In the years following that first Congress in 1897, Theodor Herzl devoted his life to forwarding the Zionist cause and gathering worldwide support for a Jewish homeland. From Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany to the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Herzl presented Zionism to the leaders of the world as the only solution for the plight of the Jews.

Herzl's efforts met with mixed reactions from world leaders and Jews alike. Many world leaders were reluctant to throw their weight behind the movement for fear that the Jews' demand for a homeland would upset international relationships. Many Jews were comfortable in their host nations, as yet untouched by any significant form of anti-Semitism, and were thus unwilling to uproot and start over in a new land.

In addition to the many Jews that were simply too comfortable in their current surroundings to support the movement, Zionism also found Jewish opposition from the Orthodox and Reform Jewish movements. Most Orthodox Jews refused to support Herzl's movement on the grounds that only the coming Messiah could reestablish Israel as a nation. The Reform movement opposed Zionism all together, taking the stance that to be Jewish no longer held any kind of "national" significance, only religious. The Reform Jews held that a Jew's national loyalties belonged to his/her host nation; just as a Christian's national loyalties belonged to his/her nation.

This lack of cohesive Jewish support, however, was a secondary problem for Herzl at this time. Zionism had gained popularity in many circles, even some Christian circles, and for that reason could not be ignored. As a result there came forward a number of "plans" to solve the Jews' dilemma.

The most well known of these proposed "plans" was the British "Uganda Proposal." The British government, after being petitioned by Herzl for assistance, proposed and supported, in principle, Jewish settlement in East Africa. Because of the immediate danger to Russian Jews from the ongoing pogroms, Herzl suggested the "Uganda Proposal" to the Sixth Zionist Congress in 1903 as a temporary solution until the ultimate goal of a Jewish state in the Land of Israel could be achieved.

Herzl's suggestion of accepting the "Uganda Proposal" as a temporary solution nearly caused a split in the Zionist movement, and factions supporting the "Uganda Proposal" did break away in 1905 after the proposal was officially rejected at the Seventh Zionist Congress. Herzl had died a year earlier in 1904 of a massive heart attack, the result of years of exhausting work for the cause of Zionism. However, the Congress and the movement pushed on, with the Land of Israel as the only acceptable outcome.

In the years following the declaration of the Seventh Zionist Congress that no alternative to the Land of Israel as a homeland was acceptable, sporadic immigration of Jews from Eastern Europe and North Africa to the Land of Israel increased. During World War I Britain and her allies conquered the Middle East from the Ottoman Empire and proceeded over the next few years to divide the territory up into "mandates". Britain took control of much of the Middle East, including "Palestine", the Land of Israel.

In 1917, the Zionists procured the Balfour Declaration from the British, which declared the intent of Britain to establish a Jewish homeland in "Palestine". The British government appointed the Zionist Commission, made of up members of the Zionist leadership, to advise on the implementation of the Balfour Declaration. Things were looking promising for Zionism, and in 1918-19 Zionist leader Chaim Weizmann even came to an understanding with Arab leader Emir Feisal through a series of letters in which Feisal welcomed the Jews back to their homeland. Things were not to remain so rosy.

The Balfour Declaration caused many Zionists who had split from the Congress in support of alternative homelands to return to the mainstream movement. In addition, a growing number of Orthodox and Reform Movement Jews began to join the Zionist cause, all finally realizing that the hope of a renewed homeland in the Land of Israel was not so farfetched after all.

In the years following the initial successes of the Balfour Declaration, Zionist Commission, and Weizmann-Feisal understanding, the Zionists encountered a mixture of victories, defeats, and tragedies. From a drastic increase in Jewish immigration rights to "Palestine" immediately following the end of World War I, to a near ban on Jewish immigration to "Palestine" by the British a few short years later as a result of Arab pressure, to the great tragedy of the Nazi Holocaust, these decades of waiting only served to strengthen and fortify the Zionist resolve.

Zionism would fight till the end, indeed must fight, for the reestablishment of the Jewish homeland in the Land of Israel. And thus Zionism was molded into a movement with its eyes firmly focused on the Land of Israel as its prize. No alternative was acceptable, and to do nothing became unthinkable.