There are a fair amount of Jews who believe that the Holocost and Hitler is what finally drove the Jews to their national homeland. I personally do not subscribe to that, but yes, that is out there.
The miracle to many of us is that God himself protected us through the ages and that is why we still exist. If we are strong, it is only because we have a blessing to seem so, and that blessing is contingent on our relationship with the almighty and our behavior.
That was certainly what drover the UN to recognize the State of Israel, but you're right: The Zionist movement goes back to before WW I, with the purchase of land in what would later become Israel (something that's conveniently ignored by those who claim that Israel was "stolen.")
Mark