Bertha von Suttner: The Passionate Pacifist
JULIA THÉRÉZIEN
Reproduced with permission from Token Publishing
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ONE HUNDRED years ago a most remarkable woman became the first female recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Baroness Bertha von Suttner, whose dedication to the cause of peace in an increasingly aggressive climate won her international acclaim, is celebrated by her fellow Austrians by being depicted on their 2 euro coin.
TABHers is a story brimming with drama and romance, more suited to the plot of a Mills and Boon saga than the biography of a Nobel Laureate. An infl uential and commanding personality, she ensured that by having the courage of her convictions, her life would have signifi cance and be a beacon for pacifi sts of the future.
TABShe was born Bertha Sophia Felicite, the Countess Kinsky, on June 8, 1843, in Prague, then still part of the Austrian Empire. Her father had been a Field Marshall, who had unfortunately died before Bertha was born. The Kinsky family was one of strong military tradition: an ethos that she would come to reject in time as she developed her own opposing ideals.
TABShe had a lively childhood and a privileged education, studying music in Paris for a short while, and travelling extensively. Sadly, her mother managed to fritter away their wealth thanks to her fervour for gambling, to the point where the young Bertha was forced to seek gainful employment. At that time, the possibilities open to a lady born in to a social stratum such as Bertha’s were rather limited.
TABShe was fortunate to find a comfortable position as governess and companion to the four daughters of the baronial house of Suttner, in Vienna, which she took up in 1873 at the age of 30. Bertha was charming, and was certainly no stranger to romance, considering that she had already been engaged no less than three times.
TABHer indubitable charisma and beauty proved irresistible for the Baron’s youngest son, Arthur, who was seven years her junior, and he fell deeply in love. Bertha reciprocated, but knew that theirs was an impossible match according to the social conventions of the day. She was, despite her noble birth, an employee in his household, and furthermore, Arthur’s duty was to make a financially favourable marriage and buoy up the family’s dwindling coffers. The situation was hopeless, and heartbreaking for them both.
TAB Arthur’s mother was fully aware of the lovers’ feelings for each other, and naturally wanted to avoid a scandal. She had spotted a newspaper advertisement which read “A very wealthy, cultured, elderly gentleman, living in Paris, desires to find a lady also of mature years, familiar with languages, as secretary and manager of his household”.
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TABDespite Bertha not being of “mature years”, she was a gifted linguist and a capable, intelligent woman, and her application for the post was accepted. The gentleman who had placed the advert turned out to be not so elderly himself, but certainly was both wealthy and cultured. He was Alfred Bernhard Nobel, the Swedish dynamite millionaire, a cosmopolitan sophisticate who was only 10 years older than Bertha.
TABNobel received Bertha in Paris, and the two spent a few days together. He drove her around the city in his revolutionary rubber-wheeled coach, showing her the sights and engaging her in fascinating conversation. The two evidently took to each other. Despite the fact that Nobel was to be called away to Stockholm only days after her arrival, and Bertha herself was to leave Paris almost immediately, they remained correspondents for many years, before renewing their friendship later in life.
TABNobel’s personal life was to undergo a great change later that year, which would result in little but misery for the lonely millionaire.
TABKnown as somewhat of a social recluse, he thought that he had found an element of happy companionship when he became involved with the much younger Sophie Hess. She turned out to be greedy and demanding, and was unfaithful to the point of having another man’s child, but Nobel continued to support her in spite of the embarrassment she caused him. Outwardly courteous to her, the hidden depths of his bitterness could be seen in his personal accounts, where he referred to her as “The Troll”. Even beyond his death, she continued to extort as much money as possible from his estate by contesting the amount of provision he had made for her in his will.
TAB In contrast, shortly after Nobel’s departure Bertha’s own love affair took a turn that was to provide life-long happiness. She received an imploring telegram from Arthur that she simply could not refuse. It read “I cannot live without you”. Bertha decided to flout social convention and follow her heart. She sold some valuable jewellery to fund her return journey to Vienna for a secret tryst with her beloved Arthur, where they eloped, invoking the fury of his parents.
TABThe newlyweds had nowhere to stay in Vienna, and no money. They gratefully accepted the kind invitation from a Caucasian princess, and friend of Bertha’s, to honeymoon as her guests in the small principality of Mingrelia. Thereafter they moved to nearby Tifl is, where they lived frugally, but happily. Arthur found work as a bookkeeper, and as Bertha was an accomplished musician, she was able to teach music lessons. It was during this time that first Arthur and then Bertha embarked on their journalistic and literary careers. They wrote a variety of articles and short stories, and became known as social commentators.
TABWith the passing of time Arthur’s parents softened and their anger faded. The couple were welcomed back into the bosom of the family and 1885 saw their return to Vienna. Two years later Bertha was reacquainted with Nobel when she and Arthur made a visit to Paris. They had continued to exchange letters throughout the Caucasus period, but this was their fi rst meeting in 11 years.
TAB During their stay in Paris Bertha and Arthur were introduced to the upper echelons of polite society. This was the pivotal moment in Bertha’s life. The tone of conversation in Parisian salons at that time was brimming with aggression and demand for revenge against Germany for the humiliations that France had suffered in the Franco-Prussian war. The pacifi st in Bertha was awakened. She promised herself that she would devote her energies to fi ghting for the cause of peace rather than encouraging the spirit of war, as many others seemed to do. She felt it beyond belief that people had forgotten the reality of warfare; the horrifi c wounds, the families torn apart, the national depression and resulting poverty.
TAB Bertha knew that she had a talent for writing from her time in Tifl is when she was frequently published, and she decided that the printed word would be her most effective weapon. She set about extensively researching the effects of war on real people. She spoke to injured soldiers and to widows, gleaning valuable fi rst hand accounts from those directly affected by hostilities. She studied archives and visited libraries gathering as much ammunition as possible.
TAB The result of all her research was a powerful and contentious anti-war novel entitled Die Waffen Nieder (“Lay Down Your Arms”). Despite finding willing publishers for her previous work, it proved very much more diffi cult to convince anyone to print her latest book, on the grounds that the subject was so controversial. Her perseverance paid off, and the novel, eventually published in 1889, was a huge success. In the next decade it was translated into 12 languages and sold in excess of a million copies. Comparisons have been drawn with Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, published nearly 40 years earlier, for the book’s potential for swaying social attitude. These two novels were probably the most widely read in the 19th century.
TAB The success of Die Waffen Nieder spurred Bertha on in her intention to strive for the promotion of peace. In 1891 she founded the Austrian Peace Organisation and attended the International Peace Congress in Rome, and the next year saw her take up the role of editor on the most prominent pro-peace journal of its day, named after her infl uential novel.
TAB It was at this time that Bertha began to urge Nobel to do something positive for peace, with the power that his wealth and fame afforded him. He was sceptical about such matters and asked her to persuade him, which she continued to do with regularity and characteristic persistence by keeping him informed of her efforts and sending him relevant publications.
TAB When Nobel had invented dynamite it had been with purely civilian purposes in mind. Many great engineering projects had been made possible, such as the carving of the Corinth Canal in Greece, the clearing of the River Danube at the Iron Gates, and thanks to the possibility of underwater explosions, the removal of the perilous Hellgate Rocks that blocked New York harbour. It was only later on that the potential use of the explosive as a tool of war was realised.
TAB Prior to his death in 1896 Nobel made provision in his will for the foundation of what we know today as the Nobel Prizes. There were to be annual awards for the individuals who had made the greatest achievements in the fields of chemistry, physics, medicine, literature, and peace.
TAB It is generally believed that it was thanks mainly to Bertha von Suttner’s direct infl uence on Nobel that peace was one of the categories included in his plan. It seems a paradox that the man who invented dynamite should have the most respected and famous award recognising the efforts of individuals who champion the cause of peace between nations as his legacy to mankind.
TAB In 1901 the first prizes were awarded, and Nobel’s dream was realised.
TABAnother four years passed before Bertha received a telegram informing her that she had been chosen as the Peace Prize recipient for 1905. It was a great shame that neither Arthur, who had died in 1902, or Nobel himself were alive to witness Bertha’s well-deserved recognition for her outstanding work.
TABBeing a Nobel Laureate served to increase her fame, resulting in demand for her to conduct speaking tours and attend conferences for as long as she was able. She was a tremendously well-respected fi gure, and was renowned for her outspokenness. Bertha died on June 21, 1914, only a week before the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, which pre-empted Germany’s declaration of war with Russia on August 1. Years earlier, when dynamite began to be used in the development of munitions, Nobel had believed that the advent of increasingly destructive weapons would surely open people’s eyes to the desolation of warfare and consequently promote peace, but as we know only too well over a century later, this was not to be the case.
TAB The tragedy that Bertha had strived so hard to steer the world away from, World War I, resulted in some 9,700,000 deaths. It is a tribute to her memory that her efforts are still celebrated today.