Reconstructing a National Identity: The Jews of Habsburg Austria during World War I FROM THE PUBLISHER
"Reconstructing a National Identity explores the impact of war and political crisis on the national identity of Jews, both in the multi-national Habsburg Monarchy and in the nation-states that replaced it at the end of World War I. It focuses on the German-speaking Jews of Austria in an attempt to understand Jewish identity in particular and the nature of ethnic and national identity in general." "Based on extensive reading of published and unpublished memoirs, newspapers, sermons, and archival records, Reconstructing a National Identity provides moving testimony about the dilemmas of Jews - and, by extension, ethnic minorities in general - in European society."--BOOK JACKET.
SYNOPSIS
This book explores the impact of war and political crisis on the national identity of Jews, both in the multinational Habsburg monarchy and in the new nation-states that replaced it at the end of World War I. Jews enthusiastically supported the Austrian war effort because it allowed them to assert their Austrian loyalties and Jewish solidarity at the same time. They faced a grave crisis of identity when the multinational state collapsed and they lived in nation-states mostly uncomfortable with ethnic minorities. This book raises important questions about Jewish identity and about the general nature of ethnic and national identity.
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