Fighting for the Soul of Germany: The Catholic Struggle for Inclusion after Unification

381 Pages·2012·1.75 MB·English

by  Rebecca Ayako Bennette

Harvard Historical Studies • 178
Published under the auspices
of the Department of History
from the income of the
Paul Revere Frothingham Bequest
Robert Louis Stroock Fund
Henry Warren Torrey Fund

Fighting for the
Soul of Germany
The CaTholiC STruggle for
inCluSion afTer unifiCaTion

Rebecca Ayako Bennette
harvard univerSiTy PreSS
Cambridge, Massachusetts
London, England
2012
Copyright © 2012 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bennette, Rebecca Ayako, 1973–
Fighting for the soul of Germany : the Catholic struggle for inclusion after unification / Rebecca
Ayako Bennette.
p. cm.—(Harvard historical studies ; 178)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-674-06563-5
1. Kulturkampf. 2. Catholics—Germany—History—19th century. 3. Catholic
Church—Germany—History—19th century. 4. Nationalism—Religious aspects—
Catholic Church—History—20th century. 5. Nationalism—Germany—History—
19th century. 6. Christianity and politics—Germany—History—19th century.
7. Germany—History—William I, 1871–1888. I. Title.
DD118.B46 2012
282'.4309034—dc23
2011045410
For James and Clara

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Map: The German Empire, 1871–1918 xi
Introduction 1
Antecedents and the Four Phases of the Kulturkampf
PART I
ONE The German Question and Religion 15
TWO The Beginning of the German Epoch 22
THREE The Limits of Loyalty Tested 42
FOUR The Real Threat Emerges 53
FIVE The Search for Continued Relevance 66
The Formation of Catholic National Identity
PART II
SIX Mapping Germany from the Borders to Berlin 76
SEVEN Femininity and the Debate over the Guiding Principle of
the Nation 96
viii Contents
eighT The Battle over Schools and Scholarship 122
nine The Moral Geography of Europe and Beyond 157
Conclusion 187
Notes 195
Bibliography 313
Index 351
Acknowledgments
It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge all of the support I have
received that made this book possible. First, several organizations pro-
vided generous funding. I am grateful for grants received during my years
at Harvard University from the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European
Studies, the Krupp Foundation, and the German Academic Exchange
Service (DAAD). I am also indebted to both the Andrew W. Mellon
Foundation and Middlebury College for supplying continued funding to
make the ideal combination of teaching and active scholarly production
possible.
The research for this book comes from time spent in a number of
archives and libraries. I would like to thank the archivists at the Archiwum
Archidiecezjalne we Wrocławiu, the Bistumsarchiv Trier, the Bochum
Stadtarchiv, the Bundesarchiv Koblenz, the Dom- und Diözesanarchiv
Mainz, the Dortmund Stadtarchiv, the Landeshauptarchiv Koblenz, the
Landeskirchliches Archiv der Evangelischen Kirche von Westfalen, the
Staatsarchiv Münster, and the Stadtarchiv Münster. I am especially
grateful to the Institut für Zeitungsforschung in Dortmund and its very
patient staff members. I also owe my gratitude to the librarians at Har-
vard University’s Widener Library and Middlebury College’s Davis Family
Library. Finally, I would also like to thank Kathrin Dupré and the Uni-
versitätsbibliothek at the Johannes Gutenberg Universität in Mainz.