‘Progressive’ Britain is no more if Jeremy Corbyn comes to power

At the outbreak of World War I, the Jewish Chronicle, which had been wary of conflict with Germany, threw its support behind the war effort in a leader proclaiming: ‘England has been all she could be to Jews, Jews will be all they can be to England.’ A banner reading the same and urging Jews to enlist, was hoist outside the newspaper’s London offices. The Jewish World published a full-page poster insisting ‘There must be no Jewish slackers’ and urging ‘young Jewish men’ to ‘do your duty to your faith and your country’. Naturalised British Jews urged Russian emigres to sign up, even though as foreign nationals they were initially exempt. A patriotic sense of duty was at work, of course, but so too was fear: fear of the repercussions if Jews were not seen to do their bit. 

In the event, Jewish enlistment increased tenfold between the declaration of war and the beginning of conscription and thereafter doubled, but that didn’t mean the community’s anxiety was misplaced.