Timeline of Zionism

• 1861 - The Zion Society is formed in Frankfurt, Germany.
• 1870 - 1890 - Russian group Chovevei Tzion (Lovers of Zion) sets up 30 Jewish farming colonies in Palestine, financially aided by Baron Edmond de Rothschild. They were populated by European Jews with no common language; Eliezer ben Yehuda[?] labored to revive Hebrew as a common spoken language. ([1] (http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Zionism/Hovevei_Zion))
• 1881 - 1884 - Russian pogroms kill tens of thousands of Jews. Hundreds of thousands of Jews flee.
• 1880 - 1920 - Two million Russian Jews migrate to the US.
• 1882 - 1903 - The first major wave of Jewish immigration (aliyah[?]) to Palestine.
• 1894 - The Dreyfus affair radicalizes Theodore Herzl
• 1896 - Herzl writes Der Judenstaat (The State of Jews) advocating the creation of a Jewish state.
• 1896 - 1904 Herzl unsuccessfully approaches world leaders for assistance in the creation of a Jewish National Home.
• 1897 - The First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, urges "a publicly and legally assured home in Palestine" for Jews and establishes the World Zionist Organization[?] (WZO).
• 1901 - Fifth Zionist Congress establishes the Jewish National Fund[?].
• 1902 - Herzl publishes the novel Altneuland (Old-New Land), which takes place in Palestine.
• 1903 -1906 - More pogroms in Russia
• 1903 - Controversial Uganda Proposal[?] for settlement in East Africa splits the 6th Zionist Congress. A committee is created to look into it.
• 1904 - 1914 - Second aliyah.
• 1917 - The British gain control of Palestine from the Ottoman Empire during World War I.
• 1917 - The British issue the Balfour Declaration, lending support for "the establishment in Palestine for a national home for the Jewish people".
• 1918 - 1920 - More pogroms in Russia
• 1919 - 1923 - Third aliyah.
• 1920 - The San Remo conference in Italy establishes the British Mandate of Palestine.
• 1920 - Histadrut[?] founded.
• 1920 - Haganah founded.
• 1921 - Chaim Weizmann becomes new President of the WZO at the 12th Zionist Congress (the first since World War I).
• 1921 - Autonomy is given to Transjordan under Crown Prince Abdullah. Jewish settlement is outlawed there.
• 1922 - The text from the San Remo Conference is confirmed by the League of Nations.
• 1923 - Britain gives the Golan Heights to the French mandate of Syria.
• 1924 - 1928 - Fourth aliyah.
• 1932 - 1939 - Fifth aliyah.
• 1933 - 1945 Jews flee Germany because of persecution under the Nazi government. Jews are turned away because of the British limit on immigrants.
• 1936 - The British propose a partition between Jewish and Arab areas. It is accepted by the Zionists, but rejected by the Arab parties (See [2] (http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/History/deftoc)).
• 1936 - 1939 - Great Uprising[?] by Arabs against British rule and Jewish immigration.
• 1939 - The British government issues the 'White Paper' setting a limit of 75,000 on future Jewish immigration to Palestine (See [3] (http://www.wzo.org.il/home/politic/white39.htm)).
• 1947 - On November 29, the United Nations approves partition of Palestine into a Jewish and Arab state. It is accepted by the Jews, but rejected by the Arabs (See [4] (http://www.jajz-ed.org.il/100/concepts/d3) [5] (http://www.jajz-ed.org.il/100/maps/part).
• 1947 - November 30, guerrilla war starts between Jewish forces, centered around the Haganah and Palestinian Arab forces.
• 1948 - May 14. The State of Israel declares itself as an independent nation.
• 1948 - May 15. Neighboring Arab countries invade, and the 1948 Arab-Israeli war ensues.

See also: History of Israel