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Defending the Rights of Others: The Great Powers, the Jews, and International Minority Protection, 1878-1938
Statesmen and scholars were inspired by a period after World War I (when the victors devised Minority Treaties for the new and expanded states of Eastern Europe) at the time that the Cold War ended between 1989-1991. This book is the first study of that period--between 1878 and 1938--when the Great Powers established a system of external supervision to reduce the threats in Europe's most volatile regions of Irredentism, persecution, and uncontrolled waves of westward migration. It is a study of the strengths and weaknesses of an early state of international human rights diplomacy as practiced by rival and often-uninformed Western political leaders, ardent but divided Jewish advocates, and aggressive state minority champions, in the tumultuous age of nationalism and imperialism, Bolshevism and fascism between Bismarck and Hitler.
- GenresHistory
452 pages, Paperback
First published May 24, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 13, 2021
Fink focuses on minority protections and rights (or lack thereof) within Europe from 1878 to 1938 by addressing treaties, law, & their application as well as the inconsistency of the Great Powers. The argument that nationalism interferes with internationalism at the expense of minority rights is articulated well as it is clear how Fink argues that the Great Powers are most concerned with state sovereignty to avoid war. Fink also discusses the inability to have a united front from Jewish advocates. Although this part seems to be an important part of her thesis, it felt incomplete. Even though it is clear that the lack of a united front had an effect, I am still left wondering if the lack of unity between Jewish advocates truly had a notable impact like is suggested. Ultimately, Fink argues that the lack of protection of minority rights from the international community not only leads to a lack of Jewish protections which allows for the Holocaust but also sets a negative precedent for future minority rights.
August 9, 2015
This is a fairly weighty study of diplomatic history that is actually worth the effort of working your way through. If you have any interest in understanding the development of international law and the somewhat arbitrary borders of the European nations, this is a valuable tool in that quest. Fink has gone further and deeper than most other scholars; rather than simply looking at the Treaty of Versailles and how its compromises and arrangements led to an unstable situation that collapsed during the Second World War, she goes back to the Congress of Berlin that set the stage for the First, and follows the story to the end of the League of Nations. As the title suggests, the main focus of the study is the protection of minority rights, but this is always implicitly tied to the placement of borders – “minorities” are created when regions are declared to “belong” to a certain nation, while identities in those regions are often fluid and contested.
The one group that was always in a minority (before the founding of Israel), was, of course, the Jews. Thus, they play an important role throughout the study, increasingly so as Hitler and other ideological anti-Semites gained power in European nations. Other minority grievances and border shifts are covered as well, but the Jews remain a symbol for the effectiveness of each new international agreement and each regime’s handling of minority rights. Much of the story told is one of ineffective agreements that are ignored by the Powers with the ability to enforce them, while minorities and their would-be protectors protested in vain. Her conclusion suggests the not much has changed by the Twenty First Century, despite enormous changes in geography and in the extent of international agreements. In the case of the Jews, there is at least the State of Israel to advocate for them, but non-European states (like the USA) had filled this role in the past without much effect. For Fink, it remains to be seen whether modern international law lives up to its promise or once again proves a paper assurance only.
The one group that was always in a minority (before the founding of Israel), was, of course, the Jews. Thus, they play an important role throughout the study, increasingly so as Hitler and other ideological anti-Semites gained power in European nations. Other minority grievances and border shifts are covered as well, but the Jews remain a symbol for the effectiveness of each new international agreement and each regime’s handling of minority rights. Much of the story told is one of ineffective agreements that are ignored by the Powers with the ability to enforce them, while minorities and their would-be protectors protested in vain. Her conclusion suggests the not much has changed by the Twenty First Century, despite enormous changes in geography and in the extent of international agreements. In the case of the Jews, there is at least the State of Israel to advocate for them, but non-European states (like the USA) had filled this role in the past without much effect. For Fink, it remains to be seen whether modern international law lives up to its promise or once again proves a paper assurance only.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews