1890-1914: The Golden Era of the Bund in the Russian Empire

• Authors: David E. Fishman

Abstracts

EN

This article provides an overview of the Bund from the establishment of its precursor organization in 1890 until World War I. First it takes into account the historical conditions that led to the rise of a distinct Jewish socialist movement in the Russian Empire to then focus on its three spheres of activity: (a) economic difficulties, as a Jewish workers’ movement engaged in union-organizing and strikes, (b) political challenges, as a Jewish revolutionary movement working to overthrow the Tsarist system and (c) national obstacles, as a movement fighting for Jewish civil rights and Jewish national autonomy, the advancement of Yiddish language and culture, and the organisation of Jewish self-defense against pogroms. Appended to the article is the translation of an early Bundist pamphlet, The Town Preacher (1895), which presents the movement’s ideas in a simple, popular form, based on the story of the single strike of Jewish tobacco-workers in Vilna.

Keywords

EN

Jews in the Russian Empire; Bund; Socialism; Jewish National Autonomy; Yiddish Culture

• Publisher: Associazione Italiana Polonisti (AIP)
• Journal: pl.it / rassegna italiana di argomenti polacchi
• Year: 2022
• Issue: 13
• Pages: 17-31

Dates

published

2022

Contributors

author

David E. Fishman

• Jewish Theological Seminary of America

• https://orcid.org/0000000200546391

References

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Identifiers

DOI

10.57616/PLIT_2022_02

Biblioteka Nauki

28407868