Overview

In 1964, East Germany introduced an alternative, unarmed military service that recognized religious belief as a basis for conscientious objection. In a new category of military unit, pacifists performed construction tasks. While accepting a compromise to wear a military uniform, many construction soldiers (Bausoldaten) refused to conform to the military’s expectations. Some refused to take the service vow and to work on projects with a direct military orientation. They established the principle that there was more to Bausoldat service than simply getting through the eighteen months of wearing a uniform. As civilians, they continued their advocacy by forming networks and local peace groups that became the foundation of a broader social movement committed to peace. Drawing on oral history interviews, Party-State files, military and secret police documents, and church records, Constructing Peace focuses on the development of this activism amongst the first two cohorts of Bausoldaten in the mid-1960s.

Full Product Details

9789048576449

Table of Contents

Reviews

“This book will become a building block for future histories of religion and socialism, or the church in 20th century Germany, or religion in the Cold War, or a comparative history of pacifist movements in East and West, and a lot more histories I cannot even foresee yet.” – Eli Rubin, Western Michigan University

Author Information

David Doellinger is Professor of History at Western Oregon University. He is the author of Turning Prayers into Protests: Religious-Based Activism and its Challenge to State Power in Socialist Slovakia and East Germany (Central European University Press, 2013).

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