Reading: The Danzig Mennonite Church, 228-244, see handout, and Wilhelm Mannhardt, “The Resolution of November 9” (online at
https://mla.bethelks.edu/ml-archive/2016/the-resolution-of-november-9-1867-by-the-north-ger.php). If you wish additional background on his article or if you find it confusing, you can read the introduction in Mennonite Life to this article, but you may only cite H. G. Mannhardt or Wilhelm Mannhardt in your paper. The introduction is at:
https://mla.bethelks.edu/ml-archive/2016/a-comparative-analysis-of-church-conflict-an-intro.php
The thought paper on these readings should be uploaded on ThresherConnect before 2 pm, Wednesday, March 29.
Please note: Papers will only be accepted in person at the beginning of class. This means that late papers – even five minutes late – and e-mail submissions will not be accepted. Computer problems are not a valid excuse. If your paper is late or you cannot or do not attend class, you may count that as one of your three allowed misses. An unexcused absence from a discussion session lowers your participation grade by half a letter grade.
Technical guidelines:
1. Papers should be two pages long, double-spaced with one-inch margins, in twelve-point font, and with no extra spaces between paragraphs (can be adjusted under line spacing and/or end-of-paragraph spacing options).
2. Formal footnotes are not required, you may simply indicate page numbers in ( ). You should expect to cite three to six different specific examples in any given paper. In this case page numbers will refer to The Danzig Mennonite Church, no citation beyond (“Resolution”) is necessary or possible for Wilhelm Mannhardt’s article.
3. Slang, contractions, informal speech and the words “very” and “etc.” should be avoided. Please write in a formal register. Punctuation goes inside of quotation marks as in this “example.
4. Centuries should be spelled out. (twentieth century, not 20th century.) Please note that compound adjectives are hyphenated (twentieth-century Germany) while adjectives modifying a noun are not (in the twentieth century).
5. History is generally written in the past tense.
6. Book titles should be written in italics, not underlined (Danzig Mennonite Church). Article titles are enclosed in quotation marks, “The Resolution of November 9.”
7. Avoid the use of “people” or “they” like the plague and substitute more specific terms wherever possible (Church leaders, the nobility, the king’s advisors, chorus, peasants, devout Catholics, or drunken students).
8. Direct quotations may not exceed two lines. Anything longer should be paraphrased, and the relevant page number(s) still cited. Block quotes may not be used in this class.
9. Page numbers are required and may be placed either in the header or footer.
Questions: Wilhelm Mannhardt, the author of “The Resolution of November 9,” was the first German Mennonite to earn a PhD. He was also the son of long-time Danzig Mennonite pastor Jakob Mannhardt, and a first cousin of H. G. Mannhardt, the author of The Danzig Mennonite Church. Please read Wilhelm’s biography on GAMEO. Wilhelm in 1863 at the request of church leaders in the Vistula Delta wrote a book-length history and defense of Prussian Mennonites’ exemption from military service even though he disagreed with this Mennonite principle.
Note that Mannhardt observed three different positions concerning military service among Mennonites in 1868. People at the time understood the argument for letting men choose to serve or not as an argument for military service. Non-combatant service would have meant accepting military service, but only serving in specific roles mostly away from the fighting. Not serving at all was now illegal and would mean needing to emigrate.
What were the most important reasons Mannhardt gave for why some Mennonites wanted to serve in the military and why do you think he made these arguments? Reflecting on the final portion of The Danzig Mennonite Church, what was going on among Mennonites and/or in German society that might have led Wilhelm Mannhardt to make the arguments he did and what might have caused a majority of German Mennonites to agree with him? What internal factors among Mennonites led to this change in their theology and what were the external factors?