Anti-semitism in Europe from 1870 to 1939- FRQ outline

Question:  Analyze the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe from the Dreyfus affair in the 1890’s to 1939.

Thesis: As Jews began to gain emancipation throughout Europe and later would assert their nationalism towards wanting a Jewish homeland, they became a scapegoat to the economic problems after WWI and the Dreyfus Affair, especially in the way that Hitler gained the support of the people through mass politics, and thus a wide array of actions were taken against in the Jews in Holocaust starting in the late 1930’s by Germany of Western Europe in contrast to that of Russia in Eastern Europe.

Paragraphs:

I. Causes of Jews being blamed, leading up to Nazism

A. Jewish Nationalism/Pride

o   1. In response to the Christian Socialists who believed that Jews were suppose to be suppressed- Theodore Herzl establishes his idea of Zionism in his book “Der Judenstat”

§  This book advocated the need for a Jewish homeland outside of Europe, an idea that seemed very foreign to other religions

o   2. Jews able to publicly practice religion, become more prominent in society than other ethnicities

B. Dreyfus Affair angers France and Germany

o   1. Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish captain in French army, is accused of passing French secrets to the German army in 1894

§  Dreyfus is sent into a life of imprisonment while Western Europe begins to resent the Jewish people.

o   2. Dreyfus affair is a great example of the willingness of the Catholic Church and monarchists to join a conspiracy against a scapegoat

II. Jews are blamed for WWI, Hitler rises to power to take charge of situation in Germany

A.     Treaty of Versailles

1.     German economy is left in ruins, Jews blamed for this

§  Great Depression and high WWI costs led them into inflation and poverty

o   2. Jews become Easy scapegoat- there were a lot of conspiracies going around, became easy to blame them for military failure

§  Hitler believes that Jews, along with Communists, were responsible for causing strikes, subversion, and revolution on the home front during WWI

B. Weimar Republic taken out, Hitler takes power

1. Nature of Hitler’s power

§  Mein Kampf and mass politics- believed that Germany’s destiny was to conquer the world

§  Propaganda and his obsession with the anti-Semitic music and essays of the composer Wagner (“Das Judenthum in der Musik”)

2.     Hitler sees common enemy, leads Nazi party to want to attack Jews

§  Knows they are problem leads them to find a solution in the New Order and finally the “Final Solution”

III. Results of anti-Semitism/actions taken in Eastern Europe

A.     Jews are oppressed by the government

1. Jews are forced to live in the most western part of Russian lands (Pale)

2. Tsars used Jews as scapegoats

§  Jews took up a majority of the top Soviet Communist leadership, led to Hitler wanting to take action

3. Many pogroms started- action taken to show anti-Semitism

§  Pogroms against Zionism- led to not allowing the Jews to move to Palestine

IV. Results of anti-Semitism/actions taken in Western Europe

A.     Pre-Holocaust

1. Jews were singled out- told to wear the Juden star and put signs up on their stores saying that the owners are Jewish

2. Kristallnacht, 1939- Germans had right to destroy Jewish homes, synagogues, and stores during one night in November

B. The start of the Holocaust

1. Hitler’s New Order- established Nazis/Aryans as the master race and ability to conquer those less worthy, such as Jews and Slavic peoples

2. Leads up to the mass murdering of Jews in labor camps and gas chambers using the new technology of WWI, cyclone B, 6 million Jews die in concentration camps, ghettos, and in medical experiments 

Sick website

Here is a sick interactive map of europe showing the change from time periods as well as everything happening in each country at the time
http://www.worldology.com/Europe/europe_history_lg.htm

Darwin, Freud, Marx, and Feminism

Darwin:

- English naturalist

- Darwin believed in evolution, which challenged old beliefs

- he offered explanation for process of change

- Natural selection: species developed certain traits as they grow in order to gain an advantage in society and thus only the superior members of that species reproduced…so the ones with the old traits died out.

- Humans probably evolved from simpler forms of life

- religious groups opposed Darwin – he threatened the basis of their beliefs

- his ideas inspired others to form “survival of the fittest”, which provided justification for the governments to abandon the poor people….it would upset the natural order.

Social Darwinism:

The notion that certain species were superior to others and were therefore able to dominate them. People should not care about the inferior beings. This served as a rationale for Europeans to dominate and enslave African and Asian colonies in the age of Imperialism.   This was also an impetus for Anti Semitism

Impact on 1800s psych…philosophy…and politics

Psychology – his theory that humans and animals were from same ancestor lead to comparative psychology.

-His theories caused scientists study similarities and differences between people

-His theories led psychologists to connect biology with their theories on human behavior etc.

Philosophy – his theories suggested that some are superior to others “survival of the fittest” and having no sympathy. His thoughts also made people question their religious philosophy.

Political – justified imperialism and encouraged competition among countries thru expansion.

This explained why some countries did better than others….

Freud:

- Father of psychoanalysis

- He explored the human subconscious.

- Id, Ego, Superego:

     Id – evil, selfish, animalistic part of human mind

     Superego – rational, logical, reasoning part of the mind – righteous  

     Ego – balance of the two that governs our behavior.

 - In his Interpretation of Dreams, Freud claimed dreams reveal the inner workings of the mind’s subconscious world. Figures in dreams represent aspects of the subconscious.

 - The subconscious part of our mind drives us to behave the way we do without knowing it.

 - In his Civilization and its Discontents, Freud questioned the premise of human progress and instead claimed that despite our attempts to suppress it, violence is the core of our nature.

Enlightenment:

Enlightenment ideals promoted human reason and that man could accomplish anything thru his reasoning abilities. Focused on the intellectual aspect of the human mind. Believed that humans should use the “reason” function of the mind – reason was not its own entity – Immanuel Kant.

Challenges in the 1800s of the Enlightenment:

Locke believed that the mind was born a blank slate and that society’s education enhanced the mind and our reason.

Darwin and Freud directly challenge this by saying that our actions and capabilities are based on our biological makeup and do not depend on education and intellectual growth.

Marxism:

Marxism founded socialism.

He believed that the classes of society under capitalism would ultimately result in rebellion of the lower class and then chaos  à proletariat class (working class), which were necessary to create a classless, ideal society. This society would arise because the lower classes would revoke private property and create a world where everything was shared economically.

Liberalism views of progress and rationality in 1800s: 

- Liberalists wanted change and focused on human rights b/c they had the capability to handle themselves.

- Politically – they wanted a representative government because they believed that individuals could express their votes based on rational thought. HUMAN rights.

- Socially – middle class members were liberalists – many of them were professional lawyers and doctors. They believed that they were capable of providing for themselves thru their reason and thinking abilities.

- Economically – Laissez – faire – Adam Smith: concept that government should not be involved in country’s economy because the individuals were capable of handling it themselves through reason and ability. Focused on free trade. Everyone can have the right to do this….humans are capable!

Women’s movement pre 1914- The idea of feminists and feminism began as a growing number of women began to criticize he civil disabilities under which they lived, such as the lack of right to divorce or to possess property rights. Suffragists worked to get a womens vote peacefully while the womens social and political union used more aggressive behavior in their policies.

Traditional Beliefs- Religion: rejection of Christianity, G-d isn’t involved in every day life, and atheism

Political: self governing (Lock and Rousseau)…but most were opposed to democracy and wanted a monarchy

Education: Laissez Faire, free trade, and enterprise (adam smith)

Psychological: knowledge based on sensory experience, no pre-conceived notions

Gender: Women used their place to advance women’s rights

Socialism Changes- economically, the industrial revolution caused the people to want more rights since they were now considered just as important as the Bourgeis- social classes were changed and were no longer based on land owning and agriculture…

Socially, there was a new class- proletariat- who wanted more rights as a class themselves

Politically, Marxism wanted to prevent rationalism from taking away rights from workers

FRQs

Describe and analyze the ways in which Marxism, Freudianism, and the women’s movement (and maybe Darwin) challenged traditional European beliefs before the First World War.

A) Marxism- revolt in social classes to upset the balance of society- Enlightenment/past ideals of monarchy, anti-democracy; importance of the middle, working class to the economy- ideal of sharing that was not thought of in past

B) Freud- Enlightenment ideal of reason that people could thrive through their intellect while Freud sees our inner-animalistic being (id), the subconscious that drives our actions and thoughts

C) women’s movement- challenged past gender inequality- new opportunities for education, rights of divorce, suffrage

Evaluate how the ideas of Charles Darwin and Sigmund Freud challenged Enlightenment assumptions about human behavior and the role of reason.

Traditional- self-governing, laissez faire, knowledge based off senses, economic equality (not just working class)

1) Government- Darwin says we can conquer those weaker than us- imperialism

2) Human behavior- Darwin says we act “survival of the fittest” and Freud says we act animalistic and based on our subconscious, Freud- violence is our essence as humans

3) Challenge of reason- Enlightenment sees knowledge coming from sensory experience, Darwin believes we grow and learn based on our need to become better than everyone else

4) Education and growth- Locke believes that society makes us grow, Darwin and Freud directly challenge this by saying that our actions and capabilities are based on our biological makeup and do not depend on education and intellectual growth.