Essay on The Balfour Declaration

Submitted By miguelmmmv2013
Words: 628
Pages: 3
Open Document
The Balfour Declaration was a November 2, 1917 letter from British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour to Lord Rothschild that made public the British support of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. The Balfour Declaration led the League of Nations to entrust the United Kingdom with the Palestine Mandate in 1922
The Balfour Declaration was a product of years of careful negotiation. After centuries of living in a diaspora, the 1894 Dreyfus Affair in France shocked Jews into realizing they would not be safe from arbitrary antisemitism unless they had their own country.
In response, Jews created the new concept of political Zionism in which it was believed that through active political maneuvering, a Jewish homeland could be created. Zionism was becoming a popular concept by the time World War I began.
The Balfour Declaration was a product of years of careful negotiation. After centuries of living in a diaspora, the 1894 Dreyfus Affair in France shocked Jews into realizing they would not be safe from arbitrary antisemitism unless they had their own country.
In response, Jews created the new concept of political Zionism in which it was believed that through active political maneuvering, a Jewish homeland could be created. Zionism was becoming a popular concept by the time World War I began.

World War I and Chaim Weizmann
During World War I, Great Britain needed help. Since Germany (Britain's enemy during WWI) had cornered the production of acetone -- an important ingredient for arms production -- Great Britain may have lost the war if Chaim Weizmann had not invented a fermentation process that allowed the British to manufacture their own liquid acetone.
It was this fermentation process that brought Weizmann to the attention of David Lloyd George (minister of ammunitions) and Arthur James Balfour (previously the British prime minister but at this time the first lord of the admiralty). Chaim Weizmann was not just a scientist; he was also the leader of the Zionist movement.

Diplomacy
Weizmann's contact with Lloyd George and Balfour continued, even after Lloyd George became prime minister and Balfour was transferred to the Foreign Office in 1916. Additional Zionist leaders such as Nahum Sokolow also pressured Great Britain to support a Jewish homeland in Palestine.
Alhough Balfour, himself, was in favor of a Jewish state, Great Britain particularly favored the declaration as an act of policy. Britain wanted the United States to join World War I and the British hoped that by supporting a Jewish homeland in Palestine, world Jewry would be
Show More

Related Documents: Essay on The Balfour Declaration

Balfour Declaration Dbq

The Balfour Declaration is a document that declared the British government’s support of establishing Palestine as a national home for Jewish people during the first World War. At the time, the country of Palestine had a minimal Jewish population of around 3-5%. This created the question of whether or not to enforce a Jewish state on Jews living in other countries during the early 20th century. There were some leaders who believed this would have a positive impact on Jews that called other countries…

Words 641 - Pages 3

Arthur Balfour's Letter To Lionel Rothschild

hundred words could have such an impact. Well, that is exactly what happened with Arthur Balfour’s letter to Lionel Rothschild. The Balfour Declaration was sent to Mr. Rothschild on November 2, 1917, and what an affinity it had for the Jews(Podeh). The Balfour Declaration was a moving promise that was nearly broken. The Balfour Declaration was a letter written by Arthur Balfour to Lionel Rothschild that was less than a hundred words long. The letter itself was delivered a year before World War I ended…

Words 161 - Pages 1

History: World War Ii and British Mandate Essay

Historical Promises to the Jewish Created Aspirations when forming the new State of Israel The Balfour Declaration of 1917 heavily contradicted the agreements between the British and King of Saudi Arabia, Amir Hussein and also countered the secret agreements between British and French diplomats Mark Sykes and George Picot. The Balfour Declaration was a letter written by British Secretary of State Arthur Balfour to Lord Rothschild, head of arguably the most powerful and influential Jewish families at the…

Words 788 - Pages 4

ME History Essay

Middle Eastern History AnnaKatherine Clarke Bios September 24, 2014 Sharif Hissein Bin Ali He was King of the Arabs and was the last of the Hashemite Sharfians. He is best known for launching the Great Arab Revolt in June of 1916. When he fired the first symbolic shot from his palace towards Mecca. A step towards the Arab revolt. This was significant because it was started the Arab revolute against the Ottoman empire. T. E. Lawrence T.E. Lawrence was born in 1888, as an illegitimate…

Words 508 - Pages 3

Jewish Nationalism Dbq

In 1878, when the Ottoman Empire was in control of what is now known as Palestine, 87% of the population was Muslim, 10% was Christian, and 3% was Jewish. Arabic was the understood national language and there were no land conflicts. It wasn’t until a Jewish man by the name of Theodor Herzl became convinced that the Jewish people had to leave Europe and settle in their own state, that the conflict over land began . This concept of Jewish nationalism became known as Zionism. During that time, most…

Words 170 - Pages 1

The Conflict In Israel

Munich Massacre and the Hamas which all added to the current uproar in the Middle East, which are some the reasons for the situation today. The establishment of the State of Israel is a crucial aspect of the situation today because a day after the declaration of the state on the 14th of May 1948, Arab troops from neighbouring countries invaded the nation to “liberate Palestine”, until the first cease-fire which was used by the Zionists in order to organise and train their newly established…

Words 2557 - Pages 11

Assess The Significance Of The Holocaust

‘Assess the significance of the holocaust for the state of Israel’ The Holocaust was one the worst tragedies in the history of humanity. The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah was brought to life by the Nazis in 1941. The purpose of the Holocaust was to “rid” the country and eventually the world by killing the Jews. After 1945, 6 million Jews were dead, 1.5 million of them children. In this paper I will argue if the Holocaust played the most significant role in the establishment of the state of…

Words 1600 - Pages 7

Stansberry Scott Unit 4 Writing Assignm Essay

Running head: Terrorism and the Media Writing Assignment Unit Four Terrorism and the Media 12/1/14 Vickie Tate, Ph.D. Scott E. Stansberry Kaplan University To say that Islam is inherently violent is rather short-sighted. Unfortunately, the history of Islamic terrorism is mired in policies and disingenuous opportunists. Islamic terrorism has its roots in the teachings of Sayyid Qutb Shaheed. Qutb, born in Egypt in 1906, joined the Muslim Brotherhood amidst the recent collapse…

Words 1089 - Pages 5

Israel and Yom Kippur War Essay

itself. Among the Arabs there was, at most, only rudimentary opposition to Jewish settlement in Palestine and only a vague awareness of Zionist claims. A corollary of this view is that Arab’s only discovered the “challenge” of Zionism when the Balfour Declaration was issued by the British Government in 1917.” Initially, the British government promised the support needed to establish an independent Arab state; in exchange for an Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire. However, the British Government…

Words 1905 - Pages 8

United Nations Partition of Palestine Essay

and the Arabs were to retain only 43% of the total land. The Jewish Agency welcomed the majority report, but the Arab Higher Committee followed the pattern of Arab responses to all European interventions in the affairs of Palestine since the Balfour Declaration and rejected both reports outright. Indeed, the Arab Higher Committee threatened war if partition went ahead. The British agreed to leave Palestine but did not endorse either report as they did not want to be seen by the Arab states as supporting…

Words 541 - Pages 3