Vladimir Jabotinsky's Russian Years, 1900-1925

by Brian J. Horowitz

Overview

In the early 20th century, with Russia full of intense social strife and political struggle, Vladimir Yevgenyevich (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky (1880–1940) was a Revisionist Zionist leader and Jewish Public intellectual. Although previously glossed over, these years are crucial to Jabotinsky's development as a thinker, politician, and Zionist. Brian Horowitz focuses on Jabotinsky's commitments Zionism and Palestine as he embraced radicalism and fought against antisemitism and the suffering brought upon Jews through pogroms, poverty, and victimization. Horowitz also defends Jabotinsky against accusations that he was too ambitious, a fascist, and a militarist. As Horowitz delves into the years that shaped Jabotinsky's social, political, and cultural orientation, an intriguing psychological portrait emerges.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780253047687
Publisher:	Indiana University Press (Ips)
Publication date:	05/05/2020
Series:	Jews of Eastern Europe
Pages:	290
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Brian Horowitz holds the Sizeler Family Chair in Jewish Studies at Tulane University. He is author of many articles and books on European and American Jewry, including Empire Jews, Jewish Philanthropy and Enlightenment in Late-Tsarist Russia, Russian Idea—Jewish Presence, and most recently The Russian-Jewish Tradition.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction: Vladimir Jabotinsky and Russia
1. A Zionist in Odessa, circa 1900–03
2. Zionism Before 1905
3. In Revolution and Counterrevolution, 1905–06
4. The Decade between the Revolution of 1905 and World War I (1907–1914)
5. Political Alliances Break, Jabotinsky Goes His Own Way (1907–1914)
6. The Jewish Legion's Russian Inspiration, 1915–1917
7. Post-War Disappointments, Palestine 1918–1922
8. Russian-Jewish Emigration and the Path to Zionist Revisionism, 1923–1925
9. Russia in the Life and Work of Jabotinsky After 1925
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

"

Horowitz provides a very readable and comprehensive account of the evolution of Jabotinsky's views. As an accomplished and well-recognized scholar of Russian literature and cultural life, he also consistently and with great profit to his argument, elucidates the main features of the Russian environment in which Jabotinsky functioned, first in Russia and then in exile.

"

author of Barricades and Banners Scott Ury

This is a well-researched, convincing political biography of one of the central figures in the history of Zionism and modern Jewish politics. The author carefully traces Jabotinsky’s intellectual and political developments from his youthful flirtations with Jewish politics in the Russian empire to his position as a burgeoning leader of Zionist opposition immediately after World War I. The book is based on a wide range of Russian-language materials and archival sources that help to bring Jabotinsky’s early years to light.

author of The Jews in Poland-Lituania and Russia Antony Polonsky

Horowitz provides a very readable and comprehensive account of the evolution of Jabotinsky’s views. As an accomplished and well-recognized scholar of Russian literature and cultural life, he also consistently and with great profit to his argument, elucidates the main features of the Russian environment in which Jabotinsky functioned, first in Russia and then in exile.

Scott Ury

"

This is a well-researched, convincing political biography of one of the central figures in the history of Zionism and modern Jewish politics. The author carefully traces Jabotinsky's intellectual and political developments from his youthful flirtations with Jewish politics in the Russian empire to his position as a burgeoning leader of Zionist opposition immediately after World War I. The book is based on a wide range of Russian-language materials and archival sources that help to bring Jabotinsky's early years to light.

"

Antony Polonsky

"

Horowitz provides a very readable and comprehensive account of the evolution of Jabotinsky's views. As an accomplished and well-recognized scholar of Russian literature and cultural life, he also consistently and with great profit to his argument, elucidates the main features of the Russian environment in which Jabotinsky functioned, first in Russia and then in exile.

"

Editorial Reviews

It is Horowitz's personal opinion that Jabotinsky's "outsize image deflates considerably when one compares him to Ben-Gurion". However, a careful, dispassionate reading of this book most probably will convince the objective reader otherwise. And for that result, Horowitz deserves praise.

Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs - Yisrael Medad - Menachem Begin Heritage Center

In this interesting and original book, Brian J.  Horowitz focuses on Vladimir Jabotinsky's transformation from a supporter of liberalism in Russia to a Zionist who advocated extreme conservatism in the mid- 1920s.

Studies in Contemporary Jewry An Annual XXXII - Abraham Ascher

In this latest, absorbing book [Vladimir Jabotinsky's Russian Years, 1900-1925] Horowitz focuses on Jabotinsky's years in Russia, drawing on detailed Russian and Hebrew sources.

The Jewish Chronicle - Colin Shindler

Horowitz's book, a critical rethinking of Jabotinsky's Russian years, is a valuable addition to this scholarship, which makes a significant con- ceptual and factual contribution to the historiography of both Russia and her Jews.

AJS REVIEW - Vassili Schedrin - Queen's University

"Horowitz provides a very readable and comprehensive account of the evolution of Jabotinsky's views. As an accomplished and well-recognized scholar of Russian literature and cultural life, he also consistently and with great profit to his argument, elucidates the main features of the Russian environment in which Jabotinsky functioned, first in Russia and then in exile."—Antony Polonsky, author of The Jews in Poland and Russia: A Short History

"This is a well-researched, convincing political biography of one of the central figures in the history of Zionism and modern Jewish politics. The author carefully traces Jabotinsky's intellectual and political developments from his youthful flirtations with Jewish politics in the Russian empire to his position as a burgeoning leader of Zionist opposition immediately after World War I. The book is based on a wide range of Russian-language materials and archival sources that help to bring Jabotinsky's early years to light."—Scott Ury, author of Barricades and Banners

"In this interesting and original book, Brian J.  Horowitz focuses on Vladimir Jabotinsky's transformation from a supporter of liberalism in Russia to a Zionist who advocated extreme conservatism in the mid- 1920s."—Abraham Ascher, Studies in Contemporary Jewry An AnnualXII

"In this latest, absorbing book [Vladimir Jabotinsky's Russian Years, 1900-1925] Horowitz focuses on Jabotinsky's years in Russia, drawing on detailed Russian and Hebrew sources."—Colin Shindler, The Jewish Chronicle

"In his careful intellectual history, Vladimir Jabotinsky's Russian Years, 1900-1925, Brian Horowitz shows that Jabotinsky's Revisionist Zionist congress was the crowning glory of his "Russian period," when the Russian-speaking journalist and intellectual enshrined a vision of a Jewish home with a Jewish majority in British Palestine from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River."—David Shneer, University of Colorado, Boulder, Russian Review

"It is Horowitz's personal opinion that Jabotinsky's "outsize image deflates considerably when one compares him to Ben-Gurion". However, a careful, dispassionate reading of this book most probably will convince the objective reader otherwise. And for that result, Horowitz deserves praise."—Yisrael Medad - Menachem Begin Heritage Center, Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs

"Horowitz's book, a critical rethinking of Jabotinsky's Russian years, is a valuable addition to this scholarship, which makes a significant con- ceptual and factual contribution to the historiography of both Russia and her Jews."—Vassili Schedrin - Queen's University, AJS REVIEW

From the Publisher

In his careful intellectual history, Vladimir Jabotinsky's Russian Years, 1900-1925, Brian Horowitz shows that Jabotinsky's Revisionist Zionist congress was the crowning glory of his "Russian period," when the Russian-speaking journalist and intellectual enshrined a vision of a Jewish home with a Jewish majority in British Palestine from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River.

Russian Review - David Shneer