On The Development Of The Palestine Yishuv During The British Mandate Period

After nearly 1,800 years'exile, the Jewish people finally reestablished their state in Palestine,the advent of this phenomenon has always been a remarkable theme preoccupied the mind of historians. There are many reasons for the establishment of Israel, among which the existence of united and powerful Yishuv is indispensable. The period of British Mandate furnished all kinds of favorable chances to the primitive development of Israel, thus laid the cornerstone for the establishment of the State. This paper tries to explore the development of Palestine Yishuv during the Mandate period from the aspects of population, land, politics, economy and education so that we can have a clearer understanding towards the elements which caused the establishment of the State and the origin of Arabic-Israeli Conflict. This paper consists of five parts.The first part traces the living condition of Jews in Palestine during Pre-Mandate period. Before 1882, owing to the frequent transference of rulers and constant wars in Palestine, the small Jewish population in this area lived a hard and unstable life most of the time, thus the history of Palestine was in fact the history of Arabs. The year 1882 witnessed the beginning of modern Jewish immigration to Palestine, from then on the population of Jews and the amount of land in this area expanded rapidly.The second part deals with the political condition of Yishuv. Zionism and the issue of the Balfour Declaration were the vital elements for the establishment of British Mandate. During the Mandate period, the Great Britain constantly changed their governing policies to balance the conflict between the Arabs and the Jews. The inner political construction of Yishuv and its political system gradually turned to maturity, which laid the political foundation for the State.The third part is focused on the increase of population and the enlargement of land. The rise of the Yishuv in population was realized through three immigration waves, which are called"Aliyah". Meanwhile, the Jews zealously purchased land and built as much settlements as they can, which laid the population and territorial foundation for the establishment of the State.The fourth part analyzes the economic situation of Yishuv. During the two World Wars and post-war time, the Yishuv gained considerable development in industry, agriculture, foreign trade and tertiary industry, which lead to the prosperity of the community and changed the outlook of Palestine substantially. The economic development was caused by many factors and displayed some special characteristics which deserved our study.The fifth part explores the cultural and educational development of Yishuv. Under British Mandate the Yishuv set up an unique educational system. The network of education covering almost all the Jews in Palestine gradually took into shape. The Hebrew culture was experiencing unprecedented prosperity in wake of the successful revitalization and popularization of modern Hebrew language, which laid the educational and cultural foundation for the establishment of Israel State.