The Second World Zionist Congress (Hebrew: הקונגרס הציוני השני) 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 support and create the institutions that would one day form the modern day Jewish State known as Israel, which was established in 1948. The Congress met every year from 1897 to 1901 (after which it met every two years, except during the years of the Second World War). The main focus of the Second Congress, as set out by its chair, Theodor Herzl, was to engage with Jewish communities in the diaspora and encourage them to adopt Political Zionism.
The three day congress established the Jewish Colonial Fund (later called the Anglo-Palestine Bank) whose aim was to fund the successful migration of Jews to Palestine, as well as the establishment of a Committee on Culture. Other notable events of the congress were the presentation of an early prototype of the modern day Israeli flag, and the arrival of the first delegates of Socialist Zionism to the Congress.
History
Theodor Herzl, the founder of Political Zionism, proposed in his 1896 pamphlet 'Der Judenstaat' that Jews would continue to face anti-Semitism in the diaspora until they were able to have self-determination in their own state. He began to lobby for the creation of a Jewish State, and formed the World Zionist Organisation (WZO) in 1897. In August that year, the organisation met at the First Zionist Congress. It was there that it was decided that the Jewish State should be established in the region of Palestine, then under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. The region was chosen as it had been the historic land of the ancient Jews before the beginning of the Jewish Diaspora in 70 C.E.
Agenda
Herzl's main focus for the Second Congress was to discuss how to generate more support from Jewish communities across the world for the Zionist movement. A modern Jewish State could not be formed without significant international support and a population of Jews large enough to sustain a state. This would necessitate a large-scale immigration of Jews from Europe and America to the area of Syria-Palestine to cultivate the land and create institutions necessary for a state to exist. Therefore, the Second Congress was dedicated to creating these institutions and supporting existing communities in the area, as well as lobbying Jewish communities for support.
The Congress ran on an identical program to that of the First Congress. The proceedings began with formal opening speeches from the Chairman and Vice-Chairman, and voting was held to elect the new members of the executive team and members of the Zionist General Council. In the following days, representatives of Zionist Institutions from various countries gave over reports, and voting was conducted to ratify their conclusions.
Day 1: 28th August 1898: Introductory Speeches
The Congress began with an opening address by Herzl. In it, he called upon the members of the Jewish Diaspora to embrace and support Political Zionism. In his opening speech he stated that “The same people who reproach us that Zionism creates new barriers between mankind, find fault with us for aspiring to the friendship of Christian Zionists...the authority of the religious community, the means which it commands, and the persons who constitute it, must not be directed against the aspirations of the people … Our next objective is therefore the conquest of the communities.” He also emphasised the need to secure a piece of land for the establishment of the state, explicitly referring to the region of 'Syria-Palestine' and is quoted saying that “We are ready to bring about the reconstruction of Judaism; we have everything in abundance, men, material and plans. What we require is the soil…no one will deny that there is an unbreakable connection between our people and this land.”
After Herzl’s opening speech, Vice-Chairperson Max Nordau gave his own speech and the schedule for the remaining three days was announced. After the formalities of the opening speeches, various spokespersons from the committees established at the First Zionist Congress announced their progress in the preceding year. The Major progressions were that 913 Zionist Societies were currently in operation across the world, and the organisations treasury had raised 60,000 francs for the WZO treasury.