of the state to integrate them. The public debates over their place in Prussian society shed light on a multi-confessional German past and on the dissemination of nationalist values.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• HISTORY
• Histoire
• Mennonite
• Christianity
• Germany
• Mennonitisme
• Europe

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 24 septembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 3
• EAN13: 9780268083540
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

mark jantzen

Nation, Religion, and Family in the Prussian East, –

M E N N O N I T E G E R M A N S O L D I E R S

M E N N O N I T E G E R M A N S O L D I E R S

Nation, Religion, and Family in the Prussian East, 1772–1880

∏

Mark Jantzen

University of Notre Dame Press Notre Dame, Indiana

Copyright © 2010 by the Universit y of Notre Dame Notre Dame, Indiana 46556 www.undpress.nd.edu All Rights Reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Jantzen, Mark, 1963– Mennonite German soldiers : nation, religion, and family in the Prussian East, 1772/1880 / Mark Jantzen. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-268-03269-2 ( pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-268-03269-6 ( pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Mennonites — Prussia, East ( Poland and Russia) — History. 2. Mennonites — Germany — Prussia — History. 3. Soldiers — Prussia, East ( Poland and Russia) — History. 4. Soldiers — Religious life — Germany — Prussia — History. 5. Prussia, East ( Poland and Russia) — Church history. 6. Prussia (Germany) — Church history. I. Title. BX8119.P6J36 2010 289.7'4383209033— dc22

2010024334

∞The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources.

For Henry, Kristin, and John

C O N T E N T S

List of Figures Acknowledgments

ix xi

o n eViewing German Nationalism from the Bottom Up t woFrom Polish to Prussian Subjects t h r e eRedefining Mennonites’ Place in Ancien Régime Prussia f o u rThe Impact of Defeat and Victory in the Napoleonic Wars f i v eNew Avenues into Prussian Societ y, 1818– 48 s i xRevolutionary Changes in Frankfurt and at Home s e v e nFamily Politics and Generational Transitions as Windows into Prussian Societ y e i g h tThe Unification of Germany and the Ideology of Universal Conscription n i n eTheKulturkampfand Mennonite Reverberations in EarlyKaiserreichCulture t e nConclusions

Appendix Notes Bibliography Index

255 270 329 354

1 15 49

79 107 137

161

191

219 247

2.1. 2.2. 2.3.

2.4. 3.1. 3.2.

6.1.

7.1.

7.2.

7.3. 8.1.

F I G U R E S

Mennonite settlements along the Vistula River The partitions of Poland, 1772–95 Joachim Friedrich von Domhardt, general governor of West and East Prussia, 1772–81 Original plan of the Culm Military Academy, 1774 Frontispiece of the Mennonite Edict of 1789 Frontispiece of the 1801 Declaration concerning the Edict of 1789 Hermann von Beckerath, 1849. Prominent Krefeld banker and liberal politician. Carl Harder, Mennonite pastor in Königsberg, 1845–58, and Elbing, 1868–98 Jakob Mannhardt, Mennonite pastor in Danzig, 1836 –85 Wilhelm Mannhardt, German folklorist Gerhard Penner, elder of Heubuden congregation and leader of the opposition to military service

ix

18 24

25 31 56

69

146

176

182 183

202