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From Feudal Law to Minority Rights: The Legal Metamorphosis of the Schleswig-Holstein Question

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Arnauld, A. From Feudal Law to Minority Rights: The Legal Metamorphosis of the Schleswig-Holstein Question. German Yearbook of International Law, 63(1), 153-187. https://doi.org/10.3790/gyil.63.1.153
Arnauld, Andreas von "From Feudal Law to Minority Rights: The Legal Metamorphosis of the Schleswig-Holstein Question" German Yearbook of International Law 63.1, 2022, 153-187. https://doi.org/10.3790/gyil.63.1.153
Arnauld, Andreas von (2022): From Feudal Law to Minority Rights: The Legal Metamorphosis of the Schleswig-Holstein Question, in: German Yearbook of International Law, vol. 63, iss. 1, 153-187, [online] https://doi.org/10.3790/gyil.63.1.153

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From Feudal Law to Minority Rights: The Legal Metamorphosis of the Schleswig-Holstein Question

Arnauld, Andreas von

German Yearbook of International Law, Vol. 63 (2020), Iss. 1 : pp. 153–187

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Andreas von Arnauld, Co-Director,Walther Schücking Institute for International Law, University of Kiel; Co-Editor, German Yearbook of International Law.

Abstract

From a modern international law perspective, the referenda over Schleswig held in early 1920 would be framed in terms of minority rights and self-determination of peoples. However, the ‘Schleswig-Holstein question’, which had erupted into a series of armed conflicts challenging the European Concert for two decades during the mid-19th century, is deeply rooted in feudal law. It is thus linked to an ‘international law’ that was predominantly understood as defined by the interpersonal relations between the ruling monarchs and princes. This article traces the development of the ‘question’ over time in a changing legal environment, from its feudal origins over the instrumentalisation of historical documents in the context of German and Danish 19th-century nationalism to the Treaty of Versailles and the present day where it has finally become possible to normalise the ‘Schleswig-Holstein question’ by framing it in terms of minorities, autonomies, and referenda.

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Andreas von Arnauld\nFrom Feudal Law to Minority Rights: The Legal Metamorphosis of the Schleswig-Holstein Question 153
I. Introduction: A Journey in Time 153
II. Of Feudal and Family Relations: The Background to the ‘Question’ 155
A. The Schauenburg Counts: Doubling the Fealty 155
B. The Nobles Intervene: The ‘Treaty of Ribe’ 156
C. Family Business: From the Oldenburg to the Gottorf Dynasty 158
D. Striving for Sovereignty: The Dukes Reduced 160
E. A Sovereign Exchange: The Treaty of Tsarskoye Selo 161
III. The ‘Question’ Unfolds: The Rise of Nationalism 153
A. Scattered Imperial Dreams and the Search for National Identities 153
B. ‘Up ewig ungedeelt’: Ribe Revis‍(it)‌ed 153
C. Schleswig Incorporated? Frederiksborg Revis‍(it)‌ed 153
D. The Succession Dispute: Lex Regia versus Lex Salica 153
IV. A Concerted Effort: The Schleswig-Holstein Question Challenges the European Order 153
A. The Revolutionary Path to the London Protocols 153
B. Of Constitutions and Executions: Schleswig-Holstein Turns Prussian 154
C. The Suppressed Plebiscite: The Road to Versailles 154
V. The ‘Question’ Reframed: Minorities, Autonomies, and Referenda 155
A. A Late Napoleonic Victory: The 1920 Schleswig Plebiscites 155
B. Beyond Versailles: Minorities, Autonomies, and Electoral Rights 155