Sejarah Zionisme, 1600-1918/Volume 2/Bab 49d

CHAPTER XLIXD.

Turkey, 1910‒14—The New Turkish Cabinet of 1912—The Balkan War—The Tenth and Eleventh Congresses—Death of Wolffsohn.

We may as well now cast a glance at the aspect of the general political situation at the period this narrative has reached. Public opinion in England was greatly disappointed when the first enthusiasm for Turkish liberties had passed away. The ship of state in Turkey began to enter very troubled waters, and no one saw safety ahead. The defeat of the Committee of Union and Progress, the displacing of the Said Pasha Cabinet and the downfall of the other leaders of the Young Turkey party of 1908, followed by the amnesty of a number of officials of the Hamidian regime, had naturally led many in Europe to believe that reaction had set in, and that the Young Turks had once more been overthrown and were in danger of being stamped out by the Old Turks or reactionaries. On the other hand, some careful observers asserted that the new Cabinet of 1912 was the best Turkey had had during the past forty years, and that it was in no true sense reactionary, but really constructive and progressive. They maintained also that the Committee of Union and Progress had begun to use old methods and were now hated by a large proportion of their former supporters. But all these allegations were contradicted by rapidly developing events. Hardly at any time within this generation had the political situation in Turkey presented elements of greater uncertainty and danger than in the period 1910‒14.

The greatest misfortune was the impossibility of any improvement. Turkey undoubtedly had the desire for progress along those lines which Europe professedly was so anxious to see her follow; but she needed advice, guidance, credit and patience. She required men—advisers, counsellors—to give her practical help in carrying out the necessary reforms. But, unfortunately, such a development was made impossible by the disturbing political events.

The Balkan War broke out. The Balkan peoples took their fate in their own hands. They did not look for liberators from elsewhere, and asked no help in the settlement of their differences. Whenever the Balkans had flared up and gone into war before it had generally been due to the fact that other nations had drawn them into the struggle. The vital difference of this conflict was that, for the first time for centuries, all the peoples concerned thought themselves strong enough to decide their own future by the sword. A fierce struggle began. The outlook for the Turks was most gloomy from the very outset. The Turks were beaten. They were discarded by all those who in Europe had seemed to have supported them, abandoned by the Powers which once valued their friendship. Speculation as to what would happen was on everybody’s lips. One thing was certain: that the East was getting thoroughly aroused, and that the developments led inevitably to a crisis unparalleled in history. Meanwhile, the Zionist Organization continued its work with great energy.

The Tenth Zionist Congress at Basle, August, 1911, with Wolffsohn and Nordau again as Presidents, had an attendance of about four hundred delegates, including a considerable number of English: Dr. Gaster, Mr. H. Bentwich, Mr. Jacob Moser, Dr. Samuel Daiches, Dr. Weizmann, Mr. J. Cowen, Dr. Hochman, Mr. H. Sacher, Dr. Salis Daiches, Mr. S. B. Rubenstein and others. The question left over from the previous Congress was settled at this one. A new Small Actions’ Committee was elected, and David Wolffsohn retained his influential post as President of the Council, and from that time again devoted his energies mainly to Zionist finances.

The Eleventh Zionist Congress at Vienna, in September, 1913 (preceded by an International Congress of the Hebrew Language Revival Societies), with its attendance of five to six hundred delegates, its enormous mass meetings, exhibitions, lectures, entertainments and demonstrations, such as the visit to Herzl’s grave, the Gymnastic Display with 2500 national Jewish gymnasts and 25,000 Jewish spectators, was the greatest Jewish display of forces that had ever taken place. The importance of practical work in Palestine, the thorough, serious and systematic treatment of all colonization questions, the powerful influence of the Hebrew language, the great number of intellectuals present, the great power of the Students’ movement, were new elements which were apt to give the calmer and older Congress members the impression of something chaotic. In reality, however, that was only the way in which the growth of the movement, its development, and many-sidedness found expression.

Superficial observers, who have but vague ideas of Zionism, in its narrow political and financial aspect, might have been surprised at the sight of this Congress, but those who know how Zionism has grown up out of the Chovevé Zion and literature and education, with the University movement, which we have described elsewhere, will understand why the first “idyll” was bound to give way to a movement as reflected by the Vienna Congress. Dr. Gaster, Mr. J. Moser, Mr. H. Bentwich, Dr. Ch. Weizmann, Mr. J. Cowen, Mr. L. Simon, Mr. H. Sacher, and many other active and well-known members of the English Zionist Federation and of the Order of Ancient Maccabeans attended the Congress as English Delegates.

There was also a large delegation (fourteen members) from Canada. For the first time in the history of the Canadian Zionist Federation no proxies had been given, as all the delegates to whom the Canadian Federation was entitled attended in person.

The general Organization has since then been active in propaganda work, in development work in Palestine through the “Zionist Office,” and also in educational work in that country.

The Organization sustained a great loss by the death of David Wolffsohn. He had been ailing for the past few years and died on the 15th of September, 1914. He served the Zionist Organization with unequalled fidelity, with intense devotion and a singleness of purpose that nothing could divert. His passionate affection for the Zionist idea never wavered. He was proud of the Zionist institutions and watched over them with never-ceasing vigilance. All Zionists fully realize the great devotion to the cause that actuated this remarkable man. Unbounded industry, a passionate love of the work he had to perform, these were the characteristics of Wolffsohn, and won for him wide and deep sympathy and admiration during his life and have secured for him a lasting and cherished memory in the hearts of Zionists throughout the world.