Moses Hess

Moses Hess (1812–1875) was a German-Jewish philosopher, socialist theorist, and early Zionist thinker whose ideas bridged European socialism and modern Jewish nationalism. He is best remembered for his pioneering role in the development of socialist thought in nineteenth-century Europe and for his influential work Rome and Jerusalem (1862), which laid intellectual foundations for Zionism decades before it became a political movement. Hess’s career reflects a unique synthesis of philosophy, politics, and Jewish identity at a time of profound social transformation.
Although overshadowed during his lifetime by contemporaries such as Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, Hess has since been recognised as a formative figure in both socialist theory and modern Jewish political thought.

Early life and intellectual background

Moses Hess was born on 21 January 1812 in Bonn, in what was then the Kingdom of Prussia. He was raised in a traditional Jewish household and initially received a strong grounding in Jewish religious education. Unlike many Jewish intellectuals of his generation, Hess retained a lifelong engagement with Jewish identity, even as he embraced secular philosophy.
In his youth, Hess was exposed to German idealist philosophy, particularly the ideas of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Hegelian notions of history as a rational process deeply influenced Hess’s early writings and shaped his understanding of social progress. At the same time, the economic inequalities produced by industrialisation drew him towards socialist thought.

Contribution to early socialism

Hess was among the earliest German thinkers to articulate socialist ideas, earning him the description of a “communist rabbi” in contemporary accounts. His early works, including The Sacred History of Humanity (1837), attempted to fuse philosophy, ethics, and social reform into a comprehensive vision of human emancipation.
He argued that capitalism alienated individuals from their labour, community, and moral purpose. Long before Marx’s mature economic writings, Hess identified class conflict as a central force in modern society and advocated collective ownership and social equality as remedies for exploitation.
Hess played a crucial role in introducing socialist ideas to Marx and Engels during the 1840s. He collaborated with them on radical journals and participated in revolutionary circles in Germany, France, and Belgium. Although Marx later distanced himself from Hess’s more ethical and humanistic socialism, Hess’s influence on the early development of Marxist thought is widely acknowledged.

Break with Marxism and ideological divergence

Despite early collaboration, Hess’s relationship with Marx and Engels deteriorated over time. Marx criticised Hess for what he saw as philosophical idealism and insufficient economic analysis. Hess, in turn, grew disillusioned with the increasingly materialist and deterministic direction of Marxism.
This ideological divergence reflected a deeper difference in priorities. While Marx focused on class struggle as the primary engine of history, Hess maintained that ethical values, cultural identity, and national belonging also played decisive roles. This perspective later informed his turn towards Jewish nationalism.
By the mid-nineteenth century, Hess had largely withdrawn from mainstream socialist movements, redirecting his intellectual energy towards the question of Jewish emancipation.

Rome and Jerusalem and Jewish nationalism

Hess’s most enduring work, Rome and Jerusalem: The Last National Question, was published in 1862. Written in response to rising antisemitism in Europe, the book argued that Jewish assimilation had failed to resolve the “Jewish question”.
Hess contended that Jews constituted a nation, not merely a religious community, and therefore required a national homeland. He identified Palestine as the historical and spiritual centre of Jewish life and envisioned a future Jewish society founded on socialist principles.
Key ideas advanced in Rome and Jerusalem included:

• The persistence of antisemitism despite legal emancipation.
• The necessity of Jewish national revival.
• The compatibility of Jewish nationalism with universal human progress.
• The establishment of a socialist Jewish commonwealth in Palestine.

This synthesis of nationalism and socialism distinguished Hess from later Zionist thinkers and anticipated themes that would re-emerge in Labour Zionism.

Relationship to modern Zionism

Although Hess died decades before the emergence of political Zionism, his ideas profoundly influenced later Zionist leaders and thinkers. He is often described as a precursor or “father” of socialist Zionism.
Theodor Herzl, the founder of political Zionism, is known to have read Rome and Jerusalem after publishing The Jewish State and reportedly expressed regret at not having encountered Hess’s work earlier. While Herzl emphasised diplomacy and state-building, Hess focused more strongly on culture, ethics, and social justice.
Hess’s vision differed from purely political Zionism in its emphasis on social equality, communal labour, and moral renewal. These ideas later found expression in the kibbutz movement and other socialist-oriented Zionist projects.

Views on antisemitism and emancipation

Hess offered a distinctive analysis of antisemitism, viewing it as a form of national hatred rather than merely religious prejudice. He argued that modern antisemitism was rooted in ethnic and cultural hostility that could not be eradicated through conversion or assimilation.
According to Hess, Jewish emancipation within European nation-states was inherently unstable because it ignored the national character of Jewish identity. This diagnosis challenged liberal assumptions of the time and proved prescient in light of later historical developments.
His emphasis on dignity, self-determination, and collective renewal resonated strongly with subsequent generations confronting persistent antisemitism.

Later life and personal circumstances

In his later years, Hess lived largely in Paris, where he remained intellectually active but politically marginalised. He continued to write on philosophy, politics, and Jewish affairs, though none of his later works matched the impact of Rome and Jerusalem.
Hess experienced financial hardship and declining health, conditions that limited his influence during his lifetime. He died on 6 April 1875 in Paris and was buried there.
In 1961, his remains were reinterred in Israel at the Kinneret Cemetery, alongside other prominent Zionist thinkers, symbolising his posthumous recognition within Jewish national history.