The Balfour Declaration

Essay # 6809

An analytical essay exploring the true political, economical and social motivations for creating the Balfour Declaration.

1,760 words () | 16 sources | APA | 2002 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper delves into the reasons why the British Government created the Balfour Declaration. It examines the true motives and despite their wish to help the Jews set up a homeland, they also had their own domestic issues at heart -from the necessity of securing the Suez Canal to the desire to empty their country of the Jewish people to avoid a rise of anti-Semitism.

From the Paper:

"The Balfour Declaration was declared partly to elicit support from the powerful American Jewry who, in gratitude, might convince the United States to help Great Britain in the allied war effort. The Allies (Great Britain, France, and Russia) outlook for World War I was bleak at the time: most battles they were fighting or had fought ended in stalemate with no victor. They needed a new ally that would tip the balance in their favor, allowing them to defeat the Central Powers (Germany, Austria, and the Ottoman Empire). In the current stage of the war, the U.S. was apathetic to joining either side, but they had substantial military potential and financial resources. If Britain issued a document that favored a Jewish home in Palestine, they thought that this inducement would be enough to encourage American Jewry to aid Great Britain in the war.1 The British believed the American Jews were extremely wealthy and among U.S. President Wilson s top advisors. Contrary to this notion, there were very few American Jews that were politically powerful, wealthy, or even Zionists that would appreciate this type of document. Britain s ignorance of the status of American Jewry thus played a main factor in the issuance of the Balfour Declaration.2 Here it is apparent that the British claim of Zionist sentiment really had no effect on their decision to issue the Declaration. They acted quickly and complied with British Zionists to design a quid pro quo that said if the Allies committed themselves to giving facilities for the establishment of a national home for the Jews in Palestine, [the Zionists] would do their best to rally Jewish sentiment and support throughout the world to the Allied cause. 3 Hence, the British used the Balfour Declaration merely as a tool to utilize what they thought was powerful Jewish influence in the United States. It is most probable that if the Allies were winning World War I at the time, the Balfour Declaration would not have been issued. There was not a strong Zionist commitment within the British Parliament and the Jews were used only as a part of Great Britain s bigger plan to bring the U.S. on the Allied side.4"