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The
Zionist Century - Concepts - Zionist Congresses
First Congress - Basle [Basel], 1897
The first Zionist Congress
was to have taken place in Munich, Germany. However, due to considerable
opposition by the local community leadership, both Orthodox and Reform,
it was decided to transfer the proceedings to Basle, Switzerland.
Herzl acted as chairperson of the Congress which was attended by some
200 participants. The major achievements of the Congress were its formulation
of the Zionist platform, known as
the Basle program and the foundation of the World
Zionist Organization. The program stated,
"Zionism seeks for the Jewish
people a publicly recognized legally secured homeland in Palestine."
This gave clear expression to Herzl's political Zionism in contrast with
the settlement orientated activities of the more loosely organized Hibbat
Zion. Herzl was elected President of the Zionist organization and an Inner
Actions Committee and a Greater Actions Committee were elected to run
the affairs of the movement between Congresses.
In his diary Herzl wrote,
"Were I to sum up the Basle Congress in a word - which I shall
guard against pronouncing publicly - it would be this: At Basle I founded
the Jewish State."
Second Congress - Basle, 1898
In the face of a more active
opposition to Zionism from amongst various Jewish leaders, Herzl called
on the Congress to "conquer the communities." In essence, this was a demand
that the Zionist movement focus its attention not only on political activity
for Palestine but also on work within the Jewish communities. At this
Congress, the foundations were laid for the establishment of the Jewish
Colonial Trust, a financial body aimed at the development of Palestine.
It was also at this Congress that a group of Socialists first appeared
demanding representation within the Zionist leadership.
Third Congress - Basle, 1899
Herzl opened
the Third Congress with a report on his meetings with Kaiser William II
in Constantinople and Jerusalem. Despite the fact that these meetings
produced no practical results, the fact that they took place was of considerable
symbolic value.
The Congress spent a good deal of its time discussing the political dimensions
of Zionism although opposition to this orientation was voiced by those
who thought that the more practical efforts of settlement should be encouraged.
In a debate on the Jewish Colonial Trust, Congress decided that its funds
could only be spent in Palestine or Syria.
Whilst delegates were increasingly concerned with what was called the
question of culture - the Zionist attempt at a national/ethnic identity
for the Jews - Herzl was preoccupied with the political matters at hand.
Some historians argue that Herzl was not so much disinterested in these
cultural matters as he was frightened of their potential to split the
infant movement.
Fourth Congress - London, 1900
The Congress was held in
London in order to affect public opinion in that country in sympathy with
the Zionist idea. The Congress met in an atmosphere of growing concern
over the situation facing Rumanian Jewry where many thousands had been
forced to leave and the remainder were subject to persecution. Although
this appeared to provide further evidence of the need for a "Charter,"
Herzl had nothing substantial to offer that might bring succor to these
Jews.
On the cultural question, the religious Zionists led by Rabbi Yitzhak
Ya’akov Reines demanded that the Zionist movement restrict itself
solely to political matters. The Congress also discussed the problems
of the Jewish workers in Palestine and the question of a national Jewish
sports movement.
Fifth Congress - Basle, 1901
Herzl reported to the Congress
of his meeting with Sultan Abdul Hamid II of Turkey and of the progress
of the Jewish Colonial Trust. These achievements did not satisfy all the
delegates, in particular those associated with the recently formed Democratic
Faction.
The group led by Leo Motzkin, Martin
Buber and Chaim Weizmann called on the Zionist
movement to adopt a program of Hebrew culture and a greater degree of
democracy within the organization. The more concrete achievement of the
Congress was the establishment of the Jewish
National Fund (JNF) which was to raise funds for land purchase in
Palestine.
At the Fifth Zionist Congress,
a resolution was adopted determining that the next Congress would take
place every alternate year and not - as had been the practice - annually.
In his opening speech, Herzl detailed the efforts
to secure a Charter on behalf of the movement, but these attempts were
increasingly desperate as the situation of the Jews, particularly following
the Kishinev pogrom, deteriorated. This gave rise to various temporary
solutions such as the "El Arish" project, which was negotiated with the
British statesmen, Joseph Chamberlain and Lord Landsdowne.
After the collapse of this scheme, the British then offered Herzl the
possibility of an autonomous Jewish settlement in East Africa (commonly
known as the Uganda Project). Herzl called on the Congress
to give serious consideration to the plan, even though he appreciated
that it could not replace Palestine as the Jewish Homeland. In the lively
debate that followed, Max Nordau, Herzl's major confidante,
argued that "Uganda" would be a night refuge. Despite considerable opposition
and a demonstrative walk-out by the Russian Zionists, the delegates agreed
by 295 in favor, 178 against and 98 abstentions that a committee should
be dispatched to examine the possibility of Jewish settlement in East
Africa.
Among other matters discussed at the Congress was a report by Franz Oppenheimer
on the possibility of cooperative settlement on the land, a program that
was to have influence on the creation of various settlements in Palestine
a few years later. This was to be Herzl's last Congress: he died a
year later.
Seventh Congress - Basle, 1905
The Congress opened with
a eulogy on Herzl by Nordau. Immediately
thereafter, debate resumed on the question of settlement outside Palestine.
The Congress heard the report of the Commission that had been sent to
East Africa which had concluded that "Uganda" was unsuitable for mass
Jewish settlement and proceeded to vote against a national home anywhere
except Palestine and its immediate vicinity. The Territorialists, led
by Israel Zangwill left the Congress in protest and
established the Jewish Territorial Association.
The Congress also discussed practical work in Palestine e.g. giving support
to agricultural settlements and industrial activity. Although Nordau seemed
the natural choice to succeed Herzl as President of the Zionist Organization,
he refused and instead David Wolffsohn assumed this
position. The Executive of the WZO moved its offices from Vienna to Cologne.
Eighth Congress - The Hague, 1907
The decision
to hold the Congress in the Hague was based on the knowledge that the
Second International Peace Conference was to be held in that city.
At the Congress the major debate concerned the conflicting approaches
of the practical and political Zionists.
The political Zionists demanded that a charter be secured before practical
work began in Palestine, while the practical Zionists argued that without
substantial settlement there was little hope of gaining legal sanction
from one or more of the Great Powers.
In the event, the movement supported a number of practical efforts and
established a Palestine branch of the WZO to be headed by Arthur
Ruppin.
However, the adoption of synthetic Zionism -- a synthesis of the two
positions -- became the clarion call of not a few delegates, their major
spokesperson being Chaim Weizmann.
Ninth Congress - Hamburg, 1909
At this Congress, Wolffsohn
and Nordau expressed the hope that following the Young
Turk Revolution, Zionist endeavors might enjoy a change in fortune.
In the meantime, the Congress once again divided over the question of
how to implement the Zionist program. The practical lobby accused Wolffsohn
of focusing on political activity and his executive -- of judging projects
by their commercial value. This rival leadership included Menahem
Ussishkin, Chaim Weizmann and Nahum
Sokolow who gained support from the representatives of the workers'
movement in Palestine.
Tenth Congress - Basle, 1911
This Congress has often
been described as the Peace Congress because it finally laid to rest the
debate between the practical and political Zionists with Synthetic Zionism
becoming the operational mode of the movement.
Considerable attention was given to the question of practical work in
Palestine as well as Hebrew culture. Shlomo Kaplansky raised the question
of Zionist relations with the Arabs and, for the first time, a session
of the Congress was held in Hebrew.
David Wolffsohn was succeeded as President by Otto
Warburg, a German Jew and distinguished scientist who was identified with
the practical Zionist camp. The WZO moved its headquarters from Cologne
to Berlin.
Eleventh Congress - Vienna, 1913.
The Congress spent much
of its time discussing settlement activities in Palestine and the work
of the organization's office in Jaffa. Nordau, who
had objected to this deviation from Herzl's approach was conspicuous by
his absence.
Weizmann and Ussishkin won the
support of Congress for the establishment of the Hebrew University in
Jerusalem. However, twelve years were to pass before the facility opened.
Twelfth Congress - Carlsbad (Karlovy Vary), 1921
This was, of course, the
first Congress to be held after the First World War, during which time
the Zionist movement had won British support for its endeavors to create
a Jewish national home in Palestine (the Balfour
Declaration). The Congress passed resolutions welcoming the decision
of the principal Allied Powers to grant the mandate for Palestine to Britain
and encouraged the ratification of the Mandate
by the League of Nations.
With the end of the war, the defeat of Germany and the success of the
London branch of the movement, it was clear that the leadership there
would be rewarded. Weizmann became President of the
WZO and Sokolow President of the executive.
The Congress discussed the activities and organization of Keren HaYesod,
which had been established a year earlier at the London Conference and
whose purpose it was to raise funds for the upbuilding of Palestine from
among the Jewish communities of the Diaspora.
A further issue discussed at the Congress was the question of Zionism's
relations with the Arabs. This matter had become serious as a result of
Arab riots in Jerusalem (1920) and in Jaffa (1921). The Congress passed
a resolution declaring that Zionism seeks,
"to live in relations of harmony and mutual respect with
the Arab people," and called on the Executive to achieve a, "sincere
understanding with the Arab people."
The Congress reflected the growing trend of party and territorial divisions
within the Zionist movement. The Executive now met in London and Jerusalem.
Theodor
Herzl | Max Nordau | David
Wolffsohn | Yitzhak Ya’akov Reines
Leo Motzkin | Martin
Buber |Chaim Weizmann | Israel
Zangwill
Menahem Ussishkin | Nahum
Sokolow
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