The aim of this article is to give the reader a general framing of the Zionist movement - its main events and issues - until the First World War. After a quick glance at the early Zionism - the Hibbat Zion group and Yehuda Leib Pinsker - the study examines the birth of Zionism as a political movement and its fitting in the milieu of the late Nineteenth century nationalisms, from which Theodor Herzl was certainly inspired. The Herzlian Zionism was just one of the currents in the renascence's movement of the Hebrew nation. With regard to this, one must remember two other currents: the Spiritual (or Cultural) Zionism - Ahad Ha'am, its leader, thought that recovering the sentiment of national cohesion was possible although the Hebrew People would have remained in the Diaspora - and the philanthropic Zionism - spread through the Jews of Western Europe, it consisted in relief activities and fund raising -. The last part of the article focuses on the development of the Zionist movement in Italy.
