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Half Peace and Whole Peace

On Political Narratives, Military Logic, and the Question of Who Really Drives Wars

Pastor Dr. Jürgen A. Wolff sees the responsibility for peace with each individual: “Imagine there’s a war and no one shows up.”
Photo credit for all images: City of Weißenfels

The press release from the City of Weißenfels describes a dignified commemoration for Volkstrauertag. Yet in the two speeches by Surgeon General Most and Pastor Wolff, two completely different ideas of peace clash. This is precisely where it becomes clear how wars are socially legitimized—and who ultimately drives them.

Half Peace: Military Logic as a Political Narrative

Surgeon General Most describes the war in Ukraine as an attack on European values and calls for a “resilient” society. He effectively declares peacekeeping without military means impossible. This perspective has now become firmly entrenched in political discourse: peace is protected by weapons, not created.

Surgeon General Dr. Bruno Most spoke in his role as Senior Officer of the Base and Commander of the Medical Service Operational Support Command. Later, he laid a wreath in remembrance.

This shifts the goal. Peace is no longer understood as a nonviolent state but as the result of military deterrence. This is not peace—it is a contained conflict. Half peace.

At the same time, Most appeals to the “personal responsibility” of each citizen. Such phrasing creates subtle pressure: loyalty, combat readiness, and consent to the security policy course. This creates a societal climate that normalizes armament and suppresses alternatives.

Whole Peace: Refusing Violence, Not Managing It

Pastor Wolff presents a radical counterposition. His statement, “Imagine there’s a war and no one shows up,” is not a cliché but a rejection of any war logic. For him, peace is not created through weapons but through refusal—politically, socially, and morally.

Do not participate, do not arm, do not remain silent. Peace as a conscious break with the logic of violence. That is whole peace.

Who Pushes War?

Wars do not arise from nothing. They are enabled by political decisions, military worldviews, and social consent.

The military needs threats to justify its role.
Politics relies on military analyses to legitimize armament.
The public is indoctrinated with the concept of “resilience.”

This creates a cycle that does not prevent wars but structurally favors them.

City council chairman Ekkart Günther represented Mayor Martin Papke and laid a wreath on behalf of the City of Weißenfels.

The Crucial Question

Volkstrauertag could have been a day to learn from history. Instead, it shows that Germany continues to oscillate between two concepts of peace:

Half Peace: militarily secured, politically demanded, socially rehearsed.
Whole Peace: nonviolent, inconvenient, but consistent.

What we get in the future depends on which narrative we follow.

True peace begins—just as the pastor says—where people refuse to serve the logic of war.

PRESS RELEASE

Weißenfels, November 19, 2025

Appeal for Peace
Commemoration of Volkstrauertag in Weißenfels

On the occasion of this year’s Volkstrauertag, citizens gathered on November 14 at the Weißenfels cemetery. They commemorated the victims of war and violence from all nations.

After the welcome by city council chairman Ekkart Günther, Surgeon General Dr. Bruno Most and Pastor Dr. Jürgen A. Wolff highlighted peace as a high value in their commemorative speeches. Dr. Most stated: “Today we again live in a phase of instability and disorder, witnessing terrible human suffering in our neighborhood.” According to the Senior Officer of the Base and Commander of the Medical Service Operational Support Command, Europeans have since 2022, or perhaps even since 2014, experienced that peacekeeping without military means is doomed to fail. “The war in Ukraine targets everything that is dear and important to Germany and its European neighbors. Society must prepare itself resiliently and make it clear that an attack on our values and our freedom, as well as on our friends in the Baltic States, will not succeed,” said Bruno Most. He also pointed out the personal responsibility of each individual: “To maintain peace, it is important to ask: ‘What should I do myself? What can I do myself? What am I allowed to do myself?’”.

Pastor Wolff also spoke about personal responsibility for peace, but drew different conclusions: “If we followed the saying from my youth, ‘Imagine there’s a war and no one shows up,’ it would be a step toward peace. Do not participate, do not engage, do not arm. Instead, disarm. Above all, refuse verbally, do not consent, not even silently or quietly. That would be the beginning of the end of war.” Peace is not achieved through violence, Wolff continued; it is a gift, more than a farewell or greeting. “Peace is the concept and embodiment of community, well-being, justice, and hope,” he said, referring to the Coventry reconciliation prayer. After the destruction of the cathedral in the British city of Coventry by German bombings in November 1940, Dean Richard Howard had the words “Father forgive” carved into the choir wall of the ruins. These words still define the Coventry reconciliation prayer today—it stands for the worldwide reconciliation of Christians.

The commemoration concluded with city council chairman Ekkart Günther reading the honor roll of the dead. The event ended with a moment of silence and a wreath-laying. The Protestant brass choir accompanied the commemoration musically.

****************************************

Sincerely,
On behalf of
Anke Fey
SB Press and Public Relations, Department of Culture, Marketing Division, City of Weißenfels

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