Reconstructing National Identity: The Jews of Habsburg Austria During World War I (Studies in Jewish History) - Hardcover

This work very carefully and sensitively reconstructs what it meant to be Jewish and Austrian in the time of World War I. (Journal of Modern History)

Scholars teaching courses on nationalism in modern Europe ought to consider the book for their syllabi; despite the phrase "national identity" in its title, it is a case study of group identity that is precisely not national, but a hybrid of patriotic, cultural, and ethnic-religious affiliation. (Journal of Modern History)

Rozenblit's book stands to have great crossover appeal for students and scholars of Jewish history who are more familiar with the nation-state cases of Western Europe. (Journal of Modern History)

Rozenblit's book is an identity study of the very best kind. (Journal of Modern History)

... excellent. (The Historical Journal)

This book explores the impact of war and political crisis on the national identity of Jews, both in the multinational Habsburg monarchy and in the new nation-states that replaced it at the end of the First World War. Jews enthusiastically supported the Austrian war effort because it allowed them to assert their Austrian loyalties and Jewish solidarity at the same time. They faced a grave crisis of identity when the multinational state collapsed and they lived in nation-states mostly uncomfortable with ethnic minorities. This book raises important questions about Jewish identity, and about the nature of ethnic and national identity in general.