The history of the formation of Israel as a state is long and tragic. With full confidence, we can say that it began at least three thousand years ago. The long-suffering Jewish people had to go through many trials on the way to creating their own state.
Ancient history
The first formation of Israel as a state took place in the 10th century BC in the Eastern Mediterranean. It was called the kingdom of Israel. But his independent existence was very short-lived. From the VII century BC it was subjected to numerous conquests. Since the year of the founding of Israel as a state is considered 1948, it turns out that the Jewish people lost their homeland for more than 26 centuries!
In 63 BC, the kingdom of Israel was captured by the powerful Roman Empire. The captured territory caused the Romans a lot of different problems. One of the most acute is religious: Judaism forbade the exaltation of the Roman emperor as a deity and, accordingly, his worship. But this was a prerequisite for the citizens of the empire.
The path of formation of the state of Israel was not short. In 135 AD in one of the provinces, an unsuccessful uprising of the local population against the Roman authorities took place. This event radically influenced the fate of the people who lived there. The Roman emperor decided to evict Jews from his territory as a punishment. Other peoples came to the province previously inhabited by them. So the first Jewish communities appeared, and not only in the Roman Empire, but also far beyond its borders. Over the years, they began to arise on Slavic lands.
After the split of the Roman Empire in 395 into the Eastern (Byzantium) and Western part of Palestine, it moved to the first, remaining until 619 its province. From 614 to 629, Persia conquered Palestine. After she again became a province of Byzantium. The Jewish population has declined significantly due to the constant massacres and persecutions that the emperor Heraclius began.
In the Middle Age
By 636, Muslims recaptured Palestine from Byzantium. And the next six centuries, this territory was controlled either by the Umayyad Caliphate, then by the Abbasids, or by the Crusaders.
The year 1099 was marked by the founding of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, which arose thanks to the efforts of the crusaders. But by 1260, Palestine was completely conquered by the Mamluk dynasty. Relatively peaceful times reigned for several centuries. However, already in 1517 the territory of modern Israel was conquered by the Ottoman Turks. Under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, the country was 400 years old, until 1917. In this historical period, Jews had the status of Zimmis. They had certain civil rights and religious freedom, but at the same time there were a number of restrictions. For example, a ban on riding horses, carrying weapons.
Background of the formation of Israel - the Jewish state
Only at the end of the XIX century, Jews began to strive to return to their historical lands. After 1881, the first settlers left for Palestine. The next massive wave of immigration occurred on the eve of the First World War. In the territories that belonged to the Ottoman Empire, Jews began to create their settlements, not claiming independence. Mostly people moved to Palestine, guided by their religious beliefs. But there were many Jews who planned to build socialist communes on the territory of this country.
Balfour Declaration
The formation of Israel as a state was also facilitated by the fact that on November 2, 1917, Arthur Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary, wrote an official letter to Lord Rothschild, who at that time was a representative of the British Jewish community. It said that the government of the state was seriously thinking about creating a national center for Jews in Palestine.
What was the purpose of this declaration? Firstly, this is the acquisition by Great Britain of the right to control after the war the land of Palestine, which was originally supposed to create a zone of international control. Secondly, it is the hope that the Jews living in America will force their government to enter the First World War, thereby supporting the depleting allied forces. Thirdly, this is pressure on the Jews living on the territory of Russia to prevent the spread of Bolshevik ideology and the exit of the Russian Empire from the war.
Consequences of the declaration
When the First World War ended, Palestine became the mandated territory of Great Britain. Jews began to emigrate in large numbers, which was the first step towards the formation of the state of Israel. By the time World War II began, there were 500,000 Jews in Palestine, and another 100,000 were added to them by the end of the war.
And they continued to relocate to these lands, which caused violent discontent among the Arab population of Palestine. The Arabs demanded that the government stop this. The government met them, despite the fact that the world community during the war accused the British of preventing the Jews from fleeing the Nazi regime in the Middle East. In the UK, it was decided to introduce entry quotas for Jewish foreigners, but these quotas were far from always respected. The situation was extremely tense by the end of the thirties, when a grandiose number of immigrants from Germany caused an uprising of Palestinian Arabs. And then, since 1939, the United Kingdom categorically prohibited the migration of Jews into the territories controlled by it.
During the Second World War
The path to the formation of Israel as a state was long and thorny. David Ben-Gurion, who was the leader of the Jewish community, decided to launch aggressive protests against British control of Palestine. Since 1944, Jews began to openly show their disobedience and commit bold terrorist acts.
International Zionist societies, as well as the United States, did not stand aside. The pressure on London began to increase. The British government was accused of the deaths of Jewish refugees who tried to illegally cross the sea into Palestine, but were intercepted by British border guards who returned the unfortunates to Europe, where they died at the hands of the Nazis.
After the second world war
When World War II finally ended, the formation of Israel as a state became a truly pressing issue. Britain’s mandate to govern Palestine continued. In August 1945, the World Zionist Congress, and then US President G. Truman, succumbing to pressure from the Jewish communities of his country, proposed to Britain to allow the resettlement of more than a million Jews to Palestine. But London did not accept this proposal, as politicians foresaw the unrest in the Arab countries.
Already in October, representatives of the Middle East said that US attempts to make Palestine a Jewish state would inevitably lead to war.
Meanwhile, the attacks continued. In July 1946, the headquarters of the British military administration were blown up by Zionist terrorists. Almost 100 British citizens died.
UK Government Decision
Great Britain was economically dependent on the United States and did not want to quarrel. But London did not need a conflict with the Arabs either. Therefore, in 1947, Great Britain refused to control Palestine.
On November 29, 1947, the UN assembly reached a consensus on the Palestinian issue: the lands decided to divide the three parts (42% to the Arabs, 56% to the Jews, and 2% of the lands that included Jerusalem and Bethlehem, the UN). Arab countries this resolution was not adopted.
Bloody clashes between Jews and Arabs began to occur more often. The situation reached its climax. Arabs began to leave the country en masse. Great Britain, not wanting to get involved in the war, on May 14, 1948, withdrew its troops from Palestine and announced the termination of its mandate.
Long awaited event
The date of the formation of Israel as a state is considered May 14, 1948. On this significant day, David Ben-Gurion, the head of the provisional Jewish government, announced to the world the creation of an independent Jewish state. Haim Weizmann was proclaimed president , the capital city of Tel Aviv.
Already on May 17, the USSR and the USA recognized Israel. Unfortunately, diplomats from other countries could not translate the Arab-Jewish dialogue into a peaceful direction. Soon after the day of the formation of the state of Israel and the announcement of its independence, several Arab states immediately launched a war with him. But gradually Israel was recognized by almost all countries of the world.
The role of the USSR in the creation of a Jewish state
The USSR, together with the United States, supported the formation of the state of Israel. The most significant role among Palestinian Jews was played by emigrants from the Russian Empire. They spread the ideas of socialism. Ben-Gurion was also from Russia. A few years after the October Revolution, he came on a friendly visit to the USSR. Once upon a time, Jews contributed to the spread of Bolshevik ideology in the Russian Empire. And that moment Stalin was expecting support from the Russian Jews of Palestine in his plans to increase the influence of the USSR on the affairs of the Middle East and oust Britain from there.
But the loyalty of the Soviet leader was short-lived. Anti-Semitic sentiment was encouraged in the USSR, and Jews were no longer allowed to leave the country. After the collapse of the USSR, Jews began to leave for Israel in large numbers for permanent residence.