Extent of Anti-Semitic Ideology in Europe 1815-1945 - Coursework Example

EXTENT OF ANTI-SEMITIC IDEOLOGY IN EUROPE 1815-1945 By Introduction Anti-Semitism consists of unfriendly expressions or actions directed against the welfare, legal rights, lives of Jews, or religious practices. It has been a more or less constant characteristic of Jewish life since the Diaspora. This is based on social construct that Jews constitute a distinctive race whose ways of life and characters are in some way abhorrent and dissimilar to the rest of the society. Racial anti-Semitism may present Jews as a group that poses threats to the safety, value and peace of the rest of the society. Therefore, this paper chronologically examines the medieval origins of anti-Semitic sentiment in Europe and Russia expressed throughout the years 1815-1945. Many countries have a history of pogroms against Jews and Medieval Germany was one. During both the time of the Black Death and Crusades, Jews were murdered in great numbers. The principal indicator for medieval violence against Jews is pogroms during the plague of the period (1348-50). Then, a comparison is done of the location of outbreaks with persecutions of the Jewish population in Germany and Russia during the 1920’s and 1930s. This was the beginning of anti-Semitism ideology around this period in time. Argument on the Race Theories The early spiritual prejudice by Christian communities, affected by cultural disagreement and national self-defence, was exacerbated in the 19th and 20th centuries by a fear of modernization and resentment to capitalism. Different groups with a wide variety of concerns directed their antagonism against Jewish people, drawing on various stereotypes that were propagated in anti-Jewish campaigns. However, this was not cast in terms of race neither was the concept of anti-Semitism used. In fact, a major change took place during the last decades of the 19th century and this was influenced by the “race theories” which came fully into the open around 1850 (Stefancic & Delgado, 2012, p. 73). Comte Gobineau, made use of the notion of the Aryan race and came up with “The race theories” which was reinforced by social Darwinism. I was further cultivated amongst other places in the Bayreuth circle around Richard Wagner. Finally it was translated through ideological script into action by authors like Houston Chamberlin, who contributed to a consolidation of numerous strands of anti-Jewish attitude which by 1870 became anti-Semitism, building on vague assumptions of a biological heritage. This social Darwinism explains the emanating factors that chronologically came up as supporting the aspect of there being anti-Semitism with explanation of specific traits that would be elevated towards the Jews. The Hep Hep Riots (1820s) These were a series of anti-Jewish riots experienced in Germany that later spread to a number of neighbouring countries including; Denmark, Latvia, Poland and Bohemia. This problem was exacerbated by the need for Jews emancipation through the rise of nationalism. The most advanced country in this emancipation was Germany. The emancipated Jews were so proud of their achievement following their freedom. Later they found themselves the objects of intense abhorrence following their commercial and social aggression. Ironically, the Jews were ardent nationalists and this placed them in the centre of anti-nationalism. As a result the governments some of the German states rescinded lots of the privileges granted to Jews.to some extent, it can be discerned that the Jews had their own contribution to the spread of the anti-Semitism ideology in the region by way of their pride. The Jews, aware of their tough won position became unwilling to be subject to the humiliating laws. For instance, “The law limiting the community to 12 marriages a year in Frankfurt protested”. Due to this among other forms of oppress ion Jews decided to protest. This gave anti-Semitism a new wave and against this background, riots broke out all over Bavaria, commencing at Wurzburg in August to September of 1819. As it would appear in the Crusades of the middle ages, the rioters screamed "Hep, Hep," illustrating that the anti-Jewish tradition was still continuing (Hoffmann & Bergmann, 2002,p.78). Violence erupted leading the government generally to protect the Jews on one hand, but also explained, rather sarcastically, that additional civil rights could not be granted because the Jews would provoke further riots. German Jews suppressed the information, and the implication of the riots was minimized in reform circles (Engels, 2009, p. 263). The ideology had further basis of spread to other places of Germany during this period. At the same time, Jews used their lately earned political and economic clout to overturn the riots. Jews decided to stay away from the Frankfurt fair in droves, and the Rothschild family threatened to depart Frankfurt if normalcy was not restored. Later on, there were several further "Hep Hep" pogroms, but the lobby group died out in the 1830’s. This remains the standard account of anti-Semitism in UK during the period. Jewish Immigration (1930) The first historical account of Jewish refugees who entered Britain fleeing Nazism was reported around this period. However, British held consistent line on restricting immigrants from getting into their camp. The refugees would only be assisted if it was in the interests of Britain. This historical concept hold true today due to the current issue of asylum. Thus the toleration was only limited to various interlinked factors which included: First it was believed that there would be an Anglo- Jewish community. Second there would be unemployment due to the swelling number of Jews who would seek to enter labour market (Panayi, 1994, p. 13). It can be seen that the anti-Semitism campaign was spreading to other places in a rather in direct manner. Blood Libel (1840s) The blood libel is a false allegation that Jews forfeit Christian children either to use the blood for various "medicinal" purposes or to prepare the famed Passover Matzoth (unleavened bread) and mock crucifixions. In fact, it is one of the core fables of the older (middle ages) type of anti-Semitism (Florence, 2004, p. 57). The blood libel is a phenomenon of both the modern and medieval Christian, but extended to the Middle East as early as 1775, when blood libel as commonly practiced in Hebron. A second blood libel occurred in Cyprus in 1840 and one occurred in Damascus in the same year. Blood libel was the subject matter of folk ballads and literature. Therefore, it was not basically a religious superstition in Europe, but a tack of accepted culture, like most other anti-Semitic prejudices (Weinberg, 2013, p. 47). The enduring nature of the blood libel is one of its most outstanding features. It was a discovery of the pagans. It was revitalized and exploited in medieval Christian superstition, later it was promoted intentionally by the inquisition and counter-reformation. The spread of the aspect of blood libel clearly indicates that there was an allegation made against the Jews in view of finding a solution to the problems that they had at the time with the other societies. By the 19th century, much of the "old" anti-Semitism of the medieval period had passed from the world, but the libel persisted. It has been transplanted to the United States and the conviction flourishes in Muslim countries as well. Investigations, instigations and enforcement had been transferred in part from the Roman Catholic Church to put down authorities. First Industrial Revolution (1850s) During this period, the Europeans and the Russians had lessened tension. Much concentration was on building the nations and competition both socially and commercially was getting stiffer. There was acute need for economic growth. The span between the First Industrial Revolution and the Second Industrial Revolutions was markedly narrow. The first Industrial Revolution merged into the Second Industrial Revolution around 1850. It was at this juncture that economic and technological progress gained impetus with the innovation of steam-powered railways and ships, and later in the 19th century with the electrical power and internal combustion engine generation. The Second Industrial Revolution was a time of the Industrial Revolution; known as the separate “Technical Revolution”. From a social and technological a point perspective there is no clear cut break between the two. Other major developments that occurred during this period were in the fields of chemical, petroleum, electrical and steel industries. The industrial revolution spanned a time when travel, socialisation became easily available meaning that the spread of the anti-Semitism message was reaching a new height. Specific advancements incorporated the beginning of the development of the airplane, oil fired steam turbine and internal combustion driven steel ships. Also, there was mass production of consumer goods, practical commercialization of the automobile, the perfection of canning, mechanical refrigeration and other food preservation techniques, and the discovery of the telephone. A manual based economy was replaced by one dominated by the manufacture of machinery and industry. It started with the mechanization of the iron industries and the development of textile making industry techniques, and trade expansion was enabled by the introduction of railways, improved roads, and canals. The introduction of powered machinery and the increase in number of textile industries underpinned the remarkable increase in production capacity. The development of metallic machines in the first two decades of the 19th century facilitated the manufacture of more production machines for manufacturing in other industries (He, 2012, p. 330). The contemporary refining of kerosene started in 1846 by making use of coal.  Later, this Gesners method was improved to develop a means of refining kerosene from the more readily available resources in 1852. Also, the first rock oil mine was built near Galicia in the following year. In 1854, Benjamin Silliman a science professor at Yale University was the first to fractionate petroleum by distillation. These discoveries quickly extended around the globe. In this section of industrial revolution, there is concentration on the message of the mouth due to eased travel and movement as well as communication making it possible for more populations to be informed about the anti-Semitism ideology. German Anti-Semitism in the 1860s This is depicted in the European history as yet another era of revolution and transition before the World War 1. In this respect, the word “Anti-Semitic” (antisemitisch in German) was almost certainly first used in 1860 by the Jewish researcher Moritz Steinschneider, who coined the phrase “anti-Semitic prejudices” to describe Ernest Renan’s concept that “Semitic races” were mediocre to “Aryan races.” The related German word antisemitismus meaning “Jew-hatred” or Judenhass  was introduced by the German member of the press who was also a political agitator Wilhelm Marr who tried portrayed the abhorrence of Jews as a rational sensible and logical and lawful phenomenon (Benedix, 2009, p. 75). Wilhelm Marr also founded a publication called the Anti-Semitic Journal and established the League of Anti-Semites, which supported the forced removal of Jews from Germany. This served to reawaken the suppressed emotions, concepts and hatred that native Germans had against the Jews. As a result, new anti-Semites who followed Marr expanded the medieval attacks and violence on Jewish traders. In turn, they transformed the ideology into a complete economic critique. The Jews said to have provoked the most anger were those who embraced enlightenment, values cosmopolitan and who achieved economic triumph. Further debate suggests that protagonists of the anti-Semitic movement were principally concerned with the political mobilization of European citizens harbouring feelings of abhorrence towards Jews. The lobby group openly confirmed its onset on the political stage, forming itself into a society sharing the same mind set, establishing its own organisations, nurturing political networks, employing the different media of political publicity to stir up trouble against Jews, and through startling campaigns they attempted to saturate society with anti-Semitic positions. Despite their varied and indeed at times contradictory political organisations and forms of activity, most of the protagonists were galvanised into an integrated worldview through their resentments and aversions against Jews. In germ any therefore, the aspect of anti-Semitism was a strong social aspect and every person wanted to believe that there was a reason to believe that the Jews did not have sound social values and elimination of the group was the best option. Social Background and Politics of the Pogroms in Russia According to various speculations it is found out that of anti-Semitism can be traced way back to the Russian pogroms of late 1870s-1917. In part, the "wave" was said to have been a perception. This is due to the fact that, pogroms had already occurred in Odessa and hostility of this kind was a central part of Ukrainian and Russian history. However, a number of events and processes led to the Pogrom.  The liberation of the serfs in 1861 swamped the cities with inexperienced, largely uneducated and unskilful peasants in search of employment. There they frequently ran into argument with the better-educated and more affluent Jews. In 1863, many Jews supported the Poles in the Polish Rebellion, which could not have increased commiseration for the Jews among Ukrainians and Russian (Simon & Schuster, 2012, p. 22). In the year 1869 a Jewish convert named Jacob Brafman published, at government expense, “The Book of the Kahal”. Purportedly based on a book of minutes written in 1795-1803 by the Minsk society of Jews, it claimed to disclose a Jewish sect and anti-Russian sentiments amongst the Jews. Evidently the Kahal had existed under the past laws, but had ceased to function by 1844. In his publication, Brafman claimed that it was still in existence and functioning, and was part of a universal Jewish Kahal that integrated the newly established Alliance Israélite Universelle. The theory was overstated with the common anti-Semitic "translations" as was expected from the Talmud. In this, regard the effects of this popular libel on Russian attitudes to Jews were apparently not good. In the early 19th century, Jews had started to emerge from ghettos, putting them into stiff competition with non-Jewish entrepreneurs as well as employees. This was obviously the starting point for the Odessa pogroms, and it fuelled both Social Democrat propaganda and reactionary. It is clear from this history that many well-known intellectuals and writers, such as Fyodor Dostoevsky, were notorious Jew-haters. This no doubt helped to popularize anti-Semitism in the sense that their influence impacted negatively on the audience. Odessa Pogroms Odessa was an outstanding Russian city on account that it was a cosmopolitan, balmy, and bustling seaport. In the early 19th century it did not even have a Russian majority. It was a liberal city and most preferred by the Jews. In the wake of 1870s, about 27% of the inhabitants of Odessa were Jewish (Klier & Lambroza, 2004, p. 376). Hence, the town is accredited with being the site of the first pogroms by some establishment, though the massacres were not exceptional compared to the horrendous massacres of the Ukrainian "patriots," Khmelnytsky and the Haidamaky, and were overshadowed by far more lethal pogroms at the end of the 19th century. Anti-Semitism was rife here and there was every reason to believe that it was part of the basic practices that helped spread the aspect of anti-Semitism. Serious Riots of 1871 According to German writer, Wilhelm Marr, this period also saw the introduction of the term anti-Semitism. He said it was meant to” impart a new, nonreligious connotation to the term anti-Jewish". In 1821 and then again in 1859 and in 1871, serious riots occurred in which Jews were killed and wounded, and Jewish material goods and businesses incurred extensive damages. In addition to these remarkable outbursts, Gentile and Jewish youths often engaged in bloody brawls. Every year during Easter holidays rumours of an awaiting pogrom disseminated through the citys Jewish society, giving rise to apprehension and fear. The Odessa pogroms of this time round were instigated by the Greek population of Odessa. In 1821 Greek Odessans accused the Jews aiding the Turks in the killing of the Greek patriarch of Constantinople. That pogrom led to in 14 deaths. The 1859 pogrom was the result of Greek sailors’ blood libel. Years later, the 1871 pogrom stared with a rumour that Jews had defiled the Greek Orthodox Church and burial ground on the eve of Orthodox Easter. The financial turn down and resentment of the Odessa Greeks most likely played a role as well. In the 1871 pogroms, the Ukrainians and Russians united in the attacks, as they and others perceived the Jews as an economic threat. This weakened the Jews and gave them a weak point to fight from. The ideal message was anti-Semitism. Claim Following this much criticized debate, major arguments in line with anti-Semitism have been raised. For instance, some renowned writers argue that, “Black anti-Semitism is the only form of licensed anti-Semitism in the USA, and the version of Jewish history presented by black teachers in American universities would make the Protocols of the Elders of Zion read like a eulogy.” This claim faces much contempt and the reaction is a counter claim. Counter-claim “Any intentional or unintended criticism of Israel, Judaism or Jews is called anti-Semitic. Jewish national emotions permeate the cultural life of whole countries. They are a negative influence on disarmament negotiations, on trade agreements and on international scientific and cultural relations.” According to this claim and counter claim, this argument was meant to aggravate demonstrations and strikes. The Jewish issue acquires an inconceivable authority over peoples minds, overriding the tribulations of other minorities. Before World War I Pogroms of the Russian of 1881–1882 and the custom murder accusations in Hungary and Tiszaeszlá (1882–1883), helped to reinforce the so-called anti-Semitic movement in Eastern and Central Europe. During the first International Anti-Jewish Congress which was held in Dresden in 1882, placards of the a picture of Eszter Solymosi, the victim of Tiszaeszlár, were prominently displayed, and amongst the Congress’s delegates were three members of the Hungarian parliament. A coalition known as Antijuive Universelle was established in 1886. Different state of affairs governed the success and evolution of anti-emancipationist groups in different countries within Europe. In the Habsburg Empire, the rising national movements frequently perceived Jews as agents of the prevailing German instruments and culture of colonial authority. Thus, a number of political parties supported programmes aimed at revoking or restricting the rights Jews had acquired through liberation, and this became a useful basis for mobilizing voters (Bartolini, 2007, p. 60). After World War One (1933) German foreign policy after World War I to the Chancellorship of Hitler in 1933 became dominated by the limitations and anxiety of the post war treaties and the Weimar policies of Gustav Stresemann from 1923-1933. Nazi foreign policy had Germany at war within seven years. The easiest way to follow this is through a chronological investigation which includes questions about the importance of each occasion as a probable stride towards war. On January 30, 1933: Adolf Hitler was appointed chancellor and he was the driving force behind public refutation of the peace settlement and the expansion of German political and economic influence over Europe. The League of Nations: Britain, France, and the United States were the main architects of the post WWI international order and the League was meant to be a tool for moderation and peace. Between the World Wars According to Herman Kahn ,”World War I broke out largely because of an arms race, and World War II because of the lack of an arms race”. The ethnic nationalist parties of the Habsburg and tsarist empires turned more and more xenophobic after gaining state power. Especially in Poland, Romania, and Hungary, calls to reduce the Jews’ role in social life and economic became a considerable part of interwar nationalism. They also associated Jews with external enemies: the Soviet threat (in Poland and Romania), Germanisation or Hungarian irredentism. Moreover, in Romania and Hungary the military failures of World War I were blamed on Jewish soldiers’ “treacherous” and “antinational” actions. The Bolshevik Revolution and the failed Communist takeover in Hungary under(1886–1938).In Poland, the unrest caused by World War I, and especially the war with Bolshevik Russia, exacerbated anti-Jewish resentment. Local acts of brutality took place in Galicia with the most deadly outbreaks in, Pińsk, Vilna and Lida (Killian & Eklund, 2008, p. 142). Final Step Hitler had stated in Mein Kampf that Germany would resolve its continental position by the take-over of France as a first round to the conquest of Russia. All his other foreign policy moves had been leading to his New Order. After World War II, Stalinist policy became more and more intimidating to Jews, with the most chief campaigns taking place under the slogan of struggle against American Zionism, imperialism, and economic sabotage. Jewish admission to higher education and public office was restricted. Members of the Jewish committee were executed. After Stalin’s death, the Soviet regime systematically banned calling attention to the tragedy of the Jewish population during World War II which ended in 1945. Conclusion It is evident that at the time of the Black Death, Jews were attacked in many cities in Germany. This paper shows that most places that experienced attacks of Jews during anti-Semitic attitudes also showed the plague. These findings are remarkable as they suggest that racial hatred can persist at the city-level over the very long run. Remarkably, violent hatred of Jews persisted despite their disappearance in many cities for centuries. Also, in contrast to many other findings in the literature on extent of anti-Semitic ideology, investigations herewith yield no immediate economic benefit. Nonetheless, findings lend some qualified support to theories that seek to explain the systematic mass-murder of Jews by Germany’s cultural heritage in the years 1815-1945. It can therefore be determined that the anti-Semitic ideology was effectively applicable in the European society in the periods under review; 1815-1945. References Bartolini, S. (2007). The Political Mobilization of the European Left, 1860-1980. London: Cambridge University Press. Benedix, B. H. (2009). Subverting Scriptures. Nicaragua: Palgrave Macmillan. Engels, F. (2009). The Condition of the Working Class in England. london: OUP Oxford. Florence, R. (2004). Blood Libel: The Damascus Affair of 1840. Michigan: University of Wisconsin Press. He, C. (2012). Modernization Science. London: Springer Science & Business Media. Hoffmann, C., & Bergmann, W. (2002). Exclusionary Violence. Michigan : University of Michigan Press. Killian, J., & Eklund, N. (2008). Handbook of Administrative Reform. Rome: CRC Press. Klier, J. 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