UC Santa Barbara

This thesis examines how nationalism and antisemitism influenced key businesses in food, entertainment, retailing, and the global corset industry from the 1870s to World War I. I make four key arguments which contribute to the literature in business history, Jewish history, and British history. First, I document how Jewish businessmen and women contributed to nation-making in the metropole before and during WWI. Second, that British antisemitism took a different, but potent, form than the overt antisemitism on the continent, in part, due to the pairing with populist anti-immigration rhetoric which was seen as more civilized than active antisemitism. Third, opportunistic antisemitism by business owners was heavily linked to fears over globalism. Finally, I show that business networks for Jewish entertainment entrepreneurs at the turn of the century were significantly more transnational than imperial.