Mennonites in the World War/III

by Jonas Smucker Hartzler

THE WORLD WAR

The Seeming Cause

Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth." A dozen policemen meet a mob and a battle follows. Two of the policemen are killed. Several arrests are made, the newspapers give a thrilling account of the affair, the criminals are tried and executed, another account is given in the newspapers and the matter is soon forgotten. No one thinks of starting a war on account of the riot. But not so, when on June 28, 1914, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir apparent to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife were murdered while driving through the streets of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia. The deed was committed by a Serbian youth who rushed up to the automobile in which the royal pair were riding and fired the two shots, both of which proved fatal.

Underlying Causes

Such deeds are always to be deplored. They are never justifiable, but the slaying of one man and one woman could not for one moment be considered sufficient cause for a declaration of war, had there not been other and more deeply rooted causes. Yet the war had been in progress for some time before its real causes were fully understood.

War was fast becoming unpopular too much so to suit the warlords of Europe. Jealousy was encouraged. "National honor" was disgraced and must be avenged, and just one month later (July 28, 1914) Austro-Hungary declared war on Serbia. Alliances had been formed between nations so that rivals were on opposite sides. Some countries remained neutral for a time but were finally drawn into the conflict.

Jealousy was not alone responsible. Greed also had a large part in bringing on the conflict. Germany had a decided lead in the manufacture of cer tain articles which were used the world over, and her favorite mark was, "Made in Germany." England also had the lead in some articles. The same might be said of some other countries. Nations were jealous of each other's commercial aggrandize ment as well as of their man power. Secret recipes, geographical advantages, and a number of other things tended to fan into a flame the smoking embers. Germany saw an opportunity to humiliate Russia during the Russo-Japanese war, and Russia never forgot that. A little fanning on the part of the war-lords soon had all Europe ablaze. Thus one nation after another became involved until twenty-three nations of the world had either declared war or announced that a state of war existed between them and some other country.

Germany had a superior army, England must have a superior navy. France had her possessions in Africa. Russia must get a part of China, especially Manchuria, and thus it goes on almost indefinitely. The real cause for the war was in these things, much more than in the murder of a man and his wife by a young anarchist. In addition it should be remembered that constant military training and study in the intrigues and strategies of war create a desire to try the practicability of such knowledge. The thought of superiority creates a desire to show it to others. The study of the methods of warfare are no exception to this rule.

The United States Drawn in

For a time the United States was not involved, but she was too influential to be left in quietude. Complaints came from both sides of the conflict asking President Wilson to use his "good offices" to get the other side to cease its injustice. There was a cry for humane warfare, but almost with the same breath came Germany's "Schrecklichkeit," which implied that she expected to terrify the enemy. She committed insults at sea against other nations without considering whether they were neutral or foe. Many people became jealous of America's national honor, and frequently in the halls of congress, in the pulpits, and in common conversation came cries for war and revenge. On the other hand, there were a great many people who were seriously opposed to this country allowing itself to be drawn into the struggle. In 1916, the Presidential election came on, and one of the favorite expressions of the campaign waa, "Vote for Wilson; he kept us out of war." Many ascribe his re-election to that claim.

War Declared Preparation

This government, and especially the President, was blamed by both parties for secretly favoring the other side. This was not only an unpleasant situation, but in time was bound to bring on complications. It will always remain a question as to what part politics and covetousness had in the matter of drawing America into the war. On April 6, 1917, the President declared that a state of war existed between the United States and Germany.

From that moment this government took active measures to supply both men and money. The war department and the general public felt that the Mennonites and other nonresistant bodies were under obligations to furnish their full share of both while such bodies felt that a nonresistant church could not consistently furnish either.

Position of the Church

Here was a new problem. The Church had been vitally and prayerfully concerned for the breth ren in Canada, whose country had already been in the war more than two and a half years. She could not forfeit her position, nor did she waver. But to make immediate, wise, and practical applications of the principles of npnresistance to the rulings of congress and the war department which came in such rapid succession required a careful study of the subject. She sought to go just as far as she could in complying with the demands of govern ment without violating a Gospel principle. With the best of care she realized that there were trials ahead.

Nonresistants Position True and False

Numerous efforts were made by newspapers and public speakers to define the position of the nonresistants, but in most cases they utterly failed be cause they wanted to place it on the basis of, "Passive resistance," "Noncoercion," "Cowardice," "Pro-Germanism," etc. The Church would have spurned ctny of these. Since her organization she has based her position entirely upon the Word of God, and not on any psychological proposition. "Thus saith the Lord," was her basis. She takes it that Christ meant what He said when He commanded us as His followers to love our enemies, to bless them which curse us, to do good to them that hate us, and to pray for them that despitefully use us and persecute us (Matt. 5 :44) ; that "All they that take the sword shall perish with (not by) the sword" (Matt. 26:52); that in John 18:36 He laid down a rule which all Christian people should obey; that Paul's teaching regarding revenge (Rom. 12: 17-21), going to law (I Cor. 6:1-8), and "The weap ons of our warfare" (II Cor. 10:4) were for all people and for all time; and that no argument, however plausible, could ever form a substitute for the plain teaching of God's Word.

Most Mennonites hold that it is inconsistent for Christians to support war measures ; that there is really no such thing as "noncombatant" service in aid of war; but that the man who made the gun and the man who pulled the trigger, or the man who drove the team and the man who loaded the cannon, all of them having in mind the overcoming of the enemy by means of violence, share in the re sponsibility before God.

Position Towards Government

This position does not imply rebellion to government. On the contrary, the Church believes that we should obey magistrates, pray for our rulers and never speak evil of them, to "give honor to whom honor is due." Her teaching on nonresistance has always emphasized the duty of submission to the governments which provide us shelter, holding the single reservation that we should always remember that God's law is first and should be obeyed first, and that whenever these two laws oppose each other, "We ought to obey God rather than men."

The Load of Militarism

Conquering nations and conquerors do not long survive the era of their conquest. Babylon, Persia, Greece, Parthia, Rome, and Germany ; Alexander, Hannibal, Napoleon, and Wilhelm are monuments of this truth a collateral proof of the doctrine of nonresistance, and of the truth of the statement that, "All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword."

Another Reason for Opposing War

But even those who will not accept the Bible teaching on this point have ample reason for op posing war. Think of the war just past. It lasted four years, three months and thirteen days ; it cost the combined nations the enormous sum of two hun dred billion dollars; it swept millions of people in to eternity; it has left millions more cripples for life; it has left some once powerful and wealthy countries all but bankrupt, and all of those involved, decidedly poorer; and now calls for reconstruction work requiring the expenditure of hundreds of mil lions of dollars and many years of time. Besides this, thousands of people have died of starvation brought on by the war, and will require the co operation of Christendom if thousands more do not die from the same cause. War has been variously denned by General Sherman and others, but lan guage fails one to define this war.

Orchard and Holmes on War

Last, but not least, notice some of the spiritual effects. E. W. Orchard, in his book, "The Outlook for Religion/ presents the thought that less than a decade before the war a general idea prevailed "that progress was inevitable to humanity; an irresistible and quite mechanical power was working in the world which was forcing men upward, wheth er they would or not.... We were progressing, the dark ages were over,.... a path of steady moral advance lay before us. And now? Well, one is not sure. We are once more back to barbarity. The war has developed a ferocity and inhumanity which would have been thought impossible a few years ago. We have had to consider the spectacle of the most educated, advanced nation in the world perpetrating the most frightful horrors, crashing through an innocent country with awful brutalities, and this justified by her statesmen on the plea of military necessity."

John Haynes Holmes, in his book, "New Wars for Old," says : "See for example the experience of Dr. Frederick Lynch, as narrated in his little book, Through Europe on the Eve of the War. One day he tells us, he saw merchants, clerks, farmers, peas ants, husbands, fathers, and brothers in France and Germany, going quietly about their business. On the next day had come the declaration of war, and instantly these men were transformed into beasts." The author then goes on to say what these same

46 MENNONITES IN THE WORLD WAR

people did after war had been declared, but it is too horrifying to be recorded in a work like this. He further states: "And all this before fighting had begun, or a single drop of blood had been shed.... Talk about war purifying, ennobling, strengthening men! Talk about war instilling patience, sacrifice, heroism in the human heart! War is the corrupter of virtue, the despoiler of purity, the murderer of courage, honor, and chivalry."

Smoking and Profanity

Thousands upon thousands of soldiers at the end of the war are accustomed to using profane language who were never known to utter an oath before. This is shown by a military man who in vestigated the cause. From a very large number of answers there were several causes suggested, but nearly all of them admitted that profanity had greatly increased in the camps. Possibly an equal number have learned to smoke who were clean men before the war broke out. The tobacco trust put out the idea that the people in America should soothe the boys in the trenches and show that they were being remembered by sending them cigars, cigarettes, tobacco, pipes, etc., and a great many Christian people fell into the trap, and helped the trust to turn clean men into inveterate smokers. Surely there will be a day of reckoning.

Immorality

This is another menace, shockingly apparent in many places. For illustration, let us quote from a government document, "A Message from the Gov ernment to the Churches of the United States." Among other things it says, "The war made it nee-

THE WORLD WAR 47

essary for the nation to face frankly and courage ously the menace of venereal disease. .. .Drastic measures must be taken to prevent during this per iod (demobilization) those conditions in civil life which made these diseases the GREATEST CAUSE FOR DEBILITY IN THE ARMY." Two things are certain; First, it must be true, or the govern ment would not have put out the statement; Second, it must have been alarmingly general, or the gov ernment would not have gone to the expense and labor of sending out pamphlets asking ministers to preach sermons on the care of soldiers after their return.

"Trench Salvation"

The profanity and immorality already noticed are an evidence of the wide-spread disregard for God and His Word. The "trench salvation" often preached from pulpit and press and camp encour aged this trend. According to this unscriptural doc trine the giving up of one's life in the cause of hu manity is an act so noble that God will extend to such an one His salvation independent of the kind of life that such an individual may have lived this by men who were professedly set for the defence of the Gospel, and in the face of such plain declara tions as, "No man cometh unto the Father except by me." "There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved," and "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Thus was the doctrine of salvation only by grace through faith, as well as the life of individuals, corrupted through the exigencies of war.

At its best, war is cruel and inhuman, and is

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constantly becoming more so as the -weapons are becoming more deadly and the whole is done with more precision. At one time it might justly have been called war, but today with the modern equip ment, and the definite calculations it should no more be called war, but scientific butchery.