Home » Curriculum » AH38 The French Revolution, Napoleon and the Jews

AH38 The French Revolution, Napoleon and the Jews

The French Revolution gave rise to legislation that fully emancipated Jews for the first time in European history, establishing them as equal citizens to other Frenchmen. Subsequently, Napoleon emancipated the Jews throughout his French Empire and introduced various additional ideas of freedom from the French Revolution; e.g. he abrogated the old laws restricting Jews to reside in ghettos, as well as lifting laws that limited Jews’ rights to property, worship, and certain occupations. This course examines the far-reaching effects of Napoleon’s emancipation of the Jews, including its dubious outcomes, such as the Dreyfus Affair and the wave of assimilation that was the product of emancipation and Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment).

Course Specifications
Type: Elective
Lesson type: Lecture
Hours: 28 (5 credits)
Category: HISTORY
Requirement: 1 essay
Instructor: Prof. MICHAEL CHIGHEL
Status: The course will be available in the future.
Course Readings2
Hyman Paula E., The Jews of Modern France (Berkeley, 1998)
Simon Schwarzfuchs, Napoleon, the Jews and the Sanhedrin (Routledge, 1979)