The British mandate, 1945-1947

Effects of the holocaust on Palestine

  1. The holocaust proved that the need for a Jewish homeland was needed
  1. Thus, in 1945, Zionists demanded the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine, hoping that the British would give in
  1. The new British foreign secretary, Ernest Bevin, understood this demand, and re-instated the Jewish immigration into Palestine
  1. He limited the flow of Jews into Palestine at 1500 jews per month. He did this because.....

A. He knew that a flood of Jewish immigrants into Palestine would result in a civil war

B. Britain needed to be on good terms with the middle East, as they needed as much oil as possible after the war

Jewish insurgency 1945-1947

  1. Since zionists did not like Britain's attitude towards the Jews after WW2, the zionist organisations went rogue

Extremist groups (Lehi and Irgun)

Moderate groups (Haganah)

  1. They aimed to help as many holocaust survivors as possible
  1. They aimed to gain worldwide sympathy for a Jewish state
  1. They aimed to wage a campaign of violence against the British, to force them to remove their troops from Palestine
  1. They wanted to horrify the British public through terrorist actions, in order to blackmail the British for a withdrawal

Events

  1. In 1945, both extremist and moderate groups teamed up and blew up a Palestinian railway system in 153 places
  1. Over the next 24 months, the Irgun and Lehi led a violent campaign against anything British

A. They blew up offices

B. They attacked police stations

C. They sabotages oil pipes

D. They bombed airfields and bridges

E. They placed landmines on roads

F. Destroyed radio stations and telephone lines

G. They robbed British bank

H. They stole British weapons

  1. In 1946, a total of 73 British troops were killed