THE WORLD 385

the ruling nation in race, language or faith. They were subjected,
sometimes to restriction of citizen rights, and often to oppression.
The victorious Powers declared in 1918 that frontiers would be
drawn in accordance with the wishes of the peoples, as influenced
by the differences of race or language. This principle could not
be completely carried into effect. Teutons, Slavs, Magyars,
Greeks, Turks and the subdivisions of these races mingled with
one another so that no frontiers could be drawn which did not
somewhere leave "pockets" of people surrounded by those fclien
to them. Even where the race-language frontier could be drawn
it sometimes ran so that a State would be left in an indefensible
military position; or it might cut across a district whose prosperity
would be impaired if there were no freedom of trade-between
each part. The makers of the Peace Treaties had to effect a
compromise between these claims, and in the result, there were
minorities in many States—Germans in Czecho-Slovakia,
Hungarians in Rumania, Macedonians in Yugo-Slavia and so on.
Where there was doubt, the defeated Powers were not likely to
get the benefit of it, and the present boundaries have been strongly
criticised as likely to perpetuate ill-feeling. But there is no certainty
that a re-arrangement would improve the situation. The problem
is not soluble in terms of completely Sovereign States. If, for
example, the Danubian States could have been persuaded to
surrender their rights of imposing tariffs to a Federal authority,
and if military preparations could have been subjected to inter-
national inspection, frontiers would have become less important
and the menace to peace would have been reduced*

The Peace Treaties, and other Treaties concluded then and
later did, however, make one inroad into Sovereignty. Poland,
the Little Entente (Rumania, Yugo-Slavia, Czechoslovakia),
Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary, Turkey and the Baltic States bound
themselves not to persecute their minorities, and to provide them
with educational facilities in their own language, opportunities
for worship according to their faith and reasonable chance of
appointment to the public services. Infringement of Minority