Die Evangelische Kirche der altpreußischen Union, die Ökumene und die Protestanten in Westpolen
The controversies which arose within the ethnic and religious minorities in the newly-created Polish state after 1919 can be seen as typical of the tensions apparent throughout Europe during the inter-war period. The Germans refused to accept the harsh terms of the Versailles Treaty, resulting from...
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| Type de support: | Électronique Article |
| Langue: | Allemand |
| Vérifier la disponibilité: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | En cours de chargement...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Publié: |
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
2002
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| Dans: |
Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte
Année: 2002, Volume: 15, Numéro: 1, Pages: 86-127 |
| Accès en ligne: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Édition parallèle: | Non-électronique
Non-électronique |
| Résumé: | The controversies which arose within the ethnic and religious minorities in the newly-created Polish state after 1919 can be seen as typical of the tensions apparent throughout Europe during the inter-war period. The Germans refused to accept the harsh terms of the Versailles Treaty, resulting from their defeat in the First World War. In particular they never acknowledged the settlement of their new eastern border. One agency for promoting revision of this politically unacceptable fact was the German-speaking Protestant minority in west Poland. By contrast, the Polish-speaking Protestant minority was strenuously devoted to demonstrating its Polish patriotism and loyalty to the new state. In addition, these Polish churchmen sought to incorporate the German-speaking members of the former Prussian United Church into their Lutheran communities, in order to create a single Polish-speaking Protestant Church. But these efforts by the Polish Protestants received little support from the Polish state authorities, since in their view the new nation was to be characterized by its majority Catholic identity. This desire affected also the German-speaking Catholic minority, as well as other ethnic or denominational minorities. This was the period which saw the birth and growth of the early ecumenical movement, which embraced a vision of Protestant unity, regardless of the political realities of the day. But even here, there were serious divisions. On the one hand, the newly-created Lutheran World Convention sought to unite all Lutherans, while the "Life and Work" movement, led by Archbishop Nathan Soderblom of Uppsala aimed to bring together all Protestants of whatever background. Both the German and the Polish Protestants attempted to convince these ecumenical agencies of the lightness of their views, in order to advance their own national view-points. In such circumstances, there was little chance that any ecumenical "mediation" could succeed, and indeed the 1920s and 1930s saw a hardening of the ethnic-denominational fronts. There was no resolution of the tensions. Even the League of Nations could not offer any real protection for these minorities. The Germans had some advantage on this ecumenical level because of their large numbers, since any process of true ecumenical unity without their participation was unrealistic. |
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| ISSN: | 2196-808X |
| Contient: | Enthalten in: Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte
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