The 1923 Treaty of Lausanne marked a decisive moment in international diplomacy, laying the foundations for stability and peaceful coexistence in Southeast Europe and the Middle East. By completing the transition from empire to nation-state, the treaty established internationally recognized borders, restored sovereignty, and replaced prolonged conflict with a durable legal framework that continues to underpin regional peace a century later.
This volume brings together leading scholars to examine the negotiations, legal innovations, and long-term significance of the Treaty of Lausanne. It highlights the role of the major powersnamely Britain, France, Italy, and Japanalongside regional actors such as Greece, Romania, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and the newly established Republic of Turkey. The book also explores the Treatys broader international resonance, including its implications for Asian countries such as India and China. Particular attention is devoted to the development of minority protections under international law, and the safeguarding of the Ecumenical Patriarchate as a vital spiritual and institutional presence.
One hundred years on, the Treaty of Lausanne remains one of the principal peace instruments shaping political order, legal continuity, and interstate relations in the region. By combining legal analysis with diplomatic history, this volume offers a constructive reassessment of Lausannes enduring contribution to international stability and the foundations of the modern international order.
Acknowledgements.- About the Editor.
Chapter 1 The Treaty of Lausanne
Origins Negotiation and Outcomes.
Chapter 2 The winner takes it all A legal
perspective on the disintegration of three multi ethnic Empires.
Chapter 3
The Road to Lausanne.
Chapter 4 Lord Curzon at Lausanne Imperialism
Diplomacy and Getting Things Done.
Chapter 5 France and the Treaty of
Lausanne A Central Diplomatic Role.
Chapter 6 Italy Romania and the Treaty
of Lausanne.
Chapter 7 The Kingdom of Serbs Croats and Slovenes and the
Lausanne Peace Treaty.
Chapter 8 Treaty of Lausanne Its Broader Geopolitical
Significance.
Chapter 9 Historical Approach The Legal Basis for the
Recognition of the Thrace Minority in Greece.
Chapter 10 The Treaty of
Lausanne and the Possibility of a Post ethnocratic Regime in Turkey.
Chapter
11 The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople and Greece.
Chapter 12 The
Treaty of Lausanne and the Middle East Cyprus Iraq Palestine Israel Syria the
Kurds and the Armenians.
Chapter 13 A Seat Among Equals Japans Great Power
Strategy and the Turkish Peace Settlement.
Chapter 14 Between Empires The
Treaty of Lausanne and its Reflection on Indias Path to Independence.-
Chapter 15 Theory and Practice of Unequal Treaties in Modern China From the
1910s to 1920s and Beyond.
Chapter 16 Concluding Remarks The Treaty of
Lausanne in Global Perspective.- Index.
Dr. Charalampos Stamelos is Assistant Professor of Law, with expertise in the History of Law, at the European University Cyprus Law School. He holds an LLB (Athens), an LLM (Essex), an LLM (Athens), and a PhD (Athens), and is a lawyer admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Athens. He is the author of 15 books, 15 book chapters, and over 30 scholarly articles, and has delivered papers at more than 30 international conferences in the UK, Europe, China, and Australia. He is a member of the British International History Group, the European Society for the History of Law, the International Society for Chinese Law and History, and the Australian and New Zealand Law and History Society.
