6 - Religion and War in Imperial Germany

Summary

In the early evening hours of August 1, 1914, when news of German mobilization was spreading, Kaiser Wilhelm II surprised the jubilant crowd that had gathered outside his Berlin residence, the Stadtschloss, by delivering an unusual speech:

From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for the love and loyalty you are showing. In the struggle that is now impending, I will recognize no parties any more among my people. There will only be Germans among us now. And whichever of the parties actually opposed me in the course of the past battle of opinion, I forgive them all. The only thing that is important now is that we keep together like brothers, then God will help the German people to triumph.

Accompanied by the chimes of the bells of the Berlin cathedral, the crowd sang the hymn “Now Thank We All Our God.” Making reference to God in case of war had been a normal habit among German princes, especially among the Protestant ones. When the Battle of Sedan was over and Napoleon III had been taken prisoner, Wilhelm II's grandfather, the Prussian king and later German emperor Wilhelm I, hailed the German victory over France with the following words: “What a turn [of events] by divine providence.” Both of the foregoing quotations illustrate the traditional Prussian notion of the state as a unity of throne and altar; however, there is a big difference as regards the intent and impact of these religious phrases. In 1871 most Protestants claimed the unification of the German Reich exclusively for themselves.