A History of the Mennonite Brethren Church, Ja Toews

rved as its first chairman. The matter of education, the men in alternative service, and the relationship of the Mennonites to the new Kerensky government were some of the major concerns of the "Congress." It was unable to carry out its plans, 108 HISTORY OF THE MENNONITE BRETHREN CHURCH however, because of the overthrow of the provisional government a few months later. 1 The triumph of the Bolsheviks in the "October Revolution" (November 7, 1917, according to the Gregorian calendar) ushered in a new era. Mennonite men in the forestry and medical service returned home after the Bolsheviks had signed the peace-treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March, 1918. By the terms of this treaty Lenin's government lost the Ukraine. German troops, assisted by Don-Cossack regiments, moved into the area. Between November, 1917, and April, 1918, when the Germans arrived in the Ukraine, the Mennonites were subjected to a reign of terror. The "workers' Soviets" replaced the administrative officials in the Colony Administrative Offices. As the "dictatorship of the proletariat," they exploited the revolutionary situation. Thus the German occupation forces were welcomed by the Mennonites, since their presence promised some respite from the prevailing terror. Unfortunately the presence of German troops in the Ukrainian Mennonite settlements fostered a spirit of militarism among Mennonite youth which found embodiment in the organization of a Self-Defense Corps {Selbstschutz).' The spirit of militarism progressively infecting the Mennonites, especially in the Molotschna colony, did not go unchallenged. Pleas for moderation and repentance were heard from Mennonite pulpits and in Mennonite periodicals. These warnings, however, were not heeded. To avert a catastrophe church leaders convoked an All-Mennonite Conference in Lichtenau, Molotschna, between June 30 and July 2, 1918. At this historic meeting, a paper by B. H. Unruh reiterated the traditional Mennonite position on nonresistance. B. B. Janz, another representative of the Mennonite Brethren, also made a strong plea for abiding by the teaching of Christ and the confession of faith. These views were not shared by all delegates, including some prominent Mennonite Brethren ministers. A plea for tolerance and compromise was made on the ground that the matter involved two biblically sanctioned principles — nonresistance and Christian subservience to the state." In the end, two resolutions emerged. The first advocated the right of private interpretation concerning nonresistance. The second reaffirmed the conference's belief in nonresistance as the highest Christian ideal. Paradoxically enough, both proposals were accepted by a large major- ity. Leaving the matter of nonresistance to private interpretation, how- ever, opened the way for a radical minority to take up arms in an emer- gency and thereby placed the survival of the majority in jeopardy. 1 " Mennonite church confer