Syllabus+19th+Century+Europe

Primary Sources and Scholarly Articles on Anti-Semitism, Industrialization, and Völkish Ideology

Primary Sources:

1. A State Within a State (Johann Gottlieb Fichte, 1793)

   • Declares the Jewish nation as hostile and self-excluded from society.

   • Critiques the hypocrisy of human rights and discusses perceived danger posed by Jews, rooted in their religious separation.

2. Jewry in Music (Richard Wagner, 1850)

   • Wagner comments on the lack of genuine support for Jewish emancipation, suggesting Jews excel in music due to socio-economic transformations.

3. The Victory of Judaism over Germandom (Wilhelm Marr, 1879)

   • Marr warns of Jewish dominance in society, portraying them as a significant threat to German identity and culture.

4. The Question of the Jew is a Question of Race (Karl Eugen Deuhring, 1881)

   • Asserts Jewish identity persists beyond religion, focusing on the racial aspect of identity and societal infiltration.

5. The Racists’ Decalogue (Theodor Fritsch, 1883)

   • Contains principles advocating for segregation and hostility toward Jews, emphasizing racial purity.

Scholarly Analyses:

1. The Rise of Political Anti-Semitism in Germany & Austria (Peter Pulzer)

   • Discusses anti-capitalism’s historic link to anti-Semitism, worsened by economic dissatisfaction with liberalism's focus on mobility and individual merit.

   • Highlights resentment from various socio-economic groups (artisans, peasants, landowners) against Jews’ societal advancements.

2. The Crisis of German Ideology (George L. Mosse)

   • Explores the concept of "Volk," defining it as not just people but the racial and cultural essence, with Jews viewed as spiritually deficient due to their origins.

Link Between Industrialization, Capitalism, and Anti-Semitism:

• Industrialization and the rise of capitalism challenged traditional social hierarchies, fostering resentment that often targeted Jews as scapegoats for economic and social issues.

• As urbanization occurred, the disruption of established norms bred distrust towards perceived outsiders, which contributed to increased Völkish sentiment against Jews in Germany.

• The perception of Jews as both economically successful and socially alien set the stage for a rise in anti-Semitic rhetoric and political movements that claimed to defend the integrity of the nation against this outsider influence.