Frederick William III: A Documentative Analysis
It takes a modest amount of research and little more than conversational knowledge of modern history to accurately make the claim that the Jewish people have had an incredibly idiosyncratic relationship with Europe and its many powers throughout ancient and contemporary history. The way they have interacted with various political powers throughout the 20th century is, without straying into subjectivity, remarkable, to say the least. Every nation that has at one point been a home for the Jewish people has formed their own, specific relationship with them. This relationship can, and has, ranged from celebrating full rights for them to adopting a complacent role towards genocide, sometimes even publicly endorsing it. Making a claim that the
…show more content…
Although he was only the successor of Frederick II’s successor himself, Frederick William III’s documents indicate a very different attitude towards the Jewish people, or at least either a lack of prejudice, or the rational to not let personal prejudices influence political decisions (Preussen.de - Heute). While attempting to extrapolate Frederick William III’s personal opinions has no scholarly relevance to supporting the argument of the change in Prussia’s treatment of Jews, decoding this document bears the …show more content…
Every nation dealt with the Jewish people in their own separate way, and the Jewish response in turn, also varied greatly. Prussia, like any other European power, developed a relationship with its Jewish population. What is interesting about this relationship is how quickly it was altered, initially offering the Jews few rights, to then allowing complete citizenship, within the reign of three kings, all within 62 years. The interpreted selections of the aforementioned documents provide clear, concise historical evidence that attest to the argument that Prussia’s relationship with the Jewish people in its territories during the 20th century uniquely and profoundly changed from one of consequential, bureaucratic management to one of nearly unreserved
Although he was only the successor of Frederick II’s successor himself, Frederick William III’s documents indicate a very different attitude towards the Jewish people, or at least either a lack of prejudice, or the rational to not let personal prejudices influence political decisions (Preussen.de - Heute). While attempting to extrapolate Frederick William III’s personal opinions has no scholarly relevance to supporting the argument of the change in Prussia’s treatment of Jews, decoding this document bears the …show more content…
Every nation dealt with the Jewish people in their own separate way, and the Jewish response in turn, also varied greatly. Prussia, like any other European power, developed a relationship with its Jewish population. What is interesting about this relationship is how quickly it was altered, initially offering the Jews few rights, to then allowing complete citizenship, within the reign of three kings, all within 62 years. The interpreted selections of the aforementioned documents provide clear, concise historical evidence that attest to the argument that Prussia’s relationship with the Jewish people in its territories during the 20th century uniquely and profoundly changed from one of consequential, bureaucratic management to one of nearly unreserved