D’une guerre à l’autre : la presse juive allemande et française en 1870-1871 et 1914-1918

Abstract

This contribution compares the discourses on the war of 1870-1871 and 1914-1918 in the Allgemeine Zeitung des Judenthums and Archives Israélites. In 1870-1871, the editors of these important Jewish newspapers declared their readiness to defend their homeland with arms, but they also expressed their opposition to this war and, faithful to the messianic tradition, placed themselves in a resolutely transnational perspective, anxious to transcend "national passions" and to promote exchange and dialogue between nations. This peaceful transnationalism and religious solidarity was replaced, in 1914-1918, by a powerful patriotism, especially on the French side. Refusing any solidarity with their German co-religionists, French journalists praised the "sacred union" and mobilized against the Germans. Moreover, traditional messianism was no longer reactivated for a rapprochement between nations but to defend the justness of the French cause. On the other hand, the picture that emerges in the German review is more complex. Ludwig Geiger, the director of the German journal at the time, seemed to be more critical of the war and also more sensitive to the fate of his French co-religionists.