A People Apart: A Political History of the Jews in Europe 1789-1939 (Oxford History of Modern Europe)

"The twentieth century has seen one of the rare triumphs of the Jewish people as well as one of its greatest catastrophes; the re-creation of a sovereign Jewish nation-state and the swift and systematic destruction of most of its centuries-old European heartland. This is the first study to examine the political evolution of the Jews across the whole of Europe during the century and a half preceding these events."--BOOK JACKET. "David Vital explores the Jews' consistently tense relationship with the rulers to whom they were subject and the peoples in whose midst they were embedded."--BOOK JACKET. "Controversially, Professor Vital concludes that up until their total emasculation in the course of the Second World War, the modern history of the Jews needs to be seen as one which in important respects - though certainly not all - was of their own making, at times by their autonomous action and choice; at others by inaction and default. The Jews, he argues, were not mere objects of the history and intentions of others, but had an internal political history that was authentically and distinctively their own."--BOOK JACKET. The twentieth century has seen both the greatest triumph of Jewish history and its greatest tragedy: the birth of the nation of Israel, and the state-sponsored genocide of the Holocaust. A People Apart is the first study to examine the role played by the Jews themselves, across the whole of Europe, during the century and a half leading up to these events. David Vital explores the Jews' troubled relationship with Europe, documenting the struggles of this 'nation without a territory' to establish a place for itself within an increasingly polarized and nationalist continent. Controversially, he concludes that the history of the Jewish people was indeed in crucial respects, although certainly not all, of their own making; at times by their own autonomous action and choice; at others by inaction and default. His powerful and stimulating analysis represents a watershed in our understanding of the history of the Jews in Europe, and therefore in the history of the continent as a whole. In the twentieth century, the world saw both the greatest triumph of Jewish history--the birth of the nation of Israel, and its greatest tragedy--the state-sponsored genocide of the Holocaust. A People Apart is the first study to examine the role played by the Jews themselves, across the whole of Europe, during the century and a half leading up to these momentous events. David Vital explores the Jews' troubled relationship with Europe, documenting the struggles of this 'nation without a territory' to establish a place for itself within an increasingly polarized and nationalist continent. This powerful new analysis represents a watershed in our understanding of the history of the Jews in Europe, and as a result, in the whole history of the continent. Preface Contents List of Maps List of Tables A Note on Transliteration and Translation Abbreviations Introduction: The Old Dispensation Part I: Integration and Fragmentation 1 Proposals 2 Disjunctions 3 Questions from Without and Within Part II: Aspirations and Equivocations 4 Movement 5 Auto-emancipation? 6 Crystallization Part III: New Dispensations 7 War 8 Peace 9 Captivity 10 Denouement Epilogue Bibliography Glossary Index