The Jewish Question at the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1818

At all of the international conferences and congresses held in XIXth and early XXth centuries, at which the peace treaties with Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Finland were drawn up, the Jewish Question was put on the agenda by dint of the initiative of the Jews themselves - in most cases, Jewish organisations. In contrast, the person who moved the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle to take up the question of "the Jewish nation" was a member of the English clergy, the Reverend Lewis Way. It should be noted that Way's petition to the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle differed from all other petitions. At all of them, the only question raised with regard to the Jews was the granting of freedom of religion, civil and political rights. In contrast, Way's case also embraced the question of the Jews as a people and a nation, and the prophecies as to their Return to Zion. Keywords:congress of Aix-la-Chapelle; freedom of religion; Jewish; peace treaties; Reverend Lewis Way; Zion