The Tsars and the Jews: reform, reaction, and anti-semitism in imperial Russia, 1772-1917

One of the striking results of this new research is how closely reaction and reform were connected. This ambiguity was already inherent in the Polish attempt at reform during the second half of the eighteenth century, and it never entirely disappeared during the times of dark reaction under Alexander II. Therefore, when the Russian government initiated a programme of modernization at the end of the nineteenth century, anti-Jewish stereotypes quickly hardened into anti-Semitism. In the conflict that ensued between reform-minded and reactionary forces, this anti-Semitism became an ideological weapon in which the Jews appeared as the embodiment of change, modernization and uprooted life. Löwe has taken the opportunity of the English translation to incorporate the results of his most recent research, extending the coverage of the book from the earlier version's beginning in 1890 backwards into the eighteenth century to give the whole background to Tsarist Jewish policy and Russian anti-Semitism. Contents Preface I The Penalties of Backwardness II The Heritage of History III The Roots of Russian Anti-Semitism: Absolutism in Search of a Jewish Policy IV The Reign of Alexander III: From Pogroms to Counter-Reforms V The Economic and Social Position of the Jews: Urban Poverty in an Agrarian Society VI Two Tendencies and Two Ministries in Conflict: Modernization or Stabilization? VII The System Wavers (1902-1904): Between Pogrom and Concession VIII The Jewish Responses to Oppression: Revolution, Armed Self-Defence, or Nationalism and “Organic Work” IX Russia between Change and Revolution (1904-1906): Bourgeois Reforms that Got Stuck X Stolypin’s Reform Attempts on the Wane (1906-1914): Anti-Semitism in the Service of Semi-Feudal Restoration XI The Jews in the First World War: Scapegoats or Agents of Economic Mobilization? Synopsis Bibliography Index