Before Balfour Britain’s political involvement in Palestine started in earnest in the 1840s with English Protestant pressure to get Jews to Palestine. Then later in the 18th century came the development of Zionism and Russian pogroms against Jews. The turn of the century brought mass exodus of Jews and non Jews fleeing poverty, lack of opportunity and political persecution and seeking a better life in the West.
Contradictory Promises. The historical record shows a series of contradictory promises made by Britain relating to Palestine, with the first in 1915, two years before the Balfour Declaration
Balfour Declaration It is no exaggeration that the history of Israel/Palestine for the last hundred years has turned on the seminal Balfour Declaration of November 1917. Loved and loathed in equal measure, this was the letter that changed the future.
Britain and Palestine 1918-23 Following the Balfour Declaration of November 2nd 1917 and the fall of Jerusalem to Allenby’s troops in December 2017, Britain’s involvement in Palestine continued unabated. In spite of serious questioning from several sources, including the Mandate being voted down in the House of Lords by 60 to 29 votes, the government continued its policy to support the Zionist project. 1923 brought serious reconsideration, but the policy continued. Here are several articles covering the following 5 years.
Key Documents Here we have many of the key documents relevant to Britain and Palestine, including White Papers, committee reports and international documents.
British Mandate Here we have papers from when Britain was engineering to acquire the Mandate at the time of the setting up of the League of Nations through to its operation from 1923 to 1948.