ABSTRACT
The objectives of the Catholic German Women's League, and especially of the Protestant Ladies' Auxiliary, pale before the hue and cry that the Federation of German Women's Associations sent up for the vote and for an end to the double standard. The Protestant Ladies' Auxiliary and the Catholic German Women's League, neither of which ever joined the Federation, possessed a homogeneity that the latter organization lacked and a membership which, combined, easily doubled that of the Federation. The Protestant Ladies' Auxiliary came into existence in 1899 when Empress Augusta Victoria announced a Prussian-wide membership drive. When the Empress appealed to Protestant women to staff the missions, the response was so immediate and overwhelming that it was decided to establish a national, multipurpose organization. The Auxiliary's organizational tie to its other sponsor, the Protestant church was also rooted in nationalism. The unification of Germany under Protestant Prussia reinforced the feeling that the reformed religion was the soul of the nation.
