Language policy in European countries in the XIX-XX centuries

Abstract

The 20th century was a turning point in world and especially European politics in the society's attitude towards regional or little-used languages. At the beginning of the century, European society wanted to protect them from discrimination. The next phase was a period in which linguistic rights were sought to be realized on an equal basis since the promulgation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, and a sign of the third phase that began in the last decade of the 20th century. The European community emphasized the need to recognize and support the linguistic diversity and identity of peoples, and this was reflected in the adoption by European organizations of a number of documents on the protection of the rights of national minorities, including linguistic minorities. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, promulgated by the UN in 1948, was the first important international legal document. The Declaration did not say much about languages, but it did mention that language should not be the main reason to deny someone's rights. In the following decades, this principle was developed in many other UN and UNESCO documents related to human rights and freedoms.