Between Revolutions: On the Compatibility of Socialism and Christianity, 1917

In mid-August 1917--two months before the Bolshevik Revolution, but in preparation of national elections--the first “All-Mennonite Congress” met in Ohrloff, Molotschna to organize and strategize Mennonite civil affairs (i.e., as separate from the church) with 198 representatives from various regions and interest groups.

Significant debate around Mennonite non-resistance and military service was on the agenda, but also questions around more equitable land distribution and the compatibility of Christianity and socialism.

The minutes (note 1) record that there was clearly a group of Mennonites at this meeting who were both convinced socialists and Christians, and that delegates had a longer, protracted debate on the compatibility of socialism and Christianity.

First they discussed what was most critical: more equitable land distribution (this topic was "in the air") and the right to private land ownership. There was broad agreement (even with the socialist leaning Mennonites) that landownership rights should continue, or else it would lead to a catastrophe. However a respected leader--and socialist--Peter Fröse wanted the word "provisionally" added, but that was rejected.

Second they discussed the compatibility of Christianity and socialism. H. B. Unruh (typo: B.H.) argued strongly that Christianity has no direct relation to either capitalism or socialism. A Christian "attitude" shaped by the Kingdom of God (converted heart) should certainly reveal itself in one's business dealings. However the agricultural problems of the day are scientific/economic in nature and best left to the experts. Peter Fröse followed and argued that Christianity was in essence closer or more compatible with socialism than capitalism, though not identical. The minutes capture what some have called the pinnacle of Mennonite intellectual and cultural life in Russia (Harry Loewen).

The Bolshevik Revolution however happened a few months later in October, and the long-delayed November election--in which Benjamin H. Unruh was a candidate for the “German Farmers of Tavrida Party”--was made void. Now all was up in the air; one Mennonite diarist in Rudnerweide wrote:

“January 15, 1918: The Franzthal [Molotschna] people are considering having everything in common or at least partly so, but most want to have everything together, only one farm with the cattle all in one place, but each is to live in his own place. In Gnadenfeld the [?] has gone over to deputies from the soviet of workers and soldiers. … Everything is restless and unsure.” (Note 2)

Where did this come from?

When the February 1917 Revolution happened and Russia pulled out of WW I, there were 4,700 Mennonite orderlies/medics from various parts of Russia still stationed in Moscow; they were “at the heart” of the revolution, “deeply affected by the course of developments,” and excited by the promises of peace and of liberty, equality, and fraternity, as Johann G. Rempel recalled (note 3).

Mennonites in the settlements were cautiously optimistic of the freedoms and reforms promised by the provisional government (note 4), and the younger generation of students in Benjamin Unruh's Halbstadt Commerce School were in full support of the February Revolution. “We all sang the Internationale [!] and joined the Red Flag parade started by workers from factories and mills in Halbstadt. … Large parades followed and many of us young Mennonites were sympathetic to the call for change and new order” (note 5).

In Moscow this younger generation had witnessed and shared in the revolutionary events, debates and local constituent assemblies of this “bloodless revolution.” The political climate “with a steady tendency towards ‘red’ heat, has not failed to have influence among a narrow section of our Sanitary workers,” according to Johann G. Rempel (note 6).

Many war-weary orderlies were “exposing themselves for the first time to outside Russian society and culture and becoming men of the world,” as Al Reimer has emphasized (note 7).

In Moscow they were attracted by early Bolshevik candidates and their “down with the war” slogans, but also with the Constitutional Democrats or Kadets who spoke well about complex land issues (note 8). The young Mennonite teachers in particular “believed that a time of new growth and joyous work had dawned” (note 9).

The newly unleashed forces for reform from within the ranks of the young Mennonite servicemen of varied religious outlooks, social class and educational backgrounds threatened a generational clash, just as older Mennonites leaders began to strategize for a new political future.

---Arnold Neufeldt-Fast

---Notes---

Ohrloff Zentralschule photograph, https://mla.bethelks.edu/archives/VI_34 glass slides/Russia - villages/q041.jpg.

Note 1: “Protokoll des Allgemeinen Mennonitischen Kongresses, August 14–18, 1917,” reprinted in Mennonitische Warte 4, no. 39 (March 1938) 68–73 (Part 2 of 4). https://media.chortitza.org/pdf/vpetk363.pdf.

Note 2: Jacob P. Janzen, “Diary 1916–1925,” translated by Edward Enns. From Mennonite Heritage Centre, Winnipeg, MB, Jacob P. Janzen fonds, 1911–1946, vol. 5136.

Note 3: Johann G. Rempel, in James Urry, ed., “A Mennonite Witness to Revolution: Johann G. Rempel’s Memoir of Moscow, March–June 1917,” translated with notes by David G. Rempel; edited with an introduction and conclusion by James Urry, Mennonite Quarterly Review 91, no. 3 (July 2017), 201–230; 229.

Note 4: Cf. columns by Peter Braun and Abraham Kröker in Volksfreund I (X), no. 1 (19) (December 21, 1917), 1–2, https://media.chortitza.org/pdf/pdf/pletk07.pdf.

Note 5: Gerhard Wiens, in Irmgard Epp, ed., Constantinoplers—Escape from Bolshevism (Victoria, BC: Trafford, 2006) 45.

Note 6: Johann G. Rempel, in Urry, “Mennonite Witness to the Revolution in Moscow,” 221.

Note 7: Al Reimer, “Sanitätsdienst and Selbstschutz: Russian-Mennonite Nonresistance in World War I and its Aftermath,” Journal of Mennonite Studies 11 (1993), 135–148; 140. https://jms.uwinnipeg.ca/index.php/jms/article/view/360.

Note 8: Johann G. Rempel, in Urry, “Mennonite Witness to the Revolution in Moscow,” 222f.

Note 9: Peter J. Braun, “Education among the Mennonites in Russia,” GAMEO, https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Education_Among_the_Mennonites_in_Russia.

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History of the Russian Mennonites

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