Author Description

Discusses the beginnings of modern antisemitism as part of the mobilization and politicization of Galicia, a process which culminated in the election campaign of 1897 and the antisemitic riots of 1898. Emphasizes that antisemitism competed with other nationalization projects and served to motivate voters. Antisemitic views were first introduced into local political culture through agitation, then reproduced in the form of a conflict between Christians and Jews, and finally became an object of parliamentary discussion and work, thereby becoming a powerful subject in public discourse. The first phase of antisemitic agitation was marked by a national liberal critique of Judaism, but the second, more relevant phase promoted a reactionary, ethnocentric vision. The expansion of voting rights had brought new actors to the political scene, and allowed populists and clergymen to represent the lower classes, which had until then been mere objects of parliamentary debate. The new political actors portrayed the Jews as dangerous, foreign antagonists, who prevented the healthy development of the Galician nation. During the 1897 election campaign, antisemitic propaganda spread in the countryside on a previously unknown scale, leading to violent peasant riots in 1898. Traces the dynamics of the riots, as well as discussions regarding them in the Parliament in Vienna and the activities of the Galician antisemitic parliamentarians.