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2 - Benevolent Autocracy

from Part I - Learning to Know Germany: 1780–1840

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2024

Shulamit Volkov
Affiliation:
Tel-Aviv University
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Summary

This chapter moves to the last phases of the French occupation in parts of Germany and to the improved position of the local Jews in these regions. It then concentrates on the efforts to legalize Jewish equality in the constitution of the new German Bund, discussed in a special committee at the Congress of Vienna, and within this context, it examines the position of a number of important German politicians towards Jewish emancipation. While Wilhelm von Humboldt’s liberal approach is relatively well known, but appears to be more complex on taking a closer look, it is interesting to observe the position of another Prussian politician, Karl August von Hardenberg, and especially that of the Austrian foreign minister chairing the entire congress, Metternich. Both were much more conservative, but still supported Jewish equality, insisting it must apply to Germany as a whole. In the end, this question remained undecided, like so many other issues relating to the planned constitution, mainly because of the pressure from the presumably much more liberal bourgeoisie in the various cities of the new Bund.

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Chapter
Information
Germany through Jewish Eyes
A History from the Eighteenth Century to the Present
, pp. 28 - 43
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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  • Benevolent Autocracy
  • Shulamit Volkov, Tel-Aviv University
  • Book: Germany through Jewish Eyes
  • Online publication: 14 November 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009506465.003
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  • Benevolent Autocracy
  • Shulamit Volkov, Tel-Aviv University
  • Book: Germany through Jewish Eyes
  • Online publication: 14 November 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009506465.003
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Benevolent Autocracy
  • Shulamit Volkov, Tel-Aviv University
  • Book: Germany through Jewish Eyes
  • Online publication: 14 November 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009506465.003
Available formats
×