Under the terms of the licence agreement, an individual user may print out a PDF of a single chapter of a monograph in OSO for personal use for details see www. University Press Scholarship Online. Publications Pages Publications Pages. Search my Subject Specializations: Classical, Early, and Medieval Plays and Playwrights: Classical, Early, and Medieval Poetry and Poets: On 11 July , the East Prussian plebiscite called for by the Treaty of Versailles led to two disputed regions between Germany and Poland choosing the former.
In , a plebiscite in Silesia concerning partitioning the region between Germany and Poland led to fighting breaking out between the ethnic German and ethnic Polish residents of Silesia. The League of Nations was proposed as much as a means of consolidating these new states, as a path to peace. During the s and s there were some successful movements for self-determination in the beginnings of the process of decolonization. Other efforts were unsuccessful, like the Indian independence movement.
In particular, the National Socialist Program invoked this right of nations in its first point out of 25 , as it was publicly proclaimed on 24 February by Adolf Hitler. In Asia, Japan became a rising power and gained more respect from Western powers after its victory in the Russo-Japanese War. In the s, Japan gained significant influence in Inner Mongolia and Manchuria after it invaded Manchuria.
It established Manchukuo , a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia. Japan went to considerable trouble to argue that Manchukuo was justified by the principle of self-determination, claiming that people of Manchuria wanted to break away from China and asked the Kwantung Army to intervene on their behalf. However, the Lytton commission which had been appointed by the League of Nations to decide if Japan had committed aggression or not, stated the majority of people in Manchuria who were Han Chinese who did not wish to leave China.
Independence was not accepted by the government of China. However, the Soviet threat of seizing parts of Inner Mongolia induced China to recognize Outer Mongolia's independence, provided that a referendum was held. Many of Eastern Asia's current disputes to sovereignty and self-determination stem from unresolved disputes from World War II. After its fall, the Empire of Japan renounced control over many of its former possessions including Korea, Sakhalin Island , and Taiwan. In none of these areas were the opinions of affected people consulted, or given significant priority.
Korea was specifically granted independence but the receiver of various other areas was not stated in the Treaty of San Francisco , giving Taiwan de facto independence although its political status continues to be ambiguous. In January twenty-six states signed the Declaration by United Nations , which accepted those principles.
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The ratification of the United Nations Charter in at the end of World War II placed the right of self-determination into the framework of international law and diplomacy. On 14 December , the United Nations General Assembly adopted United Nations General Assembly Resolution XV subtitled " Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples ", which supported the granting of independence to colonial countries and people by providing an inevitable legal linkage between self-determination and its goal of decolonisation.
It postulated a new international law-based right of freedom to exercise economic self-determination. Immediate steps shall be taken in Trust and Non-Self-Governing Territories , [26] or all other territories which have not yet attained independence, to transfer all powers to the people of those territories, without any conditions or reservations, in accordance with their freely expressed will and desire, without any distinction as to race, creed or colour, in order to enable them to enjoy complete independence and freedom.
On 15 December the United Nations General Assembly adopted United Nations General Assembly Resolution XV , subtitled "Principles which should guide members in determining whether or nor an obligation exists to transmit the information called for under Article 73e of the United Nations Charter in Article 3", which provided that "[t]he inadequacy of political, economic, social and educational preparedness should never serve as a pretext for delaying the right to self-determination and independence. However, the charter and other resolutions did not insist on full independence as the best way of obtaining self-government , nor did they include an enforcement mechanism.
Moreover, new states were recognized by the legal doctrine of uti possidetis juris , meaning that old administrative boundaries would become international boundaries upon independence if they had little relevance to linguistic, ethnic, and cultural boundaries. Decolonization in the world was contrasted by the Soviet Union's successful post-war expansionism.
Now, it extended its influence by establishing satellite states Eastern Germany and the countries of Eastern Europe, along with support for revolutionary movements in China and North Korea. Although satellite states were independent and possessed sovereignty, the Soviet Union violated principles of self-determination by suppressing the Hungarian revolution of and the Prague Spring Czechoslovak reforms of It invaded Afghanistan to support a communist government assailed by local tribal groups.
In many Third World countries, communism became an ideology that united groups to oppose imperialism or colonization. Soviet actions were contained by the United States which saw communism as a menace to its interests. Throughout the cold war, the United States created, supported, and sponsored regimes with various success that served their economic and political interests, among them anti-communist regimes such as that of Augusto Pinochet in Chile and Suharto in Indonesia.
To achieve this, a variety of means was implemented, including the orchestration of coups, sponsoring of anti-communist countries and military interventions. Consequently, many self-determination movements, which spurned some type of anti-communist government, were accused of being Soviet-inspired or controlled.
The Korean War shifted the focus of the Cold War from Europe to Asia, where competing superpowers took advantage of decolonization to spread their influence. In , India gained independence from the British Empire.
Christian Walter, Antje von Ungern-Sternberg, and Kavus Abushov
The empire was in decline but adapted to these circumstances by creating the British Commonwealth—since the Commonwealth of Nations —which is a free association of equal states. As India obtained its independence, multiple ethnic conflicts emerged in relation to the formation of a statehood during the Partition of India which resulted in Islamic Pakistan and Secular India. Before the advent of the British , no empire based in mainland India had controlled any part of what now makes up the country's Northeast, part of the reason for the ongoing insurgency in Northeast India.
Burma also gained independence from the British Empire, but declined membership in the Commonwealth. Indonesia gained independence from the Netherlands in after the latter failed to restore colonial control. As mentioned above, Indonesia also wanted a powerful position in the region that could be lessened by the creation of united Malaysia. A vote was supposedly taken under the UN sponsored Act of Free Choice to allow West New Guineans to decide their fate, although many dispute its veracity.
Later, Portugal relinquished control over East Timor in , at which time Indonesia promptly invaded and annexed it. With the cooperation of the American president Ronald Reagan , Gorbachev wound down the size of the Soviet Armed Forces and reduced nuclear arms in Europe, while liberalizing the economy.
In — 90, the communist regimes of Soviet satellite states collapsed in rapid succession in Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Bulgaria, Romania, and Mongolia. East and West Germany united, Czechoslovakia peacefully split into Czech Republic and Slovakia , while in Yugoslavia began a violent break up into its former 6 sub-unit republics. Kosovo , which was previously an autonomous unit of Serbia declared independence in , but has received less international recognition.
In December , Gorbachev resigned as president and the Soviet Union dissolved relatively peacefully into fifteen sovereign republics, all of which rejected communism and most of which adopted democratic reforms and free-market economies. Inside those new republics, four major areas have claimed their own independence, but not received widespread international recognition.
After decades of civil war, Indonesia finally recognized the independence of East Timor in The Kuomintang -led Republic of China government retreated to Taipei , its jurisdiction now limited to Taiwan and several outlying islands. Since then, the People's Republic of China has been involved in disputes with the ROC over issues of sovereignty and the political status of Taiwan. As noted, self-determination movements remain strong in some areas of the world.
Some areas possess de facto independence, such as Taiwan, North Cyprus , Kosovo , and South Ossetia , but their independence is disputed by one or more major states. Significant movements for self-determination also persist for locations that lack de facto independence, such as Kurdistan , Balochistan , Chechnya , and the State of Palestine.
Since the early s, the legitimatization of the principle of national self-determination has led to an increase in the number of conflicts within states, as sub-groups seek greater self-determination and full secession, and as their conflicts for leadership within groups and with other groups and with the dominant state become violent. The year United Nations Millennium Declaration failed to deal with these new demands, mentioning only "the right to self-determination of peoples which remain under colonial domination and foreign occupation. There is not yet a recognized legal definition of "peoples" in international law.
In cases where people lack representation by a state's government, the unrepresented become a separate people. Present international law does not recognize ethnic and other minorities as separate peoples, with the notable exception of cases in which such groups are systematically disenfranchised by the government of the state they live in.
If the "people" are unanimous in their desire for self-determination, it strengthens their claim. For example, the populations of federal units of the Yugoslav federation were considered a people in the breakup of Yugoslavia, although some of those units had very diverse populations. Thus, self-determination grants individuals the right to form "a people," which then has the right to establish an independent state, as long as they grant the same to all other individuals and peoples.
Criteria for the definition of "people having the right of self-determination" was proposed during Kosovo case decision of the International Court of Justice: National self-determination appears to challenge the principle of territorial integrity or sovereignty of states as it is the will of the people that makes a state legitimate. This implies a people should be free to choose their own state and its territorial boundaries. However, there are far more self-identified nations than there are existing states and there is no legal process to redraw state boundaries according to the will of these peoples.
Pavkovic and Radan describe three theories of international relations relevant to self-determination. Allen Buchanan , author of seven books on self-determination and secession, supports territorial integrity as a moral and legal aspect of constitutional democracy. However, he also advances a "Remedial Rights Only Theory" where a group has "a general right to secede if and only if it has suffered certain injustices, for which secession is the appropriate remedy of last resort. Vita Gudeleviciute holds that in cases of non-self-governing peoples and foreign military occupation the principle of self-determination trumps that of territorial integrity.
In cases where people lack representation by a state's government, they also may be considered a separate people, but under current law cannot claim the right to self-determination. On the other hand, she finds that secession within a single state is a domestic matter not covered by international law.
Oxford Public International Law: Self
Thus there are no on what groups may constitute a seceding people. A number of states have laid claim to territories, which they allege were removed from them as a result of colonialism. This is justified by reference to Paragraph 6 of UN Resolution XV , which states that any attempt "aimed at partial or total disruption of the national unity and the territorial integrity of a country is incompatible with the purposes and principles of the Charter".
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This, it is claimed, applies to situations where the territorial integrity of a state had been disrupted by colonisation, so that the people of a territory subject to a historic territorial claim are prevented from exercising a right to self-determination.
This interpretation is rejected by many states, who argue that Paragraph 2 of UN Resolution XV states that "all peoples have the right to self-determination" and Paragraph 6 cannot be used to justify territorial claims. The original purpose of Paragraph 6 was "to ensure that acts of self-determination occur within the established boundaries of colonies, rather than within sub-regions". Further, the use of the word attempt in Paragraph 6 denotes future action and cannot be construed to justify territorial redress for past action. In order to accommodate demands for minority rights and avoid secession and the creation of a separate new state, many states decentralize or devolve greater decision-making power to new or existing subunits or autonomous areas.
More limited measures might include restricting demands to the maintenance of national cultures or granting non-territorial autonomy in the form of national associations which would assume control over cultural matters. This would be available only to groups that abandoned secessionist demands and the territorial state would retain political and judicial control, but only if would remain with the territorially organized state. This includes the question of how an unwanted state can be imposed upon a minority. He explores five contemporary theories of secession.
In "anarcho-capitalist" theory only landowners have the right to secede. In communitarian theory, only those groups that desire direct or greater political participation have the right, including groups deprived of rights, per Allen Buchanan.
In two nationalist theories, only national cultural groups have a right to secede. Australian professor Harry Beran's democratic theory endorses the equality of the right of secession to all types of groups. Unilateral secession against majority rule is justified if the group allows secession of any other group within its territory. Most sovereign states do not recognize the right to self-determination through secession in their constitutions. Many expressly forbid it.
However, there are several existing models of self-determination through greater autonomy and through secession. In liberal constitutional democracies the principle of majority rule has dictated whether a minority can secede. The Supreme Court in Texas v.
White held secession could occur "through revolution, or through consent of the States. The Chinese Communist Party followed the Soviet Union in including the right of secession in its constitution in order to entice ethnic nationalities and Tibet into joining. However, the Party eliminated the right to secession in later years, and had anti-secession clause written into the Constitution before and after the founding the People's Republic of China.
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The Constitution of the Union of Burma contained an express state right to secede from the union under a number of procedural conditions. It was eliminated in the constitution of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma officially the "Union of Myanmar". Burma still allows "local autonomy under central leadership". As of the constitutions of Austria, Ethiopia, France, and Saint Kitts and Nevis have express or implied rights to secession.
Switzerland allows for the secession from current and the creation of new cantons. In the case of proposed Quebec separation from Canada the Supreme Court of Canada in ruled that only both a clear majority of the province and a constitutional amendment confirmed by all participants in the Canadian federation could allow secession. The draft of the European Union Constitution allowed for the voluntary withdrawal of member states from the union, although the State wanted to leave could not be involved in the vote deciding whether or not they can leave the Union.
As a result of the successful constitutional referendum held in , every municipality in the Principality of Liechtenstein has the right to secede from the Principality by a vote of a majority of the citizens residing in this municipality. In determining international borders between sovereign states, self-determination has yielded to a number of other principles. The bloody Yugoslav wars in the s were related mostly to border issues because the international community applied a version of uti possidetis juris in transforming the existing internal borders of the various Yugoslav republics into international borders, despite the conflicts of ethnic groups within those boundaries.
In the s indigenous populations of the northern two-thirds of Quebec province opposed being incorporated into a Quebec nation and stated a determination to resist it by force. The border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State was based on the borders of existing counties and did not include all of historic Ulster. A Boundary Commission was established to consider re-drawing it. Its proposals, which amounted to a small net transfer to Northern Ireland, were leaked to the press and then not acted upon. There have been a number of notable cases of self-determination.
For more information on past movements see list of historical autonomist and secessionist movements and lists of decolonized nations. Also see list of autonomous areas by country and list of territorial autonomies and list of active autonomist and secessionist movements. Republic of Artsakh Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh declared its independence basing on self-determination rights on September 2, It successfully defended its independence in subsequent war with Azerbaijan , but remains largely unrecognized by UN states today.
From onwards, self-determination has become the topic of some debate in Australia in relation to Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders. In the s, the Indigenous community approached the Federal Government and requested the right to administer their own communities. This encompassed basic local government functions, ranging from land dealings and management of community centres to road maintenance and garbage collection, as well as setting education programmes and standards in their local schools.
The traditional homeland of the Tuareg peoples was divided up by the modern borders of Mali , Algeria and Niger. Numerous rebellions occurred over the decades, but in the Tuaregs succeeded in occupying their land and declaring the independence of Azawad. However, their movement was hijacked by the Islamist terrorist group Ansar Dine. The Basque Country Basque: Euskal Herria , Spanish: Pays Basque as a cultural region not to be confused with the homonym Autonomous Community of the Basque country is a European region in the western Pyrenees that spans the border between France and Spain, on the Atlantic coast.
Since the 19th century, Basque nationalism has demanded the right of some kind of self-determination. The right of self-determination was asserted by the Basque Parliament in , and It was approved by a clear majority at the Spanish level, and with The derived autonomous regime for the BAC was approved by Spanish Parliament and also by the Basque citizens in referendum. The autonomous statue of Navarre Amejoramiento del Fuero: Founded in , it evolved from a group advocating traditional cultural ways to a paramilitary group with the goal of Basque independence.
Its ideology is Marxist—Leninist. From to the present day, the indigenous people of Biafra have been agitating for independence to revive their country. They have registered a human rights organization known as Bilie Human Rights Initiative both in Nigeria and in the United Nations to advocate for their right to self-determination and achieve independence by the rule of law. American Foreign Policy in a Globalized World. Refugees, Prisoners and Camps. Community, Identity and the State. Constitution Making Under Occupation. Security and Co-operation in Europe. Humanitarian intervention in the long nineteenth century.
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