Theodor Herzl

Theodor Herzl (May 2, 1860 – July 3, 1904) was an Austrian Jewish journalist who became the founder of modern political Zionism. His Hebrew personal names were Binyamin Ze'ev.

Becomes leader of the Zionists

From April, 1896, when the English translation of his Der Judenstaat ("The Jewish State") appeared, his career and reputation changed. He became the leading spokesman for Zionism. For a long time it was believed that Herzl was moved by the Dreyfus affair, a notorious anti-Semitic incident in France in which a French Jewish army captain was falsely convicted of spying for Germany. Herzl had been covering the trial of Dreyfus for an Austro-Hungarian newspaper. He also witnessed mass rallies in Paris right after the Dreyfus trial where many chanted "Death To The Jews!"; this apparently convinced him that it was futile to try to "combat" anti-Semitism. In June, 1895, in his diary, he wrote: "In Paris, as I have said, I achieved a freer attitude toward anti-Semitism, which I now began to understand historically and to pardon. Above all, I recognized the emptiness and futility of trying to “combat” anti-Semitism."

Related Topics:
Der Judenstaat - Dreyfus affair - Anti-Semitic - France - June - 1895

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However, for the past several decades historians have downplayed the influence of the Dreyfus Affair on Herzl, even terming it a myth. They have shown that, while indeed upset by anti-Semitism evident in French society, he, like most contemporary observers, initially believed in Dreyfus's guilt and only claimed to have been inspired by the Affair years later when it had become an international cause celebre. Instead the rise to power of the anti-Semitic demagogue Karl Lueger in Vienna seems to have had a greater effect on Herzl in 1895, a time when the pro-Dreyfus campaign had not really emerged and Captain Dreyfus's guilt was generally conceded even by French Jewry. In any case around this time Herzl grew to believe that anti-Semitism could not be defeated or cured, only avoided, and that the only way to avoid it was the establishment of a Jewish state.

Related Topics:
Dreyfus Affair - Karl Lueger

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His forerunners in the field of Zionism date through the nineteenth century, but of this perhaps he was least aware. Herzl followed his pen-effort by serious work. He was in Constantinople in April, 1896, and on his return was hailed at Sofia, Bulgaria, by a Jewish deputation. He went to London, where the Maccabeans received him coldly. Five days later he was given the mandate of leadership from the Zionists of the East End of London, and within six months this mandate was approved throughout Zionist Jewry. His life now became one unceasing round of effort. His supporters, at first but a small group, literally worked night and day. Jewish life had been heretofore contemplative and conducted by routine. Herzl inspired his friends with the idea that men whose aim is to reestablish a nation must throw aside all conventionalities and work at all hours and at any task.

Related Topics:
Constantinople - 1896 - Sofia - Bulgaria - Maccabeans - Zionists

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In 1897, at considerable personal expense, he founded Die Welt of Vienna. Then he planned the first Zionist Congress in Basel. He was elected president, and held as by a magnet the delegates through all the meetings, being unanimously reelected at every following congress. In 1898 he began a series of diplomatic interviews. He was received by the German emperor on several occasions. At the head of a deputation, he was again granted an audience by the emperor in Jerusalem. He attended The Hague Peace Conference, and was received by many of the attending statesmen. In May, 1901, he was for the first time openly received by the Sultan of Turkey.

Related Topics:
1897 - Die Welt - Vienna - Zionist Congress - Basel - German emperor - Jerusalem - Hague Peace Conference - 1901 - Sultan of Turkey

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In 1902-03 Herzl was invited to give evidence before the British Royal Commission on Alien Immigration. As a consequence he came into close touch with members of the British government, particularly with Joseph Chamberlain, then secretary of state for the colonies, through whom he negotiated with the Egyptian government for a charter for the settlement of the Jews in Al 'Arish, in the Sinaitic peninsula, adjoining southern Palestine.

Related Topics:
1902 - 03 - Joseph Chamberlain - Egyptian - Al 'Arish - Sinaitic peninsula - Palestine

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On the failure of that scheme, which took him to Cairo, he received, through L. J. Greenberg, an offer (Aug., 1903) on the part of the British government to facilitate a large Jewish settlement, with autonomous government and under British suzerainty, in British East Africa. At the same time, the Zionist movement being threatened by the Russian government, he visited St. Petersburg and was received by Sergei Witte, then finance minister, and Viacheslav Plehve, minister of the interior, the latter of whom placed on record the attitude of his government toward the Zionist movement. On that occasion Herzl submitted proposals for the amelioration of the Jewish position in Russia. He published the Russian statement, and brought the British offer before the sixth Zionist Congress (Aug., 1903), carrying the majority with him on the question of investigating this offer.

Related Topics:
Cairo - L. J. Greenberg - British East Africa - St. Petersburg - Sergei Witte - Viacheslav Plehve - Russia

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