How Political Repression Stifled the Nascent Foundations of Heredity Research before Mendel in Central European Sheep Breeding Societies

Abstract

The nineteenth century was a time of great economic, social, and political change. The population of a modernizing Europe began demanding more freedom, which in turn propelled the ongoing discussion on the philosophy of nature. This spurred on Central European sheep breeders to debate the deepest secrets of nature: the transmission of traits from one generation to another. Scholarly questions of heredity were profoundly entwined with philosophy and politics when particular awareness of “the genetic laws of nature” claimed natural equality. The realization that the same rules of inheritance may apply to all living beings frightened both the absolutist political power and the divided society of the day. Many were not prepared to separate religious questions from novel natural phenomena. Open-minded breeders put their knowledge into practice right away to create sheep with better wool traits through inbreeding and artificial selection. This was viewed, however, as the artificial modification of nature operating against the cultural and religious norms of the day. Liberal attempts caught the attention of the secret police and, consequently, the aspirations of scholars were suppressed by political will during approximately 1820–1850.

The little-known history of cleanliness and the forgotten pioneers of handwashing

“…We can only speculate as to whether Semmelweis knew about the work undertaken overseas. A ban on international literature did no good for scientific work in Central Europe between 1820 and 1848 ( 89 – 91 ). At least he might have read some of them around 1860 since he responded to criticism in great detail ( 92 ).…”

Chip Off the Old Block: Generation, Development, and Ancestral Concepts of Heredity

“…Due to his liberal beliefs, C. C. André was compelled to leave the Habsburg monarchy’s territory in 1821 and relocated to Stuttgart (see Poczai et al, 2021 ). He had exposed sheep breeders to study the subject of inbreeding.…”

Themes of Biological Inheritance in Early Nineteenth Century Sheep Breeding as Revealed by J. M. Ehrenfels

“…The belief in the extraordinary position of humans had been firmly established by the Christian tradition for a very long time, and it was further strengthened by reference to what we today may refer to as intellectual capabilities. In spite of this, the widespread interest in sheep breeding that existed throughout Brno in the early nineteenth century led to the re-examination of the human–animal split, of the concept of a strictly hierarchical chain of Nature, and of hereditary aristocracy through the André affair (see [ 43 , 63 ]). However, according to Ehrenfels [ 1 ] not only animals but all organisms possess the genetic force whose influence on their appearance is greater than that of the climate.…”