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The Peace Movement and the Religious Community in Germany, 1900–1914

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

Roger Philip Chickering
Roger Philip Chickering
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor of History, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
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Extract

The prominence of American and European clergymen in recent demonstrations in favor of international peace has been a source of encouragement to those who believe that war contradicts the most fundamental tenets of Christianity. However, it is a well known fact that Christian institutions have historically found it possible not only to tolerate the use of violence to settle international disputes, but even to advocate it with enthusiasm. The tendency of clergymen to view war as a necessary or desirable component of international relations was particularly pronounced in the decades immediately preceding the outbreak of the first world war, when churchmen found themselves caught up in the nationalistic frenzy that poisoned relations among the major European powers. The religious community in Germany was especially susceptible to this kind of belligerent nationalism and indeed ranked as one of the most patriotic sectors of Wilhelmine society. Perhaps nowhere was this orientation more evident than in the relations between the religious community and the organized peace movement in Germany.

Type
Research Article
Information
Church History , Volume 38 , Issue 3 , September 1969 , pp. 300 - 311
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Church History 1969

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References

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