Unilateral declaration of independence
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A unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) 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 national 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]
Contents
Examples
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, the attempted secession of Biafra from Nigeria in 1967, the Bangladeshi declaration of 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.[3]
During the breakup of Yugoslavia, the government of the United States asked the governments of Slovenia and Croatia 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.[4]
| Date | Declared state | Parent | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1776 |  United States |
 Great Britain |
|
| 1898 |  Philippines |
23x15px Spain | |
| 1912 |  Albania |
 Ottoman Empire |
|
| 1919 |  Irish Republic |
 United Kingdom |
|
| 1922 |  Egypt |
United Kingdom |
Unilateral grant of independence by the British government |
| 1965 |  Rhodesia |
United Kingdom |
Independence granted as Zimbabwe in 1980 |
| 1967 |  Biafra |
 Nigeria |
Present day Nigeria |
| 1971 |  Bangladesh |
 Pakistan |
|
| 1983 |  Northern Cyprus |
 Cyprus |
Still claimed by Cyprus |
| 1988 |  Palestine |
— | Claims territories occupied by Israel since 1967 Israeli–Palestinian conflict and peace process still ongoing See International recognition of the State of Palestine |
| 1991 |  Croatia |
 Yugoslavia |
|
| 1991 |  Slovenia |
Yugoslavia |
|
| 1991 |  Republic of Ichkeria |
 Russia |
Present day Chechen Republic, part of Russia |
| 1991 |  South Ossetia |
 Georgia |
Still claimed by Georgia |
| 1999 |  Abkhazia |
Georgia |
Still claimed by Georgia |
| 2008 |  Kosovo |
 Serbia |
Still claimed by Serbia |
| 2014 |  Crimea |
 Ukraine |
Annexed by Russia; still claimed by Ukraine |
Legal aspects
The International Court of Justice, in a 2010 advisory opinion, declared that unilateral declarations of independence were not illegal under international law.[5]
See also
- List of sovereign states by date of formation
- Declaration of independence
- Helsinki Accords (also known as the Helsinki Final Act)
- International law
- International relations
- United Nations
- Decolonization
References
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<references />, or <references group="..." />- ↑ Douglas George Anglin. Zambian Crisis Behaviour: Confronting Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence, 1965-1966. McGill-Queens, 1994.
- ↑ Don H. Doyle. Secession as an International Phenomenon: From America's Civil War to Contemporary Separatist Movements. University of Georgia Press, 2010.
- ↑ United Nations. Index to Proceedings of the General Assembly 2008/2009: Subject Index. New York, New York, USA: United Nations, 2010. Pp. 138.
- ↑ Florian Bieber, Džemal Sokolović. Reconstructing multiethnic societies: the case of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Ashgate, 2001. Pp. 41.
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