JYVÄSKYLÄ STUDIES IN HUMANITIES 56 Satu Matikainen Great Britain, British Jews, and the International Protection of Romanian Jews, 1900–1914 A Study of Jewish Diplomacy and Minority Rights JYVÄSKYLÄN YLIOPISTO Copyright © , by University of Jyväskylä ABSTRACT Matikainen, Satu Great Britain, British Jews, and the international protection of Romanian Jews, 1900-1914: A study of Jewish diplomacy and minority rights Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2006, 234 p. (Jyväskylä Studies on Humanities ISSN 1459-4323; 56) ISBN 951-39-2567-6 Finnish summary Diss. The thesis discusses the Romanian Jewish problem in the early twentieth century from the perspective of Jewish diplomacy and minority rights. The number of Jews in Romania was approximately 270,000, or 4.5 per cent of the total population. The Romanian Jews were one of the first minority groups to be protected by means of international conventions. The Treaty of Berlin (1878) provided for equal rights to persons of all religious confessions in Romania. However, Jews were not granted Romanian citizenship, and their lives were regulated by a system of anti-Jewish legislation. In this situation, emancipated Jewish elites in Western Europe, including Britain, strove to help their coreligionists in Romania. British Jews, through their foreign policy organisation, the Conjoint Foreign Committee, tried to persuade the British Foreign Office to intervene on behalf of Romanian Jews. The British government agreed, in principle, that Romanian Jewish policy should be modified. It was reluctant to act, however, arguing that any intervention in Romanian affairs could only happen in concert with the other Great Powers. The attitudes of the British government towards Romanian Jews were shaped in part by interpretations on international minority protection. They were also influenced by political considerations such as Great Power rivalry and domestic problems relating to Jewish immigration. As to Anglo-Jewish views, practical considerations such as immigration also played a role, but policy was mainly shaped by perceptions of the struggle for Jewish emancipation and the role of privileged Jewries as defenders of their less fortunate coreligionists. Anglo-Jewish diplomacy did not result in any visible improvement in the situation of Romanian Jews before 1914. The legal emancipation of Romanian Jews only came to pass after the First World War. However, Jewish diplomacy was important on numerous occasions in promoting the subject of minority rights. The activities of the Anglo-Jewry on behalf of Romanian Jews were a significant phase in the history of minority protection. Keywords: Romania, Great Britain, Jews, diplomacy, ethnic minorities, international relations, anti-Semitism, Author’s address Satu Matikainen Department of History and Ethnology P.O. Box 35 (H) FIN-40014 University of Jyväskylä FINLAND Supervisor Professor Seppo Zetterberg Department of History and Ethnology P.O. Box 35 (H) FIN-40014 University of Jyväskylä FINLAND Reviewers Docent Eero Kuparinen Department of History FIN-20014 University of Turku FINLAND Docent Markku Ruotsila Kadetintie 12 A FIN-00330 Helsinki FINLAND Opponent Docent Eero Kuparinen Department of History FIN-20014 University of Turku FINLAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This project has been long in the making. My interest in Jewish history and history of ethnic minorities began when, in 1993, Professor Jorma Ahvenainen suggested a fascinating topic for my Master’s thesis, under the working title of ‘The Jewish Question in Romania’. The present work has gradually evolved from that starting point. I would like to thank Professor Ahvenainen for supporting my application to participate in an Academy of Finland exchange programme to study and carry out research in the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (now part of the University College) at the University of London, in 1995-1998. I wish to express my thanks to the staff in the School of Slavonic and East European Studies. My thanks go to all the archives and libraries mentioned in the bibliography section at the back of the book. I would like to express my special gratitude to the Board of Deputies of British Jews, for permission to use their archives in the London Metropolitan Archives. I would also like to single out two institutions where I have spent countless hours: the National Archives (previously the Public Record Office) at Kew, London and the Hebrew and Jewish Studies Collection and the Special Collections and at the University College Library, London. I am most grateful for the financial support I have received from the Academy of Finland and the University of Jyväskylä. I would like to thank my reviewers Dr Eero Kuparinen and Dr Markku Ruotsila for criticism and suggestions on the manuscript. Laura McCambridge deserves special thanks for meticulous proofreading and language consultation. The map of early twentieth century Romania is drawn by Jari Järvinen. I would also like to thank the publishing unit of the Jyväskylä University Library. I am immensely grateful to Professor Seppo Zetterberg, my thesis supervisor, for unending encouragement during these years. I am indebted to Professors Toivo Nygård and Petri Karonen, the former and present Heads of the Department of History and Ethnology, for supporting me in every step of the process. The Department of History and Ethnology of the University of Jyväskylä has provided a pleasant and inspiring working environment for the past eight years. Jyväskylä, July 2006 Satu Matikainen CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................9 1.1 The scene.......................................................................................................9 1.2 Research on Romanian Jews ....................................................................10 1.3 International protection of minorities ....................................................13 1.4 Jewish diplomacy and British foreign policy.........................................17 1.5 Research questions ....................................................................................22 1.6 Primary sources .........................................................................................24 2 THE ROMANIAN JEWISH QUESTION IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY ............................................................................................................30 2.1 The rise of the Jewish question ................................................................30 2.2 The Treaty of Berlin...................................................................................37 2.3 Features of the Romanian Jewish community.......................................43 2.4 Anti-Jewish legislation..............................................................................45 2.5 Anti-Semitism in Romania .......................................................................50 3 THE BEGINNING OF ROMANIAN JEWISH MASS EMIGRATION AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY ................................................................58 3.1 Emigration statistics ..................................................................................58 3.2 The causes of emigration ..........................................................................61 3.3 ‘Fusgeyers’ — the first wave of emigrants.............................................67 4 BRITISH ATTITUDES TOWARDS ROMANIAN JEWISH MIGRATION .......................................................................................................72 4.1 The Anglo-Jewish community and immigration ..................................72 4.2 The arrival of Romanian Jewish immigrants in Britain in 1900..........76 4.3 International Jewish action and coordination of migration ................83 4.4 Romanian Jewish immigrants and the British Aliens Act of 1905......91 5 DIPLOMATIC INTERVENTION ON BEHALF OF ROMANIAN JEWS DURING THE FIRST YEARS OF THE CENTURY......................................100 5.1 Anglo-Jewish diplomacy and Foreign Office policy in 1900-1901 ...100 5.2 The Romanian Trades Law in spring 1902...........................................106 5.3 Interpretations of the Trades Law.........................................................109 5.4 Hay’s note — the American intervention ............................................115 5.5 British reactions to the American note .................................................120 5.6 The conclusion of the dispute ................................................................124 6 THE ROMANIAN PEASANT REVOLT OF 1907 ........................................131 6.1 The background to the revolt.................................................................131 6.2 The Peasant Revolt — responses and evaluations..............................137 6.3 Anglo-Jewish diplomacy in the aftermath of the revolt ....................147 7 THE CONJOINT COMMITTEE CAMPAIGN ON BEHALF OF ROMANIAN JEWS, 1908-1909........................................................................151 7.1 A renewed Anglo-Jewish campaign in early 1908..............................151 7.2 The Romanian Jewish question at the time of the Balkan crisis .......154 8 THE ROMANIAN JEWISH PROBLEM DURING THE BALKAN WARS, 1912-1913..............................................................................................165 8.1 The Union of Native Jews.......................................................................165 8.2 Jewish concerns relating to the First Balkan War ...............................168