Humanitarian Intervention in the 19th Century: The Heyday of a Controversial Concept

This article dwells on the state of play of armed humanitarian intervention in the long 19^th century. It starts with the birth of the idea in previous centuries by jurists of the naturalist school. It then presents the behaviour of the great powers in three celebrated humanitarian cases of the 19^th century (the Greek independence struggle, the Lebanon-Syria massacres and the Bulgarian atrocities)with emphasis on their initial reluctance to intervene and their motives for intervening, as well as the role of public opinion in spurring intervention. The overall situation will be appraised with emphasis on the Christian bias and the Orientalist approach towards the Ottoman Empire. Then the views of international jurists (publicists) will be presented, followed by the attitude of major political philosophers. The overall picture that emerges in the 19^th century is one of striking relevance to today's concerns as seen by six concluding propositions.