The First Zionist Congress () was the inaugural

congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

of the Zionist Organization (ZO) held in the Stadtcasino Basel in the city of

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

on August 29–31, 1897. Two hundred and eight delegates from 17 countries and 26 press correspondents attended the event. It was convened and chaired by

Theodor Herzl Theodor Herzl (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist and lawyer who was the father of Types of Zionism, modern political Zionism. Herzl formed the World Zionist Organization, Zionist Organizat ...

, the founder of the modern Zionism movement. The Congress formulated a Zionist platform, known as the

Basel program The Basel Program was the first manifesto of the Zionism, Zionist movement, drafted between 27 and 30 August 1897 and adopted unanimously at the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, on 30 August 1897. In 1951, it was replaced by the Je ...

, and founded the Zionist Organization. The conference was covered by the international press, making a significant impression.

History

The first Zionist Congress was convened by

as a symbolic parliament for the small minority of Jewry in agreement with the implementation of

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

goals. While Jewish majority indifference or opposition to Zionism would continue until after revelation of the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

in World War II, some proponents point to several directions and streams of this early Jewish opposition. "Alongside the dynamic development of the Zionist movement, which generated waves of enthusiasm throughout the Jewish public, sharp criticism began to appear about Zionism, claiming that Zionism could not hope to resolve the Jewish problem and would only serve to harm the status of Jewish laborers and sabotage its own recognition as an independent class." As a result of the vocal opposition by both the Orthodox and

Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

community leadership, the Congress, which was originally planned in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, was transferred to

by Herzl.Nili Kadary
Herzl and the Zionist Movement: From Basle to Uganda - Background Text
JAFI, 2002 The Congress took place in the concert hall of the Stadtcasino Basel on August 29, 1897. Proceedings were conducted in German.

Delegates

Herzl acted as chairperson of the Congress, which was attended by 208 participants from seventeen countries, 69 of whom were delegates from various Zionist societies, and the remainder were individual invitees. Seventeen women attended the Congress, some of them in their own capacity, others accompanying representatives. While women participated in the First Zionist Congress, they did not have voting rights; they were accorded full membership rights at the

Second Zionist Congress The Second World Zionist Congress () met in Basel, Switzerland on 28 August 1898. and was the second meeting of the Zionist Organisation. The World Zionist Congress brought together delegates from across the world to raise funds, lobby suppo ...

, the following year. Over half the delegates were from Eastern Europe, with nearly a quarter coming from Russia. Herzl was elected President of the Congress, with

Max Nordau Max Simon Nordau (born Simon Maximilian Südfeld; 29 July 1849 – 23 January 1923) was a Hungarian Zionism, Zionist leader, physician, author, and Social criticism, social critic. He was a co-founder of the Zionist Organization together with Theo ...

, Abraham Salz and Samuel Pineles elected first, second and third Vice Presidents respectively.

Agenda

Front Cover of the Official Protocol of the First Zionist Congress Basel 1897

Following a festive opening in which the representatives arrived in formal dress, tails and

white tie White tie, also called full evening dress or a dress suit, is the most formal evening Western dress code. For men, it consists of a black tail coat (alternatively referred to as a dress coat, usually by tailors) worn over a white dress shir ...

, the Congress moved to the agenda. The principal items on the agenda were the presentation of Herzl's plans, the establishment of the Zionist Organization and the declaration of Zionism's goals—the

. According to the 200-page Official Protocol, the three-day conference included the following events:

Day 1: Sunday 29 August

# Karpel Lippe, Jassy delegate, opening speech #

, speech #

, Paris delegate, speech # Abraham Salz, speech # Jacob de Haas, speech # Jacques Bahar, speech # Samuel Pineles,

Galați Galați ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the river Danube. and the sixth-larges ...

delegate, speech # Alexander Mintz, Vienna delegate, speech # Mayer Ebner, speech # Dr. Rudolf Schauer,

Bingen am Rhein Bingen am Rhein () is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The settlement's original name was Bingium, a Celtic languages, Celtic word that may have meant "hole in the rock", a description of the shoal behind the ...

delegate, speech # Professor Gregor Belkovsky, Sofia delegate, speech # János Rónai, Blaj delegate, speech # Adam Rosenberg, New York delegate, speech # Nathan Birnbaum, Vienna delegate, speech # David Farbstein, Zurich delegate, speech

Day 2: Monday 30 August

# The President, and moderated discussion # Dr. Max Bodenheimer, Cologne delegate, speech # Group discussion # Jacob Bernstein-Kohan, speech # M. Moses, speech

Day 3: Tuesday 31 August

# Dr. Kaminka, speech # Adam Rosenberg, speech # Mordecai Ehrenpreis, speech # Group discussion

First Zionist Executive

The Zionist Executive elected by the First Congress consisted of: *Vienna (5):

, Moses Schnirer, Oser Kokesch, Johann Kremenezky and Alexander Mintz (the latter in place of Nathan Birmbaum) *

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

(other than Galicia and Bukovina) (1): Dr. Sigmund Kornfeld * Galicia (2): Abraham Salz, Abraham Adolf Korkis *

Bukovina Bukovina or ; ; ; ; , ; see also other languages. is a historical region at the crossroads of Central and Eastern Europe. It is located on the northern slopes of the central Eastern Carpathians and the adjoining plains, today divided betwe ...

(1): Mayer Ebner *Russia (4): Rabbi Samuel Mohilever, Prof. Max E. Mandelstamm, Jacob Bernstein-Kohan, Isidor Jasinowski *France (2): Bernard Lazare, Jacques Bahar *Romania (2): Karl Lippe, Samuel Pineles *Bulgaria and Serbia (1): Prof. Gregor Belkovsky *Germany (2): Rabbi Isaac Rülf, Max Bodenheimer In addition, it was agreed that one representative was to be appointed for each of Britain, America and Palestine. This was proposed to take place later at publicly convened assemblies.

Basel Program

On the second day of its deliberations (August 30), the version submitted to the Congress by a committee under the

chair A chair is a type of seat, typically designed for one person and consisting of one or more legs, a flat or slightly angled seat and a back-rest. It may be made of wood, metal, or synthetic materials, and may be padded or upholstered in vario ...

, it was stated: "

Zionism Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

seeks to establish a home for the

Jewish people Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

secured under public law." This gave clear expression to Herzl's political Zionist vision, in contrast with the settlement orientated activities of the more loosely organized Hovevei Zion. To meet halfway the request of numerous delegates, the most prominent of whom was Leo Motzkin, who sought the inclusion of the phrase "by international law," a compromise formula proposed by Herzl was eventually adopted.Zionisten-Congress in Basel
Officielles Protocoll, 1898, pp114–119. The program, which came to be known as the

Basel Program The Basel Program was the first manifesto of the Zionism, Zionist movement, drafted between 27 and 30 August 1897 and adopted unanimously at the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, on 30 August 1897. In 1951, it was replaced by the Je ...

, set out the goals of the Zionist movement. It was adopted on the following terms: According to

Israel Zangwill Israel Zangwill (21 January 18641 August 1926) was a British author at the forefront of Zionism during the 19th century, and was a close associate of Theodor Herzl. He later rejected the search for a Jewish homeland in Palestine and became the ...

it was Max Nordau who came up with the phrase "home secured by public law" to avoid antagonising the

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

"too deeply".

Results

The First Zionist Congress resulted in the following: * The formulation of the Zionist platform, (the Basel program, above) * The foundation of the Zionist Organization * The absorption of most of the previous Hovevei Zion societies * The suggestion for the establishment of a people's bank, and * The election of Herzl as President of the Zionist Organization and

one of three vice-presidents.

wrote in his diary (September 3, 1897): Subsequent congresses founded various institutions for the promotion of this program, notably a people's bank known as the Jewish Colonial Trust, which was the financial instrument of political Zionism. Its establishment was suggested at the First Zionist Congress in 1897; the first definite steps toward its institution were taken at the Second Zionist Congress in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

in May, 1898. For the Fifth Zionist Congress, the

Jewish National Fund The Jewish National Fund (JNF; , ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael''; previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') is a non-profit organizationProfessor Alon Tal, The Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, The Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben Gurion ...

was founded for the purchase of land in Palestine and later the Zionist Commission was founded with subsidiary societies for the study and improvement of the social and economic condition of the Jews within the Land of Israel. The Zionist Commission was an informal group established by

Chaim Weizmann Chaim Azriel Weizmann ( ; 27 November 1874 – 9 November 1952) was a Russian-born Israeli statesman, biochemist, and Zionist leader who served as president of the World Zionist Organization, Zionist Organization and later as the first pre ...

. It carried out initial surveys of Palestine and aided the repatriation of Jews sent into exile by the Ottoman Turks during World War I. It expanded the ZO's , which was established in 1907, into small departments for agriculture, settlement, education, land, finance, immigration, and statistics. In 1921, the commission became the Palestine Zionist Executive, which acted as the

Jewish Agency The Jewish Agency for Israel (), formerly known as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. It was established in 1929 as the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization (WZO). As an ...

, to advise the British mandate authorities on the development of the country in matters of Jewish interest. The Zionist Congress met every year between 1897 and 1901, then except for war years, every second year (1903–1913, 1921–1939). In 1942, an " Extraordinary Zionist Conference" was held and announced a fundamental departure from traditional

policyAmerican Jewish Year Book Vol. 45 (1943-1944
Pro-Palestine and Zionist Activities, pp 206-214
with its demand "that Palestine be established as a Jewish Commonwealth."

Michael Oren Michael Bornstein Oren (; born Michael Scott Bornstein; May 20, 1955) is an American-Israeli diplomat, writer, and politician. He is a former Israeli ambassador to the United States (2009–2013), former member of the Knesset for the Kul ...

, ''Power, Faith and Fantasy'', Decision at Biltmore, pp 442-445 It became the official Zionist stand on the ultimate aim of the movement. Since the Second World War, meetings have been held approximately every four years and since the establishment of the

State of Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, the Congress has been held in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

Gallery

Image:Participant card at the First Zionist Congress.jpg, A participant card from the event. Image:Symbol of the First Congress.jpg, The symbol of the First Congress. File:Flag of the First Zionist Congress 1897.svg, The flag of the First Zionist Congress File:Bodenheimer's and Herzl's drafts of the Zionist flag, compared to the final version used at the First Zionist Congress.png, Max Bodenheimer's (top left) and Herzl's (top right) 1897 drafts of the Zionist flag, compared to the final version used at the congress

References

Bibliography

*
The Jewish Encyclopedia: Basel Program
{{Zionism, state=collapsed Jews and Judaism in Basel World Zionist Congress Zionists 1897 conferences 1897 in Switzerland History of Basel August 1897 1897 in politics 19th-century political conferences Events in Basel