ABSTRACT
The twentieth century has been characterized by an obsession with nationalism, of ten on the basis of one state per ethnic group per language. The First World War ended with the then US president Woodrow Wilson putting forward the idea of national self determination. The rationale behind the notion was that many smaller states – each with a shared historical, linguistic and cultural identity – had to be created out of the rubble of the Ottoman and the Austro-Hungarian empires in order that a more stable world might be established. In practice, the ideal of the nation-state was never achieved, thus confirming Wilson’s Secretary of State concern that the concept of self-determination was ‘loaded with dynamite’ and that it would raise hopes that could never be realized and would ultimately cost thousands of lives.
