Europa und Palästina: 1799–1948 / Europe and Palestine: 1799–1948

The encounter of Occident and Orient is one of the major topics of our time. This encounter is the theme of the present volume in regards to the Palestinian realm from 1799 to 1948. The contributions of twelve authors from Germany, France, Israel, Italy, Austria, Russia, and Switzerland are concerned with a period in which the ordinary interest for the land of the Bible and Christian history was connected to a much greater cultural and political discourse, which was not only carried out by the western churches, but also by European societies in general. In nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Palestine, many forces were at work; from 1516/17 Palestine belonged to the Ottoman Empire. Beginning in the nineteenth century, especially after 1840, this small territory became an issue for world politics. The maintenance of the integrity of the Ottoman Empire constituted one of the guidelines of the European powers. This did not hinder any of them, however, from taking part in a competition for influence in Palestine. More and more travellers and pilgrims went to the “Holy Land;” increasing numbers of church (missionary) representatives settled on location; more associations with confessional and scholarly goals were founded; and an ever greater number of relevant publications appeared. The theme “Europe and Palestine” is thus not a one-way street, but a link, which connects European and non-European history from the standpoint of a modern “international history” and the newly refocused church and religious histories. (An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libraries working with Knowledge Unlatched. More information about the initiative and links to the Open Access version can be found at www.knowledgeunlatched.org.)