Conservative Party Attitudes to Jews 1900-1950

This work examines the attitudes of the Conservative Party towards Jews in Britain, Palestine and elsewhere from 1900-1948. It aims to show how the Conservative Party in the first half of the 20th century regarded both itself and British society on the one hand, and Britain's role on the other. It discusses Conservative responses to Jewish immigration into Britain from both Eastern Europe in the first decades of the century and from Central Europe in the 1930s. Conservative attitudes to the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine are examined from its nascent stage up until the establishment of the State of Israel. The author argues, in conclusion, that the generally held view that the Conservative party is, and always was, anti-Semitic is too simplistic an analysis of a complex group of people during a period which saw changes in the Party, in British society and in the Jewish community.

Harry Defries was awarded a PhD in modern history, upon which this book is based, by Royal Holloway College, University of London