Die eigene Geschichtsdarstellung der Organisation hält fest, dass das Verhalten einzelner Bibelforscher im Ersten Weltkrieg unterschiedlich war und dass einige mit Gewehr und Bajonett in die Schützengräben zogen, weil sie sich verpflichtet fühlten, den weltlichen Obrigkeiten zu gehorchen.

Jehovah’s Witnesses—Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom, “Chapter 14: “They Are No Part of the World””

1993 · pp.191, 193 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

“During the war years, the circumstances into which individual Bible Students were thrust varied. The way they dealt with these situations also varied. Feeling obligated to obey “the powers that be,” as they referred to the secular rulers, some went into the trenches at the front with guns and bayonets. … Though Jehovah’s Witnesses quickly discerned some issues that involve a Christian’s relationship to the world, other matters required more time. However, as World War II gathered momentum in Europe, a significant article in The Watchtower of November 1, 1939, helped them to appreciate the meaning of Christian neutrality.”

The organisation’s own history of the First World War records that Bible Students took different courses, some bearing arms while firing into the air, others refusing all military service and going to prison. It dates the settled understanding of neutrality to the article of 1 November 1939.

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