ABSTRACT International commissions played an important but overlooked role in Great Power diplomacy during the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913. In establishing the new state of Albania, they served as tools of preventive diplomacy that enabled the Great Powers to avoid a disastrous direct confrontation. This analysis examines the use of such commissions and argues that although they succeeded in preventing Great Power conflict in the short-term, their instrumental use opened new avenues of tension amongst the Great Powers and came at the expense of the national principle. The exegesis highlights how the use of commissions developed in the context of situations of malleable sovereignty that occurred in the wake of the receding Ottoman Empire and suggests that understanding the Great Power commissions of the Balkan Wars can help illuminate the use of similar tools during the Paris Peace Conference of 1919.

中文翻译：

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国际委员会、阿尔巴尼亚的诞生和爱德华·格雷爵士在巴尔干战争期间的预防性外交，1912-1913

摘要 1912-1913 年巴尔干战争期间，国际委员会在大国外交中发挥了重要但被忽视的作用。在建立新的阿尔巴尼亚国家时，它们充当了预防性外交的工具，使大国能够避免灾难性的直接对抗。该分析考察了此类委员会的使用，并认为尽管它们在短期内成功地防止了大国冲突，但它们的工具性使用在大国之间开辟了新的紧张局势，并以牺牲国家原则为代价。