Herzl’s Vision: Theodor Herzl and the Foundation of the Jewish State

305 Pages·2014·3.6 MB·English

by  Shlomo Avineri

HERZL’S VISION
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HERZL’S VISION
Theodor Herzl
and the Foundation of the Jewish State
Shlomo Avineri
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Original text © Shlomo Avineri 2008
English translation © Haim Watzman 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in
any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the Publisher.
First published in Israel in 2008
by Zalman Shazar Center
First published in Great Britain in 2013
by Weidenfeld & Nicolson / Orion Publishing Group Ltd
Published in North America in 2014 by
B l u e B r i d g e
An imprint of
United Tribes Media Inc.
Katonah, New York
www.bluebridgebooks.com
ISBN: 9781933346984

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014948524

Jacket design by Stefan Killen Design
Cover image: Mary Evans Picture Library/Imagno
Printed in the United States of America
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CONTENTS
List of Illustrations vii
Preface xix
Chapter One: Jeruscholajim 1
Chapter Two: Emancipation and its Discontents 27
Chapter Three: Budapest – Vienna – Paris 52
Chapter Four: Between Political Fiction and Political Action 83
Chapter Five: From the Jewish Question to The Jewish State:
The Revival of Jewish Public Space 114
Chapter Six: The Constituent Assembly: The Basel Congress 141
Chapter Seven: Altneuland – a Plan, not a Fantasy 165
Chapter Eight: El-Arish – Kishinev – Uganda: From Desert
Mirage to Harsh Realities 201
Chapter Nine: Toward the End: Rome and Jerusalem 248
Bibliographical Note 263
Index 265
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ILLUSTRATIONS
Plaque on the site of the house in Budapest where Herzl was born
(Ian Pitchford)
Herzl as a young man (Central Zionist Archives)
The title pages of eight different translations of The Jewish State
(Reproduced with permission from Inyan ha-Yehudim (The Jewish
Cause): Diaries 1895–1904, published by The Bialik Institute and
the World Zionist Organization, 1997)
Herzl and Zionist delegation en route to Palestine, 1898 (Central
Zionist Archives)
Herzl and Zionist delegation in Jerusalem, 1898 (Central Zionist
Archives)
Kaiser Wilhelm II in Jerusalem, 1898 (akg-images/Imagno)
Herzl at the Second Zionist Congress in Basel, 1898 (Central Zionist
Archives)
Joseph Chamberlain (Illustrated London News/Mary Evans)
Vyacheslav von Plehve (Topfoto)
Pope Pius X (akg-images)
King Victor Emmanuel III (Alinari/Topfoto)
Herzl’s funeral in Vienna, 1904 (Central Zionist Archives)
Herzl Street, Tel Aviv, c.1914 (Courtesy of Kedem Auctions,
Jerusalem)
The Haganah ship Theodor Herzl in Haifa harbour, 1947 (Associated
Press)
vii
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ILLUSTRATIONS
Herzl’s coffin arriving at Lod airport, Israel, 1949 (National Photo
Collection, Government Press Office, State of Israel)
Coat of arms of the city of Herzliya (Coyote sprit/Wikimedia
Commons)
Herzl’s tomb at Mount Herzl, Jerusalem (Djampa/Wikimedia
Commons)
viii
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Plaque on the site of the
house in Budapest where
Herzl was born.
Herzl as a young man.
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