The Road from Geneva
Abstract This chapter charts the emergence of a central part of the Treaty of Lausanne of 1923—the compulsory population exchange agreement introduced initially by the League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Fridtjof Nansen on 20 November 1922, and agreed on 30 January 1923 by Greek and Tu...
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| Format: | Book Part |
| Language: | English |
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Oxford University PressOxford
2022
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192870735.003.0002 https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/58074449/oso-9780192870735-chapter-2.pdf |
| Summary: | Abstract This chapter charts the emergence of a central part of the Treaty of Lausanne of 1923—the compulsory population exchange agreement introduced initially by the League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Fridtjof Nansen on 20 November 1922, and agreed on 30 January 1923 by Greek and Turkish delegates. In the past the end of wars was marked by an exchange of prisoners. This was the first time in history that a compulsory exchange of civilians became a precondition for peace. This measure is placed in the framework of the work of the League of Nations to save the lives of refugees and to prevent the spread of endemic and epidemic disease. The price paid for this agreement was the legalization of ethnic cleansing on a massive scale. Here was the moment when the civilianization of war arrived as an indelible part of the fabric of international affairs. |
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