eBook

Jews and the military

Penslar, Derek J

2013,2014

Overview

Jews and the Militaryis the first comprehensive and comparative look at Jews' involvement in the military and their attitudes toward war from the 1600s until the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. Derek Penslar shows that although Jews have often been described as people who shun the army, in fact they have frequently been willing, even eager, to do military service, and only a minuscule minority have been pacifists. Penslar demonstrates that Israel's military ethos did not emerge from a vacuum and that long before the state's establishment, Jews had a vested interest in military affairs. Spanning Europe, North America, and the Middle East, Penslar discusses the myths and realities of Jewish draft dodging, how Jews reacted to facing their coreligionists in battle, the careers of Jewish officers and their reception in the Jewish community, the effects of World War I on Jewish veterans, and Jewish participation in the Spanish Civil War and World War II. Penslar culminates with a study of Israel's War of Independence as a Jewish world war, which drew on the military expertise and financial support of a mobilized, global Jewish community. He considers how military service was a central issue in debates about Jewish emancipation and a primary indicator of the position of Jews in any given society. Deconstructing old stereotypes,Jews and the Militaryradically transforms our understanding of Jews' historic relationship to war and military power.

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Subject: 1948 Palestine war / 19th century / 20th century / Alfred Dreyfus / American Jews / Anita Shapira / Antisemitism / Antisemitism (authors) / Army / Austria-Hungary / British Army / British Jews / Central Europe / Chief Rabbi / Combatant / Conscription / Court Jew / Cultural assimilation / David Ben-Gurion / David Sorkin / Dreyfus affair / Europe / Fatherland (novel) / Franco-Prussian War / French Army / Galician Jews / General- History / General- Religion / Gentile / Germans / Haganah / Hannah Arendt / HISTORY / HISTORY / Europe / General / HISTORY / Modern / General / HISTORY / Military / Wars & Conflicts (Other) / Horowitz / Identity / Infantry / Israel / Israel Defense Forces / Jewish emancipation / Jewish history / Jewish identity / Jewish soldiers / Jewish soldiers -- Europe -- History -- 19th century / Jewish soldiers -- Europe -- History -- 20th century / Jewish studies / Jews / Jews -- Cultural assimilation -- Europe -- History -- 19th century / Jews -- Cultural assimilation -- Europe -- History -- 20th century / Jews -- Europe -- History -- 19th century / Jews -- Europe -- History -- 20th century / Jews -- Europe -- Identity / Joseph Trumpeldor / Judaism / Land of Israel / Line of battle / Literature / Memoir / Militarism / Military / Military service / Modern / Napoleon / Napoleonic Wars / Narrative / Nazi Germany / Nazism / Orthodox Judaism / Other- Hbjd- Hrj- Hbw / Pacifism / Palestinians / Patriotism / Persecution / Pogrom / Prisoner of war / Protestantism / Prussia / Religion / RELIGION / Judaism / General / Rhetoric / Russo-Japanese War / Sephardi Jews / Spanish Civil War / The Jewish Chronicle / War / War effort / Warfare / World War I / World War II / Yiddish / Yishuv / Zionism
• ISBN: 9780691138879, 0691168091, 9780691168098, 0691138877, 1400848571, 9781400848577