A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

from Russia to the United States and Canada between 1874 and 1880 constitutes the most outstanding event of this period. The Imperial Decree of 1870, to which reference has been made at the beginning of this chapter, clearly reflected the spirit of the "Slavophiles" who were convinced that "the day of Russianizing all Russia had come." 29 The introduction of universal military training was a part of this new policy. In anticipation of this conscription law (which was passed in 1874) the Mennonites sent five delegations to Petersburg to plead for the preservation of their privileges. Eventually the Mennonites were promised an acceptable form of alternative service, instead of military 80 HISTORY OF THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH training, but even this was more than some would tolerate. The delegates acknowledged that they recognized the necessity of government, and also their readiness to submit in all matters not contrary to their conscience, but they could not accept any form of military service. This experience of the Mennonites in Russia was not without historical precedent; their fathers had faced a similar situation in Prussia a hundred years earlier. At that time emigration had been the solution for all those who desired to preserve their nonresistance without compromise. Again Mennonite leaders began to investigate seriously this possibility. Various prospects were considered — Russian Turkestan and even the distant Amur region, because in these recently acquired territories the military law was not to be applied. There were two leaders, however, both living in the city of Berdjansk, who favored a Mennonite emigration to America. Elder Leonhard Sudermann and Cornelius Jansen, a grain merchant, both tried to educate the general public and also endeavored to establish preliminary contacts to initiate such a migration. 1 " In 1873 a twelve-man delegation left for America to spy out the promised land. The delegation visited what was then the frontier line in America of cheap land — Kansas, Nebraska, Dakota, Minnesota, and up the Red River into Canada. They also inquired about political conditions and military regulations. The more liberal inducements granted by the "Dominion of Canada" to prospective settlers were offset, perhaps, by the less hospitable climate in that country. The generally favorable report of the delegates upon their return resulted in one of the greatest migrations of Mennonites in their history. Entire congregations (e.g. Alexanderwohl) and whole villages prepared for the "great trek." The Russian government became alarmed and sent a special envoy, General von Totleben, to stem the tide, but with little success. Approximately ten thousand of these immigrants eventually found their new home in the United States; the other eight thousand, belonging to the more conservative groups, settled in the Red River Valley of the newly established Canadian province of Manitoba.