Too little, too late

The Emancipation was a symptom of the rise of the nation-state. Emancipation released Jews from the authority of the kahal but the nation-state simultaneously worked to weaken the authority of the kahal's leadership because the national government would no longer tolerate the separate authority the Jewish corporate leadership represented. 

The question is how well prepared was the kahal for these changes? How well did the leadership understand not only the effects of the Emancipation but also the implications of the political changes in Europe of which the Emancipation was a symptom? Likely not well at all. So the history of Jewish politics for the past 400 years has been largely reactive – too little, too late – and  therefore inclined to become extremist.