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Emancipation
In Western Europe, Jews began their efforts to
gain equal rights, i.e., to enjoy the same civil rights as
the rest of
society, in the eighteenth century, along with the
bourgeoisie and
peasants. They were included in the Enlightenment-inspired
reforms,
which were implemented in the wake of the French Revolution.
The Jews' emancipation was not enacted immediately
following the
Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen, but rather
required a separate
edict of the French National Constituent Assembly on
September 27,
1791. This was later undermined several times, including
during the
Napoleonic period. It was only in Calvinist Holland that the
Jews,
particularly Sephardic Jews, enjoyed almost total freedom as
early as
the seventeenth century. The United States was the first
country to
stipulate equal rights for all citizens, regardless of their
religion,
which was included in the Declaration of Independence of
July 4, 1776.
In Poland, there were attempts to reform Jews' legal
status during
the Four-Year Sejm (1788-92); these were greeted with strong
opposition
from the conservative representatives. The Polish Freemasons
played a
large role in the preparations leading up to the reform,
taking their
inspiration from the French Revolution.
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The Third of May Constitution of 1791 gave Jews
and the bourgeoisie the same rights, but did not eliminate
the system
of estates, nor the numerous restrictions on the lower
estates. As a
result of the partitions that soon followed, the new laws
embodied in
the Constitution could not be implemented. After the
partitions, the
laws of each partitioning power regulated the Jews'
position. The
absolutist governments stipulated that Jews be given equal
rights only
on the condition that they "civilize themselves", which in
practice
meant forced assimilation, in addition to various
restrictions.
Jews were granted full equal rights in the Austrian
Empire in 1867,
in Prussia in 1869, and in Italy in 1848-1866; in the Papal
States, on
the other hand, they received them only in 1870. In these
countries, it
was a gradual process, beginning with the toleration patent
of Joseph II
and Napoleonic-era legislation, which was later rescinded by
the Holy
Alliance, followed by the revolutionary achievements of the
Spring of
Nations. Equal rights were eventually formally guaranteed in
laws and by
the state, and questioned only by anti-Semitic political
groups.
In Russia, restrictions remained in force limiting Jews'
choice of
profession, education, religion, freedom of movement and
place of
residence. The May laws (1882) meant additional restrictions
for Jews,
which in effect left them outside the law. It was only the
February
Revolution of 1917 that accorded Jews equal rights.
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Despite the principle of equal rights that was
formally acknowledged in the Soviet Union, during the
Stalinist period
various restrictions were imposed on Jews. Jewish artists
and those
active in Jewish cultural life were persecuted: arrests took
place in
the 1930's and Jewish institutions were liquidated 1948. The
members of
the Jewish Anti-Fascist Front were executed in 1952, which
was followed
by the doctors' trial in 1953. Moreover, they were limited
in their
choice of university studies and profession, a restriction
that was only
lifted after perestroika in the early 1990's.
Jews' rights in other countries of the Soviet bloc were
also
limited, both for individuals or groups: their ability to
cultivate
their ethnic identity and religious life was hindered and
they had only
limited opportunities for advancement. There were also
periods of
persecution in various countries, such as the show trials
against L.
Rajk in Hungary in 1949 and R. Slansky in Czechoslovakia in
1952, and
the purges in Poland that took place in 1949, 1956 and 1968.
Forced
emigration also took place.
The idea that Jews are fellow citizens deserving of the
same legal
protection from the state as any other citizen came
relatively late, as
did the notion that Jews should be guaranteed the same
rights in their
private and professional lives. These were concepts that
European
societies accepted only with difficulty.
(A.C./CM)
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