History of Zionism (pre-1948)

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Zionism, as an organised nationalist movement, is generally considered to have been founded by Theodor Herzl in 1897, the year of the First Zionist Congress of the Zionist Organization. Earlier movements in the 19th century, described as Proto-Zionism or Forerunners of Zionism, included Hovevei Zion (lit. 'Lovers of Zion'), responsible for the creation of 20 Jewish towns in Palestine between 1870 and 1897. At the core of the Zionist ideology was the aspiration for a Jewish national home through the re-establishment of Jewish sovereignty in Palestine, to be facilitated by the Jewish diaspora (see aliyah). Herzl sought an independent Jewish state (usually defined as a secular state with a Jewish-majority population, in contrast to a theocratic Halakhic state), as expressed in his 1896 pamphlet Der Judenstaat. Though he did not live to witness it, his vision was fulfilled with the founding in 1948 of the State of Israel within the former territory of Mandatory Palestine.

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