The right of self-determination of peoples : the domestication of an illusion /

Includes bibliographical references and index.Prologue: national unity and secession in the symbolism of power -- Introduction : a concept and ideal -- Individual self-determination -- Collective self-determination -- The people -- Self-determination and the right of self-determination -- The early modern period in europe: precursors of a right of self-determination? -- The first decolonization and the right to independence: the Americas 1776-1826 -- The French revolution and the invention of the plebiscite -- From the European restoration to the first world war, 1815-1914 -- The first world war and the peace treaties 1918-1923 -- The interwar period, 1923-1939 -- The second world war: the perversion of a great promise -- The cold war and the second decolonization, 1945-1989 -- After 1989 : the quest for a new equilibrium -- Epilogue : the right of the weak