Mennonite German Soldiers: Nation, Religion, and Family in the Prussian East, 1772-1880

6. Revolutionary Changes in Frankfurt and at Home

C H A P T E R S I X ∏ Revolutionary Changes in Frankfurt and at Home U ntil the revolution of 1848, the debate about the place of Mennonites in Prussian society had been limited to government officials, the Mennonites themselves, and their Protestant neighbors in the Vistula region. The creation of the Frankfurt National Assembly, charged with developing a constitution that would unite Germany, placed the Mennonite issue on a much larger stage. The mere presence of Mennonites in Germany triggered a debate in the National Assembly on the proper relationship between national loyalty and religious identity. Because the debate over religious freedom often linked Jews and Mennonites, the places of both minorities in the National Assembly need to be considered together. As Jonathan Sperber has pointed out, the revolutions of 1848 have been often mocked and dismissed by later generations, in no small part because the lofty goals were never fully realized. This was certainly the case with the Frankfurt National Assembly, whose constitution was never implemented. Nonetheless the revolution did decisively turn Prussia down the path of constitutionalism and parliamentarianism. 137 138 Mennonite German Soldiers Resulting laws and court decisions, as well as the Prussian constitution itself, at first granted Mennonites some new civil rights, even though the restoration that followed later curtailed these in part. Following developments on the ground in the Vistula Delta shows how events in Frankfurt did indeed have a lasting impact back home.1 Religious Minorities in the Frankfurt National Assembly The vision of the German nation that emerged in the National Assembly explicitly placed national interests above the principle of religious freedom. The National Assembly respected Protestant, Catholic , and Jewish interests in crafting the Basic Rights. In return, the assembly expected those groups to rally around the vision of a new Germany. The representatives assumed that the interests of the various faiths and Germany were compatible with national interests, but failing that, those communities must accept the priority of national interests. Of the religious communities in German territory, the Mennonites evinced the clearest contradiction between the priorities of religion and nation. Although the debate over their place in the emerging German nation was only one of many and shorter than most, the challenge that Mennonites presented to the liberal, democratic project in 1848 highlights the fact that liberal principles are not all of one piece but sometimes must be pitted against each other, especially when it comes to balancing religious freedoms with other civil rights and duties. One of the most important questions to emerge at Frankfurt was who to count as a German. Some representatives argued that religious affiliation could exclude people from the German nation. The lack of clarity was particularly pronounced over how to integrate Jews as non-Christians into German society. The anti-Jewish riots in the early phases of the 1848 revolutions and the continuing hostility to Jews on the part of a few representatives demonstrated that acceptance of Jews was limited. The fact remains, however, that the Basic Rights in its final form largely satisfied the wishes of Jews, granting them full emancipation .2 Jews, the National Assembly decided, were to be granted citizen- ship without qualification, since nothing about Jewish religious life interfered with their national duties as citizens. The National Assembly prescribed conditions under which Mennonites could be granted Basic Rights and accepted as “full” German citizens. Mennonites’ membership in the German nation was questioned on the basis of their antinational stance of refusing to serve in the military. The religious scruples of the majority of Mennonites against serving in the military could not easily be reconciled with the new, patriotic German identity. The assembly ultimately decided that Mennonites ’ religious beliefs could not be allowed to prevent them from fulfilling their national duties. Mennonites would have to conform if they wished to become fully German. After a lively exchange, the Frankfurt National Assembly affirmed the “German” status of Jews. Paragraph thirteen of the Basic Rights read: “The enjoyment of civic and civil rights will neither depend nor be restricted on the basis of religion. Religion must not hinder the ful- fillment of national duties.” Because the members of the Constitutional Committee, which drafted the proposed Basic Rights, had no illusions that granting Jews civil rights would be accepted by all Germans, the wording was designed to grant Jewish emancipation without explicitly saying so.3...