and central Europe, even during the height of the Dreyfus Affair. For
example, an anti-Semitic French general had designed and marketed spe-
cial canes to be used when beating Jews. During the riots, virtually no
incidents of its use were reported. The state maintained order, and pro-
tected Jews as French citizens. The lack of violent anti-Semitism in western
and central Europe explains Jewish responses to anti-Semitism prior to the
First World War.
The question of Jewish responses became a matter of historical debate dur-
ing the 1960s. Following the Eichmann trial in 1962, the German-Jewish
émigré and political scientist Hannah Arendt accused European Jewish lead-
ers of political passivity in the face of anti-Semitism. Emancipated Jews,
she argued, had a pathological dependence on the state and its laws for
protection. Disciples of Arendt looked for earlier examples of passivity, con-
cluding that there was a lack of any Jewish response to anti-Semitism at the
end of the nineteenth century, except in the case of the few Jews who pre-
sciently embraced Zionism.
In response to this claim of passivity, a closer examination of Jewish
responses subsequently revealed that Zionism was one of three Jewish
responses to anti-Semitism. In addition to Zionism, which attracted only a
tiny minority of central European Jews prior to 1914, some Jews became
socialists, on the assumption that social revolution would eliminate anti-
Semitism. Jewish socialists tended by and large toward moderate forms of
socialism, such as the trade unionism advocated by Edward Bernstein, or
Viktor Adler’s Austro-Marxism.
The most common response by far, however, was to combat anti-Semitism
by actively working within the system. This meant suing anti-Semitic orators
and journalists for libel and malice, responding to anti-Semitic statements by
publishing letters and editorials in the press, and disseminating positive
propaganda about Jews and their contributions to European society and cul-
ture. Spearheading such efforts in France was the Alliance. Elsewhere, new
organizations such as the German-Jewish Centralverein deutscher Staatsbürger
judischen Glaubens(the Central Organization of German Citizens of the Jewish
Faith) performed similar tasks. Comparable organizations appeared in
Vienna, Budapest, London, and eventually in the United States, with the for-
mation of the Anti-Defamation League.
The outlook of these organization reflected the mentality of the Jews who
joined. They regarded anti-Semitism as a secularized version of antiquated reli-
gious bigotry. Moreover, they regarded themselves as citizens of their country,
and combated anti-Semitism as not only an affront to Jews but also to liberal or
republican values. This mentality was vindicated by the decline of anti-
Semitism in western and central Europe before the First World War.
Anti-Semitic political parties won fewer votes and seats, and anti-Semitic news-
papers such as Drumont’s La Libre Parolewent bankrupt for lack of subscribers.
184 Anti-Semitism and Jewish responses, 1870–1914