ABSTRACT
A study of neutrality in Europe during the interwar period naturally focuses on existing, constituted nations; it seems to have to be based on the notion of the nation-state and examine existing states that already possessed a clear status on the international scene. Indeed, it is easier for a defined entity, which possesses a certain homogeneity, to play a role in the chorus of European nations. Numerous nations which did not take part in the First World War presented themselves after 1918 as arbiters in political, cultural, and scientific debates. Those nations which did not succumb to the siren song of nationalism could indeed distance themselves from the chauvinism that had led to war and could therefore play a role of mediation between the European peoples.
