This is a partial timeline of Zionism in the
modern era, since the start of the 16th century.
== Early modern period ==
1561
Joseph Nasi encourages Jewish settlement in
Tiberias, having fled the Spanish Inquisition
fourteen years previously in 1547
1615
Thomas Brightman's Shall they return to Jerusalem
again? is published posthumously.
1621
Sir Henry Finch publishes The World's Great
Restauration, or Calling of the Jews, and
with them of all Nations and Kingdoms of the
Earth to the Faith of Christ
1649
Ebenezer and Joanna Cartwright dispatch a
petition to the British Government calling
for the ban on Jews settling in England to
be lifted and for assistance to be provided
to enable them to be repatriated to Palestine.
1670
Baruch Spinoza's Theologico-Political Treatise
is the first work to consider the Jewish Question
in Europe
1700
Judah he-Hasid leads some 1,500 Jewish immigrants
to the Land of Israel and settles in Jerusalem.
Three days after the group's arrival their
leader dies (on October 17, 1700).
In 1720 their synagogue was burned down and
all Ashkenazi Jews were banned by the Ottomans.
1771
Joseph Eyre publishes a scholarly essay entitled
Observations Upon The Prophecies Relating
To The Restoration Of The Jews
1777
Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk along with a large
group of followers emigrates and settles in
Safed.
In 1783 they were forced out of Safed, and
moved to Tiberias.
1794
Richard Brothers, a millenarianist, Christian
restorationist, a false prophet and the founder
of British Israelism, writes A revealed knowledge
of the prophecies & times, predicting the
return of the Jews to Jerusalem in 1798 where
they will be converted to Christianity.
1805
Foundation of the Palestine Association, stating
amongst other goals that "we hope to establish
relative to the history, the manners, and
the country of the Jewish nation"
1808
The first group of Perushim, influenced by
the teachings of the Vilna Gaon, leaves Shklov
and after a 15-month journey settles in Jerusalem
and Safed.
1809
Foundation of the London Society for Promoting
Christianity amongst the Jews
1811
François-René de Chateaubriand, the founder
of Romanticism in French literature, published
Itinéraire de Paris à Jérusalem, in which
he wrote of the Jews of Jerusalem as "rightful
masters of Judea living as slaves and strangers
in their own country"
1815
English poet Lord Byron publishes his Hebrew
Melodies.
The poem does not refer to a return to Palestine,
but is one of the first literary works of
Jewish nationalism.
1819
Wissenschaft des Judentums ("Jewish Studies")
began to build a secular Jewish identity in
the German Confederation
1827
John Nelson Darby's Plymouth Brethren is founded
to propagate the Christian eschatological
movement of dispensationalism, which teaches
that God looks upon Jews as the chosen people
(rejecting supersessionism), and that the
nation of Israel will be born again and brought
to realize they crucified their Messiah at
his second coming
1821–30
The Greek War of Independence legitimized
the concept of small ethnically-based nation-states
among other subject peoples of the Ottoman
Empire
== 
After the Egyptian–Ottoman War ==
1833
Benjamin Disraeli, then 28 years old, writes
The Wondrous Tale of Alroy about David Alroy's
messainic mission to Jerusalem
1837
Lord Lindsay travels to Palestine.
In 1838 he wrote Letters on Egypt, Edom and
the Holy Land in which he stated "Many I believe
entertain the idea that an actual curse rests
on the soil of Palestine, and may be startled
therefore at the testimony I have borne to
its actual richness.
Let me not be misunderstood: richly as the
valleys wave with corn, and beautiful as is
the general aspect of modern Palestine, vestiges
of the ancient cultivation are every where
visible... proofs far more than sufficient
that the land still enjoys her Sabbaths, and
only waits the return of her banished children,
and the application of industry commensurate
with her agricultural capabilities, to burst
once more into universal luxuriance— all
that she ever was in the days of Solomon."
1839
The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland
passes an Act on the Conversion of the Jews,
and sends four Church of Scotland ministers,
Andrew Bonar, Robert Murray M'Cheyne, Alexander
Keith and Alexander Black to Palestine.
They publish the popular book Narrative of
a Visit to the Holy Land; And, Mission of
Inquiry to the Jews in 1842
1839
Judah Alkalai publishes his pamphlet Darhei
No'am (The Pleasant Paths) advocating the
restoration of the Jews in the Land of Israel
as a precursor to the coming of the Messiah,
followed in 1840 by Shalom Yerushalayim (The
Peace of Jerusalem).
1839
Lord Shaftesbury takes out a full-page advert
in The Times addressed to the Protestant monarchs
of Europe and entitled "The State and the
rebirth of the Jews", which included the suggestion
for the Jews to return to Palestine to seize
the lands of Galilee and Judea, as well as
the phrase "Earth without people – people
without land".
1840
Lord Shaftesbury presents a paper to British
Foreign Minister Lord Palmerston calling for
the 'recall of the Jews to their ancient land'.
1840 (August 11)
Lord Palmerston writes to Lord Ponsonby, British
Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire: "There exists
at the present time among the Jews dispersed
over Europe, a strong notion that the time
is approaching when their nation is to return
to Palestine...
It would be of manifest importance to the
Sultan to encourage the Jews to return and
settle in Palestine because the wealth which
they would bring with them would increase
the resources of the Sultan's dominions; and
the Jewish people, if returning under the
sanction and protection, and at the invitation
of the Sultan, would be a check upon any future
evil designs of Mehemet Ali (of Egypt) or
his successor...
I have to instruct Your Excellency strongly
to re-commend (to the Turkish Government)
to hold out every just encouragement to the
Jews of Europe to return to Palestine."
1841
George Gawler, previously the governor of
South Australia, starts to encourage Jewish
settlements in the land of Israel.
1842
Nadir Baxter, of the Church Pastoral Aid Society,
died in 1842 and donated £1,000 in his will,
stating that it be paid "towards the political
restoration of the Jews to Jerusalem and to
their own land; and as I conscientiously believe
also that the institution by the Anglican
Church of the bishopric of Jerusalem is the
actual commencement of the great and merciful
work of Jehovah towards Zion".
The gift was declared void in 1851 in the
case of Habershon v Vardon by Sir James Lewis
Knight-Bruce, Chancellor of the High Court,
who stated "If it can be understood to mean
any thing, it is to create a revolution in
the dominions of an ally of her Majesty".
1841–42
Correspondence between Moses Montefiore, the
President of the Board of Deputies of British
Jews and Charles Henry Churchill, the British
consul in Damascus, is seen as the first recorded
plan proposed for political Zionism.
1844
Mordecai Noah publishes Discourse on the Restoration
of the Jews.
1844
According to one source, the Old Yishuv Jews
constitute the largest of several ethno-religious
groups in Jerusalem – however estimates
approximately 20 years before and 20 years
after this date suggest otherwise.
See Demographics of Jerusalem.
1844
Rev. Samuel Bradshaw, in his Tract for the
Times, Being a Plea for the Jews calls for
Parliament to allot 4 million pounds for the
Restoration of Israel, with another 1 million
to be collected by the Church.
1844
Pastor T. Tully Crybace convenes a committee
in London for the purpose of founding a 'British
and Foreign Society for Promoting the Restoration
of the Jewish Nation to Palestine.'
He urges that England secure from Turkey Palestine
'from the Euphrates to the Nile, and from
the Mediterranean to the Desert'.
1845
George Gawler publishes "Tranquilization of
Syria and the East: Observations and Practical
Suggestions, in Furtherance of the Establishment
of Jewish Colonies in Palestine, the Most
Sober and Sensible Remedy for the Miseries
of Asiatic Turkey."
1849
George Gawler accompanies Sir Moses Montefiori
on a trip to Palestine, persuading him to
invest in and initiate Jewish settlements
in the country.
c.1850
James Finn and his wife found the "British
Society for the Promotion of Jewish Agricultural
Labour in the Holy Land"
1851
Correspondence between Lord Stanley, whose
father became British Prime Minister the following
year, and Benjamin Disraeli, who became Chancellor
of the Exchequer alongside him, records Disraeli's
proto-Zionist views: "He then unfolded a plan
of restoring the nation to Palestine – said
the country was admirably suited for them
– the financiers all over Europe might help
– the Porte is weak – the Turks/holders
of property could be bought out – this,
he said, was the object of his life...."Coningsby
was merely a feeler – my views were not
fully developed at that time – since then
all I have written has been for one purpose.
The man who should restore the Hebrew race
to their country would be the Messiah – the
real saviour of prophecy!"
He did not add formally that he aspired to
play this part, but it was evidently implied.
He thought very highly of the capabilities
of the country, and hinted that his chief
object in acquiring power here would be to
promote the return"
1852
George Gawler founds the Association for Promoting
Jewish Settlement in Palestine
1853-75
Heinrich Graetz publishes History of the Jews
(Geschichte der Juden), the first academic
work portraying the Jews as a historical nation.
Graetz's work became more nationalistic as
the volumes progressed, culminating with Volumes
I and II in 1873-75 after he had returned
from a trip to Palestine.
1853
Abraham Mapu publishes Ahabat Zion, the first
Hebrew novel, a romance of the time of King
Hezekiah and Isaiah
1857
James Finn, the second British Consul in Jerusalem,
writes to Foreign Secretary the Earl of Clarendon
regarding his proposal "to persuade Jews in
a large body to settle here as agriculturalists
on the soil ... in partnership with the Arab
peasantry"
1860
The Alliance Israélite Universelle is founded
in Paris
1861
The Zion Society is formed in Frankfurt, Germany.
1861
Mishkenot Sha'ananim — first neighborhood
of the New Yishuv outside the Old City of
Jerusalem, built by Sir Moses Montefiore.
1862
Moses Hess writes Rome and Jerusalem.
The Last National Question (text) arguing
for the Jews to return to the Land of Israel,
and proposes a socialist country in which
the Jews would become agrarianised through
a process of "redemption of the soil".
His ideas later evolved into the Labor Zionism
movement.
1862
Zvi Hirsch Kalischer publishes Derishat Zion,
maintains that the salvation of the Jews,
promised by the Prophets, can come about only
by self-help.
His ideas contributed to the Religious Zionism
movement.
1867
Mark Twain visits Palestine as part of a tour
of what westerners call the Holy Land.
1869
Twain publishes The Innocents Abroad, or The
New Pilgrims' Progress documenting his observations
through his travels.
He indicated he observed that Palestine was
primarily an uninhabited desert.
His account was widely circulated and remains
a controversial snap-shot of the area in the
late 19th century.
1870
Mikveh Israel, the first modern Jewish agricultural
school and settlement was established in the
Land of Israel by Charles Netter of the Alliance
Israélite Universelle.
1870–1890
The group Hovevei Zion (Lovers of Zion) sets
up 30 Jewish farming communities in the Land
of Israel.
1876
The English novelist George Eliot publishes
the widely read novel Daniel Deronda, later
cited by Henrietta Szold, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda,
and Emma Lazarus as having been highly influential
in their decision to become Zionists.
1878 (June)
A German-language memorandum addressed to
Disraeli and Bismarck is submitted to the
Congress of Berlin by an anonymous Jewish
group advocating the establishment of a Jewish
constitutional monarchy in Palestine.
It was originally thought to have been written
by Disraeli himself, but later thought to
be by Judah Leib Gordon.
The memorandum was not discussed at the Congress,
although Bismarck called it "a crazy idea".
1878
Galician poet Naphtali Herz Imber writes a
poem Tikvatenu (Our Hope), later adopted as
the Zionist hymn Hatikvah.
1878
Petah Tikva is founded by Jerusalem Jews,
but abandoned after difficulties.
Resettled in 1882 with help from first aliyah.
1878
The first Hovevei Zion ("Lovers of Zion")
groups were founded in Eastern Europe
1880
Laurence Oliphant publishes The land of Gilead,
with excursions in the Lebanon which proposes
a settlement under British protection while
respecting Ottoman sovereignty.
He proposes that the 'warlike' Bedouins be
driven out, and the Palestinians be placed
in reservations like the native Indians of
America.
1881–1884
Pogroms in the Russian Empire kill several
Jews and injure large numbers, destroy thousands
of Jewish homes, and motivate hundreds of
thousands of Jews to flee.
1881–1920
Over two million of the Russian Jews emigrate.
Most go to the U.S., others elsewhere, some
to the Land of Israel.
The first group of Biluim organize in Kharkov.
1881
Eliezer ben Yehuda makes aliyah and leads
efforts to revive Hebrew as a common spoken
language.
1882 January 1
Leon Pinsker publishes pamphlet Autoemancipation
(text) urging the Jewish people to strive
for independence and national consciousness.
1882
Baron Edmond James de Rothschild begins buying
land in the region of Palestine and financing
Jewish agricultural settlements and industrial
enterprises.
1882–1903
The First Aliyah, major wave (estimated at
25,000–35,000) of Jewish immigration to
Ottoman-occupied Palestine.
1882
Rishon LeZion, Rosh Pinna, Zikhron Ya'akov
are founded.
1883
Rabbi Isaac Rülf publishes Aruchas Bas-Ammi,
calling for a Hebrew-speaking Jewish homeland
in Palestine.
1884
Katowice Conference headed by Leon Pinsker
1890
Austrian publisher Nathan Birnbaum coins the
term Zionism for Jewish nationalism in his
journal Self Emancipation.
1890
The Russian Tsarist government approves the
establishment of "The Society for the Support
of Jewish Farmers and Artisans in Syria and
Palestine", a charity organization which came
to be known as "The Odessa Committee."
1891
Publication of the Blackstone Memorial petition
1894
The Dreyfus affair makes the problem of antisemitism
prominent in Western Europe.
1896
After covering the trial and aftermath of
Captain Dreyfus and witnessing the associated
mass anti-semitic rallies in Paris, which
included chants, "Death to Jews", Jewish-Austro-Hungarian
journalist Theodor Herzl writes Der Judenstaat
(The Jewish State) advocating the creation
of a Jewish state.
1896–1904
Herzl, with the help of William Hechler, unsuccessfully
approaches world leaders for assistance in
the creation of a Jewish National Home but
creates political legitimacy for the movement.
== After the First Zionist Congress ==
1897
The First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland,
urges "a publicly and legally assured home
in Palestine" for Jews and establishes the
World Zionist Organization (WZO).
1897
The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA)
is founded under the name Federation of American
Zionists.
1898 January 13
The French writer Émile Zola exposed the
Dreyfus affair to the general public in a
famously incendiary open letter to President
Félix Faure to which the French journalist
and politician Georges Clemenceau affixed
the headline "J'accuse!"
(I accuse!).
Zola's world fame and internationally respected
reputation brought international attention
to Dreyfus' unjust treatment.
1898
Sholom Aleichem writes a Yiddish language
pamphlet Why Do the Jews Need a Land of Their
Own?
1899
Henry Pereira Mendes publishes Looking Ahead:
twentieth century happenings, the premise
of which is that the restoration of Jewish
sovereignty over historic Israel is essential
to the world's peace and prosperity.
1901
Fifth Zionist Congress establishes the Jewish
National Fund.
1902
Herzl publishes the novel Altneuland (The
Old New Land), which takes place in Palestine.
1903–1906
More pogroms in Russian Empire.
Unlike the 1881 pogroms, which focused primarily
on property damage, these pogroms resulted
in the deaths of at least 2,000 Jews and an
even higher number of non-Jews.
1903
Uganda Proposal for settlement in East Africa
splits the 6th Zionist Congress.
A committee is created to look into it.
1904–1914
The Second Aliyah occurs.
Approximately 40,000 Jews immigrated into
Ottoman-occupied Palestine, mostly from Russia.
The prime cause for the aliyah was mounting
anti-Semitism in Russia and pogroms in the
Pale of Settlement.
Nearly half of these immigrants left Palestine
by the time World War I started.
1909
Tel Aviv is founded on sand dunes near Jaffa.
Young Judaea, a zionist youth movement, is
founded.
1910–1916
Antisemitic Zionist conspiracy theories regarding
the Ottoman Young Turk ruling elite are fuelled
within the British government through diplomatic
correspondence from Gerard Lowther (British
Ambassador to Constantinople) and Gilbert
Clayton (Chief of British intelligence in
Egypt)
1915 January
Two months after the British declaration of
war against the Ottomans, Herbert Samuel presents
a detailed memorandum entitled s:The Future
of Palestine to the British Cabinet on the
benefits of a British protectorate over Palestine
to support Jewish immigration
1915 October–1916 January
McMahon-Hussein Correspondence, agreeing to
give Arabia to Arabs, if Arabs will fight
the Turks.
The Arab Revolt began in June 1916.
1916 May 16
Britain and France sign the secret Sykes-Picot
Agreement which details the proposed division
of Arabia at the conclusion of World War I
into French and British spheres of influence.
1917 August
The formation of the Jewish Legion (Zion Mule
Corps), initiated in 1914 by Joseph Trumpeldor
and Zeev Jabotinsky.
1917
T.E. Lawrence leads Arab militias to defeat
various Turkish Garrisons in Arabia.
1917 November 2
The British Government issues the Balfour
Declaration which documented three main ideas:
First, it declared official support from the
British Government for "the establishment
in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish
people", and promised that the British Government
would actively aid in these efforts.
Second, it documented that the British Government
would not support actions that would prejudice
the civil and religious rights of the existing
non-Jewish residents of Palestine.
Finally, it confirmed that Jews living in
any other country would, similarly, not be
prejudiced.
== After the Balfour Declaration ==
1917 November 23
Bolsheviks release the full text of the previously
secret Sykes-Picot Agreement in Izvestia and
Pravda; it is subsequently printed in the
Manchester Guardian on November 26.
1917 December
The British Army gains control of Palestine
with military occupation, as the Ottoman Empire
collapses in World War I.
1918–1920
Massive pogroms accompanied the Russian Revolution
of 1917 (the Russian Civil War), resulting
in the death of an estimated 70,000 to 250,000
civilian Jews throughout the former Russian
Empire; the number of Jewish orphans exceeded
300,000.
1919–1923
The Third Aliyah was triggered by the October
Revolution in Russia, the ensuing pogroms
there and in Poland and Hungary, the British
conquest of Palestine and the Balfour Declaration.
Approximately 40,000 Jews arrived in Palestine
during this time.
1920
The San Remo conference of the Allied Supreme
Council in Italy resulted in an agreement
that a Mandate for Palestine to Great Britain
would be reviewed and then issued by the League
of Nations.
The mandate would contain similar content
to the Balfour Declaration, which indicates
that Palestine will be a homeland for Jews,
and that the existing non-Jews would not have
their rights infringed.
In anticipation of this forthcoming mandate,
the British military occupation shifts to
a civil rule.
1920
Histadrut, Haganah, Vaad Leumi are founded.
1921
Chaim Weizmann becomes new President of the
WZO at the 12th Zionist Congress (the first
since World War I).
1921
Britain grants autonomy to Transjordan under
Crown Prince Abdullah.
1922 July
The offer of a Mandate for Palestine to Great
Britain from the San Remo conference is confirmed
by the League of Nations.
1923 September
Mandate for Palestine to Great Britain comes
into effect.
1923
Britain cedes the Golan Heights to the French
Mandate of Syria.
1923
Jabotinsky establishes the revisionist party
Hatzohar and its youth movement, Betar.
1924
Palestine Jewish Colonization Association
established by Edmond James de Rothschild
1924–1928
The Fourth Aliyah was a direct result of the
economic crisis and anti-Jewish policies in
Poland, along with the introduction of stiff
immigration quotas by the United States.
The Fourth Aliyah brought 82,000 Jews to British-occupied
Palestine, of whom 23,000 left.
1927
The Zionist Federation of Australia is established
in Melbourne.
1932–1939
The Fifth Aliyah was primarily a result of
the Nazi accession to power in Germany (1933)
and later throughout Europe.
Persecution and the Jews' worsening situation
caused immigration from Germany to increase
and from Eastern Europe to continue.
Nearly 250,000 Jews arrived in British-occupied
Palestine during the Fifth Aliyah (20,000
of them left later).
From this time on, the practice of "numbering"
the waves of immigration was discontinued.
1933
Assassination of Haim Arlosoroff, a left-wing
Zionist leader, thought to have been killed
by right-wing Zionists
1933–1948
Aliyah Bet: Jewish refugees flee Germany because
of persecution under the Nazi government with
many turned away as illegal because of the
British-imposed immigration limit.
1937
The British propose a partition between Jewish
and Arab areas.
It is rejected by both parties.
1936–1939
Great Uprising by Arabs against British rule
and Jewish immigration.
1939
The British government issues the White Paper
of 1939, which sets a limit of 75,000 on Jewish
immigration to Palestine for the next five
years and increases Zionist opposition to
British rule.
1942 May
The Biltmore Conference makes a fundamental
departure from traditional Zionist policy
and demands "that Palestine be established
as a Jewish Commonwealth" (state), rather
than a "homeland."
This sets the ultimate aim of the movement.
1944
The One Million Plan becomes official Zionist
policy
1947 November 29
The United Nations approves partition of Palestine
into Jewish and Arab states.
It is accepted by the Jews, but rejected by
the Arab leaders (See [2] [3]).
1947 November 30
The 1947–1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine
starts between Jewish forces, centered around
the Haganah and Palestinians supported by
the Arab Liberation Army.
1948 May 14
Declaration of the Establishment of the State
of Israel
== 
After the Declaration of Israel ==
1948 May 15
Five neighboring Arab countries invade, and
the 1948 Arab-Israeli war ensues.
1949 January 7
The 1948 Arab-Israeli war ends.
1956 October 29 – 1956 November 7
Suez Crisis between Egypt on one side, and
Britain, France and Israel on the other.
1967 June 5 – 1967 June 10
Six-Day War with Egypt, Jordan and Syria,
assisted by forces from Iraq, Saudi Arabia,
Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Sudan and
the Palestine Liberation Organization against
Israel.
1967 July – 1970 August 7
War of Attrition between Egypt and Israel.
1973 October 4 – 1973 October 25
Yom Kippur War with Egypt, Syria, Jordan and
Iraq against Israel.
1975
The United Nations General Assembly Resolution
3379 equates Zionism with racism.
1979 March 26
Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty is signed by Egyptian
President Anwar El Sadat and Israeli Prime
Minister Menachem Begin.
1982 June – 1982 September
1982 Lebanon War with Syria and Lebanon against
Israel.
1991
The UN GA resolution 3379 is revoked by Resolution
4686.
1993 August 20
The Oslo Accords are signed by Mahmoud Abbas
of the Palestine Liberation Organization,
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, U.S.
Secretary of State Warren Christopher and
Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev.
1994 October 26
Israel–Jordan peace treaty is signed by
King Hussein I of Jordan and Israeli Prime
Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
1995 November 4
Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin is assassinated.
2006 July 12 — 2006 August 14
2006 Lebanon War between Lebanon and Israel.
== See also ==
History of Israel
Timeline of Jewish history
Timeline of Israeli history
Anti-Zionism
