A Crisis of Masculinity: North American Mennonites and World War I

A CRISIS OF MASCULINITY: NORTH AMERICAN MENNONITES AND WORLD WAR I by Bruce Hiebert M.Div., Mennonite Biblical Seminary, 1989 M.T.S., Vancouver School ofTheology, 1985 B.A., University of Manitoba, 1980 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOROF PHILOSOPHY In the Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences Under Special Arrangements © Bruce Hiebert 2008 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Spring 2008 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. APPROVAL Name: Bruce Randall Hiebert Degree: Doctor of Philosophy Title of Thesis: A Crisis of Masculinity: North American Mennonites and World War I Examining Committee: Dr. Jonathan C. Driver, Chair Dr. John 1. Little, Senior Supervisor Professor, History Dr. Eleanor J. Stebner, Supervisor Associate Profesor, Humanities Dr. Janice Matsumura, Examiner Associate Professor, History Dr. Marlene Epp, External Examiner Associate Professor, History and Peace & Conflict Studies Conrad Grebel University College Date Approved: 11 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Declaration of Partial Copyright Licence The author, whose copyright is declared on the title page of this work, has granted to Simon Fraser University the right to lend this thesis, project or extended essay to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. The author has further granted permission to Simon Fraser University to keep or make a digital copy for use in its circulating collection (currently available to the public at the "Institutional Repository" link of the SFU Library website <www.lib.sfu.ca> at: <http://ir.lib.sfu.ca/handle/1892/112>) and, without changing the content, to translate the thesis/project or extended essays, if technically possible, to any medium or format for the purpose of preservation of the digital work. The author has further agreed that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by either the author or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not be allowed without the author's written permission. Permission for public performance, or limited permission for private scholarly use, of any multimedia materials forming part of this work, may have been granted by the author. This information may be found on the separately catalogued multimedia material and in the signed Partial Copyright Licence. While licensing SFU to permit the above uses, the author retains copyright in the thesis, project or extended essays, including the right to change the work for subsequent purposes, including editing and publishing the work in whole or in part, and licensing other parties, as the author may desire. The original Partial Copyright Licence attesting to these terms, and signed by this author, may be found in the original bound copy of this work, retained in the Simon Fraser University Archive. Simon Fraser University Library Burnaby, BC, Canada Revised: Fall 2007 ABSTRACT World War I caused a crisis in the ethics of masculinity for North American Mennonites. It marked their first continent-wide forced contact with militant states involved in a popular mass war. As an internally divided, secluded, pacifist, and primarily German-speaking people, they did not respond effectively. In particular they were not prepared for the challenge the militant masculinity of the American and Canadian states posed to Mennonite men. As revealed in The Mennonite, General Conference Mennonite teachings on the war were consistent with a long term depiction of masculine humility and did not emphasize pacifism. This was part of a larger pattern of ethical failure through the refusal to address substantively the Mennonite war experience. Despite failing to deal with the war, the ethics held by men did not remain static. They responded to the war by developing new concerns for church doctrine and for global relief work, interests that marked a distinct divergence from female contributors who responded to the war by limiting their writings to domestic concerns. The effect of the broader community's failure was to leave young men without resources to address their own circumstances as the targets of military recruiters and a society that said good men fought in the war. The damaging impacts of the crisis are reflected in the demographic records of the Mennonite men who were still forming their masculinity at the time of the war. These records reveal earlier deaths, a higher ratio of marriages ended by the wife's death, and higher levels of exogamy. The most startling is the changed sex ratio among their children, 111 with a markedly higher ratio of sons to daughters especially for the first born child. The earlier discursive failure in ethics correlated with a long term behavioural failure. Keywords Mennonite, World War I, masculinity, nonresistance, gender, sex ratios, pacifism, General Conference Mennonites, The Mennonite, ethics, demography lV ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation owes much to many. First of all, my thanks go to Jack Little, who, as my supervisor, has patiently worked through the many drafts and offered invaluable and detailed criticisms of a project which pushed both of us into uncomfortable territory. Thanks Jack. An array of academics assisted along the way, especially Ellie Stebner, who insightfully redirected this project at a few important points, especially by identifying that this dissertation was about ethics. The critique of Marlene Epp, as external examiner, has strengthened this project in significant ways. My thanks also go to Janice Matsumura, the internal-external, examiner for her thoughtful responses. Other important support was offered by Don Grayston, Marilyn MacDonald, Elise Chernier, Andrea Geiger, and Darryl Maclean. Joy Parr deserves special thanks for seeing in this non-dispensational Mennonite a student with a project worth pursuing at the doctoral level. I have been supported by a larger community, academic and otherwise, who have listened to and read major sections, and offered information, comments, support, advice, and sympathy as appropriate. Clayton Loewen, Henry Krause, Ruth Derksen, Murray Voth, James Zacharias, Fred Kaarsemaker, David Klassen, Jim Giesbrecht, Rick Friesen, Ann McKenzie, Chuck Newsom, Bill Klassen, John Klassen, and Priscilla Reimer, my thanks go out to all ofyou. The assistance ofTim Jansen and the California Mennonite Historical Society has been invaluable. Mennonite Central Committee Peace Section has been supportive and Peter Moyer gets special thanks for his archival research. Dee Loucks helped with the immense hours of modifying text records so they could be read v statistically. My daughter Katherine added her skills as grammar editor. The long term support of Marcus Smucker, teacher, mentor, and friend, has been essential. This dissertation has its origins in a conversation with him one sunny Seattle afternoon. I have appreciated the support of Simon Fraser University in allowing me to pursue an interdisciplinary program. Graduate Studies DeanJon Driver has been personally supportive and the grants offered by the school have been a vital part of bringing this project to fruition Finally, my thanks go to my wife, Marlene, for agreeing that the time had come. VI TABLE OF CONTENTS Approval ..: ii Abstract iii Acknowledgements v Table of Contents vii ust of Figures ix ust ofTables x Introduction 1 Chapter 1. Approach 12 1.1 Context 18 1.2 Method 33 Chapter 2. Militarism 51 2.1 War Reports 54 2.2 Theological Statements 68 2.3 Ethics 87 2.4 Military Metaphors and Illustrations 102 2.5 Sub-themes 106 2.6 Conclusion 122 Chapter 3. A Gendered Text 124 3.1 Gendered Interests 129 3.2 Impact of the War 148 3.3 Conclusion 162 Chapter 4. Masculinity Depicted: 167 4.1 Images and Ethics ofMasculinity During the War 176 4.2 Discursive Masculinity 1900-1929 178 4.3 A Complex Background 211 4.4 Conclusion 216 VB Chapter 5. Demographic Masculinity: 220 5.1 Theoretical Background 223 5.2 Method 228 5.3 Observations 234 5.3 Contextual and Background Issues 253 5.3 Conclusion 266 Chapter 6. Conclusion 269 6.1 Summary of Findings 270 6.2 Failed Masculinities 274 6.3 Ethics and History 281 6.4 Masculinity, Mennonites, and the Future 288 6.5 Final Thoughts 291 Bibliography 293 Vll1 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1. Number of articles with attention to the ethics and theology ofwar 120 Figure 5.1. Mean life expectancy from age 18 with trend line, GRANDMA males 236 Figure 5.2. Age-specific death rates by age range, GRANDMA males 237 Figure 5.3. Marriage termination by spousal death, GRANDMA males 238 Figure 5.4. Exogamy rates, GRANDMA males 240 Figure 5.5. Child birth sex ratios, GRANDMA males 242 Figure 5.6. Cohorts I & II (1883-1892) and cohorts III & IV (1893-1902) parity sex ratios, GRANDMA males 248 IX LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1. Number ofwar reports per year per type 54 Table 2.2. Number ofwar related theological contributions per year by institutional relationship 68 Table 2.3. Number of ethical instructions per year by target.. 87 Table 2.4. Number of military metaphors and illustrations per year 101 Table 2.5. Number of articles with discursive responses to war by type 120 Table 3.1. Numbers and sexes of contributors 1910-1925 by genre 131 Table 3.2. Number of topic occurrences and contributor sex ratio 135 Table 3.3. Background indicators, ratios M:F of names 144 Table 3.4. Sex ratio M:F of contributors by genre, changes over time 148 Table 3.4. Feature article topics by number and contributor sex ratio 154 Table 4.1.

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