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.......
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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