Great Britain, British Jews, and the international protection of Romanian Jews, 1900-1914: a study of Jewish diplomacy and minority rights

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 

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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 

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