In the 1890’s, antisemitism in Europe took the form of violent oppression in Eastern Europe. In Eastern Europe, Jews were openly hated and discriminated against in a way that the average Western European Jewish person could not even begin to imagine. The Tsarist power used Jews as scapegoats much like the politicians in Western Europe. Instead of appealing to anti-Semitic sentiment to achieve democratic political success, the Tsar often inspired the empires subjects to participate in programs against neighboring Jewish communities to turn the hate fostered in poor living conditions.