The Sanctity of Rural Life : Nobility, Protestantism, and Nazism in Weimar Prussia

in This Ground-breaking Study, Shelley Baranowski Not Only Explores How And Why Church-going Protestants In Eastern Prussia Turned To Nazism In Large Numbers, But Also Shows That The Rural Elite And The Church Propagated A Myth Of The Stability, The Wholesomeness, And The Class-harmony—in Short, The Sanctity—of Rural Life, A Myth That Was A Key Component Of Nazi Propaganda That Helped Secure Support For The Third Reich In Rural Areas. Of Great Interest To Historians And Students Of The Period As Well As Anyone Interested In How A Fringe Radical Movement Gained Wide Popular Support. Contents......Page 10 Introduction......Page 14 I: HIERARCHY AND COMMUNITY......Page 26 1. Foundations of Continuity: Pomeranian Agriculture and Landownership from the Reform Era to World War II......Page 28 Agriculture and Industrial Underdevelopment......Page 29 Noble Landownership and Marriage Patterns......Page 38 2. Continuity Survives Revolution: Pomeranian Conservatism from the Reform Era to Stabilization......Page 46 A New Beginning?......Page 50 3. Power and Obligation: Social Relations in the Estate Villages After the Revolution......Page 62 The Estate Community: From the Center to the Margins......Page 66 Born to Rule, Born to Serve......Page 79 The Politics of Proximity: The Referendum on Expropriation......Page 89 Personal Authority and Modernity: The Compatibility of Opposites......Page 92 4. Social Constraints and Political Limitations: Pomerania's Evangelical Church......Page 94 Secularization Defied: Pomeranian Protestantism's Rural Roots......Page 96 The Sins of the Cities: Sectarianism and Moral Decline......Page 113 II: A WORLD COLLAPSES......Page 126 5. Pomeranian Estate Owners, the Rural People Movement, and the Young Plan Referendum......Page 128 From Weakness to Disaster: Pomeranian Agriculture After Stabilization......Page 129 Political Pressures: The Dissolution of the Manorial Districts and the Left's Resurgence......Page 137 Peasant Wars and Junker Initiatives......Page 139 6. Fluid Boundaries: Pomeranian Conservatism and the Nazi Onslaught......Page 156 Radicalism and Respectability: The Spread of Nazi Influence......Page 161 Succumbing to Right Radicalism: The Evangelical Church Relents......Page 182 Epilogue: Pyrrhic Victory: Pomeranian Conservatism in the Third Reich......Page 188 Notes......Page 198 Bibliography......Page 254 B......Page 272 E......Page 273 H......Page 274 M......Page 275 P......Page 276 R......Page 277 Z......Page 278 In The Sanctity of Rural Life: Nobility, Protestantism, and Nazism in Weimar Prussia, Shelley Baranowski explores how and why the rural population of eastern Prussia turned to Nazism in large numbers. She explains the role of the rural elite and the church in propagating a myth of the stability, the wholesomeness, and the class-harmony - in short, the "sanctity" - of rural life that encouraged the spread of Nazism. This study identifies the contributions of the rural elite in the eastern Prussian provinces, namely Junker landlords and the Protestant clergy, to the rise of National Socialism in a region where the rural electorate's attraction to the Hitler movement became critical to the Nazi takeover in 1933. Using the province of Pomerania as a primary example, Baranowski argues that rather than emerging strictly as a protest against the domination of elites, as is regularly suggested, the Nazis had to address issues that rural elites defined in order to establish a foothold among rural voters. The most significant issue was the conviction that the urban bias of the Weimar Republic threatened the survival of the rural economy and culture. Despite the social tensions that surfaced periodically, the anti-republicanism which united all rural classes encouraged rural dwellers to turn to Nazism as the salvation of rural society. This ground-breaking work makes a major contribution to our understanding of Protestant and rural support for Nazism and adds an important cultural and religious dimension to our understanding of the underpinnings of Nazi power. It will be of interest to historians and students of modern European and German history.