Part I. Introduction and Context its control”.279 The exact start of this period is hard to pinpoint. Some events and acts, however, demonstrate more clearly than others how citizenship is a sovereign decision of a state and can be a demarcation between those who belong to a state and are included, and those who do not belong to that state (but possibly to another) and are excluded. In this context, stateless people are those excluded from any state, belonging nowhere. The exclusion of people through denying citizenship is not a new phenomenon and traces back through history to ancient times.280 Here, however, the focus is on when statelessness – a form of exclusion (or perhaps the ultimate form of exclusion) by means of a bureaucratic designation to which rights and duties are attached: nationality – became a phenomenon that was in need of a legal response by European states, requiring them to work together to address it. In short: the matters of in- and exclusion have a longer history, but the particular (legal) status of nationality, and thereby statelessness, are of a later date and are the focus of this chapter. In attempting to understand statelessness and its emergence in Europe, the focus is essentially on why, how and when nationality became a mechanism for in- and exclusion because, and as was mentioned above, statelessness is the ultimate form of exclusion based on nationality. For the purposes of the study in this chapter, the definition of statelessness currently used in international law281 serves as a point of reference. However, it is not always easy to apply this definition throughout history, since there was not always a clear distinction between refugees and stateless people for instance, nor was there always a reason for distinguishing between the two. In fact, the current definition was shaped by developments in Europe in particular that are now considered history.282 The chapter adheres to the current definition of statelessness as much as possible, attempting to uncover or deduce from the usage of the term whether sources indeed use ‘stateless’ or ‘statelessness’ to describe people who are not recognized as a national by any state under the operation of its law. For statelessness to become a concern of states, it was first necessary that modern states were formed in such a way that it led to exclusion of people from any other state. In history, in particular in the run-up to World War I, there are certainly such developments visible that can help in gaining a better understanding of the emergence of statelessness. The nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century were times of rapid developments and change. Even though the different developments are interrelated, there are unquestionably developments that are relevant to making a clearer distinction between people, which led to exclusion, and which eventually led to statelessness. The next paragraph highlights some of the important developments in this regard. 279 280 281 282 54 William E Conklin, Statelessness. The Enigma of the International Community (Hart Publishing 2014) 6. Ibid 5. See also Ernst Hirsch Ballin, Citizen’s Rights and the Right to Be a Citizen (Brill Nijhoff 2014) 1–16. In international law, a stateless person is defi ned as “a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law”. See also Art 1(1) 1954 Convention. Eg Mira L Siegelberg, Statelessness. A Modern History (Harvard University Press 2020). Intersentia