The diplomatic and international history of the Zionist movement in Europe and beyond, from Moses Hess’s Rome and Jerusalem and Herzl’s “The Jewish State” to the 1948 War of Independence, and the State of Israel’s first steps as an independent minor power. Topics will include: Herzl and the founding of the Zionist movement, the Uganda Plan, British interests and Zionism, the Jews and the world crisis of World War I, Zionism between French and British imperialism in the Middle East, origins of Mandatory Palestine, National Socialism and the illusion of Jewish power, the Arab Revolt in its international context, the revolt against the British, the powers and the Jewish Holocaust, the Displaced Persons crisis, Partition, and the strategy of Jewish independence.