Wikipedia

Unilateral declaration of independence

This article is about unilateral declarations of independence in general. For the Rhodesian declaration of 1965, see Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence. For the British declaration concerning Egypt, see Unilateral Declaration of Egyptian Independence.

A unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) or "unilateral secession" is a formal process leading to the establishment of a new state by a subnational entity which declares itself independent and sovereign without a formal agreement with the state from which it is seceding. The term was first used when Rhodesia declared independence in 1965 from the United Kingdom (UK) without an agreement with the UK.[1]

Examples

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Prominent examples of a unilateral declaration of independence other than Rhodesia's UDI in 1965 include that of the United States in 1776,[2] the Irish Declaration of Independence of 1919 by a revolutionary parliament, Katanga's declaration of independence by Moise Tshombe in July 1960,[3] the attempted secession of Biafra from Nigeria in 1967, the Proclamation of Bangladeshi Independence from Pakistan in 1970, the (internationally unrecognized) secession of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus from Cyprus in 1983, the Palestinian Declaration of Independence from the Palestinian territories in 1988, and that of the Republic of Kosovo in 2008.[4] During the Dissolution of the Soviet Union throughout 1991, many of its republics declared their independence unilaterally without agreement and were thus not recognised as legitimate by the Soviet Central Government.

During the breakup of Yugoslavia, the government of the United States asked the governments of Croatia and Slovenia to drop their UDI plans because of the threat of major war erupting in the Balkans because of it, and threatened that it would oppose both countries' UDIs on the basis of the Helsinki Final Act if they did so. However, four days later both Slovenia and Croatia announced their UDIs from Yugoslavia.[5]

Date Declared state Parent state International recognition Notes
1776   United States   Great Britain Yes
1777   Vermont   Great Britain Yes Vermont signed a separate armistice with Britain in 1781 before the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. Effective retroactive recognition by the United States was granted in 1791 when Vermont became the 14th state.
1816   Río de la Plata   Spain Yes, after the military victory Division and dismembering of the independent country. Paraguay secession. Brazil invaded Uruguay. Spain recognized Argentine Independence in 1859
1821   Greece   Ottoman Empire Yes Intervention by France, Russia, and the United Kingdom in favour of Greece in the Greek War of Independence secured its independence in 1832.
1830   Belgium   United Netherlands Yes UDI (4 October 1830) recognized by the major European powers following the London Conference of 20 December 1830
1898   Philippines   Spain No Conquered by United States; became independent in 1946 by agreement
1903   Panama   Colombia Yes
1912   Albania   Ottoman Empire Yes
1919   Irish Republic   United Kingdom No Became the Irish Free State upon the ratification of the Anglo-Irish Treaty.
1922   Kingdom of Egypt   United Kingdom Yes Unilateral grant of independence by the British government
1931   Jiangxi   China No
1945   Indonesia   Netherlands Yes
1960   Katanga   Republic of the Congo No Breakaway Congolese province, secession forcibly ended by the United Nations Operation in the Congo in 1963.
1965   Rhodesia   United Kingdom No Self-governing British colony, unilaterally declared itself independent as Rhodesia in 1965, renamed Zimbabwe Rhodesia 1979, then gained international recognition as Zimbabwe in 1980.
1967   Anguilla   United Kingdom No Returned as a British Crown Colony in 1969.
1967   Biafra   Nigeria Partial Recognized by five countries. Present-day Nigeria
1971   Bangladesh   Pakistan Yes
1973   Guinea-Bissau   Portugal Yes
1975   Cabinda   Angola No Present-day Angola
1975   East Timor   Portugal No Shortly following the declaration of independence, the territory was invaded and annexed by Indonesia.[6][7] A referendum in 1999 led to eventual independence in 2002.[8]
1983   Northern Cyprus   Cyprus Partial Still claimed by Cyprus, and recognized as such by all UN member-states except for Turkey.
1988   Palestine   Israel Partial Claims territories occupied by Israel since 1967
Israeli–Palestinian conflict and peace process still ongoing
See: International recognition of the State of Palestine
1990   Namibia   South Africa Yes
1990   Transnistria   Moldova Partial Still claimed by Moldova, recognized by 2 partially unrecognised breakaway states South Ossetia and Abkhazia (+ the former Nagorno-Karabakh Republic).
1990   Karakalpakstan   Uzbekistan No Incorporated into Uzbekistan in 1993.[9]
1991   Somaliland   Somalia No Still claimed by Somalia
1991   Croatia   Yugoslavia Yes Set off Croatian War of Independence
1991   Slovenia   Yugoslavia Yes Set off Ten-Day War
1991   Republic of Ichkeria   Russia Partial Present-day Chechen Republic, part of Russia. Retroactively recognized by Ukraine in 2022[10]
1991   Nagorno-Karabakh   Azerbaijan No Still claimed by Azerbaijan. Recognized by 3 other post-Soviet breakaway states
1991   South Ossetia   Georgia Partial Still claimed by Georgia. Recognized by 5 UN member-states.
1992   Bosnia and Herzegovina   Yugoslavia Yes Set off Bosnian War
1999   Abkhazia   Georgia Partial Still claimed by Georgia. Recognized by 5 UN member-states.
2008   Kosovo   Serbia Partial Still claimed by Serbia
A United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) resolution adopted on 8 October 2008 backed the request of Serbia to seek an International Court of Justice advisory opinion on Kosovo's declaration of independence.[11] On 22 July 2010, the ICJ ruled that the declaration of independence of Kosovo "did not violate any applicable rule of international law", because its authors, who were "representatives of the people of Kosovo", were not bound by the Constitutional Framework (promulgated by UNMIK) or by UNSCR 1244 that is addressed only to United Nations member states and organs of the United Nations.[12][13]
See: International recognition of Kosovo
2014   Crimea   Ukraine Partial Annexed by Russia; still claimed by Ukraine. Recognized only by 7 UN member states.
2014   Donetsk People's Republic
  Luhansk People's Republic 		  Ukraine Partial Annexed by Russia; still claimed by Ukraine. Recognized only by 8 UN member states.
2017   Catalonia   Spain No Spanish sovereignty remained unchanged
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The International Court of Justice, in a 2010 advisory opinion, declared that unilateral declarations of independence were not illegal under international law.[13]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Douglas George Anglin. Zambian Crisis Behaviour: Confronting Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence, 1965–1966. McGill-Queens, 1994.
  2. ^ Don H. Doyle. Secession as an International Phenomenon: From America's Civil War to Contemporary Separatist Movements. University of Georgia Press, 2010.
  3. ^ Briscoe, Neil (2003). Britain and UN Peacekeeping: 1948–67. Basingstoke: Palgrave-Macmillan. pp. 117–118. ISBN 978-1-4039-1499-6.
  4. ^ United Nations. Index to Proceedings of the General Assembly 2008/2009: Subject Index. New York City, USA: United Nations, 2010. Pp. 138.
  5. ^ Florian Bieber, Džemal Sokolović. Reconstructing multiethnic societies: the case of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Ashgate, 2001. Pp. 41.
  6. ^ Berlie, Jean A. (1 October 2017). East Timor's Independence, Indonesia and ASEAN. Springer. p. 17. ISBN 9783319626307.
  7. ^ Kammen, Douglas (20 August 2015). Three Centuries of Conflict in East Timor. Rutgers University Press. p. 130. ISBN 9780813574127.
  8. ^ Moxham, Ben (February 2008). "State-Making and the Post-Conflict City: Integration in Dili, Disintegration in Timor-Leste" (PDF). London School of Economics and Political Science. pp. 10–11. ISSN 1749-1800. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  9. ^ Olmos, Francisco (28 May 2020). "The curious case of the Republic of Karakalpakstan". Foreign Policy Centre.
  10. ^ "Ukraine recognizes the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria". 18 October 2022.
  11. ^ Backing Request by Serbia, General Assembly Decides to Seek International Court of Justice Ruling on Legality of Kosovo's Independence, United Nations, 8 October 2008
  12. ^ Accordance with international law of the unilateral declaration of independence in respect of Kosovo, Nspm.rs, 22 July 2010
  13. ^ a b Accordance with international law of the unilateral declaration of independence in respect of Kosovo Archived 21 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine, International Court of Justice, 22 July 2010
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