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.
---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.
Comments
Post a Comment