Progroms and Riots: The German Conservative and the Jewish Press and Collective Anti-Jewish Violence in Germany and Russia, 1881–1882

Events of collective anti-Jewish violence in the German Empire in the second half of the nineteenth century have received substantial scholarly attention in recent years. These investigations focus primarily on the events themselves, providing a historical analysis at a local level of their causes, course, and processes. Yet, historians have tended to eschew examinations of the responses of the wider press to such events. Based on four newspapers, affiliated with the Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish milieu, the thesis offers a wide-ranging insight into responses to anti-Jewish violence occurring in Germany and Russia in 1881-1882. It evaluates how collective violence in the so-called "civilized" countries of Europe was assessed and may have been legitimized. In the German Empire it was not possible to openly call for violence, considering the strict notions of law and order. Yet, it was possible to display empathy with the perpetrators. Modern anti-Semitism had developed a particular rhetoric when attacking the Jews, which has been termed "civilization of Jew-hatred."1 It meant a contradictory line of argument, which distanced and identified with anti-Semitism, condemned and justified anti-Semitism. This study evaluates whether this strategy was also applied to anti-Jewish violence and if so, how this was done. The thesis discusses too the effect of political events and developments, such as elections and the Kidturkampf, on responses to anti-Jewish violence. It demonstrates how arguments changed in the dynamics of daily politics and highlights the complexity of responses towards anti-Jewish violence, which were to a significant degree contingent on political developments. The research thus provides a contribution to our understanding of the formation and changes of arguments held towards collective violence. The study challenges traditional views on anti-Jewish violence in the late nineteenth century.