THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS AND THE PROTECTION OF MINORITY RIGHTS

Abstract

The minority issues in the era of the creation of nations and nationalism in Europe during the XIX
century directly affected the existence of the Ottoman Empire. The minority problems in
Southeastern Europe were an indirect generator of the crucial issues on the international stage. If
observed from the aspect of a religious protectorate, these issues instigated the Russian-Turkish
military clashes and started the wave of national uprisings among the Balkan peoples, which
culminated with the Balkan wars. The struggle for supremacy over the Christian population within
the Ottoman Empire also affected the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and the Russian Empire. At a
certain moment, even France demonstrated its interest, becoming not only a strategic partner of
the Ottomans but also a protector of the Orthodox Christian population on the Balkans during the
period from the end of the Crimean War in 1856 until the outbreak of the Great Eastern crisis.
Basically, the minorities always existed, although their treatment as a political issue started at the
end of the XVIII century. The Versailles system created new states with significant minority
groups within their borders. Following the necessity for resolving their status and in accordance
with the postulate upon which the new European order was built i.e. the "self-determination of the
peoples", international obligations which guarantee the protection of minorities were set. The
fulfilment of these obligations was generally guaranteed by the League of Nations, establishing a
practice that enabled minorities to submit petitions to the Council of the League of Nations. Step
by step, this practice opened the possibility for taking into consideration the minority rights within
the frames of the internal law of the states which were part of the sphere of the newly established
order. Ever since the creation of the Covenant of the League of Nations, there were several
attempts, mainly by the American president Woodrow Wilson, to apply the principles for the
religious, language, racial and national minorities.