 Waves of pogroms in the Russian Empire from 1881-1884 and the anti-Semitic May Laws of 1882 introduced by Tsar Alexander III of Russia, deeply affected Jewish communities and prompted the Hovevei Zion movement to take action and organize the conference.The growing separation of Jewish communities due to sudden freedom and assimilation also was a cause for action, as many feared that Judaism's ancient sense of unified nationality would disappear.With the beginning of the movement to settle Eretz Israel in the early 1880s and the establishment of Ḥovivei Zion societies in various countries, the need to create a unifying and coordinating center for the early Zionist activities was expressed.