When the Persians discovered by what dubious means this Agreement was contrived, they arose in fury, there was a coup d'état with the backing of the Cossack Brigade, Siyyid Zia-ed-Din came to power (1921) and abrogated the Agreement. Then he himself would be overthrown, and replaced by Reza Khan of the Cossack Brigade as Minister of War and Commander in Chief. Thus an illiterate one-time army private, once a sentry at a hospital gate, would eventually (1925) become a powerful Shah. [AY172, 210]

"If the Zionists will mingle with the other races and live in unity with them, they will succeed. If not, they will meet certain resistance. For the present I think a neutral government like the British administration would be best. A Jewish government might come later.

"There is too much talk today of what the Zionists are going to do here. There is no need of it. Let them come and do more and say less.

"The Zionists should make it clear that their principle is to elevate all the people here and to develop the country for all its inhabitants. This land must be developed, according to the promises of the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Zachariah. If they come in such a spirit they will not fail. [SoW Vol 10 Issue 10 September 8, 1919 p194-195]

Shoghi Effendi's tribute is as follows:

"To ... President ... Woodrow Wilson, must be ascribed the unique honour, among the statesmen of any nation, whether of the East or of the West, of having voiced sentiments so akin to the principles animating the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, and of having more than any other world leader, contributed to the creation of the League of Nations—achievements which the pen of the Centre of God's Covenant acclaimed as signalizing the dawn of the Most Great Peace, whose sun, according to that same pen, must needs arise as the direct consequence of the enforcement of the laws of the Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh." [CoF36]

Some historians claim that the racial terror connected with "Red Summer" began as early as 1917 during the bloody massacre that occurred in East St. Louis, Illinois, a barbaric pogrom that would eventually set the stage for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the worst episodes of post-Civil War racial violence ever committed against Black Americans. The Tulsa Massacre left as many as 300 Black people dead and destroyed more than 35 square blocks of Greenwood, an all-Black community so wealthy, the philosopher Booker T. Washington called it "Negro Wall Street." [Red Summer: When Racists Mobs Ruled]

It was a global conflict originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. It led to the mobilisation of more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars in history. An estimated nine million combatants and seven million civilians died as a direct result of the war, and it also contributed to later genocides and the 1918 influenza pandemic, which caused between 50 and 100 million deaths worldwide. Military losses were aggravated by new technological and industrial developments and the tactical stalemate caused by gruelling trench warfare. It was one of the deadliest conflicts in history and precipitated major political changes, including the Revolutions of 1917–1923, in many of the nations involved. Unresolved rivalries at the end of the conflict contributed to the start of World War II about twenty years later. [Wikipedia]

At a Feast held in the home of Mr and Mrs Leo Perron in Chicago it was decided to write a supplication to 'Abdu'l-Bahá asking Him to come to America. The idea was approved by the Spiritual Assembly and a letter was sent to all other assemblies to solicit signatures for the petition. In the early part of January all the signatures were received and sent to Akka along with the supplication. [SoW Vol 10 No 3 August 1, 1919 p168; p156]

'Abdu'l-Bahá's response, translated by Shoghi Effendi, can be found on p154-155.

The British army took the city in the 1st Battle of Haifa: The battle was won due to a courageous uphill assault by the Jodhpur Lancers of the Indian Army who took the German and Turkish artillery and machine gun emplacements on top of Mount Carmel by surprise. This attack is believed to have been one of the last cavalry charge in modern military history. Each year, on this date, the Indian Army commemorates this victory as Haifa Day. [AY104; BBR335; DH148, Scroll In 68095]

The book was in high demand and the Society had sold all its copies so they asked Laura Barney for permission for a second publishing. She took the opportunity to make some corrections and added "one lesson". She asked that the copyright of the book be put in her name in the United States. [LB174-175]

Given that the Balfour Declaration was not a unilateral document on behalf of the British but rather something which had been agreed upon privately by allied diplomats before it was issued, it is viewed as the beginning of a legal process, which involved the San Remo conference of 1920 where the Declaration was officially adopted by the allied powers and latter, the creation of the British Mandate for Palestine in 1922.

The implementation of the Declaration was not without its failings. It provided for the safeguarding of the rights of the residents of Palestine saying 'nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine'. In the run up to WWII that the British wanted to placate the Arab leadership in the Mandate. They issued a White Paper limiting Jewish immigration to the Mandate to fifteen thousand every year for five years, ultimately refusing entry to thousands of Jewish refugees from Europe, many of whom would tragically die in the Holocaust. [Wikipedia]

One incident in particular, the East St. Louis Race Riot, also called the East St. Louis Massacre, was a major catalyst of the silent parade. This horrific event drove close to six thousand blacks from their own burning homes and left several hundred dead.

These individuals were accused of collaborating with the British and the French and were seen as leaders of the Arab nationalist movement. The day has become to be known as "Syrian Martyrs Day". [Wikipedia; Colonialism, Nationalism and Jewish Immigration to Palestine: Abdu´l-Baha's Viewpoints Regarding the Middle East by Kamran Ekbal p21]

Austria declared war on Serbia.

Those elected to the Executive Board of the Bahá'í Temple Unity were: Albert H. Hall, (President), Mrs. Annie L. Parmerton, (Vice-President), Mr. Alfred E. Lunt, (Secretary), Mr. William H. Randall, (Assistant Secretary), Mrs. Corinne True, Mr. Bernard M. Jacobsen, (Treasurer), Mr. William C. Ralston, Mr. Edward B. Kinney, and Mr. Mountfort Mills.

By this time, Bahá'í students from Haifa and 'Akká, as well as Persia, Egypt, and Beirut, had attended SPC (later called the American University at Beirut) for about a decade, in increasing numbers over the previous few years. There were no comparable institutions in their own countries, and attending universities in Europe or America was not yet practical for most. As SPC became a popular choice, the prospect of joining an existing group of Bahá'í students was an additional attraction. A sizable group of students as well attended the Université Saint-Joseph (USJ), also in Beirut. Together, they constituted a single coherent group, meeting together, visiting each other, and collaborating, for example, in the activities of the "Society of the Bahá'í Students of Beirut," which had been formed in 1906. ['Abdu'l-Bahá and the Bahá'í Students]

... learned apologist . .. (one of the) successive messengers despatched by 'Abdu'l-Bahá (who) succeeded in rapidly dispelling the doubts, and in deepening the understanding of the believers, in holding the community together, and in forming the nucleus of those administrative insitutions which, two decades later, were to be formally inaugurated through the explicit provisions of'Abdu'l-Bahá'ís Will and Testament. Shoghi Effendi
• He became a believer in 1876. [RoB3p91-107]
• He was named as an Apostle of Bahá'u'lláh.
• For biographical information see EM263–5; SDH113; RoB3p433-441; SBNB208-225
• See BW17p625 for Highlights in the life of Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl based on an article by R Mehrabkani
• His resting place is now next to that of Lua Getsinger in the Bahá'í cemetery in Cairo. [BW9p87]
• His numerous works include Fará'id (The Peerless Gems) 1898; The Brilliant Proof; 1912; Bahá'í Proofs, 1902; and Al-Duraru'l-Bahíyih (The Shining Pearls, published in English as Miracles and Metaphors), 1900. [BBD7]
• Find a grave.
• See AY103, Star of the West, vol. IV, no. 19, pp. 316–7 and Bahá'í Proofs p17-18 for the story of how Ameen Fareed entered and secretly remained in Mírzá's house, between the time of Mírzá's death and his burial, and removed precious manuscripts which, slightly changed, he would spread among the believers in an attempt to undermine their unity at a later time.
• 'Abdu'l-Bahá spoke of Mírzá Abu'l-Fadl in His home in Haifa on 21 and 22 January, 1914 as reported in SoW Vol 9 No 3 April 28, 1918.

• Borhān-e lāmeʿ, translated and published as The Brilliant Proof (1912),
• al-Ḥojaj al-bahīya, translated and published as Miracles and Metaphors (1981).
• A selection of his shorter works, entitled Letters and Essays (1985), is also available in English.
• His other works such as al-Farāʾed, Šarḥ-e Āyāt-e Mowarraḵa, Kašf al-ḡeṭāʾ, and a few collections of his shorter works exist in Arabic and Persian.

"Mírzá Mahmúd was a careful and faithful chronicler and engaged in assembling and publishing his work with the permission of the beloved Master . . ." (The Universal House of Justice - a letter dated April 30, 1984 addressed to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States).

The war years 1937-1945 were difficult for him and the conditions following the victory of the Chinese Communist Party made it impossible to have contact with the local people yet he remained.

"Having raised the warning and urged the world to work for peace, 'Abdu'l-Bahá returned on 5 December 1913 to Haifa, then part of the Ottoman Empire. Aware of the coming war, He took steps to protect the Bahá'í community under His stewardship and to avert a famine in the region. One of His first decisions upon returning to the Holy Land was to send home all the Bahá'ís who were visiting from abroad." [BWNS1297]

Note: Memories of 'Abdu'l-Bahá by Ali M Yazdi says that He returned to Ramleh on the 3rd of July.

See Talk 23 June 1913 for a provisional translation of the talk by Adib Masumian. As mentioned in the footnotes the unnamed man was Cardinal John Murphy Farley of New York.

In total 'Abdu'-Bahá spent about 171 days in Paris.

3 October to 2 December 1911 - 60 days          

 21 January to 30 March 1913 - 69 days          

       1 May to 12 June 1913 - 42 days          

                      Total   171 days          

A short biography: Blance Rachel Mirra Alfassa (b. 21 February 1878, d. 17 November 1973 Pondicherrry, India). She was the daughter of Sephardic Jews from Turkey and Egypt. She studied art at the Academy des Beaux Arts in Paris. In 1897 she married the French painter Henry François Morisott and they had a son (b.1898). They divorced in 1908 and she married the French lawyer Paul Antoine Richard. Around 1905 she became involved with the occult movement, first in France and from 1906-10907 in Algeria. In 1914 she and Paul left for India and met the Indian mystic Sri Aurobindo at Pondicherry. They returned to France briefly 1915-1916 and from 1916 to 1920 she and Paul were in Japan. In 1920 they returned to Pondicherry and from then until the end of her life she was associated with Sri Aurobindo's ashram. After his passing in 1950 she became the head and was know as "the Mother". [ABF339n815]

Three of her books are: Words of Long Ago by The Mother (Mirra Richard), Sri Aurobindo Ashram Publications 1994, The Mother-Collected Works Vol 2-Words of Long Ago and The Mother (Questions and Answers 1950-51.

Paul Richard's biographical book was called Without Passport: The Life and Work of Paul Richard covers the period from his birth to 1919. He was a lawyer in the Paris Court of Appeals and it is likely that he learned of the Faith from Hippolyte Dreyfus.

Abdu'l-Bahá is reported to have said: "the freedom of Europeans, that an individual is free to do whatsoever he desires as long as he does not harm any other person," and says "In the religion of God, there is no freedom of action. Man cannot transgress the law of God, even if no harm is done to others. For the purpose of the law of God is education, for others and for oneself. In the sight of God, to harm oneself is the same as to harm someone else, and both are blameworthy." [Message 9 May 2014]

• Three years prior she had spent 3 or 4 months (possibly 6 months) in 'Akka and Haifa gathering material for a book. During her stay she had the opportunity to observe both 'Abdu'l-Bahá and the Bahá'í community at close quarters. The book, called Mountain of God, was published in 1911. World Order excerpted this book in a two-part serial in 1970. [Collins7.2476}
• She also wrote an article for the magazine Fortnightly Review. Excerpts from the article, impressions of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. can be found at the US Bahá'í site.