The Law of Return (1950), implemented two years after Israel’s inception, invited all Jews to return ‘home’ to Israel. This meant that between 1948–51 the population was doubled (758,000–1.4 million) by Jewish immigrants arriving from Libya, Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and post-Holocaust Europe. Many Holocaust survivors came from the... More
The first large scale movement of the Jewish diaspora to the Holy Land in recent history began in 1882. Tsar Alexander II’s assassination in Russia in 1881 led to a severe crackdown on Jewish rights within the country, forcing many to seek refuge elsewhere. This started the first Zionist movement... More
Catherine II established the Pale of settlement, to which Jews were confined, in 1791. Within the Pale there was substantial Jewish migration to the southeastern provinces of Kherson and Yekaterinoslav in the 1800s. In line with his other liberalizing reforms, Alexander II introduced rights of residence outside the Pale, to... More
In 1939, the St Louis set sail with 937 Jewish refugees on board, all fleeing Nazi Germany. The ship was to stop in Cuba before carrying onto America. Although nearly all of the passengers had the correct tickets, visas and paperwork, they were refused entry into Cuba. Failed negotiations forced... More
Initial Jewish settlement of western Europe occurred in the later Roman Empire, in Italy, France and Germany. There appears to have been a fresh wave of immigration from c. 800–1000, establishing new communities and refreshing existing settlements. The impetus for this may have been bursts of persecution: Byzantine emperor John... More
It did not require religious bigotry to render money-lending to the powerful dangerous in Medieval Europe. Philip IV of France destroyed the Christian Knights Templar to avoid honouring his debts to them. But the French monarchy used Jewish expulsion repeatedly as a means of erasing their debts and then charging... More
The armed abolitionist John Brown espoused the anti-slavery cause as early as the 1830s, becoming increasingly militant after the passage of the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850. When the Kansas-Nebraska Act (1854), provoked disturbances between pro- and anti-slavery factions, Brown, who had sons living in Kansas, gathered men, guns and... More
The English explorer, Captain John Smith, arrived in America in 1607 under sentence of execution for mutiny en route. Before setting sail he had received a thorough education in the ‘university of warre’. As a mercenary, he had fought across Europe, for the French, Habsburgs and various Balkan warlords. Captured... More
The primarily Canadian landing force at Juno beach split between the Mike and Nan Sectors on either side of Courseulles-sur-Mer. Landings were postponed by ten minutes to allow the rising tide to cover reefs that were hampering the landing craft, however this also alerted German defences to the imminent attack.... More
Hipper continued south, leading the pursuant British Battle Cruiser Fleet into the path of Scheer’s far more powerful High Seas Fleet. In the meantime, the battleships of the 5th Battle Squadron had made significant ground on the rest of the British formation thanks to their superior speed. By 16:15 all... More
The sighting of Scheer’s High Seas Fleet came as a complete surprise to the British as they believed that it was still in port. Beatty quickly ordered a turn north at 16:40 and informed Jellicoe who moved his Grand Fleet southeast in preparation for an engagement. The damaged destroyers Nestor... More
The scouts of the Grand Fleet under Rear-Admiral Hood made first contact with the Germans scouts moving north when HMS Chester began taking fire at 17:38. Chester sustained heavy fire until Hood was able to move his heavier ships southwest to provide support. The direction of attack of Hood’s ships... More