From persecution to mass migration : the "alien" in popular print and society, 1881-1906

Abstract

This thesis traces the development of attitudes towards alien immigration in the metropolitan daily press during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. It examines attitudes towards the Russian persecution of East European Jewry and sets them against growing anxieties over increased alien immigration. This approach enables an investigation of the expression of sympathy and compassion for the plight of East European Jewry and the extent to which this was undermined by the development of anti alien sentiment throughout the period. In addition, the thesis examines the impact that transformations in the newspaper industry had on debates regarding alien immigration and the extent to which these changes influenced attitudes towards the Russian persecution of East European Jewry. The dual nature of this approach and the focus on the metropolitan daily press offers an original insight into alien immigration in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The thesis begins with a discussion of historiographical developments in relation to Jewish immigration and the British press. It focuses on political, social and cultural transformations that occurred over the period and how they impacted upon attitudes towards alien immigration. The following four chapters then consider the nature of these developments and examine responses towards the Russian persecution of East European Jewry and increasing anxieties over alien immigration into Britain. Chapter one assesses the response of the British press towards the outbreak of anti-Jewish violence across the Russian empire between 1881-1882 to establish the nature of attitudes towards the persecution of East European Jewry. Chapter two continues this theme with an investigation of the response of the British press towards the expulsion of Jews from Russia between 1890-1892. Chapter three then deals with outbreaks of anti-Jewish violence at Kishinev in 1903 and examines alien immigration within the broader context of socio-political transfonnations and changes within the newspaper industry. The final chapter analyses attitudes in the British press towards the passing of the Aliens Act and considers the implementation of restrictive legislation in relation to outbreaks of Russian anti-Jewish violence at Odessa during the same period.

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