Abstract
Since the time of the first World War, German Protestantism was confronted by a multitude of fundamental and unaccustomed political challenges, and as one of the principal intellectual and spiritual forces in German society it exerted a not inconsiderable influence on the course of events during those years. The final phase of this evolution, the nazi terror in Germany and Europe, reveals clearly that in the end Protestantism failed to withstand the political tests of the time. These challenges may be defined in terms of four existential basic experiences in the minds of contemporaries: 'revolution', 'republic', 'nation', and 'Hitler'. I shall attempt to analyse the political mentality of German Protestantism within these four categories. German Protestantism was (and is) a complex entity; it is easy to find contrary utterances for every attitude, every decision; and even groups that had no part or interest in ecclesiastical organization appealed to Protestant tradition and Protestant consciousness. No detailed analysis of these various special currents will be undertaken in this essay, which is concerned with the general average posture of Protestantism as represented by ecclesiastical institutions and officials, that is to say the body of Protestant ministers.
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