Work

Transnational Appeals for Humanitarian Intervention in Europe’s Civil – and Imperial – Wars

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This article examines transnational appeals for humanitarian intervention to the League of Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in the aftermath of the First World War, focusing on conflicts in Ireland, Montenegro and the Rif (Morocco). It analyses how participants and international organisations strategically framed these conflicts, often shifting between designations of ‘civil war’ and ‘imperial war’ to solicit or deflect intervention on humanitarian grounds. Despite public expectations placed on the ICRC and League both organisations were reluctant to intervene against imperial powers, prioritising maintaining the international order over investigating insurgents’ claims. Though insurgents appealed through the rhetoric of ‘humanity’, this was a selective category, reinforcing existing racial and religious hierarchies in Europe. By analysing these conflicts together this article demonstrates that ‘civil war’ was not a fixed category but a fluid and contested concept, instrumentally deployed in the dialogue between belligerents, international organisations and imperial powers.

Source: Contemporary European History

DOI: 10.1017/s096077732510088x

Author: Lia Brazil

Institution: University of Manchester

Language: English

Topic: World Wars: History, Literature, and Impact

Subfield: Political Science and International Relations

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,550