German Revolutions Dbq

Rasha Daas
Ms. Murtha
AP European History
21 September 2016
The Peasants’ Revolts in the German States
The German peasants’ revolts of 1524-1526 were caused by many things. The increasing gap between the wealthy and poor; declining incomes of the wealthy; rise in inflation and taxation; external crises of famine, plague and war; and religious backlashes were what exactly had led peasants to rebel. Among these, there were two that were the dominant causes of these revolts. These include the peasants’ assumptions of Lutheran ideals and economic objections against their lords. Many responded differently to these revolts. Some people were sympathetic; others were harshly adjudicating over the causes. Some of the upper-class Germans thought that

they should overlook and consider the peasants’ desperation for proper economic rights. Many (such as Martin Luther), however, were in opposition and thus responded aggressively.
Martin Luther wrote doctrines (Lutheranism). They were used in political defense and validation for the 1520s revolts. Protestant beliefs were used in support of the serf uprisings, as seen in documents one; three; and six. Bavaria’s Chancellor, Lenonhard von Eck, voiced a report explaining how religious doctrine of “brotherly love” was used and how it was the basis of the conflict between classes (Doc. 1). Eck was in fact a noble who was also in favor of his own threatened class. His document proves to be biased. He wrote the report to express what was causing the revolts even though it sounds as if he is uttering an opinion. Document three is in conformity with Eck’s comments. A group of Swabian peasants read passages from Articles of the Peasant of Memmingen to the Memmingen Town Council with lords. They mentioned the sacrifice of Christ and the will to obey religious authority during their protests. The peasants said that they would not doubt the Christian lords of releasing them from serfdom. They expressed the religious basis for much of their grievances. In document six, a German preacher claimed that the peasant revolts were part of God’s will and persuaded all the people of Allstedt to be a part of the the serf’s cause in 1525: “hammer away on the anvils of the princes and lords, cast down their towers to the ground” (Doc. 6). The preacher’s speech proves that religious ideology, such as Lutheran, initiated and stiffened the peasant’s call for equality.
Economic equality was another cause of the serfs’ uprising in the 1520s.

This problem is expressed concisely in documents two, eight, and eleven. Document two is written in a peasant’s point of view (“we”). It is titled the Twelve Articles of the Swabian Peasants. The document explains what the peasants economically desired. They wanted lords to “no longer try to force more services or other dues from peasants without compensation” (Doc. 2). They also thought that “peasants should, however, help lords when it is necessary and at proper times when it does not disadvantage the peasant and for a suitable compensation” (Doc. 2). In 1525, the chief advisor, Lorenz Fries, wrote in a secret report to the Archbishop of Würzburg the demand of the “rich sharing with the poor” (wealth redistribution) and that they should see each other as “brothers” (equality). The document sounds as if it is an idle talk. The way the document is presented (the scratching of his head) calls into question Fries own personal association. There is no proof whether or not the peasants did actually desire economic equality. In 1526, a letter to Duke Albert of Prussia was given by Count Wilhelm von Henneberg (Doc. 11). The letter is in the point of view of a noble. It somehow shows bigotry against the peasants. The document, however, is written in a way that convinces others to believe that the peasants’ attacks on the rich Christian monasteries were done in order to consume the monasteries’ possession and later the noblemen’s houses. This caused the more rebellions to come. Peasants’ did this in response to the unequal distribution of

wealth.
People reacted and responded to the peasants’ revolts differently. Some were sympathetic, others were not. Documents four, five, and nine present individuals in agreement (or in empathy) to the peasants and their right to protest. In 1525, a nobleman responded saying that the exchange of money can be given after the release from doing honored/ hard work. The nobleman’s sum of money may have been too much however. His response is reasonable in that it shows that some nobleman were willing to offer to negotiate instead of responding with violence. The events at Wiensburg were described in the report of Pastor Johann Herolt. He stated that the townspeople were not thankful to the peasants but were still able to connect with each other. The townspeople even offered them support (Doc. 5). There were other people from the upper-class that wanted to help the peasants. There is proof in the documents written by nobles Caspar Nützel and Christoffel von Lichtenstein (documents nine and ten). These nobles sometimes made biased points about the peasants, however they were sympathetic. For example, Nützel criticizes the way the peasants behaved. Yet, he states: “no reasonable person could deny how unreasonably, unchristian, indeed, how excessively the authorities have torn out the hair of their subjects, whom they should, aid, defend, and rule rather than flee” (Nützel, Doc. 9). Lichstenstein said that some lords joined the peasants’ side, but only to save their lives (Doc. 10). These lords did not respond with brutality.
The majority of the upper-class responded to the revolts sadistically. Many authorities, by 1526, worked together to wipe out the peasants (one-hundred thousand of them had died). They did this in order to stop or weaken the intensity of the rebellions. One document, explains how a noble chose violence to bring an end to the uprisings and power and stability back to the upper-class. Some responded to the revolts without violence. Martin Luther made impolite judgments on the peasants’ actions. He said that the peasants should respect and obey those above them (Doc. 7). In 1526, a decree of the Imperial Diet of Speyer professed that the lords and noblemen “shall have power to restore to their previous honorable estate those subjects who have surrendered unconditionally and been punished” (Doc. 12). The serfs would also have to return to their possession. The decree of the Imperial Diet of Speyer is the highest authority in the land. This shows and proves the existing gap and unjustness between lords/ nobles and the peasants.
The serf uprisings were not very effective. The peasants were still oppressed by those above their class. People were still responding to them with either support, reasonable negotiation, provokingly, or with suppression. The peasants’ revolts and the persecutions that follow relate to the period in time when the Anabaptists were murdered (in the sixteenth century). Just like the peasants, some supported them while others did not and were thus judged or mistreated. The Anabaptists were slaughtered because of their views on the nature of baptism and other issues, by both Protestants and Roman Catholics. Some of them protested to support their views. As a result, they were executed and suppressed just like the peasants.