Russian Jews and the Russian Right: Why Were There No Jewish Right-Wing Politics in the Late Russian Empire?

Several academic works have influenced research discourse more because of their impressive titles rather than their content, which is important in its own right. ¹ One of them is John D. Klier's study, “Why were Russian Jews not Kaisertreu?” Klier asked why Jews were not loyal subjects of the Russian Empire, like they were in the neighboring German and Austro-Hungarian empires. To answer this question, Klier described how the tsarist regime equated Jews with its enemies, the Poles, and imposed anti-Jewish legislation starting in the 1860s and especially after 1881. Finally, he stated that “the judeophobe mindset of the imperial government created conditions that actively encouraged the movement of Jews into political opposition…. It became literally impossible for Jews to join the right-wing of Russian politics.” ² To a large extent, Klier's conclusion is correct and easily observable.