파리강화회의에 제출한 승전국 식민지의 청원서와 그 성격

Abstract

The Ireland, the Baltic States, Egypt, Vietnam, and Korea were colonies of Entente Powers or small nationalities which had no direct interests in Entente Powers. Petitions from these small nationalities fundamentally deviated from Wilson’s concept of national self-determination or the principle of the Paris Peace Conference dealing with the colonies of the Central Powers. Even though the petitioners of the small nationalities were fully aware of that, they continued their actions. Their cause was truly national self-determination of the small nationalities. The petitions were fundamentally excluded from the Paris Peace Conference. The small nationalities did not expect only petitions to the Paris Peace Conference. They also mounted independence movement while posing their independence issue to the international community. All the seven small nations were the same: Ireland and Egypt which waged the independence war against England, the Baltic States against Russia, Vietnam which wanted to gain political freedom from France, and Korea against Japan. However, the Entente Powers’ position was endorsed by the Conference. In addition, the issue of Asian colonies of Japan received little international attention. The Japanese colonial rule was rather solidified with the support of the international community. These small nationalities kept carrying out independence movements without relying on the international justice after the conference. The issue of national self-determination of the Entente Powers’ colonies was completely disregarded at the Conference. It was not the justice of national self-determination. It was against the concept of truly national self-determination and just brought the spread of imperialism to the world. That was the limit and the fault of the Conference. Dealing with postwar issues at the Conference not only aroused the cause of the Second World War but also has been historical fault that caused ethnic strife in Eastern Europe in the 1990s.