<Political
Activities.
[Constantinople: negotiations with
the grand vizier - plan of financial help and an independent Jewish
state]
Herzl lost no time in entering upon his political activities. On April
23, 1896 - upon the intervention of the Rev. W. *Hechler - he was
received by *Frederick, the grand duke of Baden and uncle of the German
kaiser, William II. The grand duke became a supporter of the Zionist
cause, and through his good offices Herzl established contact with the
kaiser in 1898. In June 1896 Herzl made his first trip to
Constantinople and, with the help of Michael Nevlinski, a Polish
diplomatic agent, met with the grand vizier. He submitted a proposal
according to which the Jews would undertake to correct the Ottoman
Empire's grave financial situation in return for which the sultan would
relinquish his rule over Erez Israel and agree to the country's
becoming an independent Jewish state.
[Question for a Jewish vassal
state - question of a Jewish autonomy]
When this proposal was rejected, Herzl asked for permission to create a
Jewish state under the suzerainty of the sultan (i.e., a vassal state);
at a later date (from the end of 1898) this request developed into a
demand for a charter for dense and concentrated Jewish settlement in
Erez Israel that would enjoy autonomy and the right of self-defense - a
demand which Herzl was to pursue steadfastly for the rest of his life.
On his way to Constantinople, Herzl was given a warm reception by the
Jewish communities of Serbia and Bulgaria.
[No support for the Zionist Herzl
plan by London Jewry - the organization of the Jewish mass migration to
Palestine - Zionist congresses - Herzl Zionist newspaper "The World"]
On a trip to London, he was acclaimed by the East End Jews, but failed
in his attempts to gain the support of the leaders of British Jewry,
the Hovevei Zion there, and the *Jewish Colonization Association (ICA).
Baron Edmond de *Rothschild, whose support would have been the key to
the Jewish leadership and the Hovevei Zion in Western Europe, also
rejected Herzl's appeal for support. In the crucial interview between
Herzl and de Rothschild on July 18, 1896, the latter rejected Herzl's
ideas on the grounds that it would be impossible to organize the Jewish
masses.
This rejections and the reason given for it, more than any other single
factor, prompted Herzl to embark upon the organization of the Jewish
people in order to create a Jewish state in Erez Israel. He promoted
this idea with great vigor, and on March 6, 1897, in a preliminary
conference attended by representatives of Hovevei Zion societies in
Germany, Austria, and Galicia, Herzl's proposal to convene a general
Zionist congress was accepted. In spite of the widespread resistance to
the idea of holding a congress, found even among members of Hovevei
Zion, Herzl succeeded in calling the congress as the first national
assembly of Jews striving for the renaissance of their people. For
dissemination of the Zionist idea Herzl founded a weekly,
Die *Welt [["The World"]] the first
issue of which appeared on June 4, 1897, with Herzl as its editor in
chief. Herzl also provided the required finances for the paper.
[[The Arabs are not mentioned, not asked, and Arab anti-Semitism and
eternal war are not taken into consideration]].
The Zionist Organization.
The First *Zionist Congress, held in Basle [[Basel]] on Aug. 29-31,
1897, was the first interterritorial gathering of Jews on a national
and secular basis. The congress adopted the program of the Zionist
movement, which came to be known as the *Basle Program, and established
the World Zionist Organization as the political organization of the
"Jewish people en route" [["Jewish people under way"]].
Herzl chaired the First Congress (as he did the five subsequent
congresses held in his lifetime) and was elected (col. 412)
president of the World Zionist Organization, retaining that office
until his death. In spite of a heart disease, which grew worse as a
result of overwork and strain, and notwithstanding the attacks upon him
by opponents within the Zionist Organization and outside of it, Herzl
persevered in his dedication to two principal aims:
"The establishment of a national home for the Jewish people in Erez
Israel", as formulated in the Basle Program, with the agreement of the
Powers and of Turkey to be achieved by diplomatic negotiations;
and building and strengthening the World Zionist Organization in order
to create an instrument that would carry weight in the political and
financial negotiations with external factors and would be capable of
carrying out the settlement of Erez Israel.
Shortly after the Congress, Herzl made preparations to establish the
Zionist bank (the *Jewish Colonial Trust) which was to have a share
capital of Ł 2 million and would provide the financial basis for his
negotiations with the Turkish government. He assumed that upon the
successful conclusion of these negotiations, subsidiaries to the bank
would be established and would serve as the economic instruments
required to develop the country and organize migration and settlement.
[[The Arabs gave their reaction to this Herzl Zionist movement: They
founded newspapers and big parts did not at all agree with the Jewish
invasion
plans which was the first step of an Arab anti-Semitism. The
non-Zionists did not take earnest the Zionists because the
big part of the "Holy Land" was desert or swamp and the newcomers were
given desert land so there were irrigation systems required. But the
Zionist fantasy did not give up]].
[Banks and fund-raising]
The Second Congress (Aug. 28-30, 1898) passed an official resolution on
the founding of the bank, which took place in March 1899. The bank's
seat was London. In 1903 a subsidiary of the bank was established in
Jaffa under the name Anglo-Palestine Co. (which eventually became the
Bank Leumi Le-Israel).
The great Jewish banks, however, whose owners opposed political
Zionism, did not take part in the financial effort, and as a result the
Zionist Organization was able to raise only Ł 250,000 of share capital.
Compared to any sum previously raised by Zionist societies, this was a
considerable amount; but its significance paled beside the tremendous
tasks allotted to the bank in Herzl's program. His failure to gain the
sympathy and active support of the Jewish capitalists became the
greatest obstacle to Herzl's (col. 413)
political work and was perhaps the main reason for his lack of success
in achieving his major aims, although he did score some partial
successes.
[Herzl's talks with kaiser William
II - foreign minister Bernard von Buelow and the kaiser object to
Zionism - heavy resistance of Jewish bankers, liberal Jews, and Jewish
newspapermen to Herzl's Zionism]
Shortly after the Second Zionist Congress, Herzl, with the help of the
grand duke of Baden, succeeded in gaining the sympathy of Kaiser
William II for the Zionist idea. At the end of September 1898 the
kaiser informed Herzl through Philip Eulenburg, the German ambassador
in Vienna, that on the occasion of his forthcoming visit to the Holy
Land, he was prepared to grant Herzl an audience in Jerusalem. This was
preceded by an earlier meeting with the kaiser in Constantinople on
Oct. 18, 1898 (when Herzl was on his way to Erez Israel), at which the
kaiser promised to recommend the Zionist Organization to the sultan and
to accept the sponsorship of the Jewish Land Company for Syria and
Palestine which Herzl was about to found.
After the interview, Herzl proceeded to Erez Israel, where he was
enthusiastically received by the settlers of the Jewish colonies
(*Mikveh Israel, *Rishon le-Zion, *Nes Ziyyonah, and *Rehovot). At
Mikveh Israel the kaiser and his entourage made a special stop in order
to greet Herzl, who was waiting for them at the school entrance.
The official meeting of the kaiser with Herzl and his associates took
place on Nov. 2, 1898, in the kaiser's tent camp on the outskirts of
Jerusalem. The meeting was a disappointment to Herzl. His lack of
success was due mainly to the influence of the foreign minister,
Bernard von Buelow, who in turn had been impressed by the opposition of
the Jewish bankers, the liberal Jews, and the Jewish newspapermen to
the Zionist movement. In his reply to Herzl's address, the kaiser did
say that he welcomed the efforts of the Zionist movement to restore
Erez Israel and that he would give the matter further thought; in fact,
the kaiser no longer evinced any serious interest in the Zionist
movement, nor did his government pay any attention to it.
[[The motives of the objection to Herzl's Zionism like Arab
anti-Semitism and the Church as the main reason of anti-Semitism are
never mentioned]].
[Herzl's talks with the sultan:
Herzl has not enough money to help the Turkish financial situation -
Turkish proposal for Jewish settlement in Mesopotamia - no success of
negotiations]
Herzl's direct political efforts in Constantinople were also fruitless.
With the help of A. *Vambery, who had close links with the sultan's
court, Herzl was received by the sultan on May 17, 1901. He made a
strong impression on the sultan, and the latter suggested that he
submit concrete proposals for the improvement of Turkey's financial
situation. As before, Herzl was unable to obtain the required capital
from the wealthy Jews, and no progress could be made in the
negotiations with the Turkish government.
In February 1902 Herzl was again invited to Constantinople, this time
as the sultan's guest, although he did not meet with the sultan
himself. He was offered a permit for Jewish settlement in various parts
of the Ottoman Empire, especially in Mesopotamia (now Iraq), in return
for ameliorating the Empire's financial plight; Erez Israel, however,
was specifically excluded from the proposal, and Herzl rejected it.
Another invitation from the Ottoman government came in July 1902;
again, as on previous occasions, no progress was made. Finally Herzl
decided to branch off in a new direction and embarked upon his
political contacts with Great Britain.
[[As it seems the Turkish government wanted to settle the Jews in less
dangerous regions and did not want to see the traffic lines broken
between the Middle East and Africa along the Mediterranean coast line.
But Herzl Zionism did not bother the danger that a new Israel should be
installed right at a place where all big invasions went through from
the Middle East and from the African side...]].
Negotiations with Great Britain.
[Fourth Zionist congress in London
- Lord Rothschild for Jewish settlement in the Empire: Cyprus or Sinai
Peninsula]
From the very beginning of his political activities, Herzl had been
aware of Great Britain's importance in the realization of Zionist aims.
This was one of the reasons for his plan to establish the Society of
Jews in Britain and for the incorporation of the Jewish Colonial Trust
and the Anglo-Palestine Company, as well as the *Jewish National Fund
(founded by the Fifth Congress in 1901), as British companies.
In order to obtain the support of British statesmen and public opinion
for Zionism, Herzl held the Fourth Congress in London. With the help of
the journalist L.J. *Greenberg, Herzl established contacts with the
British government. At the beginning of June 1902, he was invited to
London to testify (col. 414)
before the Royal Commission for Alien Immigration (i.e., the
immigration of Jews). On this occasion he met with Lord Rothschild, the
head of the London branch of the family, who opposed the idea of Jewish
settlement in Erez Israel but was interested in settling Jews in parts
of the British Empire. In his testimony before the Royal Commission,
Herzl stated that the problem of alien (Jewish) immigration into
Britain would be solved if the British government were to offer a
territory for the independent settlement of Jews.
Although the aim of the Zionist Movement, as defined in the Basle
Program, was the establishment of a Naitonal Home in Erez Israel, under
special circumstances, when the need arose to extend urgent help to the
Jewish masses, the movement would consider itself obliged to try to
alleviate the lot of persecuted Jews in some other manner - without
abandoning its program and principles. On the day following his public
testimony, in a talk with the chairman of the commission, Herzl
revealed that in his reference to a territory for the settlement of
Jews, he had in mind Cyprus and the Sinai Peninsula, which were areas
under British protection and were close to Erez Israel.
Several years before Herzl's attention had been drawn to these areas by
Davis *Trietsch. Now that his negotiations with the Turkish government
had come to naught, Herzl considered it appropriate to approach to the
British government with a proposal for a charter for Jewish settlement
of these areas. He hoped it would thus be possible to make an early
start on a settlement project - a demand that was being raised with
growing urgency by various groups in the Zionist Organization in view
of
the lack of progress in the political sphere. He also hoped that the
settlement of Jews in the vicinity of Erez Israel would bring about
concessions on the part of the Ottoman government.
[The Sinai commission - negative
negotiations with the British side]
On Oct. 22, 1902, Herzl met with Joseph Chamberlain, the British
colonial secretary. The latter rejected the proposal for the settlement
(col. 415)
of Cyprus, but expressed a favorable attitude toward the settlement in
the Sinai Peninsula and recommended it to the foreign secretary, Lord
Landsdowne. On Dec. 18, 1902, the British Foreign Office asked Herzl to
send a commission to the Sinai Peninsula, adding a promise that if the
commission were to submit a favorable report, the British government
would support the proposal before the Egyptian government.
The commission was promptly dispatched, and in its report stated that
settlement of Sinai and *El-Arish was feasible, provided the Egyptian
government would agree to the diversion of substantial quantities of
water from the Nile Valley to these areas. After protracted
negotiations by Herzl, Greenberg, and A.E.W. *Goldsmid with the British
high commissioner Lord Cromer, and the Egyptian government, the latter
rejected the proposal; as a result, the British government also
withdrew its support. (col. 416)
[[There is no indication of the reasons of the negative result]].
The Uganda Scheme.
[Uganda instead of Cyprus
negotiations - Kishinev pogrom 1903 - speculations and tactics with
Turkey]
In a talk between Greenberg and Chamberlain, on May 20, 1903,
Greenberg, following Herzl's instructions, again raised the proposal of
settlement in Cyprus. Chamberlain did not think that Cyprus was
suitable for autonomous Jewish settlement and proposed instead an area
in East Africa (Uganda, now part of Kenya). Chamberlain had already
hinted at this plan in his conversation with Herzl on April 23, 1903,
and Herzl had rejected it. In the meantime, however, the horrifying
reports of the Kishinev pogrom (1903) had highlighted the sorry state
of East European Jewry and the urgent need to provide relief.
Herzl now felt justified in continuing his negotiations with the
British government, even on the basis of Chamberlain's East Africa
proposal, for political, tactical, and practical reasons. He believed
that the establishment of close ties between the Zionist Organization
and the British government would result in the political recognition of
the Jewish people by the British and would thus facilitate the full
realization of Zionist aims.
Furthermore, the publication of the *Uganda Scheme might induce Turkey
to make far-reaching concessions with regard to Erez Israel, in order
not to forego the support of the Jewish capital, which would presumably
be at its disposal if Turkey were to agree to autonomous Jewish
settlement in Erez Israel.
Finally, from a practical point of view, Herzl (col. 417)
regarded the Uganda Scheme as a means of converting the hasty flight of
the Jews from Russia into an organized migration to a country that
would eventually serve as an auxiliary project to the main center in
Erez Israel. His decision about Uganda did not prevent Herzl from
continuing efforts aimed directly at securing Erez Israel for Jewish
settlement.
[since 1903: negotiations with the
Russians for influence on Constantinople]
On Aug. 5, 1903 Herzl left for Russia to attempt to alleviate the
situation of the Jews in the Czarist Empire and to gain Russian support
in Constantinople for the Zionist proposals over Erez Israel. He had
two meetings with the Russian minister of the interior, V. Plehve, in
the course of which he was promised that the Russian government would
intervene with the sultan on behalf of the Zionist program. ON this
trip Herzl was accorded a tumultuous welcome by Russian Jews,
especially in Vilna.
While Herzl was still in Russia, on Aug. 14, 1903, Greenberg was handed
a statement by the British government to the effect that if the Zionist
Organization were to send a commission to East Africa, and if that
commission were to locate an area suitable for Jewish settlement there,
the British government would be prepared to permit the establishment of
an autonomous Jewish colony in the area headed by a Jewish governor
under British suzerainty.
[[The Blacks and native peoples of East Africa seem not to be asked]].
[1903: The Jewish delegates object
to the Uganda plan and want Jerusalem]
With the approval of the Zionist Executive (the "Actions Committee"),
Herzl submitted the Uganda Scheme to the Sixth Zionist Congress, held
in Basle on Aug. 22-28, 1903. In his opening address Herzl made it
quite clear that the Scheme would not affect the ultimate aim of
Zionism, and that for the time being all that was required was a
decision to investigate the proposal. Nevertheless, the proposal roused
vehement opposition and caused great excitement at the congress,
especially among the Russian delegates, who regarded it as a betrayal
of Erez Israel.
When, in spite of their opposition, the congress approved the creation
of a committee to advise the Zionist Executive on the dispatch of a
survey commission to East Africa, the "nay-sayers" staged a walkout. In
a frank talk with the dissidents, Herzl proved to them that he had at
no time relented his efforts in behalf of Erez Israel, which was and
would forever remain the goal of Zionism, and thus succeeded in
preventing a split in the movement. At the final session of the
congress, in which all the delegates took part, Herzl solemnly declared
"If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning."
[Talks about Palestine and Uganda
at the same time - the Russian Jews persist on Palestine excluding
the Uganda plan]
When the congress was over, Herzl lost no time in resuming his
political efforts in behalf of Erez Israel. He exchanged letters with
Plehve and the latter sent appropriate instructions to the Russian
ambassador in Constantinople. Herzl also made new proposals to the
Turkish (col. 418)
government and in January 1904 met with the pope, the king of Italy,
and members of the Italian government. All these activities, however,
brought no concrete results. He also persisted in the negotiations with
the British government, making an unsuccessful attempt to revive
discussion of the El-Arish plans. The unrelenting struggle waged
against him by the opposition in the Zionist movement (led by M.
*Ussishkin and Y. *Tschlenow) make it difficult for him, for tactical
reasons, to renounce the Uganda Scheme officially, despite his personal
desire to do so.
The reconciliation that had been achieved at the congress was of short
duration. Ussishkin, who had been in Erez Israel at the time of the
congress, called for a meeting of the Russian members of the Executive.
The conference took place at *Kharkov in November 1903 and decided to
send a delegation to Herzl to demand a written commitment that he was
abandoning the Uganda Scheme completely and would not entertain any
proposal for settlement outside of Erez Israel. Herzl refused to
receive officially the delegation that was to serve him the ultimatum.
After several months of fierce struggle in the Zionist press and in
mass meetings, Herzl convened the Zionist General Council (the "Greater
Actions Committee") in order to settle the controversy.
The meeting took place in Vienna on April 11-12, 1904, and in the
course of its stormy proceedings Herzl was able to convince the council
that he had remained faithful to Erez Israel and managed to appease the
opposition. Thus he succeeded in safeguarding the unity of the Zionist
Movement, and this was to be his final great contribution to the
movement.
These fierce struggles, added to his incessant efforts in behalf of the
Zionist cause, aggravated Herzl's heart condition, and as soon as the
meeting was over he left for Franzensbad (now Frantiskovy Lazne), the
Bohemian spa, for treatment. He did not recover and returned to
Vienna. Shortly afterward, he left for another spa, Edlach near
Semmering, where he was afflicted by pneumonia and died on July 3,
1904.> (col. 419)
[[Also the Russian Jews seem to have neglected any Arab existence and
Arab counter movement to a Jewish invasion in the Middle East.
Enthusiasm made them blind, and the main cause for Russian
anti-Semitism, the Russian orthodox Church, is not mentioned]].
Sources
|
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Theodor Herzl, vol. 8, col. 411-412 |
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Theodor Herzl, vol. 8, col. 413-414 |
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Theodor Herzl, vol. 8, col. 415-416 |
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Theodor Herzl, vol. 8, col. 417-418 |
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Theodor Herzl, vol. 8, col. 419-420 |
|
Encyclopaedia Judaica
