STAYING CIVIL CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION AND CIVIL SOCIETY IN WEST GERMANY, 1956-1966 A Dissertation by JARED RYAN DONNELLY Submitted to the Office of Graduate and Professional Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Chair of Committee, Arnold P. Krammer Committee Members, Adam R. Seipp Terry H. Anderson Robert R. Shandley Head of Department, David Vaught August 2015 Major Subject: History Copyright 2015 Jared Ryan Donnelly ABSTRACT In the years following WWII, the West German peace movement emerged from its dormancy, developed into a popular movement, rose to challenge the policy of the government, and changed the character of West German society. The development of peace activism in postwar West Germany was a process that required the efforts of people willing to push the boundaries of the normal spheres of political life. The training ground for many of these peace activists was the West German conscientious objection (CO) movement. By studying their learning process as they rediscovered pacifist traditions as well as the organizations and the transnational networks they cultivated, we can learn a great deal about the foundations of the protest movements of the late 1960s. This dissertation examines the origins and activities of the early West German CO protest groups and problematizes the role of these groups in the early West German peace movement. The groups were an integral part of the broader German peace movement and frequently participated in peace demonstrations both nationally and internationally. The organizational development of the CO groups in the 1950s and early 1960s laid the groundwork for the emergence of larger and more popular protest movements that played major roles in the turbulent late 1960s. The individual actors who were the catalysts of change and growth for the conscientious objection movement and the peace movement as a whole are an essential element of my dissertation. The contacts they made, the relationships they developed, the philosophical teachings they (re-)discovered, and the protest culture they cultivated ii are fundamental to understanding how the peace movement left its mark on West German society. Often dismissed as a ‘single issue’ campaign, I argue that although CO groups primarily focused on conscientious objection, they also promoted a complex set of issues regarding political legitimacy, the role of the postwar state, and challenged the right of an older generation over the use of their bodies. My work challenges the traditional understanding of the conscientious objection movement in West Germany and elucidates the early development of extra-parliamentary opposition. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my committee chair, Dr. Arnold Krammer, and my committee members, Dr. Adam Seipp, Dr. Terry Anderson, and Dr. Robert Shandley, for their guidance and support throughout the course of this research. I am proud to be the final PhD student of Arnold Krammer’s long and distinguished career. He has imparted to me decades of wisdom and advice and I am very grateful to have had the chance to apprentice with a master of the craft. Thanks to my parents, Jim and Susan, for their encouragement and for starting me on the path of learning. From an early age they instilled in me the value of hard work and persistence; their lessons have served me well. Without the unfailing love and support of my wife I would never have made it this far. Her patience as my sounding board and her sharp editorial eye were invaluable and I owe her a debt of gratitude. Becca, this is for you, Thomas, and our baby girl who will soon grace us with her presence. iv NOMENCLATURE AG Action Group for Nonviolence (Aktionskreis für Gewaltlosigkeit) APO Extra-Parliamentary Opposition (außerparlamentarische opposition) BKV Union of Military Service Objectors (Bund der Kriegsdienstverweigerer) CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany (Christlich Demokratische Union Deutschlands) CND Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament CNVA Committee for Nonviolent Action CO Conscientious Objection CSU Christian Social Union in Bavaria (Christlich-Soziale Union in Bayern) DAC Direct Action Committee Against Nuclear War DDR German Democratic Republic (Deutsche Demokratische Republik) DFG German Peace Society (Deutsche Friedensgesellschaft) DGB German Trade Union Federation (Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund) DP German Party (Deutsche Partei) EDC Pan-European Defense Community v EKD West Germany’s Protestant Church (Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland) FDP Free Democratic Party (Freie Demokratische Partei) FRG Federal Republic of Germany GdW Group of Military Service Objectors (Gruppe der Wehrdienstverweigerer) HIS Hamburg Institute for Social Research (Hamburger Institut für Sozialforschung) IdK German Branch of the War Resisters’ International (Internationale der Kriegsdienstgegner) IfZM Institute for Contemporary History in Munich (Institut für Zeitgeschichte München) IISG International Institute for Social History in Amsterdam (Internationaal Instituut voor sociale Geschiedenis) KdA Fight Atomic Death (Kampf dem Atomtod) NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organization ND Nuclear Disarmament SCPC Swarthmore College Peace Collection SED Socialist Unity Party of Germany (Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands) SJD Socialist Youth of Germany (Sozialistische Jugend Deutschlands) vi SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands) UN United Nations VK Association of Military Service Objectors (Verband der Kriegsdienstverweigerer) WRI War Resisters’ International vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................................................................... iv NOMENCLATURE .................................................................................................. v TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... viii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION .......................................................................... 1 CHAPTER II REARMAMENT AND CONSCRIPTION DEBATE ................... 26 CHAPTER III REFORM ....................................................................................... 62 CHAPTER IV BROADENING THE SCOPE OF THE PROTESTS, 1958-1960 111 CHAPTER V MARCH FOR PEACE: THE WEST GERMAN CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTION MOVEMENT AND THE CREATION OF THE OSTERMARSCH ........................................ 148 CHAPTER VI THROUGH THE IRON CURTAIN: WEST GERMAN ACTIVISTS AND THE 1961 SAN FRANCISCO TO MOSCOW WALK FOR PEACE .................................................. 196 CHAPTER VII CONCLUSION .............................................................................. 239 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................... 255 viii CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION From the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany on May 23, 1949, the West Germans were faced with the difficult task of building a new democratic society; one that ensured the basic rights of its people and promoted participation in the new parliamentary system. Burdened by the legacy and remnants of National Socialism, Germans had to find within themselves the building blocks for a civil society to transform into a “civilized” nation. This multilevel process required political, economic, and social reform to reverse the barbarization of society that occurred during the Third Reich. This dissertation, ultimately, studies this recivilizing process in West Germany by examining the early protest movements and positioning them in history of how Germany became a “civilized” society after the Second World War. Konrad Jarausch in his 2006 book After Hitler: Recivilizing Germans, 1945-1995 wrote, “The idea of a sphere of societas civilis outside of one’s own house but still below the purview of the state was understood…above all as a demarcation from nature and barbarism.”1 An important feature of civil society, as described by Jürgen Kocka, is social self-organization of free citizens for the pursuit of collective interests in the public sphere.2 Jarausch provided a useful definition of the concept of civil society that includes 1 Konrad Hugo Jarausch, After Hitler: Recivilizing Germans, 1945-1995 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006), 12. 2 Jürgen Kocka, Civil Society and Dictatorship in Modern German History (Hanover, NH: University Press of New England, 2010). 1 nonviolent sociability, a relationship between states that is not marked by militarism, religious tolerance, civic courage, a sense of responsibility for the community, and perhaps most importantly, “…civil society entails civic involvement in both local self-government and national rights of democratic participation.”3 Jarausch presents the concept of civilized society as an alternative to the Sonderweg thesis and the idea of westernization in measuring the development of states.4 The civil society concept allows for a more cultural approach to the development of German society after the Second World War. Jarausch contends that such an approach can bring together high politics and the grassroots experience. This dissertation focuses on the point where the spheres of politics and society intersect. By studying the conscientious objection movement and a number of key activists during the latter half of the 1950s and early 1960s this dissertation illustrates how West Germans navigated the undefined extra-parliamentary space and learned to participate in the new democracy. Through their actions, which were driven by strongly held convictions and sense of morality, these individuals helped create a place in their society that allowed for the peaceful but resolute expression of political opinion. The earliest mass protest movements in the Federal Republic of Germany were those against West German rearmament and military conscription in the 1950s. Fifteen 3 Jarausch, After Hitler, 12. 4 However, the importance of the decidedly westward development of postwar Germany should not be dismissed as Heinrich August Winkler argued in his work on the history of modern Germany. Heinrich August Winkler, Germany: The Long Road West (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007). 2