Emancipation and Assimilation of Jews at the Time of Expansion of Political Anti-Semitism in Hungary
Emancipation and Assimilation of Jews at the Time of Expansion of Political Anti-Semitism in Hungary

Author(s): Petra Rybářová
Subject(s): Jewish studies, 19th Century, History of Antisemitism
Published by: Historický ústav SAV
Keywords: Political Anti-Semitism; Hungary; Emancipation and Assimilation of Jews;
Summary/Abstract: Jews were given a guarantee of equality by the Emancipation Act no. XVII/1867, which meant the same role for them like for all other citizens of Europe: to fulfil civil obligations and be loyal to the Hungarian statehood and the crown. They had to stop operating as a separate unit, that is, they had to suppress through reforms the cultural and ethnic particularities that distinguished them from the rest of the population and, consequently, to blend in with the majority, keeping their own religion at the most. Assimilation was intended as the consequence of emancipation and, in fact, its fulfilment. Such a liberal model, based on the Enlightenment ideals of the French Revolution, was in place everywhere in Western Europe. In the Hungarian intentions the assimilation had to take place toward the dominant ethnic Hungarian (Magyar) culture in order to strengthen its tenuous position within the boundaries of the historic Kingdom of Hungary, or, in other words, to increase at least statistically the number of ethnic Hungarians compared to other “nationalities”. In the beginning of the 20th century, Jews in Hungary amounted to about 6 % of the total population, which was a really high number compared with 1 % in Germany. The assimilation process in Hungary took place much faster than in Western Europe, or in less time, generally between the Compromise and World War I, and was most evident in the area of language. The difference was also in the fact that while the assimilation took place in the West in strong national cultures and modern economies, in Hungary it unrolled in generally less developed economic, cultural and political conditions.

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