Minorities at the Death of the Continental European Empires, 1918-23

This article examines the fate of minorities in the immediate aftermath of the Great War. It outlines the different types of outsiders, their plight during the conflict and developments at the conclusion of peace. While continental empires had kept most ethic outsiders relatively invisible until the nineteenth century rise of nationalism, they represent key players in helping us to understand the First World War. The post-War settlement meant the reconfiguration of minorities because of the collapse of continental empires but only resulted in short term solutions which the Second World War and the events which followed that conflict would solve in a much more thorough and even more brutal manner.