Pacifist Thought and Gender Ideology in the Political Biographies of Women Peace Activists in Germany, 1899-1970: Introduction

Overview of Women's Peace Activism

The German peace movement, which gained organizational status with the founding of the first German peace organization in 1892--the Deutsche Friedensgesellschaft (German Peace Society, DFG)--could not overcome its marginalized position in society. The widespread militarization of society and support of nationalism in late-nineteenth-century Germany led to this minority status of the peace movement. The introduction of compulsory military service in Prussia in 1814 resulted in the radicalization of the ways in which the military became a primary institution for the construction of masculinity in the nineteenth century. This occurred to such an extent that Berlin pedagogical and philosophy professor Friedrick Paulsen referred to the military as a "school of masculinity" in 1902. ¹ Indeed, compulsory military service led to an extensive recruitment of men, and the military increasingly affected men's lives. Furthermore, participation in the military was determined solely on the basis of sex--only men were recruited. Beyond excluding women from the military, the connection between compulsory military service and citizenship had immense, long-term ramifications for gender constructions in Germany. "The argumentative tandem compulsory military service/voting rights," as historian Ute Frevert underscores, "revealed its exclusive side here: Because women were not conscribed by the military, they also lacked the possibility of gaining citizenship." ² In this way, compulsory military service contributed to male domination in the political sphere. However, it is important to note that even if the realm of state politics was officially considered to be a male domain and women did not share citizens' rights with men, "the middle-class concept of female spheres of activity such as education, charity, and welfare" became highly "politicized" by referring to "the general good, country, and fatherland." ³

The boom in a gendered analysis of military history and nationalism in recent years has generated numerous studies illuminating women's involvement in war, the military sphere, and nationalism. ⁴ Although women were excluded from active participation in the military, the recognition that wars could most successfully be won through the mass mobilization of both the civil and military sectors led to the indispensable mobilization of women during times of war. During the wars of liberation against the Napoleonic army from 1813 to 1815, at least 414 patriotic women's organizations were established in Prussia and 573 in German-speaking areas. ⁵ These organizations raised considerable financial donations for the war efforts and provided services for the care of ill and wounded soldiers. Women's wartime services became increasingly professionalized throughout the nineteenth century and into the early twentieth century. ⁶ During the German monarchy (1871-1918), these services culminated in the establishment of the Nationaler Frauendienst (National Women's Service, NFD). The NFD was founded in August 1914 by leading members of the Bund Deutscher Frauenvereine (Federation of German Women's Organizations, BDF), the largest umbrella organization of women's organizations. ⁷ Whereas the Red Cross provided services for ill and wounded soldiers, the NFD worked in close cooperation with government and welfare agencies to coordinate educational services and employment opportunities for women. It also mobilized women for the production of food and war supplies. Through their ideological support of war and nationalism, German middle-class women contributed to the "inherently exclusive and aggressive elements of nationalism, and its not necessarily visible, but intrinsic closeness to anti-Semitism, national chauvinism, racism, and imperialism." ⁸

Only a small minority of women activists in the middle-class women's movement challenged the politics of war and militarization during the German monarchy. Most of these women belonged to the radical wing of the middle-class women's movement, including Margarethe Lenore Selenka, Helene Stöcker, Anita Augspurg, Lida Gustava Heymann, Gertrude Baer, Constanze Hallgarten, Frida Perlen, and Auguste Kirchhoff. Studies of the political legacy of...