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Germany, Turkey, and the Zionist Movement, 1914–1918

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2009

Saadia E. Weltmann
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Extract

Any ultimate verdict on the relations between the Zionist Organization and Germany and Turkey must await the publication of the German and Turkish documents of this period. The available evidence prompts the conclusion that no negotiations on a German or Turkish declaration supporting Zionism were held prior to November 1917. Thus, the theory that the Balfour Declaration was issued in order to forestall a German or Turkish declaration is unfounded.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Review of Politics , Volume 23 , Issue 2 , April 1961 , pp. 246 - 269
Copyright
Copyright © University of Notre Dame 1961

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References

1 The Basle Programme reads as follows: “Zionism strives to create for the Jewish People a home in Palestine secured by public law. The Congress contemplates the following means to the attainment of this end: 1) The promotion on suitable lines of the colonization of Palestine by Jewish agricultural and industrial workers. 2) The organization and binding together of the whole of Jewry by the means of appropriate institutions, local and international, in accordance with the law of each country. 3) The strengthening and fostering of Jewish national sentiment and consciousness. 4) Preparatory steps toward obtaining government consent where necessary to the attainment of the aim of Zionism.”

2 For a brief summary of this period see: A Böhm, , Die Zionistische Bewegung, I (Berlin, 1935), 185–198Google Scholar.

3 See: Temperley, H. W. V., A History of the Peace Conference of Paris, VI (London, 1924), 172–173. Also Lloyd George's statement in Parliament, June 19, 1936, Commons Debates, Fifth Series, 313, cols. 1341–42Google Scholar.

4 Donmeh are members of a Moslem sect of Jewish origin established in the 17th century, when the followers of Shabbetai Zwi, who proclaimed himself Messiah, followed his example and were converted to Islam.

6 Grunbaum, I., Hatenuà. Hazionit, III (Jerusalem, 1949), 127–141, 179–181Google Scholar. Lichtheim, R., She'ar Yashuv (Tel Aviv, 1954), 198–200, 238–240Google Scholar. The Times, London, 03 3, 1911; April 14, 1911Google Scholar.

7 Grunbaum, , op. cit., III, 240–249Google Scholar.

8 Lichtheim, , op. cit., pp. 269–273Google Scholar.

9 Dugdale, B. E. C., Arthur James Balfour, I (New York, 1937), 324–325Google Scholar.

10 Gooch, G. P. and Temperley, H., British Documents on the Origins of the War, 1898–1914, X (London, 1938), 2, 6Google Scholar.

11 The Times, London, 02 14, March 3, April 14, April 21Google Scholar.

12 Lichtheim, , op. cit., p. 268.Google ScholarHyamson, A. M., The British Consulate in Jerusalem, II (London, 1941), 580–581Google Scholar.

13 Le Mois Colonial, 1910, p. 279, quoted in Lewin, E., The German Road to the East (New York, 1917), pp. 113–114Google Scholar. L'Asie Francaise, December 1913, p. 9. For an interesting conversation on Zionism between the Zionist leader Max Nordau and French Foreign Minister Pichon, see A. and Nordau, M., Max Nordau (New York, 1943), pp. 204–208Google Scholar.

14 Grunbaum, , op. cit., III, pp. 145–147Google Scholar.

15 See footnote 1.

16 The principal governing bodies of the Zionist Organization were the Zionist Congress, the Full Executive and the Inner Executive. The Zionist Congress was held biennially, and the delegates were elected by Zionists in different countries. Its main function was to elect the Executive and supervise its activities. The Full Executive (also called Greater Actions Committee) composed of 25 members, was supposed to meet several times a year and to direct the activity of the Inner Executive. The Inner Executive (also called Smaller Actions Committee), of six members, was charged with the management of the Zionist Organization. During the War, the members of the Inner Executive were: Otto Warburg, Arthur Hantke, Victor Jacobson (Germany), Nahum Sokolow, E. W. Tschlenow (Russia) and Shmarya Lewin (U.S.). For a full description of the constitution of the Zionist Organization in 1914, see Sokolow, N., History of Zionism, II (London, 1919), 358–374Google Scholar.

17 Gelber, N. M., Hatsharat Balfour Vetoldoteha (Jerusalem 1939), pp. 28–29Google Scholar.

18 Ibid., pp. 31–32.

19 Weizmann, Chaim, Trial and Error (New York, 1949), pp. 148Google Scholar; 164–170.

20 Grunbaum, , op. cit., IV, pp. 78–79Google Scholar.

21 Gelber, , op. cit., pp. 95–98Google Scholar; Grunbaum, , op. cit., IV, pp. 37–38, 49–55Google Scholar; Lichtheim, , op. cit., pp. 404–407Google Scholar; Weizmann, , op. cit., pp. 169–170Google Scholar.

22 Lichtheim, , op. cit., pp. 334–354Google Scholar. Also, Grunbaum, , op. cit., IV, pp. 32–36Google Scholar.

23 Lichtheim, , op. cit., pp. 303–307; 330–333Google Scholar.

24 Ibid., pp. 302; 314–321.

25 Djemal Pasha himself was reported to have stated in December 1916 that because of Zionism, Palestine might become a second Armenia. See Gelber, , op. cit., p. 180Google Scholar.

26 Grunbaum, , op. cit., IV, pp. 165–178Google Scholar. Also The Times, London, 05 25, 1917; June 1, 1917Google Scholar.

27 Lichtheim, , op. cit., pp. 301–354Google Scholar. See also Bernstorff, J., Memoirs of Count Bernstorff (New York, 1936), pp. 204–206Google Scholar.

28 Gelber, , op. cit., p. 166Google Scholar.

29 A report on Morgenthau's speech was published in The Times, London, 05 22, 1916Google Scholar. For the Turkish reaction see Lichtheim, , op. cit., pp. 401–403Google Scholar.

30 Lichtheim, , op. cit., pp. 274–277Google Scholar.

31 Ibid., pp. 296–298.

32 Ibid., pp. 309–310; Gelber, , op. cit., pp. 169, 174–175Google Scholar.

33 Lichtheim, , op. cit., pp. 310–311Google Scholar.

34 Ibid., pp. 374–387; Gelber, , op. cit., pp. 170–171Google Scholar.

35 Lichtheim, , op. cit., pp. 321–323Google Scholar.

36 The Times, London, 05 17, 1917; May 25, 1917Google Scholar.

37 Lichtheim, , op. cit., pp. 305, 313Google Scholar.

38 Ibid., pp. 331,335,358.

39 Gelber, , op. cit., pp. 29–30, 33Google Scholar.

40 Ibid., pp. 46–47. Among the papers which participated in the discussion were The Fortnightly Review, The Globe, The Manchester Guardian, and The Times.

41 Samuel, Lord, Grooves of Change (New York, 1946), pp. 171–175Google Scholar.

42 Weizmann, , op. cit., pp. 150–153Google Scholar; Dugdale, , op. cit., II, p. 163Google Scholar.

43 For a detailed account of the background and the negotiations leading to the Declaration, see Weizmann, , op. cit., pp. 176–208Google Scholar; Gelber, , op. cit., pp. 36–65, 71–94, 109–124Google Scholar.

44 For a discussion of the Anglo-French rivalry on Palestine and the role of the Balfour Declaration in this connection, see Frischwasser-Ra'anan, H. F., The Frontiers of a Nation (London, 1955), pp. 58–82Google Scholar.

45 Gelber, , op. cit., p. 130Google Scholar.

46 Weizmann, , op. cit., p. 165Google Scholar.

47 Gelber, , op. cit., pp. 144–146Google Scholar.

48 Ibid., pp. 186–189.

49 Ibid., p. 184.

50 Ibid.

51 Ibid., pp. 184–185.

52 Bernstorff, , op. cit., p. 205Google Scholar.

53 Gelber, , op. cit., pp. 320–321Google Scholar.

54 Gelber, , op. cit., pp. 203–205Google Scholar. For the full text of Talaat's statement, see Pro Palästina, No. 1 (Berlin, 1918), pp. 26–29Google Scholar.

55 Gelber, , op. cit., p. 200Google Scholar; Pro Palästina, 1, p. 26.

56 Gelber, op. cit., p. 206; Pro Palästina, 1, pp. 29–30. The German Undersecretary's statement reads:

“We value and appreciate the aspirations of the Jewish minority directed toward the development of its own culture and peculiarities in countries where Jewish life is developed, we view these aspirations with understanding and we are prepared to favor and support them.

“As to the aspirations of Jewry, and particularly the Zionists in Palestine, we welcome the statements made recently by the Grand Vizier Talaat Pasha, and especially the intention of the Imperial Ottoman Government, in accordance with its longstanding friendship toward the Jews, to assist the flourishing Jewish settlements in Palestine by permitting free immigration and resettlement within the limits of the country's absorption capacity, by local self-rule in accordance with the laws of the state, and by unhindered development of Jewish cultural life.”

57 Gelber, , op. cit., p. 206Google Scholar.

58 Pro Palästina, Nos. 1–5, Berlin, 1918Google Scholar.

59 Gelber, , op. cit., pp. 208–209Google Scholar.

60 Ibid., pp. 207–209.

61 Ibid., pp. 210–226.

62 Ibid., pp. 228–233.

63 Ibid., pp. 144–146.