The Protestant Church and Military Mobilisation in Prussia during the Wars of Liberation in 1813

Abstract

The author analyses the political sermons preached and published by Evangelical pastors during the War of Liberation against Napoleonic France in 1813. The aim of the article is to demonstrate the contribution made by Evangelical clergy to the modernisation of the Prussian military system at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The study is a case study as it analyses the interaction between religion and politics taking the Kingdom of Prussia as a specific example. An analysis of the sources shows that the idea of mass mobilisation in Prussia was disseminated by means of religious reasoning, with preaching being the key tool of military propaganda. Drawing on biblical quotations, Prussian pastors presented the campaign against Napoleon as just, fair, and holy, as it was being waged in the name of God for the sake of all mankind. German national and patriotic values were also declared sacred and worth dying for, although preachers clearly emphasised local religious and dynastic Prussian patriotism. Through sermons, Prussian pastors encouraged the willingness of the population to make material and immaterial sacrifices to save the Prussian/German Fatherland as well as all mankind from Napoleonic tyranny. Thus, the mass mobilisation in Prussia in 1813 went hand in hand with an increase in religiosity. The author concludes that both religion and the church could make a significant contribution to the modernisation of European states and societies in the early nineteenth century.