Christianity and Modernity in Eastern Europe

Constructing Peace in the GDR: Conscientious Objection and Compromise among East German Christians, 1962–1989*

Constructing peace in the Gdr Conscientious Objection and Compromise among East German Christians, 1962–1989* DaviD DoeLLinger in september 1964 a young east German conscientious objector named Wolfgang stadthaus began an eighteen-month tour of unarmed military service within the national peoples army (Nationale Volksarmee; hereafter nVa). stadthaus, like the other 219 men who chose to serve in the military’s newly created construction units (Baueinheiten) that year, participated in a compromise agreement between the state, church, and society. stadthaus’s experience as a construction soldier (Bausoldat) and his commitment to pacifism in civilian life afterwards run counter to the traditional narrative of east German history. scholarship on the German democratic republic has typically emphasized the militarized authoritarian state’s success in secularizing society and preventing the formation of reform movements within the ruling socialist unity party (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands; hereafter sed) and organized dissident movements outside it.1 But during the quarter-century between 1964 and the fall of communism, many former Bausoldaten, like stadthaus, challenged the boundary of state power in the Gdr with the support of the Lutheran Church and fellow Christians. an examination of the Bausoldaten reveals limits to the east German government ’s secularization policies and its authoritarian power, as the state was compelled to compromise with pacifists supported by the Lutheran Church. the Bausoldaten activities also highlight the Christian influence on dissent in the Gdr and its connection to anti-militarization.2 indeed, Christian conscientious objectors in the Gdr appear to have been motivated more by a rejection of the state’s militarization policies than a defense of the faith against secularization or communism. the first generation of conscientious objectors who served as Bausoldaten after the construction units became a legal alternative to milii4 Berglund_book.indb 269 2010.03.29. 19:30 270 daVid doeLLinGer tary service in 1964 created a community that rejected the party-state’s efforts to militarize society and promote a conception of peace that prioritized armaments and military preparedness. this paper examines the activities of a small cohort of this generation in east Berlin. From 1964 to 1968, these construction soldiers, with the support of some Lutheran theologians and clergy, formulated an alternative conception of peace—one that could be attained through disarmament, strengthened social ties within the Gdr, and Christian responsibility. their vision of peace, grounded on Jesus’ sermon on the Mount, directly challenged the sed’s position and went beyond the Church hierarchy’s more moderate criticism of state policies. they laid the foundation for a broader social movement independent of state control, whose popularity and range of activities increased in the 1970s and 1980s. the theme of peace and Church–state relations in the Gdr the context of the first generation of Bausoldaten was shaped by theological debates that had influenced German protestantism since the 1930s. this theology addressed notions of Christian responsibility and the church’s relationship to the state. the Cold War context put competing conceptualizations of “peace” at the center of the relationship between church and state and transformed peace into a social issue in east German society. as such, pacifist and oppositional activities retained a religious orientation in east Germany until the 1980s, even after human rights had become the central theme of oppositional activism elsewhere in the soviet bloc. as Katharina Kunter’s article in this volume explains, human rights as a concept was too secular and individualistic for believers to accept in the Gdr until after the 1983 Conciliar process, in which opposition and dissent in the Gdr became increasingly secularized. the theme of peace became a central component of the partystate ’s discourse in east Germany as well as that of its opponents. as Cory ross argues, when east German remilitarization and popular resistance to the state’s policies began in the early 1950s, both were grounded in appeals to peace, rejection of nazism, fear of another world war, and worries about the Cold War division of europe and i4 Berglund_book.indb 270 2010.03.29. 19:30 271 Constructing Peace in the GDR Germany. From the state’s perspective, war and militarism were integral to capitalism. anti-Western propaganda in the late 1940s and early 1950s decried the capitalist system as militaristic and fascist, and heralded socialism and the military strength of the socialist allies as the key to future peace. in contrast to the state’s conception of peace through military preparedness, many east Germans...