Democratic Illusions

CentralEuropeanHistory (2023), 56,71–91 doi:10.1017/S0008938922000309

DemocraticIllusions:TheProtestantCampaign forConscientiousObjectionintheEarlyFederalRepublic ofGermany

BrandonBloch

UniversityofWisconsin-Madison,Madison,WI,USA

Email: bjbloch@wisc.edu

Abstract

Duringtheearly-Cold-WarcontroversyoverWestGermanrearmament,theProtestantChurchemerged asacenterofactivismfortherightofconscientiousobjectiontomilitaryservice,departingfrom decadesofprecedent.Thisarticleusesthedramaticabout-faceoftheProtestantChurchtothrow newlightonhowWestGermansreimagineddemocraticpoliticsafterNazism.Buildingonrecentchallengestoparadigmsofpostwarliberalization,itarguesthatillusorynarrativesoftheNazipastplayeda keyroleinWestGermany’stransitiontodemocracy.Protestantactivistsfortherightofconscientious objectiondrewonanimaginedlegacyofanti-Naziresistancetoreframetheideaof “conscience,” long associatedwithpatrioticloyalties,asauniquelyProtestantcontributiontodemocraticculture.In doingso,theycametoidentifytheirchurchasapillarofWestGermandemocracy,evenasthey ensconcedtendentiousaccountsoftheNazipastinpostwarlawandpolitics.

Keywords: ideology;politicalhistory;post-1945Germany;religion;war

Asking “WhetherSoldiers,Too,CanBeSaved,” MartinLuther’s1526treatiseconcluded resoundinglyintheaffirmative: “Fortheveryfactthattheswordhasbeeninstitutedby Godtopunishtheevil,protectthegood,andpreservepeaceispowerfulandsufficient proofthatwarandkilling … havebeeninstitutedbyGod.”1 Luther’scontention,penned amidtheconfessionalwarsoftheearlyReformation,appearedequallytruetoGerman Protestantnationalistsofthenineteenthcentury.BeginningduringtheNapoleonicoccupationsandextendingbeyondGermanunificationin1871,achorusofpastorsandlayintellectualsinvokedthedivinemissionoftheGermannationinitsstruggleagainstforeign dominationfromwithoutandCatholicsubversionfromwithin.TheFirstWorldWarradicalizedchurch-basednationalism,withProtestantpastorsemergingasearlyenthusiastsofthe warandcontinuingtoextolthepromiseofadivinelyendowedvictorylongafterthedomesticmoodsoured.GermandefeatlefttheProtestantmilieuunreconciledtotheWeimar Republic,whilechurchgoingProtestantsformedakeyblocoftheNazielectorate.2 During

1 MartinLuther, “WhetherSoldiers,Too,CanBeSaved,” in Luther’sWorks,ed.RobertC.Schultz,vol.46: The ChristianinSocietyIII (Philadelphia,PA:FortressPress,1967),95.

2 TheliteratureonProtestantnationalisminmodernGermanyisvast.Forhelpfuloverviews,seeManfredGailus andHartmutLehmann,ed., NationalprotestantischeMentalitäten.Konturen,EntwicklungslinienundUmbrücheeines Weltbildes (Göttingen:Vandenhoeck&Ruprecht,2005),andHelmutWalserSmith, GermanNationalismandReligious Conflict:Culture,Ideology,Politics,1870–1914 (Princeton,NJ:PrincetonUniversityPress,1995).

©TheAuthor(s),2022.PublishedbyCambridgeUniversityPressonbehalfofCentralEuropeanHistorySocietyoftheAmerican HistoricalAssociation.ThisisanOpenAccessarticle,distributedunderthetermsoftheCreativeCommonsAttributionlicence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/),whichpermitsunrestrictedre-use,distribution,andreproductioninanymedium, providedtheoriginalworkisproperlycited.

theSecondWorldWar,asintheFirst,Protestantconscientiousobjectionwasalmostnonexistent.Notonlydidmillionsofchurchmembersfightatthefront,but480ProtestantpastorsservedasWehrmachtchaplains,witnessinggenocidalwarfareandprovidingsolaceto itsperpetrators.3

Theyearsafter1945sawabreakwiththisheritage.DuringthecontroversyoverrearmamentthateruptedwiththefoundingoftheWestGermanstate,thenewlyformed EvangelischeKircheinDeutschland (ProtestantChurchinGermany,EKD)launchedanational campaignfortherightofconscientiousobjectiontomilitaryservice.Followingtheintroductionofmilitaryconscriptionin1956,Protestantpastorsandlayintellectualsadvocatedfor anexpansivereadingoftherighttoconscientiousobjectionenshrinedinWestGermany’ s BasicLaw,opposingthenarrowinterpretationupheldbythegoverningChristian DemocraticUnion(CDU).ProtestantpastorschairedtheCentralOfficefortheRightsand ProtectionofConscientiousObjectorsduringitsfirstdecadeofoperation,whiletheEKD’ s youthcommissionestablishedaparalleladvocacycenterforconscientiousobjectors.4 Evenmoderatechurchleaderswhofavoredrearmamentbackedafar-reachingrightofconscientiousobjection.

TheProtestantcampaignforconscientiousobjectionmarkedadramaticabout-faceinthe post-Naziera.OftenearlysympathizerswithNationalSocialism,itsleadersreinventedthemselvesasdetractorsofoverreachingstateauthorityintheFederalRepublic.TheProtestant Church,however,hasremainedunderexploredinstudiesofWestGermany’sdemocratic reconstruction.RecentworksthatreturnreligiontotheforegroundoftheearlyFederal RepublicfocusontransformationsofpoliticalCatholicism,especiallytheCatholicrootsof theCDU.5 ProtestantswhocriticizedtheCDUagendaofrearmamentandWesternintegrationfituneasilyintothisnarrative.ThesmallerliteratureonpostwarGerman ProtestantismcentersonthecontinuitiesofProtestantnationalismafter1945ratherthan Protestantengagementindemocraticpolitics. 6

WhileProtestantshaveremainedatthemargins,scholarshiponWestGermandemocracy hasundergoneaseachangeinthepastdecade.Challengingmodelsof “liberalization” or “recivilization” thatportrayedarapidtransitiontodemocracyunderAlliedaegis,recent workshavepaintedamoreambivalentpictureofthepostwarera.7 Innewinterpretations, gradualshiftsinvaluesandemotionalregimes,whichlaidthefoundationforademocratic

3 DorisL.Bergen, “GermanMilitaryChaplainsintheSecondWorldWarandtheDilemmasofLegitimacy,” in The SwordoftheLord:MilitaryChaplainsfromtheFirsttotheTwenty-FirstCentury,ed.DorisL.Bergen(NotreDame,IN: UniversityofNotreDamePress,2004),165–86,andDorisL.Bergen, “SavingChristianity,KillingJews:German ReligiousCampaignsandtheHolocaustintheBorderlands,” in TheHolocaustintheBorderlands:Interethnic RelationsandtheDynamicsofViolenceinOccupiedEasternEurope,ed.GäelleFisherandCarolineMezger(Göttingen: WallsteinVerlag,2019),59–84.

4 PatrickBernhard, ZivildienstzwischenReformundRevolte.EinebundesdeutscheInstitutionimgesellschaftlichenWandel 1961–1982 (Munich:Oldenbourg,2005),15;GünterKnebel,ed., NeinzuKriegundMilitär JazuFriedensdiensten.50Jahre evangelischeArbeitfürKriegsdienstverweigerer (Bremen:EvangelischeArbeitsgemeinschaftzurBetreuungder Kriegsdienstverweigerer,2007),33.

5 Foranoverview,seeMichaelE.O’Sullivan, “Religion,Modernity,andDemocracyinCentralEurope:Towarda GenderedHistoryofTwentieth-CenturyCatholicism,” CentralEuropeanHistory 52,no.4(2019):713–30.

6 Mostrecently,seeBenjaminZiemann, MartinNiemöller.EinLebeninOpposition (Munich:Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt,2019).Theonlybook-lengthstudyoftheProtestantdebateaboutconscientiousobjectionfocuses onitsconsequencesfortheologyratherthandemocraticpolitics;seeHendrikMeyer-Magister, Wehrdienstund VerweigerungalskomplementäresHandeln:IndividualisierungsprozesseimbundesdeutschenProtestantismusder1950er Jahre (Tübingen:MohrSiebeck,2020).

7 UlrichHerbert, “LiberalisierungalsLernprozeß.DerBundesrepublikinderdeutschenGeschichte eineSkizze,” in WandlungsprozesseinWestdeutschland.Belastung,Integration,Liberalisierung1945–1980,ed.UlrichHerbert(Göttingen: WallsteinVerlag,2002),7–49;KonradH.Jarausch, AfterHitler:RecivilizingGermans,1945–1995,trans.BrandonHunziker (Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,2006).Onthehistoriographicshift,seeFrankBiessandAstridM.Eckert, “Introduction:WhyDoWeNeedNewNarrativesfortheHistoryoftheFederalRepublic?,” CentralEuropeanHistory 52,no.1(2019):1–18,andLaurenStokes, “TheProtagonistsofDemocratizationintheFederalRepublic,” German History 39,no.2(2021):284–96.

culture,coincidedwithwidespreadevasionoftheNazipast.TillvanRahdenreinterprets democracyasa “formoflife” thatemergedhaltinglythroughdebatesoverthenatureof authorityandrepresentation.FrankBiesshasshownhowWestGermandemocracyrested lessonanti-Naziconsensusthanonfearsofnuclearannihilation,internalenemies,and authoritarianbacksliding,whichcontinuallythreatenedtoupendthefacadeofpostwar stability.Suchfears,asMonicaBlackilluminatesinherstudyofpostwarcontroversies aroundwitchcraftandfaithhealing,penetratedtotheveryheartoflocallife.8 Theworks ofvanRahden,Biess,andBlackillustratetheprecarityofWestGermandemocracy,aconclusionconfirmedbyscholarshiprevealingtheongoingstigmatizationofBlackGermans,sexual minorities,andimmigrantsintheFederalRepublic.9

ByexaminingtheProtestantcampaignfortherightofconscientiousobjection,thisarticleintegratestheProtestantChurchintonewnarrativesofWestGermandemocratization. LikevanRahden’ s “clumsydemocrats” andBlack’ s “wonderdoctors,” thecampaign’sprotagonistsboreambiguouspersonalhistories.Theirstruggletoreestablishacivilsocietyonthe ashesofNazismunderscoresthefragilityofearlyWestGermandemocracy.Atthesame time,thisarticlesuggeststworevisionstotheemergentpictureofthepostwardecades. First,itarguesthatpostwardemocratizationrestednotonlyonevasions,butonillusorynarrativesoftheNazipast.ProtestantpastorsandlayintellectualswhoadvocatedforconscientiousobjectorsdidnotsimplyconcealtheircheckeredrecordsunderNazism,but constructeddistortiveaccountsofanti-Naziresistanceinordertoassertaleadingrolein postwarreconstruction.Resistancenarrativesparadoxicallyfosteredareorientationtoward democracy.Bylocatingtheircampaignasaproductofcontinuityratherthanrupturewith therecentpast,Protestantactivistscouldengageindemocraticpoliticswithoutrepudiating longstandingnationalistideologies.

Moreover,theProtestantcampaignfortherightofconscientiousobjectionillustrates howWestGermansrepurposedanti-democraticsymbolsasabasisfordemocraticpractice.10 Inaccountingfortheirostensibleanti-Naziopposition,thecampaign’sleadersreframedthe ideaofconscience(Gewissen),acategorywithdeeptheologicalroots,asalocusoffreedom frompoliticalauthority atoddswiththeterm’searlierconnotationofloyaltytothestate. Evenastheyretainedthenationalistandanti-Catholicviewslongassociatedwithconscience discourseinProtestantGermany,pastorsandlayintellectualsdeployedthetermtoadvocate fortheexpansionofWestGermans’ constitutionalrights.Thepostwardebateaboutconscientiousobjectionhelpedreconcileanationalistmilieutodemocraticlanguageandinstitutions,atthesametimethatitensconcedfalsifiednarrativesoftheNazipastinlawand politics.

FollowingtheProtestantcampaignfortherightofconscientiousobjectionfromtheologicaltracts,periodicals,andchurchcommissionstothepress,parliament,andcourtsystem, thisarticleshowshowdebatesaboutconsciencerightsbecamecentraltotheconsolidation ofWestGermandemocracy.ThefirstsectionsurveysProtestantdiscoursesofconsciencein theeraofImperialGermanyandtheworldwars,demonstratinghowconsciencelanguage wasfrequentlydeployedtosupportmilitaryservice.Ithentracehowpastorsandlayintellectualsafter1945reframedthecategoryofconsciencearoundanarrativeofanti-Naziresistance,enablinganewdefenseoftherightofconscientiousobjection.Althoughtheinitial

8 FrankBiess, GermanAngst:FearandDemocracyintheFederalRepublicofGermany (Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress, 2020);MonicaBlack, ADemon-HauntedLand:Witches,WonderDoctors,andtheGhostsofthePastinPost–WWIIGermany (NewYork:MetropolitanBooks,2020);TillvanRahden, Demokratie.EinegefährdeteLebensform (Frankfurt:Campus, 2019).

9 TiffanyN.Florvil, MobilizingBlackGermany:Afro-GermanWomenandtheMakingofaTransnationalMovement (Urbana,IL:UniversityofIllinoisPress,2020);SamuelClowesHuneke, StatesofLiberation:GayMenbetween DictatorshipandDemocracyinColdWarGermany (Toronto:UniversityofTorontoPress,2022);LaurenStokes, Fearof theFamily:GuestWorkersandFamilyMigrationintheFederalRepublicofGermany (Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,2022).

10 Foranotherexample,seeSeanA.Forner, GermanIntellectualsandtheChallengeofDemocraticRenewal:Cultureand PoliticsAfter1945 (Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,2014),114–48.

Protestantcampaignforconscientiousobjectionreflectedlessdemocraticconvictionsthan oppositiontoColdWarrearmament,thedecisionforrearmamentin1955broughtashift. ForcedtoappealtoWestGermany’sdemocraticinstitutionsforrevisionstoconscription policy,ProtestantactivistsmovedawayfromresistancelanguagetodefinefreedomofconscienceasabedrockvalueoftheFederalRepublic.LegalvictoriesbeforetheFederal ConstitutionalCourtbytheearly1960sencouragedthecampaign’sleaderstoidentify theirchurchastheverysourceofWestGermandemocracy,whilealienatingaradical wingthatquestionedwhetherlawalonesufficedtoprotectfundamentalrights.Yetboth sidesinthe1960sProtestantdebateaboutconscientiousobjectionpositionedthemselves asdefendersofdemocracy adramaticreversalfromtwodecadesprior.

InwardnessandPatriotism

Likeotherkeywordsofthemodernpoliticallexicon,whetherdemocracy,nation,orhuman rights,theideaofconsciencederivesitspotencyfromtheabilitytobemobilizedbehind disparate,oftenconflictingpoliticalagendas.InthepostwarUnitedStates,Catholicscited theauthorityofconsciencetoopposetheVietnamWarandabortionrightsinequalmeasure,whileEvangelicalsinvokedconsciencetodefynon-discriminationlawsandtheseparationofchurchandstate.11 ThebackdroptotheProtestantcampaignforconscientious objectioninWestGermanywasaniterationofconsciencediscoursewithalongheritage inGerman-speakingProtestanttheology,onethatcenteredtheProtestantsubject’sunmediatedconnectiontoGod.Protestantconsciencelanguagestoodinaparadoxicalrelationship topolitics.Althoughitsproponentsclaimedthatjudgmentsofconscienceweredistinctfrom andsuperseded politicalcalculations,appealstoconsciencenecessarilyraisedpoliticalquestionsabouttherelationshipsamongindividual,church,andstate.

ThepowerofconsciencediscourseinpostwarGermanProtestantismderivedfroma mythologyoftheReformationthatconstructedMartinLutherasacrusaderagainstchurch andstateoverreachalike.Lutherfamouslydefendedhisninety-fivethesesbeforetheDietof Wormsin “conscienceboundtothewordofGod.” YetforLuther,theconsciencewashardly thebasisforanindividualright,letalonelicensetofloutpoliticalauthorities.Instead, LuthertiedthejudgmentofconsciencetotheobjectivetruthsoftheBible narrowing thedefinitionofconsciencefromScholasticsources,whichobligedtheindividualtofollow thedictatesofconsciencewhenthelawremainedunclear.12

Onlyinthelateeighteenthcentury,undertheinfluenceofPietistrevivalismand Enlightenmentchallengestochurchauthority,didProtestantthinkersredefineconscience aroundalanguageofinteriorityandsubjectivity.ForImmanuelKant,theconsciencefigured asthesourceofuniversalmorallawsderivedthroughrationalself-examination.ThetheologianFriedrichSchleiermacher,theprogenitorofnineteenth-centuryliberalProtestantism, retainedKant’semphasisonthesubjectivesourcesofobjectivemoraltruthswhilerearticulatingthistenetinatheologicalkey.Conscience,forSchleiermacher,servedasthe “voiceof Godinthemind,” thelocusofthe “originaldivinerevelation.”13 Liberaltheology’sinteriorizationofconsciencebothreflectedandenablednewformsofreligiosityoutsideinstitutionalchurches.Amid-nineteenth-centurymalebourgeoisiethatabandoned village-centricchurchescouldreimagineitsprofessionalandpoliticalengagementasa formofservicetoGod.Schleiermacher’sdefinitionofpietyasa “feelingofutter

11 PeterCajka, FollowYourConscience:TheCatholicChurchandtheSpiritoftheSixties (Chicago,IL:Universityof ChicagoPress,2021),65–120;MicahWatson, “ObeyingGodRatherThanMen:UneasyEvangelicals,Conscience, andPolitics,” in ChristianityandtheLawsofConscience:AnIntroduction,ed.HelenM.AlvareandJeffrey B.Hammond(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,2021),227–44.

12 Cajka, FollowYourConscience,19–20;StephanSchaede, “Gewissensproduktionstheorien.EinÜberblicküber GewissenstypeninPositionenreformatorischerundevangelischerTheologie,” in DasGewissen,ed.Stephan SchaedeandThorstenMoos(Tübingen:MohrSiebeck,2015),152–57.

13 QuotedinSchaede, “Gewissensproduktionstheorien,” 161.

dependence” formedthetheologicallodestarofwhatLucianHölscherhastermedthis “citizen’sreligion(ReligiondesBürgers).”14

Bythe1860s,Protestantliberalscouldmobilizeconsciencelanguagefornationalistpurposes.Theconscience,onthisview,orientedthecitizentowardthegoodofthedivinelywilled nation,beyondthecontingenciesofeverydaypolitics.EvenbeforeGermanunificationin1871, liberalpoliticianscontrastedProtestantfreedomofconscienceagainstCatholicsubservience toclericalauthority acanardrepeatedbyProtestantNationalLiberalsintheirbidtoexclude Catholicinstitutionsfrompubliclifeduringthe Kulturkampf. 15 Bytheturnofthetwentieth century,withProtestantsensconcedasleadersinthecivilservice,universities,andprofessions,liberalaswellasconservativeProtestantwriterscelebratedtheGermanstate’sharmonizationofindividualconscienceandpatrioticloyalty.Ina1909addressbeforetheGerman ProtestantAssociation,theliberaltheologianFriedrichNaumanncharacterizedthestateas “thewillofallandatthesametimethewillthatextendstoall.”16 Naumann’sconservative counterpart,theLutherantheologianReinholdSeeberg,similarlydefinedthestateasan “organofthehighestmoralideals.” A “mature” politicalculture,accordingtoSeeberg,valued not “freedom from thestate” but “freedom within thestate.”17

Inlinewiththisnationalistorientation,ProtestantpastorsandintellectualsinImperial Germanyrarelyquestionedthemalecitizen’sobligationofmilitaryservice.Thetwokingdoms theologythatguidedLuther’sownreflectionsonsoldieringremainedwidespread:the Christianowedobediencetothestateintheworldlysphere,whilethegospelreignedonly withinthechurchasaprecursortothecomingkingdomofGod.ButProtestantsupportfor militaryservicealsoreflectedthepresumedalignmentbetweenindividualconscienceand nationalduty.Wardidnotviolatethebiblicalcommandmentagainstmurder,Seeberg wrotein1911,becauseittranscended “themotiveofpersonalegoism” tofulfill “thenecessary conditionsoflifefortheentirepeople.”18 WiththeCatholicChurchseekingtodisplayits nationalistcredentialsafterthe Kulturkampf,theGermanPeaceSocietycountedonly117of 35,000ProtestantandCatholicclericsamongitsmembersbeforetheFirstWorldWar.19

MilitaristsympathiesshapedProtestantreactionstotheoutbreakofwarin1914.Leading theologians,includingNaumannandSeeberg,numberedamongthesignatoriesofthe October1914appealofGermanintellectualsdefendingGermany’sinvasionofBelgium.20 Ina1916addressbeforetheGeneralGermanChristianStudentConferenceon “Warand Conscience, ” theLutherantheologianKarlHeiminvokedtheprevailingdiscourseofconscienceinsupportofthemilitaryeffort.TheProtestantwascalledbyGodtopreserve “thelifeandhealthofthe Volk”;thewarwas “notonlyatragicnecessity,butanorderof God.”21 Beyondtheologians,ProtestantpastorsacrossGermanyhailedthewarasanopportunitytoachievethespiritualunitythathadeludedGermanssince1871.22 ProtestantenthusiasmforthewarfitwithbroadertrendsinWorldWarIGermany.WhereasBritain,Canada, andtheUnitedStatescreatedtribunalsthatadjudicatedclaimstoconscientiousobjection,

14 LucianHölscher, “DieReligiondesBürgers:BürgerlicheFrömmigkeitundprotestantischeKircheim19. Jahrhundert,” HistorischeZeitschrift 250(1990):595–630,quoted619.

15 MichaelB.Gross, TheWarAgainstCatholicism:LiberalismandtheAnti-CatholicImaginationinNineteenth-Century Germany (AnnArbor,MI:UniversityofMichiganPress,2004),101–07,248.

16 FriedrichNaumann, “LiberalismusundProtestantismus,” in GeistundGlaube (Berlin:G.Reimer,1911),29.

17 ReinholdSeeberg, SystemderEthik.ImGrundrißdargestellt (Leipzig:Deichert,1911),129–30,146(emphasis added).

18 Seeberg, SystemderEthik,136.

19 RogerChickering, ImperialGermanyandaWorldWithoutWar:ThePeaceMovementandGermanSociety,1892–1914 (Princeton,NJ:PrincetonUniversityPress,1975),196–202.

20 BernhardvomBrocke, “‘ScholarshipandMilitarism’:TheAppealof93 ‘totheCivilizedWorld!’” GermanHistory inDocumentsandImages (https://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_document.cfm?document_id=938).

21 KarlHeim, “KriegundGewissen,” in GlaubeundLeben.GesammelteAufsätzeundVorträge (Berlin:FurcheVerlag, 1926),252.

22 FrankBecker, “ProtestantischeEuphorien:1870/71,1914und1933,” in NationalprotestantischeMentalitäten,30–36.

ImperialGermanymaintainednolegalmechanismforthepurpose.23 WithMennonites’ widespreadabandonmentofpacifismfollowingGermanunification,nomajorreligiouscommunity opposedmilitaryservice.24 Evenagainstthisbackdrop,onesurveyconcludes, “Nosectorofthe populationwasmoreardentasupporterofthewarthantheGermanProtestantChurch.”25

DecliningmembershipintheProtestantchurchesafter1918,aproductoftheir “ enormous lossofcredibility” followingGermandefeat,reinforcedthedominanceofconservativenationalismamongpastorsandlaychurchgoers.26 Thediscourseofconsciencewasfoldedinto ProtestantoppositionagainsttheWeimarRepublic.TheBerlinchurchhistorianKarlHoll unleashedaburstofenergyinLutherscholarshipwitha1921essaydefiningLutheranism asa “religionofconscience” inoppositiontoEnlightenmentindividualism.Luther’sconscience, accordingtoHoll,wasthelocusnotofrightsorfreedomsbutofGod’sclaimontheperson, subordinatingself-lovetoserviceofneighborandcommunity.27 FollowingHoll,ageneration ofLutherantheologiansdescribedtheidealpolityasa “communityofconscience” organized arounddivinelyordainedhierarchiesoffamily,church,andstate afoiltothepluralistdemocracyoftheWeimarRepublic,whereProtestantscouldnolongerclaimtorepresentthenation.28

TheriseoftheNazidictatorshipbroughtonlylimitedshiftstotheProtestantlanguageof conscience.LongstandingnationalismandhostilitytotheVersaillessettlementfostered widespreadProtestantenthusiasmforNazirule.Evenaschurchleadershipsfragmented overNazieffortstotakecontrolofregionalchurches,pastorsonallsidesoftheensuing “churchconflict” hastenedtodisplaytheirpoliticalreliability.Pastorsandlaypeoplewho opposedtheinsertionofNaziracialdogmaintochurchlegislationestablishedalternative seminaries,leadershipcouncils,anddeclarationsoffaithoutsidetheNazi-dominatedstate churches,coalescingaroundtheConfessingChurch.Thechurchopposition,however, insistedonthepurelyreligiousnatureofitscritiqueofNazism,andmostConfessingpastors retainednationalistpolitics.29 Whileabandoningheadypronouncementsaboutthealignmentofconscienceandstateinterests,ConfessingChurchstatementscontinuedtodistinguishdivineauthorityoverconsciencefromstateauthorityinthepoliticalrealm.A1936 announcementinthejournal JungeKirche typifiedthisstance:Thechurchcouldreconstitute itselfinthe “newpoliticalreality” solongasitseparated “Christianconscience” from “politicalreason.”30 Inareportpreparedforthe1937internationalecumenicalconferenceat Oxford,ConfessingChurchleadersadmonishedProtestantstosufferpassivelywhenthe stateviolatedbiblicalprecepts,whileotherwisecontinuingto “obeythestateaccording toGod’swillandberesponsibleforitswell-being.”31

23 JeremyK.Kessler, “AWarforLiberty:OntheLawofConscientiousObjection,” in TheCambridgeHistoryofthe SecondWorldWar,ed.MichaelGeyerandAdamTooze,vol.3: TotalWar:Economy,SocietyandCulture (Cambridge: CambridgeUniversityPress,2015),449–54.

24 BenjaminW.Goossen, ChosenNation:MennonitesandGermanyinaGlobalEra (Princeton,NJ:PrincetonUniversity Press,2017),90–93.Soldierswhorefusedmilitarydutywerefrequentlylabeled “warneurotics” ratherthanconscientiousobjectors.SeeRebeccaAyakoBennette, DiagnosingDissent:Hysterics,Deserters,andConscientiousObjectorsin GermanyduringWorldWarOne (Ithaca,NY:CornellUniversityPress,2020).

25 RogerChickering, ImperialGermanyandtheGreatWar,1914–1918,3rded.(Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress, 2014),148–49.

26 DorisL.Bergen, “‘WarProtestantism’ inGermany,1914–1945,” in NationalprotestantischeMentalitäten,119.

27 KarlHoll, WhatDidLutherUnderstandbyReligion?,trans.FredW.MeuserandWalterR.Wietzke(Philadelphia, PA:FortressPress,1977).

28 Forinstance,FriedrichBrunstäd, DeutschlandundderSozialismus,2nded.(Berlin:Elsner,1927),129.OnHoll,see KlausTanner, DiefrommeVerstaatlichungdesGewissens.ZurAuseinandersetzungumdieLegitimitätderWeimarer ReichsverfassunginStaatsrechtswissenschaftundTheologiederzwanzigerJahre (Göttingen:Vandenhoeck&Ruprecht, 1989),213–20.

29 ForanoverviewoftheNazi-era “churchconflict,” seeMatthewD.Hockenos, AChurchDivided:GermanProtestants ConfronttheNaziPast (Bloomington,IN:IndianaUniversityPress,2004),15–38.

30 “VorschauaufdieOxforderWeltkirchenkonferenz1937,” JungeKirche 7,no.18(1936):862–63.

31 HansBöhm, Kirche,VolkundStaat.BerichtdesökumenischenAusschussesderVorläufigenLeitungderDeutschen EvangelischenKirche (Stuttgart:QuellVerlag,1948),11.

DuringtheSecondWorldWar,Protestantpastorsandchurchgoersagainfavoredmilitary service.Inpart,thiswasamatterofsheerself-preservation,afterthemilitarycriminalcode ofAugust1939madeconscientiousobjectionacapitalcrime.Manyofthemenexecutedfor theoffensebelongedtotheJehovah’sWitnesses,whichaloneamongChristiancommunities inNaziGermanyupheldatraditionofnoncompliancetostateauthority.32 Buteven ConfessingChurchpastorswhowouldlateradvocateforconscientiousobjectorsregistered formilitaryserviceoutofasenseofnationalduty.TheConfessingChurchleaderMartin Niemöller,aWorldWarIsubmarinecommanderwhovotedfortheNaziPartyin1933,volunteeredtoresumehisnavalservicefromhisSachsenhausencellafterhisimprisonmentfor denunciationsofNazichurchpolicy.33 ThetheologianHelmutGollwitzer,whotookover Niemöller’sBerlincongregationfollowingtheseniorpastor’simprisonment,laterrecalled thathehadworntheWehrmachtuniform “withoutanyqualmsofconscience,andnot justoutofweakness.Noclearvoicehadencouragedmetotakeanyothercourse.”34 ConfessingChurchpastorsalsojoinedthemilitarychaplaincy,usingfieldsermonsto framethewarontheeasternfrontasaChristianstruggleagainstgodlessCommunism.35 OnlyasthecertaintyofGermandefeatcameintoviewdidsmallgroupsofdevout ProtestantsinvokethelanguageofconsciencetodenythelegitimacyoftheNaziregime. The1943memorandumoftheFreiburgCircle,anetworkofconservativepastorsandlay intellectualswhogatheredcovertlytoplanforapost-Naziconstitution,listedasitsfirst “demand” the “legallysecuredfreedomofconscience,asmuchreligiousconscienceaspoliticalconvictions. ”36 Still,wartimeappealstoconscienceformedabasislessforresistance thanforobscuringProtestants’ roleunderNazism.ByemphasizingviolationsofChristian consciencetotheexclusionofgenocideandmassatrocity,ProtestantconservativesperpetuatedthemyththatChristianswerethefirstandprimarytargetsofNaziaggression.The soleactoforganizedconservativeresistance,thefailedcoupd’étatofJuly20,1944,received nosupportfromthechurchesandsoughtlesstoendNaziterrorthansalvagethewar againsttheSovietUnion.

ResistanceandthePoliticsofRearmament

AlliedoccupationtransformedthecalculusofProtestantpolitics.Whereasresistanceagainst NazismwasaperiloustaskundertakenatthemarginsofinstitutionalProtestantism,after 1945resistancenarrativesprovidedaccesstoprivilegesfromoccupationauthorities:therestorationofreligiouseducation,returnofconfiscatedchurchproperty,permissiontolevythe traditionalchurchtax,andautonomyoverclericaldenazification.USandBritishoccupation authorities,inparticular,lookedtowardthechurchesasmoralguidesofGermany’ sreconstruction,relyingontheassurancesofAnglo-Americanchurchleaderswithtiestotheir Germancounterparts. 37 WiththefoundingoftheWestGermanstateinMay1949,resistance claimsretainedpoliticalcurrency.

32 DetlefGarbe, BetweenResistanceandMartyrdom:Jehovah’sWitnessesintheThirdReich,trans.DagmarG.Grimm (Madison,WI:UniversityofWisconsinPress,2008),365–70.SeealsoThomasJ.Kehoe, “TheReichMilitaryCourt andItsValues:WehrmachtTreatmentofJehovah’sWitnessConscientiousObjectors,” HolocaustandGenocide Studies 33,no.3(2019):351–72.

33 Ziemann, MartinNiemöller,321–30.

34 HelmutGollwitzer, UnwillingJourney:ADiaryfromRussia,trans.E.M.Delacour(London:SCMPress,1953),20.

35 SeetheentriesonKarl-HeinzBecker,GerhardKnapp,HermannKunst,andJohannesRudolphinDagmar Pöpping, PassionundVernichtung.KriegspfarreranderOstfront1941–1945 (Göttingen:Vandenhoeck&Ruprecht, 2019),213–31.OntheexampleofEberhardMüller,seeBergen, “SavingChristianity,KillingJews,” 65–66,79.

36 HelmutThielicke,ed., InderStundeNull.DieDenkschriftdesFreiburger “BonhoefferKreises” (Tübingen:Mohr,1979),78.

37 JonDavidK.Wyneken, “DrivingOuttheDemons:GermanChurches,theWesternAllies,andthe InternationalizationoftheNaziPast,1945–1952” (PhDdiss.,OhioUniversity,2007),52–95.Americanaccountsof ChristianresistanceinNaziGermanyincludedAllenWelshDulles, Germany’sUnderground:TheAnti-NaziResistance (NewYork:Macmillan,1947),andStewartW.Herman, TheRebirthoftheGermanChurch (NewYork:Harper& Brothers,1946).

Thelanguageofconscience,remoldedtofitthenewpoliticalimperatives,featuredcentrallyinpostwarProtestantrepresentationsoftheNaziera.Accountsofanti-Naziresistance accentuatedoneelementofProtestantconsciencediscourse itsstressoncultivatedinteriority whilejettisoningthepresumedalignmentofconscienceandstateinterests.According toanarrativethatcirculatedthroughsermons,churchperiodicals,andpetitionstooccupationauthorities,Naziincursionshadrentthistraditionalalignmentapart,withtheresult thatProtestantsturnedtoconsciencetodisobeyunjustauthority.Asearlyas1946,the FreiburgCirclejuristErikWolfinauguratedabookseriesdocumentingthe “struggleof theConfessingChurch,” whoseforewordconjuredthemovement’ s “voiceoftruth,ofconscience,ofresponsibility” underNazism.38 AnotherFreiburgCircleveteran,thehistorian GerhardRitter,gaveaseriesoflecturesinterpretingconscienceasasourceofresponsible actioninasinfulworld.39 Mostubiquitously,MartinNiemöller,laudedbyAmericanadmirersforexemplifyingthe “righttoliveasourconsciencedictates,” presentedhimselfon toursabroadasanemblemofChristianresistance.40

WhileconcurringthatconsciencehadmotivatedreflectionandresistanceduringtheNazi era,politicaldivisionsamongProtestantsprompteddisagreementoverthemeaningofthis legacy.Themajorityoftheexecutivecouncilofthe EvangelischeKircheinDeutschland (EKD), thenewnationalchurchfederationformedinAugust1945,soughttoreconstitutethetraditionalproximitybetweenchurchandstateinordertoestablishthechurchasapartner inthepostwarstruggleagainstCommunism.41 LedbytheWürttembergbishop,Theophil Wurm,thisconservativewingrequiredanarrativeofNationalSocialismthatdistanceda heritageofanti-Naziresistancefromtheexigenciesofthepostwarera.TheLutherantheologianWalterKünneth,whoseownwritingsoftheearlyNaziyearshadaimedataChristian foundationforNationalSocialism,presentedsuchanaccountinhis1947 TheGreatDecline. ChroniclingtheostensibleclashbetweenChristianityandNazism,Künnethextolled “God-givenconscience” asthefoundationofanti-Naziresistance.Atthesametime, Künnethinvokedthelongstandingdistinctionbetweenmattersofconscienceandordinary politicaljudgments.Thetruepathofconsciencedemanded “areadinessformartyrdom,” the totalabandonmentofthis-worldlyconcerns.Bysituatingthe “resistanceofconscience” withintheexceptionalcircumstancesofananti-Christianregime,Künnethsimultaneously laidthegroundforthepostwarreturnofstateauthority.42

WhereastheEKD’sconservativemainstreamtreatedtheNaziyearsasanaberrationfrom thenormofobedience,aminorityfactionaroundtheEKD Bruderrat (BrethrenCouncil),the successortotheleadershipcounciloftheConfessingChurch,calledforamorecriticalconfrontationwiththestatistpastofGermanProtestantism.Representingthewingofthe ConfessingChurchthathadrefusedallcooperationwiththeofficialstatechurches,theorganization’sinauguralstatementfaultedProtestantsforhaving “condonedandapprovedthe developmentofabsolutedictatorship.”43 YetfarfromrepudiatingProtestantnationalism, the Bruderrat representedanalternativestrand,onethatprioritizedGermanunityover

38 ReinholdSchneider, “GeleitwortfürdieSammlung ‘DasChristlicheDeutschland1933–1945,’” in “ImReichediesesKönigshatmandasRechtlieb.” DerKampfderBekennendenKircheumdasRecht,ed.ErikWolf(Tübingen:Furche Verlag,1946),7.

39 GerhardRitter, ChristentumundSelbstbehauptung (Tübingen:FurcheVerlag,1946),andGerhardRitter, “Luthertum,katholischesundhumanistischesWeltbild,” Zeitwende 18,no.2(1946–1947):65–84.

40 MatthewD.Hockenos, ThenTheyCameforMe:MartinNiemöller,ThePastorWhoDefiedtheNazis (NewYork:Basic Books,2018),quoted143,197–200.

41 OnthepoliticalandtheologicaldivisionwithintheEKD,seeHockenos, AChurchDivided

42 WalterKünneth, DergroßeAbfall.EinegeschichtstheologischeUntersuchungderBegegnungzwischen NationalsozialismusundChristentum (Hamburg:FriedrichWittigVerlag,1947),113–16.ForKünneth’searlier pro-Naziwritings,seeWalterKünnethandHelmuthSchreiner,ed., DieNationvorGott.ZurBotschaftderKircheimdrittenReich (Berlin:WichernVerlag,1933).

43 “DarmstadtStatement,August1947,” inHockenos, AChurchDivided,193.Onthisstatement,seeHockenos, A ChurchDivided,118–30.

anti-Communism.LeddisproportionatelybyConfessingChurchpastorswithtiestoeastern Germany includingMartinNiemöller,whohadpresidedoveraBerlinparish,andthe Silesian-bornHansJoachimIwand the Bruderrat favoredaunited,neutralGermanyata timewhennationaldivisionthreatenedtoleaveeasternGermany’sLutheranheartlands behindtheIronCurtain.Callingfortheextensionofwartimeresistancetoconfrontthe Alliedoccupiers,the Bruderrat requiredanevenmoredistortedaccountofitsownfaction.

TheBielefeldpastorWilhelmNiemöller,MartinNiemöller’sbrotherandanearlyNazi Partymember,establishedanarchiveoftheConfessingChurchthatcentereditsconfrontationswithpro-NaziGermanChristians,settingthetoneforpostwarhagiographies.Wilhelm Niemöller’s1948 StruggleandWitnessoftheConfessingChurch concludedthattheorganization shouldnot “keepsilentanddie” butremaina “lighttotheworld.”44 Theconservative nationalistHansJoachimIwandsimilarlyenjoinedConfessingChurchveteranstoretain theiroppositionalstanceinWestGermany.Iwandtherebyelidedthegapbetweenreligious andpoliticalresistance,andbetweenNaziandpostwarconditions.45

AsanewColdWarordercameintoview,thequestionofconscientiousobjectionwould exacerbateProtestantcontroversyovertheNazilegacy.Afterfourstategovernmentsintroducedlawsonconscientiousobjection asymbolicactatatimewhenAlliedforceshaddismantledtheGermanmilitary theParliamentaryCouncilthatdraftedWestGermany’sBasic Lawtookuptheissueinlate1948.46 WhiletheliberalTheodorHeusscalledforthestatutory regulationofdraftrefusalontheAnglo-Americanmodel,delegatesoftheSocialDemocratic Party(SPD)proposedincorporatingarightofconscientiousobjectioninthenewconstitution.TheSPDgainedsupportforitsposition,however,byinterpretingconscientiousobjectioninanarrowsense,restrictedtopacifistdenominationsthatexperiencedpersecution underNazism.InlightofthesufferingofJehovah’sWitnesses,askedoneSPDdelegate, “WhyshouldwestandbehindEngland whyshouldwe[not]bemoreambitioushere?”47 ItsincorporationintoanarticleonreligiousfreedomenabledconservativeChristian Democratstojoininsupportofarightofconscientiousobjection.Thefinalformulation,proposedbytheCDUdelegateHermannvonMangoldt,wasincorporatedintotheBasicLawas Article4,Paragraph3: “Nopersonshallbecompelledagainsthisconsciencetorendermilitaryserviceinvolvingtheuseofarms.”48 Therestrictiveinterpretationassumedbythe ParliamentaryCouncilprovedusefultothefirstWestGermangovernmentunderCDU ChancellorKonradAdenauer,whoseforeignpolicyprioritizedamilitaryalliancewiththe UnitedStates.

AlthoughtheEKDremainedoutsidetheconstitutionaldebate,thecontroversyoverWest GermanrearmamentthateruptedsoonafterthepromulgationoftheBasicLawbrought conscientiousobjectiontotheforeofProtestantpolitics.WiththeoutbreakoftheKorean WarinJune1950,whichsparkedfearsofaSovietinvasionofWestGermany,ProtestantconservativesalignedwithAdenauer’sforeignpolicyofrearmamentandWesternintegration.49 DenyingthatconscientiousobjectionrepresentedalegitimateresponsetoWestGerman rearmament,conservativescontinuedtounderscorethedisjuncturebetweenNazi-era

44 WilhelmNiemöller, KampfundZeugnisderBekennendenKirche (Bielefeld:LudwigBechaufVerlag,1948),526–27. SeealsoRobertP.Ericksen, “WilhelmNiemöllerandtheHistoriographyoftheKirchenkampf,” in NationalprotestantischeMentalitäten,433–51.

45 HansJoachimIwand, “DieBekennendeKirchegehörtinderOpposition,” StimmederGemeinde 2,no.6(1950):11. OnIwand,seeFriedrichWilhelmGraf, DerheiligeZeitgeist.StudienzurIdeengeschichtederprotestantischenTheologiein derWeimarerRepublik (Tübingen:MohrSiebeck,2011),461–81.

46 Bernhard, ZivildienstzwischenReformundRevolte,27.

47 EberhardPickartandWolframWerner,ed., DerParlamentarischeRat1948–1949.AktenundProtokolle,vol.5: AusschußfürGrundsatzfragen (Boppard/Rhein:HaraldBoldtVerlag,1993),417–22,quoted419.

48 PickartandWerner, DerParlamentarischeRat1948–1949,vol.5,quoted760–62;ParlamentarischerRat, VerhandlungendesHauptausschusses (Bonn:BonnerUniversitäts-BuchdruckereiGebr.Scheur,1949),209–10,545–46.

49 OntheimpactoftheKoreanWar,seeDavidClayLarge, GermanstotheFront:WestGermanRearmamentinthe AdenauerEra (ChapelHill,NC:UniversityofNorthCarolinaPress,1996),65–74.

resistanceandpostwarmilitarydiscipline.WalterKünnethagainemergedastheleading proponentofthisposition.InanAugust1950memorandumfortheEKD’sCommissionon PublicResponsibility,Künnethdismissedtheconstitutionalrightofconscientiousobjection altogetherbyemphasizingthereligious,apoliticalnatureofconscience.Followinghis accountin TheGreatDecline,Künnethinterpretedrefusalofmilitaryserviceasanactofwitnesstothefinalredemptionoftheworld.Becausetrueconscientiousobjectiondemonstrated “readinessformartyrdom,” thisactcouldnotberegulatedbylaw.50

TheEKD Bruderrat,bycontrast,maintainedtheimmediaterelevanceofanti-NaziresistancefortheColdWarpresent.WiththeonsetofnegotiationsoverWestGermandefense inthesummerof1950,the Bruderrat positioneditselfattheforefrontofanationalcampaign againstrearmament,opposingmilitaryserviceuntilthesigningofanall-Germanpeace treaty.TheconflictcametoaheadinlateAugustwhenthelayProtestantpolitician GustavHeinemann,Adenauer’sInteriorMinisterandthepresidentoftheEKDsynod,tenderedhisresignationfollowingthechancellor’sdisclosureofsecretcommunicationswith USauthorities.51 Inresponsetotherevelations,MartinNiemöllerandhis Bruderrat allies publishedapamphletthatdeepenedthepolarizationofthechurchandledAdenauerto taketotheradioindefenseofhispolicies.Thepastorsannouncedtheirrefusalof “military serviceinthecontemporarysituationofGermany,withoutregardtowhetherornotthis rightremainssecuredintheconstitution.”52 Iftherighttoconscientiousobjectionwere revoked,NiemöllerwarnedinanopenlettertoAdenauer, “thenwewillagainhaveto announcethatonemustobeyGodmorethanhumanbeings.”53 Heinemannreasonedsimilarlyindefenseofhisdissentinthe Bruderrat monthly StimmederGemeinde: “Theexperiences oftheThirdReichmadethequestionofthelimitsofobediencetowardauthorityimmediate forGermanProtestants.”54

AsmuchasProtestantsupportersofrearmament,Niemöllerandhiscircledistinguished mattersofconsciencefrommerepartypolitics. Bruderrat pastorsdiverged,however,bypresentingGermandivisionitselfasanissueofexistentialsignificance.Opponentsofrearmamentmobilizedatheologicalconceptionofconsciencetowardtheiragenda.Inthecourseof 1951,astheEKDchancelleryestablishedcommunicationswithWestGermansecurityofficialsoverthedraftingofaconscriptionstatute,Protestantcriticstookumbragewithgovernmentproposalstorestrictconscientiousobjectiontoabsolutepacifistswhorefusedtofight inanywar.55 Instead,theycalledfortheinclusionofselectiveconscientiousobjectors,who opposedfightinginaparticularwar includingawarbetweenEastandWestGermany. Protestantsupportersofselectiveobjectorscontinuedtodefineconscienceastheimmediate apprehensionofadivinemessage,ratherthanobediencetoafixednormorexternalauthority.Individualswhose “moralpersonality” ledthemtoopposeacivilwaramongGermans, HeinemannarguedatanOctober1951conferenceofProtestantleadersandWestGerman politicians,deservedthesupportoftheProtestantChurch: “Itisunevangelicaltobind theconscienceoftheindividualtothedecisionofacommunity.”56 TheNazipastcontinued toformthecrucialreferencepoint,asdefendersofselectiveobjectiondrewanalogiesto anti-Naziresistance.AccordingtotheEKDadministrator,HansjürgRanke,himselfaformer

50 EvangelischesZentralarchivinBerlin(EZAB),KirchenkanzleiderEvangelischenKircheinDeutschland,2/2574, WalterKünneth, “ThesenzurFragederKriegsdienstverweigerung,” August1950.

51 Large, GermanstotheFront,74–77.

52 “HandreichungandieGemeindenzurWiederaufrüstung,” KirchlichesJahrbuchfürdieEvangelischeKirchein Deutschland 77(1950):171.Onthecontroversy,seealsoMeyer-Magister, WehrdienstundVerweigerungals komplementäresHandeln,144–56.

53 “OffenerBriefD.MartinNiemöllersanBundeskanzlerDr.Adenauer,” KirchlichesJahrbuch 77(1950):175.

54 GustavW.Heinemann, “ZurtheologischenBemühungumPolitikauschristlicherVerantwortung,” Stimmeder Gemeinde 3,no.5(1951):5–6.

55 Thesecommunicationswereongoingbythesummerof1951:EZAB,2/2574,KunsttoDibelius,July20,1951.

56 EZAB,2/2575,EberhardMüller, “TreffendesLeiterkreisesderEvangelischenAkademienmitwestdeutschen Politikern,” October29,1951.

NaziPartyandSAmember, “The statusconfessionis ofthechurchduringtheruleofNational Socialism … wasalwaysadoptedonlyinthefaceofvery concrete decisionsofthestate.”57

TheProtestantcampaignforselectiveconscientiousobjectionalsorehearseddeep-rooted anti-Catholictropes.NotonlywastheCDUdominatedbyaCatholicleadership,buttheVatican supportedWestGermanrearmamentinresponsetotheconsolidationofCommunistregimes acrossEasternEurope.Beginningwiththe1948ChristmasaddressofPopePiusXII,official Catholicpronouncementspermittedwarindefense “againstunjustaggression.”58 West Germany’sFuldaBishopsConference,ledbytheCologneCardinalJosefFrings,concurred withtheVaticanpositioninastatementofNovember1950.Catholics,thebishopsconcluded, wereobligedtoperformmilitaryserviceinajust,defensivewar,adeterminationthatthe churchalonecouldmake.59 ForProtestantdetractors,theVatican’sjustwardoctrinereflected aCatholictraditionofsubserviencetoabstractprinciplesandclericalauthorityratherthan thevoiceofconscience.HisCatholiccounterparts,HansjürgRankequippedfollowingameetingofProtestantandCatholicrepresentativeswithWestGermandefenseofficials,tooka “reluctant” stancetowardconscientiousobjection “afterthePopespokeoutagainst[it] once. ”60 MartinNiemölleraccused “so-calledProtestantAcademies” thatprovidedaplatform toopponentsofconscientiousobjectionofactingas “whollyCatholicAcademies.”61

CatholicdiscussionsofmilitaryserviceacrosspostwarWesternEuropewereinfact equallycontentious,asbothconfessionsconfrontedthelegaciesofWorldWarIIandthe challengesofdecolonization.WiththeoutbreakoftheAlgerianWarin1954,acohortof FrenchCatholicpriestsannouncedtheiroppositiontomilitaryservice,someindialogue withtheirProtestantcounterparts.62 InWestGermany,theCatholictheologianandwarveteranBernhardHäring,whoseexperienceoftheeasternfrontledhimtoquestiondoctrines ofmilitaryobedience,delinkeddecisionsofconsciencefromthetenetsofnaturallawinhis influential TheLawofChrist. 63 SimilardebatesaboutconsciencerightsbrokeoutamongUS Catholicsfollowingthereenactmentofthedraftin1948.64 ByreducingtheCatholicdebateto thepronouncementsofPiusXIIandCardinalFrings,ProtestantcommentatorsinWest GermanyinvokedatimewornoppositionbetweenCatholicobedienceandProtestantfreedomofconscience.Indoingso,theyreassertedtheirownclaimtonationalleadership.

DemocratizingConscience

EarlyProtestantadvocacyforconscientiousobjectionrestedlessonprincipledsupportof democracythanlongstandingobjectivesofnationalunityandconfessionalsupremacy. Politicaldevelopmentsof1952,however,demandedanewstrategy.OnFebruary25,against staunchSocialDemocraticopposition,Adenauer’sgovernmentconcludednegotiationsfora EuropeanDefenseCommunity(EDC)thatwouldincorporateaWestGermancontingentinto

57 EZAB,2/2575,RanketoOsterloh,October2,1951.OnRanke,see “Ranke,Hansjürg,” in DerProtestantismusinden ethischenDebattenderBundesrepublikDeutschland (https://wiki.de.dariah.eu/pages/viewpage.action? pageId=64957686).

58 GiulianaChamedes, ATwentieth-CenturyCrusade:TheVatican’sBattletoRemakeChristianEurope (Cambridge,MA: HarvardUniversityPress,2019),241–48; “1948ChristmasMessageofPopePiusXII:Radiomessagetotheworld givenDecember23,1948,byHisHoliness,PopePiusXII,” CurateND (https://curate.nd.edu/downloads/ 3j333200j77),quoted9.

59 EZAB,BevollmächtigterdesRatesderEKDamSitzderBundesrepublikDeutschland,87/144,Fulda’ er Bischofskonferenz, “DiechristlichenGrundsätzeüberKriegundKriegsdienste” [undated]; “Sittlicherlaubt,” Der Spiegel,November1,1950.

60 EZAB,87/144,RanketoOsterloh,October11,1951.

61 EZAB,2/2574,NiemöllertoOsterloh,October8,1951.

62 RachelM.Johnston-White, “ANewPrimacyofConscience?ConscientiousObjection,FrenchCatholicism,and theStateduringtheAlgerianWar,” JournalofContemporaryHistory 54,no.1(2019):112–38.

63 JamesChappel, CatholicModern:TheChallengeofTotalitarianismandtheRemakingoftheChurch (Cambridge,MA: HarvardUniversityPress,2018),232–33.

64 Cajka, FollowYourConscience,59–63.

acommonWesternEuropeanmilitary.DespiteprotestssetoffbyJosephStalin’snoteproposinganeutral,demilitarizedGermany,AdenauerforgedaheadwiththeEDCtreaty,signed inParisonMay27.65 Astheprospectofreunificationappearedevermoreremote,Protestant criticsoftheWestGermangovernmentreframedconscientiousobjectionasanalternative to,ratherthanexpressionof,resistanceagainstthestate ameanstoaccommodateindividualdissentagainstthedecisionforrearmament.Thisapproachrequiredanewadaptationof consciencediscourse,onethatlookedtowardthedemocraticstateastheprotectorofthe innerfreedomthatProtestantshadlongassociatedwiththeirconfession.Althoughthecampaignremainedmiredinnationalismandanti-Catholicism,pragmaticappealstodemocratic valuesbroughtitsleadersintoalliancewithinstitutionsthatboastedfarmoresecuredemocraticcredentials,reshapingtheirattitudestowarddemocracyitself.

ConscientiousobjectionreemergedasasubjectofnationalcontentioninJuly1952,just weeksaftertheEDCsigningceremony.ThecausewasthedistributionofleafletsbytenpastorsintheRhinelandcityofDuisburginvitingyoungmenofconscriptionagetoregisteras conscientiousobjectorswiththeirlocalpastor’soffice,eitherasabsolutepacifistsoras selectiveobjectorsuntilthe “enactmentofajust,all-Germanpeacetreaty.” Atonelevel, thecontroversyreenactedthefaultlinesthatfollowedMartinNiemöller’sstatementsin thefallof1950.TheDuisburgpastorsweremembersoftheRhineland Kirchliche Bruderschaft (ChurchBrethrenSociety),thesuccessororganizationtotheregional ConfessingChurchleadershipcouncil,andtheybackedNiemöller’sstanceagainstrearmament.TheCommunistpresscelebratedthepastors’ callforconscientiousobjection,while BundestagPresidentHermannEhlers,aProtestantdelegateoftheCDU,denouncedthe Duisburgpastorsforinciting “resistance” againsttheFederalRepublic.66 Yetinastatement defendingtheaction,sixty-fivepastorsaffiliatedwiththe KirchlicheBruderschaft eschewed thelanguageofresistance.Instead,theRhinelandpastorscharacterizedthedecision betweenmilitaryserviceandconscientiousobjectionasoneofChristianconscience, which “cannotbetakenawayfromusbyanypoliticalentity.”67 Acknowledgingthelikelihoodofconscription,theycalledforanewrelationshipbetweenindividualandstateon thebasisofaProtestantnotionofconscience.

TheformerConfessingChurchpastorandWehrmachtsoldierHelmutGollwitzerplayeda criticalroleintranslatingthedemandsoftheRhineland KirchlicheBruderschaft intoalanguage ofconstitutionalrights.CapturedbytheRedArmyattheendofthewar,Gollwitzerservedasa prisonerofwarintheSovietUnionuntilhisrepatriationtoWestGermanyinDecember1949. AftertakingapositioninsystematictheologyattheUniversityofBonn,Gollwitzerrenewed hisConfessingChurchcontacts,includingthecirclearoundMartinNiemöller,HansJoachim Iwand,andtheRhineland KirchlicheBruderschaft.GollwitzerwasuniqueamongProtestant opponentsofrearmament,however,forhiscommitmenttodemocracy,inlargeparttheproductofhisSovietexperience.AsGollwitzerremarkedinoneofhisfirstlecturesuponreturning toGermany,ChristiansintheWestcouldcontinuetofightforpersonalandreligiousfreedoms, anopportunityforeclosedintheEast.68

Gollwitzer ’s1953politicalmanifesto TheChristianCommunityinthePoliticalWorld,publishedintheaftermathofthecontroversyovertheDuisburgpastors,appliedthisviewto theproblemofconscientiousobjection.Anostensiblelegacyofanti-Naziresistance remainedcentraltoGollwitzer’sframingofconscience.ProtestantoppositiontoNazism, Gollwitzermaintained,confirmedthatdecisionsofconsciencerespondedtoconcrete

65 Large, GermanstotheFront,135–53.

66 “DieAuseinandersetzungenüberdiepolitischeVerantwortungderKirche,” KirchlichesJahrbuch 79(1952):43–48;Meyer-Magister, WehrdienstundVerweigerungalskomplementäresHandeln,166–68.

67 “Erklärungder ‘KirchlichenBruderschaftimRheinland,’” in KircheundKriegsdienstverweigerung.Ratschlagzur gesetzlichenRegelungdesSchutzesderKriegsdienstverweigerer,ed.RatderEvangelischenKircheinDeutschland (Munich:Kaiser,1956),53.

68 HelmutGollwitzer, “DerChristzwischenOstundWest,” EvangelischeTheologie 10,no.4(1950–1951):154–68.For Gollwitzer’srecollectionsofhisSovietexperience,seeGollwitzer, UnwillingJourney

situations,notgeneralnorms.Incontemplatingtheethicsofdisobedience,theresistance heroDietrichBonhoeffer “soughttofreethecommandtotruthfulnessfromtherigidity ofprinciples.”69 Giventhisapproachtoconscience,theProtestantChurchcouldsoonersupportselectiveconscientiousobjectorsthanabsolutepacifists theoppositeoftheproposed conscriptionstatute.Yetinademocracy,law,ratherthanpassivesufferingoractiveresistance,becamethemediatinglinkbetweenindividualconscienceandstateauthority.If thegovernmentcontinuedtodiscountselectiveobjectors,then “thechurchwillhaveto intervenebeforethestatetodemandlegalprotection,becausethestateisnotmaster overconscience.”70

Gollwitzer ’scallfortheexpandedlegalrecognitionofconscientiousobjectorsgained widertractionfollowingthefederalelectionsofSeptember1953,whichdealtablowto theanti-rearmamentmovement.TheneutralistAll-GermanPeople’sParty,foundedby GustavHeinemannfollowinghisdeparturefromtheCDU,failedtomeetthe5percent thresholdforentryintotheBundestag,whiletheanti-rearmamentSPDwasunableto breakoutofitsworking-classbase.Adenauer’sCDUexpandeditsshareofthevotetoan unprecedented45percent,theresultofaboomingeconomy,andquicklyusheredinthenecessaryconstitutionalamendmentstoauthorizemilitaryconscription.71 TheresultsmotivatedProtestantcriticsofrearmamenttomovebeyondsheerdenunciationof governmentpolicy,fosteringarapprochementamongfactionsofthechurch.Inlate1953, theconservative-dominatedEKDCounciladoptedaproposalbythemostvociferous ProtestantdetractoroftheCDU,MartinNiemöller,callingforclarificationonthescopeof therightofconscientiousobjection.Divergingfromhisearlierexhortationstowardresistance,Niemöllerinsteadrecommendedthatthegovernmentimmediatelypresentyoung menwiththeopportunitytoregisterasconscientiousobjectors, “fundamentallyorunder particularconditions.”72 EventhemoststalwartProtestantconservativescouldrecognize thevalidityofselectiveconscientiousobjectionwhenframedasamatterofProtestantethics.UlrichScheuner,aconstitutionallawprofessoratBonnwhoseNazipastincludedmembershipintheSAandastintasaWehrmachtlieutenant,emergedasanearlydefenderofthe CDU’spositiononconscription.73 By1954,however,ScheunercouldciteGollwitzer’ s The ChristianCommunityinthePoliticalWorld toarguethat “Therecanalsobecasesoftrue concernsofconscienceagainstserviceinaparticularwar.” Protestantcommunities, Scheunernoted,werelessconcernedthantheCatholicChurchwith “objectivetruthandtradition” asthemeasurefordecisionsofconscience.74

Tobesure,callsfortheexpansionofconsciencerightsdidnotnecessarilyindicateaprincipledembraceofdemocracy.AtaNovember1954meetingoftheRhineland Kirchliche Bruderschaft,afteraFrenchparliamentaryvoteagainsttheEDCtreatycatalyzedarenewed campaignagainstrearmament,HansJoachimIwandcontinuedtospeakalanguageof unabashednationalism.Germany,Iwanddeclared,was “leaderless” ( führerlos).Protestants

69 HelmutGollwitzer, DiechristlicheGemiendeinderpolitischenWelt,2nded.(Tübingen:Mohr,1955),44.

70 Gollwitzer, DiechristlicheGemiendeinderpolitischenWelt,49.

71 Large, GermanstotheFront,171–72.

72 “BeschlussderKirchenleitungderEv.KircheinHessenundNassauzurFragederKriegsdienstverweigerung. O.O.,28.September1953,” in DieProtokolledesRatesderEvangelischenKircheinDeutschland,ed.DagmarPöpping andPeterBeier,vol.7(Göttingen:Vandenhoeck&Ruprecht,2009),555–56; “Niederschriftüberdie40.Sitzung desRatesderEvangelischenKircheinDeutschlandam3.und4.Dezember1953inHannover,” in DieProtokolle desRatesderEvangelischenKircheinDeutschland,vol.7,547–48.

73 EZAB,2/2574,UlrichScheuner, “ZumProblemderKriegsdienstverweigerunginderGegenwart,” October4, 1950.OnScheuner,seeMartinOtto, “Vom ‘EvangelischenHilfswerk’ zum ‘InstitutfürStaatskirchenrecht.’ Ulrich Scheuner(1903–1981)undseinWegzumKirchenrecht,” in EntwicklungstendenzendesStaatskirchen-und Religionsverfassungsrechts.Ausgewähltebegrifflich-systematische,historische,gegenwartsbezogeneundbiographische Beiträge,ed.ThomasHolznerandHannesLudyga(Paderborn:Schöningh,2013),551–69.

74 UlrichScheuner, “DasRechtaufKriegsdienstverweigerung,” in DerdeutscheSoldatinderArmeevonmorgen. Wehrverfassung,Wehrsystem,inneresGefüge,ed.InstitutfürStaatslehreundPolitik(Mainz:IsarVerlag,1954),265–66.

facedafightagainsttwofronts, “East and West.”75 Butinthegroup’spublicstatements, appealstothedemocraticpretensionsoftheWestGermangovernmentheldsway.ThedeclarationthatfollowedtheNovembermeeting,signedbymorethan1,400pastors,admonishedthat “thecomingconscriptionlegislationcannotrestrictthisbasicright.”76 A petitionbyagroupofprominentchurchleadersandtheologianstotheBundestaga monthlater,whosesignatoriesincludedGollwitzer,Iwand,Niemöller,andtheConfessing ChurchpastorHeinzKloppenburg,issuedasimilarappeal. “Afreecommonwealththatdoes notdispensewithitsmoralgrounding,” thepetitionpleaded,wouldbecome “impossible” ifthestatewereto “defysuchconflictsofconscience.”77

TheemergentconsensusaroundconscientiousobjectionenabledtheEKDtopresenta unifiedfronttotheWestGermangovernmentastheanti-rearmamentmovementwaned. InearlyFebruary1955,theFrenchparliamentapprovedWestGermanentryintoNATO underthethreatofBritain’swithdrawaloftroopsfromtheEuropeancontinent.Following theBundestag’sratificationofanewroundofParistreatiesinMarch,amajorityofthe EKDsynodvotedagainstGustavHeinemann’sreelectionaspresident.Heinemann’souster wasaclearbidbyconservativestosignalthatthechurchnolongerstoodinthewayofrearmament.78 Atthesametime,however,thesynodvotedunanimouslytoformacommission seekingthewideningoftherightofconscientiousobjectioninWestGermany,aswellasits introductionintheEast.Thecommissionmembersrepresentedabroadpoliticalspectrum: theleaderoftheRhineland KirchlicheBruderschaft,JoachimBeckmann;theconservativejurist UlrichScheuner;thetheologianHelmutGollwitzer;theEKDliaisontotheBonngovernment andformerWehrmachtchaplain,HermannKunst;aswellasrepresentativesofbothWest andEastGermanregionalchurches.79

Thecommission’sdiscussionsmadeplainthesharedunderstandingthathademerged throughtheprecedingyearsofdebate:freedomofconsciencewasbothaProtestant tenet,recoveredinalegacyofanti-Naziresistance,andafoundationofdemocraticlegitimacy.MembersagreedthattheProtestantteachingofconsciencewidenedthescopeofindividualfreedomandresponsibilitybeyondCatholicdoctrine.Atitsfinalmeetingin November1955,thecommissiondeterminedtosupportMartinNiemöller’ s “evangelical” conceptofconscienceas “alwaysconscience inactu, ” against “theCatholicandmoralist understanding.”80 Moreover,thecommissionunderscoredthatWestGermandemocracy wasbettersuitedthanEastGermanCommunismtoprotectingconscientiousobjectors. WhereasthechallengeinWestGermanywastoensurethatArticle4oftheBasicLawdid notbecomea “falseparagraph,” notedonecommissionmember,theEastGermangovernmenthadnotaddressedtheissueatall.81

Thecommission’sconcludingmemorandum,approvedbytheEKDCouncilinDecember anddistributedtobothGermangovernments,upheldtheseprinciples.Against “thewidespreadmisunderstandingthattheobligationsofconsciencelieonlyinbondstounchanging

75 ArchivderEvangelischenKircheimRheinland,Düsseldorf,KirchlicheBruderschaftimRheinland,5WV018/60, TheodorImmer, “BerichtüberdieAusspracheüberdasWortzurKriegsdienstverweigerungderKirchlichen BruderschaftinLeverkusen,” November15,1954.

76 “ErklärungderKirchlichenBruderschaftimRheinland,Leverkusen,” in KircheundKriegsdienstverweigerung,57–58.Forthenumberofsignatories,seeEZAB,2/2576,ImmertoKirchlicheBruderschaftimRheinland,March18,1955.

77 “ErklärungeinerGruppeevangelischerPersönlichkeitenanalleAbgeordnetendesBundestagesvom8.12.1954,” in KircheundKriegsdienstverweigerung,58–59.

78 Large, GermanstotheFront,217–34.

79 KirchenkanzleiderEvangelischenKircheinDeutschland,ed., Espelkamp1955.BerichtüberdieersteTagungder zweitenSynodederEvangelischenKircheinDeutschlandvom6.bis11.März1955 (Hannover:VerlagdesAmtsblattes derEvangelischenKircheinDeutschland,1955),485–87.Althoughnotformallyacommissionmember,Gollwitzer participatedindraftingitsfinalmemorandum: “Einleitung,” in KircheundKriegsdienstverweigerung,7–8.

80 EZAB,2/2596, “NiederschriftüberdieVerhandlungender4.SitzungdesAusschussesfürFragender Kriegsdienstverweigerungam2.November1955inBonn.”

81 EZAB,2/2596, “NiederschriftüberdieVerhandlungendesAusschussesfürFragenderKriegsdienstverweigerungauf seiner3.Tagungam29.September1955inHannover.”

principles, ” thememorandumurgedbothGermanstatestorecognizeselectiveconscientious objectorsaswellasabsolutepacifists.Althoughthelawrequiredauniversalstandardapplicableacrossreligionandideology,itshouldnotexcludethe “Protestantteaching.”82 The memorandum’spositivereceptionbyProtestantleaders,fromthepeaceactivistFriedrich Siegmund-SchultzetotheLutheranbishopHannsLilje,indicatedtheappealofthisview acrosspoliticallinesinthechurch.83

Thelegislativecampaignthatfollowedthememorandum’sdistributionfurtheraligned theEKD’scaseforconscientiousobjectionwithstrugglestoexpandWestGermandemocracy. AlthoughthepresidentoftheEastGerman Volkskammer refusedtoconsidertheEKD’spetitiontoamendtheEastGermanconstitution,thechurchdiplomatHermannKunstwas invitedtorepresentthechurchataJune1956hearingbeforetheBundestagDefense Committee.84 InresponsetotheWestGermangovernment’sproposedconscriptionstatute, whichrestrictedconscientiousobjectiontoabsolutepacifists,Kunstcontinuedtomarshala narrativeofProtestantresistance.Protestants’ supportforselectiveobjectors,Kunst asserted,followedfromthe1934BarmenDeclarationoftheConfessingChurch,which refusedtoregardthestateas “thesingleandtotalitarianorderofhumanlife.” Rather thancallingfortheextensionofresistanceintothepostwarera,however,Kunstsought toguaranteefreedomofconsciencethroughtheexpansionofaconstitutionalright. Althoughconsciencemightwellsettheindividualagainsttheexpectationsofgovernment, “itisnotgoodforastatewhenitdoesnotrespecttheconscienceofitscitizens. ”85

Mostconsequentially,EKDadvocacybeforetheBundestagpavedthewaytowardanunexpectedpartnershipwiththeSocialDemocraticParty.InthewakeofWestGermany’sNATO entryinMay1955,SocialDemocratspivotedfromoppositionagainstrearmamenttosupport forexpandedconscientiousobjectorrights,aligningwiththeProtestantChurch.Moreover,a risingcohortofreformistpartyleaders,whosoughttotransformtheSPDfromaworkingclassMarxistpartyintoacatch-all Volkspartei,aimedtoovercomethehistoricaladversity betweentheSPDandthechurchesasacriticalmeanstowardbroadeningtheparty’ s appeal.86 Thisnewfoundallianceobscuredalegacyofdivision,asSocialDemocratswho hadexperiencedexileandimprisonmentfoundthemselvesworkingalongsideformer NaziPartymembersandWehrmachtchaplains.Nevertheless,thedefenseofdemocracy adumbratedbytheEKD,rootedinfreedomofconscienceratherthanclass-basedeconomic demands,resonatedwiththegoalsofSPDreformers.Atthethirdparliamentaryreadingof theconscriptionstatuteonJuly6,1956,theProtestantSPDdelegatesAdolfArndt,FritzErler, andLudwigMetzgercitedtheEKDmemorandumaswellasHermannKunst’saddressbefore theBundestagDefenseCommitteetocallforexpandingtherightsofselectiveobjectors. EchoingtheconfessionaltropesoftheProtestantdebate,Arndtwarnedthatthegovernment draft “aimedtoreplacethedecisionofconsciencewithdoctrine, ” atoddswithProtestant principles. 87

TheProtestant-SPDalliancedidnotsucceedatthelegislativelevel.Afteradebatethat stretchedintotheearlyhoursofthemorning,theCDU-ledcoalitionvoteddownafinal SPDamendmenttoacknowledgeselectiveobjectors.88 Theconscriptionstatute,which

82 “RatschlagzurgesetzlichenRegelungdesSchutzesderKriegsdienstverweigerer,” in Kircheund Kriegsdienstverweigerung,19,22–23.

83 “KircheundWehrpflicht:DasEchodes ‘Ratschlags’ derEKD,” EvangelischeWelt,March16,1956.

84 EZAB,2/2577,DieckmanntoDibelius,June11,1956.

85 ArchivdersozialenDemokratie(AdsD)derFriedrich-Ebert-Stiftung,Bonn,NachlassAdolfArndt,Box239, DeutscherBundestag, “StenographischesProtokoll(Sonderprotokoll)der94.SitzungdesAusschussesfür Verteidigung,” June1,1956.FortheBarmenDeclaration,see “TheologicalDeclarationofBarmen,” inHockenos, AChurchDivided,179–80.

86 Onthiscohort,seeTerenceRenaud, NewLefts:TheMakingofaRadicalTradition (Princeton,NJ:Princeton UniversityPress,2021),173–205.

87 VerhandlungendesdeutschenBundestages,2.DeutscherBundestag,159.Sitzung,6.Juli1956,8838.

88 VerhandlungendesdeutschenBundestages,2.DeutscherBundestag,159.Sitzung,6.Juli1956,8856.

cameintoeffectthreeweekslater,retainedthegovernment’soriginalformulation. Accordingtoparagraph25,onlyindividualswhoopposed “ any useofweaponsbetween states” couldberecognizedasconscientiousobjectors.89 Protestantreactionsweredecidedly negative.TheConfessingChurchjournal JungeKirche aswellasUlrichScheunerdecriedthe law’sinconsistencieswiththeProtestantposition.90 Despiteitslegislativefailure,however, theEKD’sparliamentarycampaignmarkedakeyshiftintheProtestantpoliticsofconscience.Whilecontinuingtociteanti-Naziresistanceasasourceofmorallegitimacy, Protestantchurchleaders,politicians,andlayintellectualsnowrootedtheirarguments forconsciencerightsintheBasicLaw.

FromResistancetoRights

ProtestantadvocacybeforetheWestGermanBundestaglaidthegroundworkforafarmore successfullegalcampaignforconsciencerightsaftertheenactmentoftheconscriptionlaw. Conscientiousobjectionremainedalimitedphenomenoninthefirstdecadeofconscription. Anaverageofjustfourthousandmen,lessthan1percentofWestGermanconscripts, appliedforconscientiousobjectorstatuseachyearbetween1957and1967.Predominately religiouspacifists,80percentofthegrouphadtheirclaimsrecognizedbylocaldraft boards.91 Nevertheless,Protestantjuristsplayedcriticalrolesinappealingnegativedecisions tolocal,regional,andfederalcourts.92 Between1956andlandmarkdecisionsof1960–1961, morethan270appealsbyconscientiousobjectorsreachedWestGermany’sFederal ConstitutionalCourt,relyingonaprovisioninthecourt’sstatutethatenabledindividualcitizenstopetitionthecourtoverviolationsofbasicrights. 93 InpetitionstotheFederal ConstitutionalCourt,ProtestantSPDjuristsincludingAdolfArndtandGustavHeinemann, whojoinedtheSocialDemocratsfollowingthedemiseofhisAll-GermanPeople’sParty, mobilizedaProtestantlanguageofconsciencetowardtheexpansionofabasicright.94 TheresultingdecisionsembeddedProtestantargumentsforfreedomofconscienceinconstitutionallaw,leadingagrowingcohortofProtestantintellectualstoidentifytheirchurch withtheoriginsofWestGermandemocracyitself.

ThekeyarchitectofthelegalcampaignforconscientiousobjectionwasAdolfArndt,who exemplifiedthereformistgenerationthatassumedleadershipoftheSPDinthe1950s.Born toamiddle-classfamilyandeducatedinlawduringthe1920s,Arndtwasforcedfromhis positionasajudgewiththeriseofNazidictatorshipduetohisfather’sJewishheritage. Hewentontodefendtradeunionistsincourt.Longa “believingProtestant,” ArndtestablishedaclosefriendshipwithaBerlinConfessingChurchpastorbeforehisconscription intoforcedlaborduringthefinalyearofthewar.Arndt’sdecisiontojointheSPDinthe fallof1945reflectedtheparty’sopeningtotheeducatedbourgeoisie,aswellashisidentificationwithitslegacyofanti-Naziopposition.ElectedtotheBundestagfromHessein1949, ArndtquicklyemergedastheSPD’sleadingjurist.95 Arndt’spostwarwritingsaimedata

89 “Wehrpflichtgesetzvom21.Juli1956,” Bundesgesetzblatt,July24,1956,657(emphasisadded).

90 “AusderEvangelischenKircheinDeutschland,” JungeKirche 17,no.19–20(1956):515;EZAB,2/2577,Scheuner toKirchenkanzleiderEKD,August23,1956.

91 Bernhard, ZivildienstzwischenReformundRevolte,50–59.

92 Foraselectionofkeycases,seeRüdigerFrank, WerwirdalsKriegsdienstverweigereranerkannt?Diewichtigsten EntscheidungenimRechtsverfahrenderBundesrepublik (Detmold:VerbandderKriegsdienstverweigerere.V.,1965).

93 Bundesarchiv(BArch)Freiburg,BundesministeriumderVerteidigung,BW1/94601, “BVG-Urteilzum Wehrpflichtgesetzerneutverschoben,” BadischeNeuesteNachrichten,October14,1960.Ontherightofindividual complaint,seeJustinCollings, Democracy’sGuardians:AHistoryoftheGermanFederalConstitutionalCourt,1951–2001 (Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,2015),xxvi,49.

94 BArchFreiburg,BW1/313599,ArndttoBundesverfassungsgerichtErsterSenat,August10,1956;BArch Freiburg,BW1/94602,HeinemannandPossertoBundesverfassungsgerichtErsterSenat,November22,1956.

95 DieterGosewinkel, AdolfArndt:DieWiederbegründungdesRechtsstaatsausdemGeistderSozialdemokratie(1945–1961) (Bonn:Dietz,1991),53–63,quoted62,72–77,164–67.

theoryoflawthattranscendedreligiousandideologicaldivides,emphasizingthelaw’sroots incommonhumanityandstrugglesforjusticethatboundtogetherdemocraticcitizens. 96 Nevertheless,ArndtforgedactiveconnectionstotheProtestantChurch.Heparticipated inearlymeetingsofEKDandSPDrepresentatives,andcitedProtestanttheologianstocriticizeCatholiccallsforareturntonaturallaw.97 Hisuniversalismremainedcompatiblewith thelongstandingpretensionofProtestantintellectualstospeakonbehalfofthenationasa whole.

Arndt’ssynthesisofProtestantandSocialDemocraticlegaltheoriesinformedhispetitionstotheFederalConstitutionalCourt,filedoveraperiodoffouryearsfollowingthe startofconscription.Representingfiveuniversitystudentswhorefusedmilitaryservice “onlyinadividedGermany,” oneofthemMartinNiemöller’sson,Arndtdrewliberally frombothProtestantandCatholicsourcesinhispetitions.98 NotonlydidtheEKDmemorandumrecognizeselectiveconscientiousobjectors,ArndtnotedinapetitionofMarch1957, butthestandardworkofCatholicmoraltheologyacknowledgedtheindividual’sobligation tofollowevenan “errantconscience.”99 YetArndtalsorehearsedtheconfessionalpolemics advancedintheProtestantcampaign.CitingaCatholicCDUparliamentarian,Arndtwarned thattheCatholicnotionof “objectivelycorrectconscience” impermissiblynarrowedthe BasicLaw’srightofconscientiousobjection.100 Onlyanexpansiverecognitionofconscientiousobjectorsthatencompassedthe “muchfartherreachingdoctrineoffaithofthe ProtestantChurch” wouldrealizethemeaningoftheBasicLaw.101 LikeProtestantnationalistsahalf-centuryearlier,Arndtinvokedconscienceasamediatinglinkbetweentheindividualandthepoliticalcommunity butratherthananobedientsubject,themodel citizenbecameanengagedcritic.

Arndt’spetitionstotheFederalConstitutionalCourtalsoreflectedthetropeofChristian anti-Naziresistance.Reiteratingargumentsadvancedovertheprecedingyears,Arndtcalled foranewrelationbetweenindividualandstateonthebasisofananti-Nazilegacy.TheBasic Law’srightofconscientiousobjection,hepleadedtothecourt,was “ananswertothecrisis ofconscienceintheyearsofNationalSocialisttyrannyandtotalwar.” Evenifthechurch couldcallonitsmembersto “sufferinthefulfillmentofitscommands,” itdidnotfollow that “thestateisalsoauthorizedtorequireabelievertoincursuffering … onaccountof hisbelief.” ArndtconjuredanecumenicalhistoryofresistancethatwentbeyondhagiographiesoftheConfessingChurch,citingthesufferingofJehovah’sWitnessesaswellasCatholic priestswhohadrefusedmilitaryservice.Nevertheless,Arndt’spetitionsrestatedthemyth ofWestGermandemocracy’santi-Naziorigins,prominentlyarticulatedbyhisProtestant contemporaries.102

TheargumentsofArndtandotherProtestantjuristsresonatedwithWestGermany’sfederalcourts.Duringtheirfirstdecadeofpractice,thesecourtssoughttoactualizetheirnewfoundpowerofjudicialreviewovergovernmentlegislationthroughanexpansivebasic rightsjurisprudence.103 Initsfirstdecisiononconscientiousobjection,theFederal AdministrativeCourtdrewonthewritingsofProtestantjuriststoruleinfavorofa twenty-one-year-oldlocksmithwhohadbelongedtohislocalProtestantyouthassociation. Declaringhimselfanabsoluteobjectortomilitaryserviceonthebasisofhischildhoodexperienceofwar,thepetitionerhadfoundhisclaimrejectedbyhislocaldraftboardforlackof

96 AdolfArndt, RechtsdenkeninunsererZeit.PositivismusundNaturrecht (Tübingen:Mohr,1955).

97 AdolfArndt, “DieKrisedesRechts,” DieWandlung 3(1948):428–30;Gosewinkel, AdolfArndt,293–96.

98 BArchFreiburg,BW1/313599,ArndttoBundesverfassungsgerichtErsterSenat,August10,1956.

99 AdsD,NachlassAdolfArndt,Box240,ArndttoBundesverfassungsgerichtErsterSenat,March11,1957.

100 BArchFreiburg,BW1/49163,ArndttoBundesverfassungsgerichtErsterSenat,March16,1959.

101 AdolfArndt, “DasGrundrechtderKriegsdienstverweigerung,” NeueJuristischeWochenschrift 10,no.10(1957): 361–63.

102 BArchFreiburg,BW1/49163,ArndttoBundesverfassungsgerichtErsterSenat,December10,1957,andArndt toBundesverfassungsgerichtErsterSenat,March16,1959.

103 Collings, Democracy’sGuardians,49–61.

adequateproof.Inoverturningthedraftboard’sdecision,thecourtfollowedUlrichScheuner todefineconscienceas “themostinward,andthereforenotfurtherjustifiableexperience” oftheindividual’ s “freedomandresponsibility.” Becausetheycouldnotrequire “unfulfillabledemandsofproof,” draftboardscouldrelyonlyuponthe “personalbelievabilityof theclaimant,” favoringindividualpetitionersinconflictswiththestate.Thecourtcited AdolfArndttocharacterizetherightofconscientiousobjectionnotasa “rightofexception” buta “fundamentalright” thatplacedconscientiousobjection “atleastonthesamelevelas theobligationofmilitaryservice.” Finally,bydefiningconscienceinexpansiveterms,the FederalAdministrativeCourtextendedconscientiousobjectorstatusbeyondreligiouspacifists.Politicalviews,aswellasreligiousorethicalconvictions,couldgiverisetothe “ emotionalconsiderations” characteristicofadecisionofconscience.104

TheFederalConstitutionalCourtsoonaffirmedthisposition.InDecember1960,thecourt ruledonthecontestedparagraph25oftheconscriptionstatuteinacaseinvolvinga twenty-two-year-oldselectiveobjector,whorefused “ongroundsofconsciencetoservein awarwithweaponsinadividedGermany.” AlthoughtheFederalConstitutionalCourt affirmedtheconscriptionlaw’svalidity,italsoaccepted,followingtheprecedentofthe FederalAdministrativeCourt,thatdecisionsofconsciencecouldreflectbothpoliticaland religiousviews.Theconscriptionstatuteacknowledgedpacifistswho “rejectwaritselfin everyhistoricalsituation.” However,thelawneglectedanothercategoryofindividuals whoopposedallmilitaryservice:thosewhosedecisionofconsciencewas “drivenbyexperiencesorconsiderationsthatarevalidonlyfortheimmediatehistorical-politicalsituation, withoutneedingtobevalidforeverytimeandforeverywar.” OntheFederalConstitutional Court’sreasoning,individualswhorefusedtofightinanywarundertheconditionsofa dividedGermanywerealsoentitledtorecognitionasconscientiousobjectors.AnApril 1961rulingaddressingthepetitionsofforty-threeconscientiousobjectors,including thoserepresentedbyArndtandHeinemann,upheldthisdecision.ThecourtechoedAdolf Arndtinitsdeterminationtowidenthescopeofconscientiousobjectorrights:thestate’ s “protectionofthefreeself-determinationoftheindividual” alsoservedasa “communitybuildingvalue.”105

ContestingDemocracy

Thefederalcourtdecisionsof1958–1961markedtheculminationoftheProtestantdebate aboutconscientiousobjection.Noprominentvoiceadvocatedfortheolderviewequating consciencewithmilitaryduty.Theverysuccessofthelegalcampaign,however,exposed newfaultlines.ProtestantSPDpoliticians,includingAdolfArndt,FritzErler,andGustav Heinemann,spearheadedtheBadGodesbergpartyprogramofNovember1959,which announcedtheSPD’sabandonmentofMarxismandrapprochementwiththechurches. TheGodesbergprogram’ssectiononlaw,draftedbyArndt,repeatedthelanguageof Protestantpetitionsforconscientiousobjectors.TheBasicLaw’sfundamentalrightsrepresentednotmerelyindividuallibertiesbutrightsthat “co-foundthestateandbuildcommunity.”106 ForProtestantSPDreformers,theFederalConstitutionalCourtrulingson conscientiousobjectionvindicatedthelegalisticconceptionofdemocracyoutlinedinthe Godesbergplatform.AlthoughthedecisionsdidnotgoasfarasProtestantswouldhave

104 “BVerwG,Urteilv.3.10.1958,” JuristenZeitung 14,no.5–6(1959):159–62.

105 “Beschlußvom20.Dezember1960,” in EntscheidungendesBundesverfassungsgerichts,vol.12(Tübingen:Mohr, 1962),45–61,quoted54,60; “UrteildesErstenSenatsvom18.April1961,” in Entscheidungendes Bundesverfassungsgerichts,vol.12(Tübingen:Mohr,1962),311–18.Forthefulllistofpetitions,seeBArchFreiburg BW1/94601,BundesverfassungsgerichtErsterSenattoBundesministerfürVerteidigung,April12,1960.

106 “GrundsatzprogrammderSozialdemokratischenParteiDeutschlands,beschlossenaufdemaußerordentlichen ParteitaginBadGodesberg,1959,” in ProgrammatischeDokumentederdeutschenSozialdemokratie,ed.DieterDoweand KurtKlotzbach(Berlin:JHWDietz,1984),366.OntheGodesbergprogram,seeGosewinkel, AdolfArndt,542–57,and Renaud, NewLefts,193–202.

liked,Heinemannopinedin JungeKirche,theymarkedawelcomeexpansionofWest Germans’ democraticrights.107

AtthesametimethatProtestantSPDleaderscelebratedtheFederalConstitutionalCourt decisions,moreradicalProtestantactivistsinsistedthattheprotectionofdemocracy requiredcitizens’ ongoingvigilance.Followingtheintroductionofconscriptionin1956, the KirchlicheBruderschaften continuedtheiradvocacyagainstColdWarrearmamentwith acampaignagainsttheNATOplantostationAmericannuclearmissilesinWestGermany. AlthoughAdolfArndtdefendedoppositiontonuclearweaponsasavalidbasisforconscientiousobjection,thefailureoftheantinuclearcampaign,andtheSPD’ssubsequentacceptanceofNATOintegration,rentacleftbetweenthetwofactions.108 The Evangelische ArbeitsgemeinschaftzurBetreuungderKriegsdienstverweigerer (ProtestantCommitteefor AssistancetoConscientiousObjectors,EAK),adivisionoftheEKD’syouthcommission formedin1956,emergedasanoutpostforpastorsdisaffectedwiththeGodesbergturn. Goingbeyondtheargumentthatpoliticalconditionscouldmotivateadecisionforconscientiousobjection,EAKpastorsenjoinedthestatetocreatecivilianserviceopportunitiesthat promotedtheaimofworldpeace.109 RatherthanpraisingtheFederalConstitutionalCourt’ s expansionofconscientiousobjectorrights,theleft-wingProtestantpressattackedtherulingsforupholdingthegeneralobligationofconscription.110

ThesplitintheProtestantconscientiousobjectormovementdeepenedinthemid-1960s amidthenationaldebateaboutproposedconstitutionalamendmentsauthorizingthesuspensionofbasicrightsduringdeclaredemergencies.FirstformulatedbytheCDUinthe mid-1950s,emergencylawsservedasaseismographforrenewedconflictoverstatepower andtheNazipast,aswellasacatalystforthenascentNewLeft.Whilecontestingtheincursionsonparliamentaryprerogativesintheoriginaldraft,theSPDproposedanalternative versionofemergencylawsthatpavedthewaytotheparty’sentryintoagrandcoalition governmentin1966.111 TheSPDdefenseofemergencylawswasrootedinanarrativeof WestGermandemocracythatemergedinpartthroughthelegalcampaignforconscientious objectorrights.IntheviewofProtestantSPDjuristssuchasArndtandHeinemann,the developmentofbasicrightsjurisprudencehadsecuredtheWestGermanstate’sdemocratic bonafides.Byguaranteeingtheinstitutionsofdemocracyagainstexternalattackandinternalsubversion,emergencylawswouldsafeguardthe “valuesystem” oftheFederal Republic.112

ThemoreradicalstrainoftheProtestantcampaignforconscientiousobjection,incontrast,becametheseedbedofoppositionagainstemergencylaws,notleastbecauseakeyprovisioninvolvedconscriptionintociviliandefense.Viewingemergencylawslessas guaranteesofdemocracythanasanti-democraticthreats,theoppositionmovementagain lookedtowardconscienceastheultimatesourceofresistanceagainstunjustauthority.A reportofthenational-levelAssociationofConscientiousObjectors,ledbytheConfessing ChurchpastorHeinzKloppenburg,warnedagainstgranting “ablankchecktoproclaim

107 GustavW.Heinemann, “DerVerfassungsstreitumdieKriegsdienstverweigerung,” JungeKirche 22,no.9(1961): 553–55.

108 BArchFreiburg,BW1/49163,ArndttoBundesverfassungsgerichtErsterSenat,March16,1959.Onthe Protestantdebateaboutnuclearweapons,seeMarcCioc, PaxAtomica:TheNuclearDefenseDebateinWestGermany DuringtheAdenauerEra (NewYork:ColumbiaUniversityPress,1988),92–115.

109 Bernhard, ZivildienstzwischenReformundRevolte,83–84;MartinSchröter, “ZivilerErsatzdienstalspolitische Aufgabe,” in KriegsdienstverweigerungalschristlicheEntscheidung,ed.MartinSchröter(Munich:Kaiser,1965),64.

110 TheodorMichaltscheff, “DieFehlbarkeiteinerunfehlbarenEntscheidung,” StimmederGemeinde 13,no.3(1961): 81–84.

111 Onthedebateaboutemergencylaws,seeBiess, GermanAngst,184–94,andKarrinHanshew, Terrorand DemocracyinWestGermany (Cambridge:CambridgeUniversityPress,2012),57–67.

112 AdolfArndt, “Demokratie-WertsystemdesRechts,” inAdolfArndtandMichaelFreund, Notstandsgesetz aber wie? (Cologne:VerlagWissenschaftundPolitik,1962),7–66.SeealsoGustavW.Heinemann, “Notstandund Pressefreiheit,” in UnserGrundgesetzisteingrossesAngebot.RechtspolitischeSchriften,ed.JürgenSchmude(Munich: Kaiser,1989),130–33.

thetotalstate.” Ifpublicoppositionfailedtopreventthepassageofemergencylaws,then “resistanceagainstthecivilianservicelaw similartotherightofconscientiousobjection willberestrictedtoasmallcircleofcitizenswhoareready,atleastfortheirownperson,to beartheconsequencesoftheirconscience.”113 Atthe1966FrankfurtCongressonthe EmergencyofDemocracy,whoseboardincludedHelmutGollwitzer,HeinzKloppenburg, andMartinNiemöller,participantsinasessionon “FreedomofConscienceandtheRight ofResistance” calledforcivildisobedience,politicalstrikes,andrefusaltoparticipatein civiliandefenseiftheemergencylawswereenacted.114

Still,thedivisionoftheProtestantconscientiousobjectormovementduringthe1960s, exemplifiedinthedebateaboutemergencylaws,reflectedalargertransformationof ProtestantpoliticalcultureintheearlyFederalRepublic.Protestantnationalistsbefore 1945widelyassociatedtheobligationsofconsciencewithdutytothestate.Bycontrast,pastorsandlayintellectualsonbothsidesofthe1960sdebatedefendedconscientiousobjection asabasicrightandregardedthechurchasaprogenitorofdemocraticvalues.Moreover,this shiftwasfacilitatedlessbyareckoningwithProtestantcomplicityunderNazismthana sharedmythofresistance.FortheProtestantmainstreamofthe1960s,anti-Naziresistance pavedthewaytowardtheinstitutionalizationofProtestantvaluesintheBasicLaw.Ina1965 addressbeforeSPDjurists,GustavHeinemannlocatedthetheologicalbasisofWest Germany ’ s “democratic Rechtsstaat” inatraditionoffundamentalrightsrecoveredbythe ConfessingChurch.Heechoedtheconclusionsofaconferenceonthe Rechtsstaat organized byProtestantjuristsandtheologianstheyearprior.115 Opponentsofemergencylaws presentedanequallylimitingnarrativeoftheNazipast.AtaMay1968marchinBonn, amidthefinalparliamentaryreadingofthelegislation,500Protestantpastorscarried bannerscomparingtheemergencylawstothe1933EnablingActanddeclaring “Never Again ThroneandAltar.”116 WhilegesturingtowardtheProtestantroleinestablishing dictatorship,thesemessagesneglectedthecomplicityofthechurchesintheyears thereafter,includingduringthedestructionofEuropeanJewry.

ThecontinuitiesbetweentheProtestantcampaignforconscientiousobjectionandthe debateaboutemergencylawsdisruptdepictionsofasharpbreakbetweentherestorationist 1950sandrevolutionary1960s.Instead,asharednarrativeofanti-Naziresistanceformedthe backboneofProtestantpoliticsintheFederalRepublicduringtheentiregenerationafter WorldWarII.Aspastorsandlayintellectualscitedalegacyofresistanceintheiractivism beforeWestGermany’sdemocraticinstitutions,thisnarrativecametobuttress,rather thancompromise,theirgrowingidentificationwithWestGermanconstitutionaldemocracy. TheportraitoftheNazipastconstructedbythepostwarProtestantChurchwouldtake decadestodislodge.Onlyinthe1980sdidtheHolocaustassumeaprominentstatusin WestGermanpublicmemory,atthesametimethatanewgenerationofscholarschallenged thecommonplaceofConfessingChurchresistance.117

113 HeinrichHannover, “MöglichkeitdesWiderstandes,” in ZumEntwurfeines “GesetzesüberdenZivildienstim Verteidigungsfall” (Zivildienstgesetz) (Offenbach/Main:VerbandderKriegsdienstverweigerer,1962).

114 HelmutSchauer,ed., NotstandderDemokratie:Referate,DiskussionsbeiträgeundMaterialienvomKongreßam30. Oktober1966inFrankfurtamMain (Frankfurt/Main:EuropäischeVerlagsanstalt,1967),13–14,177–81.

115 GustavW.Heinemann, “DerdemokratischeRechtsstaatalstheologischesProblem,” in DerBürgerunddasRecht: Dokumentation.RechtspolitischerKongressderSPDam26.und27.März1965inHeidelberg (Bonn:VorstandderSPD,1967), 253–63,esp.258–59;ErnstWolf,ed. DerRechtsstaat.AngebotundAufgabe.EineAnfrageanTheologieundChristenheitheute (Munich:Kaiser,1964).

116 WolfgangKraushaar, “Furchtvoreinem ‘neuen33.’ ProtestgegendieNotstandsgesetzgebung,” in Streitumden Staat.IntellektuelleDebatteninderBundesrepublik1960–1980,ed.DominikGeppertandJensHacke(Göttingen: Vandenhoeck&Ruprecht,2008),139.

117 JacobS.Eder, HolocaustAngst:TheFederalRepublicofGermanyandAmericanHolocaustMemorysincethe1970s (Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress,2016).ThefoundationalworkinthecriticalliteratureontheConfessingChurch wasWolfgangGerlach, AlsdieZeugenschwiegen.BekennendeKircheunddieJuden (Berlin:InstitutfürKircheund Judentum,1987).

TheProtestantcampaignforconscientiousobjectioninturninviteshistorianstodisaggregatethemultiplemeaningsofdemocracyintheearlyFederalRepublic.Forallitslimitations,thecampaigncontributedtotheconsolidationofdemocracyinimportantways. Inseekingtoexpandthepoliticalreachoftheirchurchandgaincredibilityforanarrative ofanti-Naziresistance,Protestantchurchleaders,pastors,andintellectualsshiftedthelogic ofconsciencefromoneofobediencetooneofcriticalcitizenship.Advocacyforconscientiousobjectorsledlongstandingconservativenationaliststoframetheirpoliticalinterventionsinthelanguageofdemocraticvalues,forgingallianceswiththeSocialDemocratic PartyandFederalConstitutionalCourt.Yetanideologyofdemocracybasedonindividual rightsconflictedwithonecenteredonvigilantoversightofstatepower;neitherrequired foregroundingthememoryofNaziatrocities.Theinstitutionaldemocratizationtoward whichProtestantsfundamentallycontributeddidnotrequireademocratizationofmemory, whichcontinuedtolagdecadesbehind.

Acknowledgments. EarlierversionsofthisarticlewerepresentedattheGermanStudiesAssociation,theCenter forEuropeanStudiesatHarvardUniversity,andtheGermanStudiesSeminarattheNewberryLibrary.Fortheir questionsandfeedback,IwouldliketothankespeciallyDorisBergen,JeremyBest,BenjaminGoossen,Peter Gordon,MarkRuff,AmyRutenberg,LiatSpiro,andStefanieWoodard,aswellasMonicaBlackandtheanonymous reviewersfor CentralEuropeanHistory.ResearchforthearticlewassupportedbytheBerlinProgramforAdvanced GermanandEuropeanStudiesattheFreeUniversityofBerlin.

BrandonBloch isAssistantProfessorofHistoryattheUniversityofWisconsin–Madison.Hisresearchandteaching centeronquestionsofdemocracy,citizenship,andhumanrightsinmodernGermanyandEurope.Heiscurrently completingabooktitled ReinventingProtestantGermany:Religion,Nation,andDemocracyafterNazism,whichexamines howProtestantpoliticalmovementsshapedtheprocessofdemocraticreconstructioninpostwarWestGermany.His writingsonhumanrightsinpostwarEuropeandonmodernGermanintellectualhistoryhaveappearedinthe JournalofModernHistory,ModernIntellectualHistory,BostonReview,andelsewhere.

Citethisarticle: BlochB,DemocraticIllusions:TheProtestantCampaignforConscientiousObjectionintheEarly FederalRepublicofGermany. CentralEuropeanHistory (March2023): 56,71–91.https://doi.org/10.1017/ S0008938922000309