1st Edition
Russian Pogroms and Jewish Revolution, 1905 Class, Ethnicity, Autocracy in the First Russian Revolution
This book, based on extensive original research, examines the widespread and violent pogroms against Jews which took place in the Russian Empire in 1905. It briefly surveys the earlier history of Jews in the Russian Empire and the discriminatory policies against them. The work outlines the extent of the killings and lootings in 1905, explores the role of the authorities who were often neutral or complicit in the violence, and highlights Jewish self-defense measures. It relates the pogroms to the place of the Jews in Russian urban and rural life, to social change and modernisation, and to the revolutionary events of 1905, in which Jews played a prominent role, and during which calls for ethnic self-determination arose among many nationalities of the Russian Empire, most broadly and consequentially among Jews. Overall, the book views the pogroms as a consequence not only of Russian antisemitism, but of the broader, revolutionary breakdown of Russian state and society in 1905.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Glossary
Introduction
Part I: Setting the Scene
Chapter 1, Russia & the Jews before 1905
Chapter 2, 1905: Revolution and Counter-Revolution
Chapter 3, The Jewish Revolution: I
Chapter 4, The State’s Role: the Police & the Army
Part II: The Pogroms
Chapter 5, Pogrom in Kiev
Chapter 6, Revolution & Pogrom in Odessa
Chapter 7, Pogroms inside the Pale
Chapter 8, Pogroms outside the Pale
Part III: Responses to Pogroms
Chapter 9, The Jewish Revolution II
Chapter 10, Civil Society and Pogroms in 1905
Chapter 11, Pogroms and Peasants
Conclusions
Appendix: Pogroms as Ritual
Bibliography
Index
Biography
Gerald D. Surh is a retired professor in the Department of History at North Carolina State University, USA
