Liberalism, nationalism and federalism: Reflections on the life and work of Meïr Goldschmidt

Abstract

AbstractThe Danish‐Jewish publisher Meïr Aron Goldschmidt was an active political voice in Denmark in the 1840s and 1850s during the crisis of the Danish Oldenburg monarchy, when the ‘Danish Empire’ was troubled by territorial defragmentation, succession crisis, foreign military threats, Danish–German ethnic tensions and calls for democratic reforms by National Liberals.This article reflects on Goldschmidt's life and works as he attempted to syncretise the inherent dualities of nationalism and liberalism. His vision became a Swiss‐inspired federalism that should create a shared national identity based on liberal democracy to reunite the ethnic groups of the ‘Danish Empire’.Ultimately, history took another course, and the nationalist path was taken with disastrous results for Denmark. However, Goldschmidt has left a legacy in his writings as a microcosm of the ideas of his time by trying to syncretise nationalism and liberalism, cosmopolitanism and nationalism and a Danish and Jewish national identity.