Jews of Europe Syllabus

Questions for Week 10

Lindemann, Esau's Tears, Chapters 3-8 (pp. 97-272)

Introduction to Part Two (pp. 97-101)

What is usually meant by the term “modern anti-Semitism”?  What does Lindemann mean by this term?

According to Lindemann, in what ways was political anti-Semitism modern and in what ways was it anti-modern?

In what sense was anti-Semitism a “movement” in the late 1800s?

According to Lindemann, was anti-Semitism in this period always “racist”?  Explain.

What does Lindemann think “linked” various anti-Semitic groups?

Why does Lindemann consider the year 1873 so important to the history of modern attitudes towards Jews?

 

Chapter 3

What is the Sonderweg thesis of German history, and how does it explain German anti-Semitism?  Does it have its critics?  Explain.

According to Lindemann, in what way was anti-Semitism in Germany linked to the depression that began in 1873?  And what about Germany made the German anti-Semitic movement influential across Europe?

Was the emancipation of Jews in Germany widely supported in German territories in the first half of the 1800s?  Explain.

How does Lindemann characterize German political culture in the mid-1800s, particularly in regard to Jews?  What is his point about the difference between liberal reforms in Germany and those in France and England?

Why were the Junkers so important to German politics and the state’s approach to Jews after 1871?  How did Junkers understand the difference between community (Gemeinschaft) and society (Gesellschaft)?  And does Lindemann see a straight line from the Junkers to the Nazis?  Explain.

How does Lindemann explain Jewish upward social mobility in the late 1800s, and why did this “rise” lead to anti-Jewish hostilities after 1873?

What social groups in Imperial Germany does Lindemann see as most prone to anti-Semitism and why?  What arguments of the anti-Semites had special appeal to the Mittelstand?

How was anti-Semitism related to German romaniticization of the “rural” past?

How did the 1873 crash affect German attitudes regarding Jews?  How did liberal German newspapers explain the crash?

What was the Kulturkampf, what role did anti-Semites claim that Jews had in this policy, and what were the actual positions taken by Jews regarding this policy?  Did German Catholics turn entirely against Jews as a result?

Why does Lindemann consider Bismarck’s move to the political Right in the late 1870s so important?

What is the main point of this chapter?

 

Chapter 4

According to Lindemann, how did the shift in German politics in the late 1870s influence the character of anti-Semitic political ideas and rhetoric?

What were Wilhelm Marr’s main arguments about Jews, and what is Lindemann’s main argument about Marr?  Why does Lindemann consider the historical context of Marr’s ideas is so important to understand, and does he think Marr was a proto-Nazi?

What were Heinrich von Treitschke’s main arguments about Jews, and what are Lindemann’s main arguments about Treitschke? 

What major arguments did Heinrich Graetz make about Jewish history, and why did this lead to conflict with Treischke?

What were Adolf Stoecker’s main arguments about Jews, and what are Lindemann’s main arguments about Stoecker?

What was the Christian Social Workers’ Party?  Was it (and Stoecker) entirely anti-modern?  And did it have much success with workers?  Explain.

Does Lindemann think that Marr, Stoecker, etc., are responsible for making ordinary Germans into anti-Semites?  What is his point here?

What was the Berlin Movement, and what was the Anti-Semitic Petition?  Why does Lindemann  describe this movement as “moderate”?

Does Lindemann think that German anti-Semites were “united” in the 1880s, or that they were a particularly successful political movement?  Explain.

Were German Jews united in their opposition to the anti-Semitic movement?  Explain.

Did all non-Jewish opponents of anti-Semitism base their positions on moral grounds?  Explain.  Did they reject all of the arguments of the anti-Semites?  Explain.

What were Otto Bockel’s main arguments about Jews, and what are Lindemann’s main arguments about him?  What factors contributed to Bockel’s popularity among Hessian peasants (and in particular, what characterized relations between peasants and Jews in Hessenland)?

What point is Lindemann making throughout this chapter about the historical context of the German anti-Semitic movement of the 1880s, and what point is he making about its relationship to Nazism?

 

Chapter 5

 According to Lindemann, in what ways was the socialist movement similar to and in what ways did it differ from the anti-Semites in regard to Jews?

 Were socialists supportive of race theories?  Explain.

 Were socialists in general “pro-Jewish”?  Explain.

What were Marx’s main arguments regarding Jews, and what is Lindemann’s main argument about Marx?

What positions did early French socialists like Proudhon take regarding Jews?   Did the views of late 19th century French socialists differ from those of Proudhon, Fourier, etc., in this regard?  Explain.

What is Lindemann’s main point regarding Jewish attitudes towards socialism in the 1800s?  Were most Jews pro-socialist?  How and why did views on this matter differ among Jews in Eastern and Western Europe?

What is Lindemann’s main point regarding the attitude of the German social democrats toward Jews?  Did the SDs reject stereotypes of Jews?  Were they anti-Semites?  Explain.

How in general did they interpret the anti-Semitic movement?

In this and other chapters, Lindemann says that the “honeymoon” between Jews and liberalism was coming to an end in the late 1800s—was this true also of socialism?

What position did most socialist factions take on the issue of Jewish nationalism and Jewish culture?

What is the main point of this chapter?

 

Chapter 6

What made issues of religion, nationality, language, etc., so complex in Austria-Hungary, and how did this complicate the status of Jews?

Why does Lindemann describe Galicia as “another pale of settlement”?

Why does Lindemann describe Austria as “between Russia and Germany”?  How did Austrian culture and political culture differ from that of Germany?

Was Emperor Franz Joseph anti-Jewish?  What was the legal status of Jews in Austria-Hungary?

Why does Lindemann describe the “rise” of Jews in Austria-Hungary as especially dramatic?

What point is Lindemann making about the difference between Jewish middle class culture in Vienna and that in Germany?

What point is Lindemann making about the relationship between “ethnic insecurity” in Austria and attitudes towards Jews?

What point is Lindemann making about the source of anti-Jewish attitudes in Austria in the period after the 1873 crash?  Does he think that anti-Semitism in this time and place had nothing to do with actual Jewish behavior?  Explain.

According to Lindemann, why was German nationalism in Austria increasingly anti-Jewish in the 1880s? And why was anti-Semitism such a powerful force in Austrian politics?

How does Lindemann explain the basis of Catholic anti-Semitism in Austria?

What is Lindemann’s point about the ideas of Vogelsong?  Von Shonerer?

What is Lindemann’s point about the direction in what Austrian politics headed after 1882 and why, and how this related to Jews?

Was anti-Semitism unchallenged in Austria?

What is the main point of this chapter?

 

Chapter 7

What does Lindemann consider most important to understand about France in the 1800s?  Explain.

Why did Jews in France “stand out” less (in the negative sense) than did Jews in Germany, Austria-Hungary, or Russia?  Why did Jewish immigration to France cause tensions among French Jews, and why were these less significant in France than in other countries discussed so far?

What characterized the politics of most French Jews in the Third Republic?

In what sense were Jews in France associated with “modernity”  (eg, with the Ferry Laws and various financial scandals), and does Lindemann consider anti-Semitic fears regarding such issues as mere “fantasy”?  Explain.

What were the main arguments of the Boulangists regarding Jews, and what is Lindemann’s main argument regarding the Boulangists?

Why were Paris shopkeepers “open” to anti-Semitic agitation?  What is Lindemann’s point here?

What is Lindemann’s point regarding the Assumptionist movement in the Catholic church?

What is Lindemann’s main point about the anti-Semitic ideas of Toussenel and Barre?  What does he mean by “aesthetic anti-Semitism”?

Why does Lindemann describe Drumont as a “scissors and paste” anti-Semite?  Was he able to turn his views into a mass movement?  Explain.

Does Lindemann think that there was a “gathering storm” of anti-Semitism in France in the 1880s?  Explain.  Why does he describe French anti-Semitism of this period as “moderate”?  And before the Dreyfus affair, did it seem as if political anti-Semitism in France was gaining ground?

How does Lindemann explain the Dreyfus Affair, and what is his main point?  Does he think that Dreyfus’ arrest was caused by anti-Semitism?  And what role did personality play in the “Affair”?

Were all of Dreyfus’ supporters moved by opposition to anti-Semitic ideas?  Explain.

Lindemann says that the Affair reshaped political views about Jews and of Jews in France—what is his point here?

Does Lindemann think that a “Dreyfus Revolution” really took place in French politics?  Explain.  What is his main point about the impact of the Affair?

 

Chapter 8

In general, what does Lindemann consider significant about the weakness of modern anti-Semitism in England and the USA, and what questions does he think this raises?

How does Lindemann explain that relative weakness of anti-Semitism in England?  For instance, how was this related to the basic ideas of British liberalism?  And did Jews pose a threat to English aristocrats or to the middle class or the lower middle class?  Was race and nation linked in Britain as it was in Germany? Did the British in the mid-1800s have reason to fear alien influences or political instability?  In short—did the British face the kinds of insecurity over national identity that we have seen in Germany and Austria?  And what did that have to do with attitudes towards Jews?

Does all this mean that there was no anti-Semitism in Britain?  When did Jews get legal equality there? 

Were racist ideas in England often applied to Jews?  Explain.

How did Jewish immigration in the late 1800s affect attitudes towards Jews?

What is Lindemann’s main point about the status of Jews and anti-Semitism in the USA in this period?  And why does he argue that anti-Black racism probably decreased anti-Semitism in the USA?

How does Lindemann explain the relative lack of modern anti-Semitism in 19th century Hungary?  In particular, what about the situation in Hungary differed from that in Austria? 

Was there no “rise” of the Jews in Hungary? 

Why was the Hungarian ruling class relatively accepting of Jews, and what about Hungarian politics made the Hungarian liberals particularly accepting of Jews?

How did mass immigration of Jews from the “east” influence attitudes of and toward Jews in Hungary in the late 1800s?

What is Lindemann’s main point about the anti-Semitic views of G. Istoczy?  And was there much evidence of popular anti-Semitism in Hungary at this time?

On page 271-272, Lindemann sums up his main point in Part Two of this book—what are his 4 main points?

 

Introduction to Part Three

To what does the term Belle Epoque refer and why? 

According to Lindemann, how did relations between Jews and Gentiles change in this period, and what paradox does he see in this?

What big changes in the economy, politics, and ideas does Lindemann think contributed to the re-shaping of attitudes regarding Jews?

Does Lindemann think that Liberalism “died” in this era, or that Jews concluded that Jewish-Gentile relations were hopeless?

 

Chapter 9

Does Lindemann think that popular anti-Semitism in late 19th century Russia was based upon “fantasy”?  Explain.

Why did Russian nationalists fear the rise of the Jews?

Lindemann claims that Russian lower class culture was exceptionally violent and that this applied to relations among Jews and between Jews and Gentiles.  How does he support this argument?

What is Lindemann’s point about the role of Jews in Russian business and in political movements?

Does he blame Jewish poverty in Russia on the government or on anti-Semitism?  Explain.

What does Lindemann mean when he says that there was an “underground war” between the government and Jews in Russia in 1880-1914?

Why does Lindemann call the May Laws an abject failure?

How does Lindemann explain the causes of the 1903 pogrom in Kishinev?  And how does he explain the differences in interpretations of the pogrom, both at the time and on the part of later historians?

Why does he think the government failed to prevent the Kishinev pogrom from spreading?  Does he think the government wanted a pogrom?

How did Jewish activists in Russia respond to the Kishinev pogrom?  How did Jews outside Russia respond, and how did this supposedly effect Jewish-Gentile relations in Russia?

What is Lindemann’s main point about the Union of Russian People and the political anti-Semitic movement in Russia?

What did Nicholas II think of Jews?  On whom did he blame the Russo-Japanese war?  The 1905 Revolution?  Russia’s diplomatic problems?

Does Lindemann consider any of Nicholas’ paranoia to be “understandable”?

What does Lindemann have to say here about the explosion of Jewish political activity in the 1905 Revolution, or about the wave of pogroms that broke out across Russia in 1905-1906?  (This is a sort of trick question...)

Does Lindemann think that political anti-Semitism and government anti-Semitism were increasing in Russia after 1906? 

What is Lindemann’s main point regarding the Bellis Affair?

Lindemann points out that Romanian anti-Semitism has been described as :the worst in Europe”—how does he explain the basis of these wide-spread anti-Jewish hatreds?

Again, Lindemann makes an argument about the relationship between anti-Semitism and an “insecure” national identity—how does this apply to Romania?

Lindemann claims that the “activities and behavior” of Jews in Romania were a major cause of anti-Semitism there—what evidence does he provide?

Why were Romanian liberals opposed to Jewish civil equality, and why were they the source of anti-Jewish policies?

What seems to be Lindemann’s main point in this chapter?

 

Chapter 10

Lindemann says that Zionism "corroborated" the charges of the anti-Semites; what does he mean, and what is his evidence?

Was Zionism as single, "homogeneous" ideology?  Did all Jews agree with Zionist views?

What does Lindemann consider to be the root causes of Zionism? What does he have to say about the views of Moses Hess and Leon Pinsker, and how these views related to those of Theodore Hertzl?

What is Lindemann's general view of Herzl?  Does he consider Herzl to have been particularly philo-Semitic?  Explain.

Did Herzl consider anti-Semitism a problem that could be "fixed"?  How?  Explain.

According to Lindemann, when and why did Herzl turn toward Zionism, and were his views accepted by all Zionists?  Explain.

Explain the meaning of the Wolf quotation on p. 330 and why Lindemann included this quotation.

Does Lindemann think that most Jews in Germany considered efforts to resolve Jewish-Gentile differences hopeless in the late 1800s?  Explain.

Does Lindemann agree that the Wilhelm period was a "dormant" period for German anti-Semitism?  Or that anti-Semitism was "seething" but not political (that it was "spiritual"--part of volkish tribalism?  Explain. 

What is Lindemann's main point about German anti-Semitism in the period of the Tivoli Platform of 1892?

How did Austrian popular anti-Semitism differ from that in Germany at this time?

What is Lindemann's explanation of why Karl Lueger was so popular, and what is his main point about Lueger's anti-Semitism?  Does he consider it just to describe Lueger as a pre-cursor to Hitler?  Explain.  (And what does he mean when he calls anti-Semitism an "integrating ideology"?)

What is Lindemann's main point about the ideas of Langbehen?  Legarde?  Chamberlin?  Does he see any of these men as "fathers of Nazism"?  Explain.

What is the main point of this chapter?

 

Chapter 11

Why does Lindemann see the state of Jewish-Gentile relations in England and the US in this period as "ambiguous"?

How does he explain the causes of tensions between Jews and Gentiles in Edwardian Britain?  How were they linked to the emergence of British "self-doubt"?  To changes in England's relationship with Russia?  To growing criticisms of British liberalism?  And in particular, to the Boer War?

Did the British Left reject claims that Jews caused the Boer War?  In general, what is Lindemann's point about the views of leftists like Hobson and B. P. Webb regarding Jews?

How and why did "native" Jews respond to mass immigration of Eastern European Jews to England in this period?  What is Lindemann's point here?

And what is his point about the Aliens Bill (and the role of Balfour and Churchill)?   The Conservative response to the efforts of Lucien Wolf?

What is Lindemann's main point about the response in the USA to the rise of the Jews and to mass Jewish immigration at the turn of the century?  Does he think that the USA was free of anti-Semitism?  Explain.

How does he explain the Leo Frank case, and what is his main point about the case?

What is the main point (or, what are the main points) of Part Three of this book?

Jews of Europe Syllabus