Zionist Uganda

This is my first attempt at a real bona-fide TL. All suggestions and critical thoughts are welcomed.

Theodore Herzl was an Austrian journalist. Whitnissing Dreyfuss's anti-semetic humiliation, he became convinced that a Jewish homeland was needed. If not in the original land of Israel, then somewhere else, where Jews would be free from the intense anti-semitism of the day.

To accomplish this, Hertzl sought support from the great powers for the creation of a Jewish homeland. Turning to the British, he met with Joseph Chamberlain, who was the British colonial secretary, among others.

The British agreed in principle to the idea of Jewish settlement in East Africa, and on August 26, 1903, Herzl proposed, to the Sixth Zionist Congress in Basel, the ideas of the British Uganda Program as a temporary refuge for the Jews of Russia, who were suffering immensly under the Czar and his minions.

By a vote of 295-178, the Congress voted to send an "investigation commission" to examine the territory involved. The territory was 5,000 square miles of the Mau Plateau in OTL's Kenya.

In OTL, the Congress voted to politely decline the proposal in 1905.

But what if the Seventh Zionist Congress had voted the other way? What sort of event could lead to even the Russian delegation (which stormed out of the Sixth Congress when Herzl brought forth the British plan)? to voting for the proposal?

The POD for this TL is an even worse outbreak of anti-semitism in Russia following the defeat of that nation in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). Nothing much is needed to set it off. An injured Russian soldier who's embittered at the "Enemies of Mother Russia" begins loudly condeming the Jews. In addition to the 1905 mini-revolt that occured in OTL, now armed mobs are sacking Jewish communities in the notorious Pale of Settlement.

The Czar, being the inept anti-semite that he is, orders a harsh crackdown on all dissidents, including the Jews for "insighting pernicious and unpatriotic actions against Mother Russia." Mobs and soldiers alike begin brutal attacks on Jewish communities all over the country.

The stories of such barbarous actions reaches Basel, where the Seventh Zionist Congress is meeting. Theodore Herzl, backed by the such figures as Nahum Syrkin and Israel Zangwill, uses the opportunity to give an impassioned speech to the Congress, warning the delegates that "Unless we manage to secure a safe haven somewhere, anywhere for our fellow Jews, we risk condemning them to death at the hands of Russia's Black Hundreds! And if we reject this plan, what will be do when Romania, Austria-Hungary, the Sublime Porte, France, or dare I say, Germany begin similar actions?! In all humanity, and all that is just, this proposal must be accepted, if only as a temporary measure!"

[The original copy of this speech can be seen in the National Archives Building in Tel Aviv, Israel].

The horrendous outbreak of anti-semitism in Russia, combined with Herzl's oratory skills finally convinces the Congress that something needs to be done. In 1905, the Seventh Zionist Congress votes to accept the British Uganda Program.....

To be continued.......
 
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1905:

-The Seventh Zionist Congress votes to accept the British Uganda Plan. Several armed expeditionary forces are organized, with British approval, to scout out the site for a major settlement on the Mau Plateau (due to the presence of lions and the Massai).

-An armed expedition arrives on the Mau Plateau. Ground is broken for what will one day become the city of New Akko. Accompanying the expedition are the first 50 colonists (mostly Russian and Polish Jews). Skirmishes with the Massai are common, although many of the lions killed before they can become much of a threat.

-A second group of 300 Russian Jews arrives in Kampala, Uganda. Another armed expedition accompanies them. In Basel, the Jewish Territorialist Organization (ITO) is founded to recruit more colonists. As the pogroms in Russia see no signs of ebbing, many recuits are found. By the beginning of 1906, some 10,000 Jews have immigrated to both Kampala and New Akko.

1906:

-The first Orthodox synagogues are completed in both Kampala and New Akko. At this time, the British authorities under Dr. David Bruce in Uganda are attempting to deal with an outbreak of sleeping sickness, a disease spread by the tetse fly. The outbreak of this disease sends many of the new settlers to New Akko instead.

-The Massai attempt to overwealm New Akko, but are defeated by the armed members of the expeditionary force. Finally, later in the year, the citizens of New Akko and the Massai reach an agreement to forstall more violence. The Jews will assist the Massai in becoming farmers, while the Massai will assist the Jews in hunting and gathering. This tentetive accord serves as the model for dealing with tense situations with the native tribes. Many Jews in both Kampala and New Akko attempt to deal with the natives honestly, if only to bury the anti-semetic libel that all Jews are swindlers and untrustworth businessmen.

1907:

The first great year of immigration. Some 500,000 Russian and Eastern European Jews immigrate to both Uganda and Kenya. In addition to New Akko and Kampala, sizable Jewish communities have been established in Mombassa, Kenya, and in Jinja, Entebbe, Masaka, and Port Bell, Uganda. Many shetls in Eastern Europe simply move together to East Africa. This year also sees another 450,000 Jews immigrate to the United States, Canada, Australia, and South Africa.

The influx of new colonists is not without its problems. Many Bantu tribes in Uganda are hostile to the new colonists. The appease this anger, many Jews (especially those from the urban centers of the Russian Empire) begin opening schools for the native children. While not religious like the Christian missionary schools, some ideas do rub off. Roads, such as Herzl Road (linking Masaka and Jinja) begin to sping up. The Kampala-Mombassa Line is jump started by the influx of willing labor.

The British are appreciative, for the most part, of having such a loyal group of colonists, who now outnumber all of the other whites in Uganda combined.

In addition to schools, Jewish doctors open clinics that treat both Jew and African alike. This helps to ebb the sleeping sickness.

In late 1907, Kampala is renamed Tel Aviv ("hill of spring"). The name originates with Nahum Sokolow, the Secretary General of the World Zionist Congress (now a resident of this city). It symbolizes the Jewish dream of renewal and protection in a dangerous world.....

Comments?
 
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The Full Measure of Manhood

I am seriously thinking about having the Uganda proposal seriously revisited in the sequel to Operation Unicorn.
 
Great Idea!
Jewish East-Africa!
I never heard of that Uganda-Proposal by the British.

To get that vote, the British could do a better offer: maybe actively helping the Jews, Funding them, Transport...

I think it was 1895 when the British changed Helgoland against Sansibar with the Germans and the Germans gave up their claim on southern Uganda. If they had not made that deal, and maybe British-German tensions were even higher then in OTL, the British would try to safe their lands in East Africa.
Having the German claim on Uganda and lacking the important harbour of Sansibar, it could be quite interesting for the British to have some loyal (and thankful) Jewish people guarding the empire against the Huns. Thus the British could offer to help in transports (Suez-channel is british, Britain rules the waves...) and funding in exchange for a Jewish militia in East Africa fighting for the British, when needed. Several thousand Jewish soldiers and several thousand Jewish supplying the British forces could easily make a difference in a colonial war.

So why not giving away the lands, which are claimed by the Germans, to build up a Jewish state as a part of the British Empire?
 
1908-1909:

The major new development this year is the foundation of the Jewish Defence Forces (JDF). Founded by Joseph Trumpledor (who now lives in New Akko instead of Palestine in TTL), the JDF is formed to protect the lives of Jewish property. Armed with British weapons, and JDF begins patrolling the outskirts of the Uganda and Kenya settlements.

The JDF faces its first real baptism of fire that same year. In reaction to the growing number of Jewish colonists, the Central-Sudanic (also known as the Nilo-Hamitic) peoples of northern Uganda begin a revolt against the British. Centered mostly around the towns of Gulu, Lira, and Soroti, the fighters cause quite a bit of trouble, until late 1908, when Trumpledor leads the JDF into northern Uganda. Bribing several tribes into helping him, Trumpledor crushes the main rebel force at the Battle of Gulu on November 21, 1908. The grateful British authorities allow Trumpledor to build a massive fortification-Fort Maccabee-in the town of Gulu.

Another two million Jews from Eastern, southern, and central Europe immigrate to both Kenya and Uganda from 1908 to 1909. Situated mostly in the Mau Plateau, coastal Kenya (especially around Mombassa), and southern Uganda, the Jews bring about many changes in Britain's East African territories.

For one, Yiddish, along with Swahilli, is becoming the language of trade in both Kenya and Uganda. The Tel Aviv-Fort Maccabee Railway is completed in mid-1909, facilitating greater travel. The Jews continue to reach out to the natives of both Kenya and Uganda, especially in north Uganda. Schools, hospitals, universities, sewage treatment, urban renewal, and agricultural advancements are comming to East Africa.

The British colonials tend to look down at the Jewish effort to improve the lives of the African residents (in OTL, the British tended to learn Swahili rather than teach English). But if they really want to bother......

Meanwhile, the ITO is now working on recruiting more and more skilled Jews from Western Europe to immigrate to East Africa. Most of this new immigration comes from France and Great Britain herself. The French Jews still have sour memories of the Dreyfuss Affair, after all.

By June 1, 1909, some 2.7 million Jews now call Kenya and Uganda home. In Britain, there is talk of granting both Kenya and Uganda dominion status as the Dominion of East Africa, due to the higher percentage of white immigrants than in OTL.

Inspired by the succeses of the Jewish colonies in East Africa, the colonial governments of Upper and Lower Rhodesia invite the Jews to form settlements in those two British colonies. Some 77,000 Jews take this opportunity, mostly younger and more adventurous Jews. They take their idealistic thoughts with them when dealing with the natives.

Although this whole thing began as a temporary program to house Russian Jews, East Africa is now one of the major focal points of Jewish life. Why go to the swamp-ridden and barren land of Palestine when there are thriving cities, shetls, settlements, and kibbutzim in the verdant lands of East Africa?......

To be continued.....
 
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Homer said:
Great Idea!
Jewish East-Africa!
I never heard of that Uganda-Proposal by the British.

To get that vote, the British could do a better offer: maybe actively helping the Jews, Funding them, Transport...

I think it was 1895 when the British changed Helgoland against Sansibar with the Germans and the Germans gave up their claim on southern Uganda. If they had not made that deal, and maybe British-German tensions were even higher then in OTL, the British would try to safe their lands in East Africa.
Having the German claim on Uganda and lacking the important harbour of Sansibar, it could be quite interesting for the British to have some loyal (and thankful) Jewish people guarding the empire against the Huns. Thus the British could offer to help in transports (Suez-channel is british, Britain rules the waves...) and funding in exchange for a Jewish militia in East Africa fighting for the British, when needed. Several thousand Jewish soldiers and several thousand Jewish supplying the British forces could easily make a difference in a colonial war.

So why not giving away the lands, which are claimed by the Germans, to build up a Jewish state as a part of the British Empire?

Intereting.....

When World War I roles around, Lettow-Vorbeck is going to have a much more trying time from the British than in OTL, to say the least.....
;)
 
Yeah, that's where I got the idea from.

That TL moved a tad too fast....it goes from the Jews barely holding onto their Uganda colonies to conquering the Kingdom of Ethiopia. I decided to go about things in a slightly differently here.....
 
Do the tribesman convert to Judaism?

What are the politics of the refugees. Perhaps an interesting twist would be that instead of Labor Zionism taking hold, Revisionist Zionism is the main ideology. Revisionism suffered a major blow when Trumpeldor was killed in OTL.
 
David bar Elias said:
Yeah, that's where I got the idea from.

That TL moved a tad too fast....it goes from the Jews barely holding onto their Uganda colonies to conquering the Kingdom of Ethiopia. I decided to go about things in a slightly differently here.....

Indeed

The Jewish Empire of Eastern Africa :eek:
 
That's for down the line....some Bantu tribes in Uganda, and a token Massai in Kenya have begun adapting some Jewish customs already, though.

I'm not all that familiar with Revisionist Zionism? What was that about, again?
 
1910:

-A huge year for Africa, as Great Britain grants dominion status to both South Africa (as the Union of South Africa), and East Africa (Kenya and Uganda, now home to over 2.5 million Jews). The Jews prove to be excellent agents for the British when dealing with the natives, as they tend to be the only whites that the natives trust. East Africa's capital will be the city of Nairobi.

-Chaim Wietzman has now settled in the Jewish settlement of Herzlberg (just outside of Mombassa). He starts the Wietzman School of Agriculture (now the Wietzman Institute of Technology), which is open to Jews, Africans, and Asians alike. Mombassa, now a major Indian Ocean trading port, is home to some of the first light industry in East Africa, as Jewish industrialists begin employing Asians and Blacks in textile factories, creating the nexus of a highly skilled workforce.

-Meanwhile, another 100,000 Jews, mostly spillovers from the old Ugandan colonies, immigrate to Upper and Lower Rhodesia. Their presence eases tensions with the natives, to the delight of the British colonial agents.

-Joseph Trumpledor enlarges the JDF, and reorganizes it. The JDF sees its first African recruits, drawn mainly from the recently converted Bantus of Uganda, where the Jewish investment in their well-being is starting to pay off. The British are shocked by the idea of blacks serving in the same regiments as whites, but Trumpledor states that the JDF is religiously bound to accept all qualified Jewish applicants, wherever they may be from. Cavalry sqadrons are added, and Trumpledor keeps his men drilled constantly, to be on the watch for native uprisings (which, due to the positive Jewish interactions, have not happened). Still, it never hurts to be prepared.....

-Nairobi's name is changed to New Jerusalem, after an influx of some 300,000 new Polish Jews tips the scales in favor of a Jewish majority. This move symbolizes the new faith that the Jews have in their new homeland. It also shows just how much of a backwater Palestine has become. Many former Palestinian settlers are immigrating to East Africa.

-The New Jerusalem-Mombassa-Tel Aviv Railway is completed, allowing for a booming trade economy. Many Massai, tought by the Jews, have become farmers. The Jews, in return, are now considered some of the best big-game hunters in this portion of Africa......

To be continued.....
 
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fantastic:)

are you gonna carry on uptill the 21st century.regarding skilled jewish immigration from France and GB, that could happen esp with French Jews regarding Dreyfuss affair but i'd say the best place to find skilled Jewish immigrants in the West might actually be Germany many of its jews will be skilled etc and i believe though i may be wrong but antisemitism there was considered worse then the UK or US (not sure about France).

Another suggestion- WI inspired by the new nations successe, a wealthy Jewish Briton or american decides some of the poor recently arrived East european jewish immigrants in his country - say in London's East End or NY's Lower East Side might be better off in the Dominion of East Africa farming or whatever rather then slaving away in sweatshops.

1 nitpick- you say on 1st June 1909 it has a population of 2.7 million, then a year later only 2.5 million!!
 
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1911-1914:

Another 1.5 million Jews from Eastern Europe immigrate to East Africa. The IPO is now quite adept at spreading stories of the wonderful paradise that East Africa has become for the Jewish faith, along with the stories of exotic wildlife and paintings of beautiful African landscapes. The Orthodox, in particular, are far less stringent about leaving for East Africa, as they believe that Jews cannot form a state in the Holy Land until the Messiah comes.

The results show themselves soon enough. In 1910, Mombassa is renamed Port Shalom (which is perfect-shalom means "hello," "goodbye," and "peace," -the perfect names for a major port and city). Some 200,000 of these new settlers come to Upper and Lower Rhodesia, greatly boosting the economies of the two colonies.

In 1911, after New York's notorious Triangle Shirtwaiste fire, (in which the victims were poor Jewish women laborers), Jacob Schiff, a wealthy American Zionist, begins financing Jewish immigration from "The jungles of New York to the paradise of Africa). Although limited at first, eventually, some 150,000 Jews from the Lower East Side immigrate to East Africa. In Britain, the East End is rapidly emptying of Jews as the poor laborers seek a better life in the wide open spaces of the African frontiers.....

By 1912, Jews completely dominate the coffee trade. Grown in the highlands of Kenya, the farming is done on many kibbutzim (communal farms). The Massai are tought farming techniques in these communities, and the vast majority of the Jewish converts from the Massai will come from the Highlands (this special relationship between the Jewish coffee farmers and the Massai helps to preempt the Mau-Mau rebellion, among other things).

By 1913, the big cities of East Africa have been electrified. The great Universities of Port Shalom, Tel Aviv, New Akko, New Jerusalem, and Fort Maccabee (now a major city) are the centers of intellectual life in Africa. The British, by now, are not surprised as the Jews open the doors of these institutions to Africans and Asians as well as whites.

From the very beginning of the Ugandan settlements, Jews allowed their women a say in how the settlements were run (which happened in OTL's Palestinian settlements as well). East Africa's Knesset (Parliament), officially votes to allow women to vote. African women are guranteed this same provision, further deepening the "Special Relationship" that the Jews enjoy with the natives.

By June of 1914, the Jewish population of the Dominion of East Africa is up to 4.1 million. The JDF numbers some 25,000 men, with Joseph Trumpledor as their commanding officer.

One June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand is assasinated in Sarajevo, plunging the world into the fires of the First World War.

For the Jews of East Africa, one era was ending and another was beginning......
 
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birdie said:
fantastic:)

are you gonna carry on uptill the 21st century.regarding skilled jewish immigration from France and GB, that could happen esp with French Jews regarding Dreyfuss affair but i'd say the best place to find skilled Jewish immigrants in the West might actually be Germany many of its jews will be skilled etc and i believe though i may be wrong but antisemitism there was considered worse then the UK or US (not sure about France).

Another suggestion- WI inspired by the new nations successe, a wealthy Jewish Briton or american decides some of the poor recently arrived East european jewish immigrants in his country - say in London's East End or NY's Lower East Side might be better off in the Dominion of East Africa farming or whatever rather then slaving away in sweatshops.

1 nitpick- you say on 1st June 1909 it has a population of 2.7 million, then a year later only 2.5 million!!

Thanks, Birdie! I think I'll edit a bit to include your ideas....
:)


I meant it to be like that. It does say "over 2.5 million," but I should have written it differently....:eek:

Yeah, I'm going to continue this to the 21st Century.....:)
 
1914-1919-The Great War:

When Great Britain declared war on Germany in August of 1914, the Dominions of East Africa and South Africa quickly followed. For the Jewish Defence Forces, this was to be their finest hour.

As there were only 3,000 German troops in German East Africa, Governor Heinrich von Schnee ordered them to refrain from attacking British forces. Colonel Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck, never one to sit on his tuchuss and do nothing, wasted no time in disobeying the orders.

Vorbeck had visited East Africa a couple of times, and had seen the JDF training excercises, and knew the pain that they could inflict. He had a hearty respect for Joseph Trumpledor in particular, having shared in a Yom Kippur break-the-fast feast with him.

For a while, little happened. Trumpledor wanted his recruits trained properly, while Vorbeck, with only 200 officers and 2,800 Askaris, had few supplies.

Both of them ended up facing each other from October 2-4, 1914. JDF forces, aided by a battalion of Indians, launched an amphibious assault at the port city of Tanga. Vorbeck fought hard, but he was forced to withdraw from his positions.

By early mid-October, there was little that Vorbeck could do as JDF forces, impossibly strong, overran German East Africa. The Jews already had a strong report with the natives, who welcomed the JDF as they occupied the major cities. The British ordered Trumpledor to Egypt. Trumpledor was eager to take Jerusalem from the Ottomans, but was stuck defending the Suez Canal from Turkish attacks.

Meanwhile, Vorbeck wasn't done in East Africa. From 1915-1917, he launched guerilla raids at the JDF, hoping to keep the prized warriors from being deployed to the European Theatere. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late. London had agreed that former German East Africa would be incorperated into the Dominion of East Africa. Thousands of Rhodesian and East African Jews began flooding into the territory. As their traders already had a good reputation amongst the natives, the transition was very smooth. Lettow-Vorbeck bowed to the inevitable and surrendered on February 1, 1917. He spent the rest of the war in a luxurious home in New Jerusalem (Trumpledor, in fact, insisted on it-it was his home).

In 1917, the JDF finally saw some action in the Middle East. Smashing through the Turkish lines bellowing "AMCHA!!!" (Hebrew for "Our Nation!"), the JDF served as the force that broke the Turks as Edmund Allenby advanced northwards. Jerusalem fell on April 3 of that year. Photographs of a weeping Joseph Trumpledor praying at the Western Wall with his men served as a huge morale booster for East Africa, where millions of Jews celebrated the fall of Jerusalem.

By 1918, the war was finally at an end, with the JDF being the first allied soldiers to enter Damascas (much to the chagrin of Lawrence of Arabia). At the Versailles Conference of 1919, German East Africa was recognized as a possesion of the Dominion of East Africa. Britain also gained a Mandate over Palestine, Iraq, and Transjordan.

By now, the Jews were firmly rooted in East Africa. But there was still controversy. Some radical Zionists wanted to immigrate en masse to Palestine. But the vast majority of Jews were content in their established businesses in East Africa, and besides, there was Tangynyka to incorporate properly. East African insitutions, from education to health care, were begining to take root.

Joseph Trumpledor returned to New Jerusalem in triumph. In the elections of 1919, he was elected Prime Minister. Along with Jan Smutts, now the Prime Minister of South Africa, Trumpledor pushed hard for the new League of Nations, which East Africa joined in 1920.

Paul Lettow-Vorbeck bid a tearful goodbye to his friend, and sailed home to Germany. But he would be back one day, as it turned out......

For Joseph Trumpledor, the best days were yet to come.....

To be continued......
 
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