Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from apolitical entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as adeclaration of independence).[1] A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal is the creation of a new state or entity independent of the group or territory from which it seceded.[2] Threats of secession can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.[3]
Notable examples of secession, and secession attempts, include:
There is no consensus on the definition of political secession despite many political theories on the subject.[2]
According to the 2017 bookSecession and Security, by political scientistAhsan Butt, states respond violently to secessionist movements if the potential state poses a greater threat than the would-be secessionist movement.[4] States perceive a future war with a potential new state as likely if the ethnic group driving the secessionist struggle has deep identity division with the central state, and if the regional neighborhood is violent and unstable.[4]
According to political scientist Bridget L. Coggins, the academic literature contains four potential explanations for the drastic increase in secessions during the 20th century:[5]
Other scholars have linked secession to resource discoveries and extraction.[6] David B. Carter, H. E. Goemans, and Ryan Griffiths find that border changes among states tend to conform to the borders of previous administrative units.[7][8][9]
Several scholars argue that changes in the international system have made it easier for small states to survive and prosper.[10][11][12][13][14]Tanisha Fazal and Ryan Griffiths link increased numbers of secessions to an international system that is more favorable for new states. For example, new states can obtain assistance from international organizations such as theInternational Monetary Fund,World Bank, and theUnited Nations.[11]Alberto Alesina and Enrico Spolaore argue that greater levels of free trade and peace have reduced the benefits of being part of a larger state, thus motivating nations within larger states to seek secession.[12]
Woodrow Wilson'sproclamations on self-determination in 1918 created a surge in secessionist demands.[11]
Thepolitical philosophy of the rights and moral justification for secession began to develop as recently as the 1980s.[15] American philosopherAllen Buchanan offered the first systematic account of the subject in the 1990s and contributed to thenormative classification of the literature on secession. In his 1991 bookSecession: The Morality of Political Divorce From Fort Sumter to Lithuania and Quebec, Buchanan outlined limited rights to secession under certain circumstances, mostly related to oppression by people of other ethnic or racial groups, and especially those previously conquered by other people.[16] In his collection of essays from secession scholars,Secession, State, and Liberty,[17] professor David Gordon challenges Buchanan, making a case that the moral status of the seceding state is unrelated to the issue of secession itself.[18]
Some theories of secession emphasize a general right of secession for any reason ("Choice Theory") while others emphasize that secession should be considered only to rectify grave injustices ("Just Cause Theory").[19] Some theories do both. A list of justifications may be presented supporting the right to secede, as described by Allen Buchanan, Robert McGee,Anthony Birch,[20]Jane Jacobs,[21] Frances Kendall andLeon Louw,[22]Leopold Kohr,[23]Kirkpatrick Sale,[24] Donald W. Livingston[25] and various authors in David Gordon's "Secession, State and Liberty", includes:
Political scientist Aleksander Pavkovic describes five justifications for a general right of secession within liberal political theory:[27]
Allen Buchanan, who supports secession under limited circumstances, lists arguments that might be used against secession:[28]
Secession theorists have described a number of ways in which a political entity (city, county, canton, state) can secede from the larger or original state:[3][27][29]
Mostsovereign 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.[30]
In liberal constitutional democracies the principle ofmajority rule has dictated whether a minority can secede. In the United StatesAbraham Lincoln acknowledged that secession might be possible throughamending theUnited States Constitution. TheSupreme Court inTexas v. White held secession could occur "through revolution, or through consent of the States".[31][32] TheBritish Parliament in 1933 held thatWestern Australia could secede from theCommonwealth of Australia only upon vote of a majority of the country as a whole; the previous two-thirds majority vote for secession viareferendum inWestern Australia was insufficient.[33]
TheChinese Communist Party followed the Soviet Union in including the right of secession in its 1931 constitution in order to enticeethnic nationalities andTibet into joining. However, the Party eliminated the right to secession in later years, and had anti-secession clause written into theConstitution before and after the founding thePeople's Republic of China. The 1947 Constitution of theUnion of Burma contained an express state right to secede from the union under a number of procedural conditions. It was eliminated in the 1974 constitution of theSocialist Republic of the Union of Burma (officially the "Union of Myanmar"). Burma still allows "local autonomy under central leadership".[30]
As of 1996, theconstitutions of Austria,Ethiopia,France, andSaint Kitts and Nevis have express or implied rights to secession. Switzerland allows for the secession from current and the creation of newcantons. In the case of proposedQuebec separation fromCanada, theSupreme Court of Canada in 1998 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.[30]
TheEuropean Union is not a sovereign state but an association of sovereign states formed by treaty; as such, leaving it, which is possible by simply denouncing the treaty, is not secession. Nonetheless, the 2003 draft of theEuropean Union Constitution allowed for thevoluntary withdrawal of member states from the union, although the representatives of themember-state which wanted to leave could not participate in the withdrawal discussions of the European Council or of the Council of Ministers.[30] There was much discussion about such self-determination by minorities[34] before the final document underwent the unsuccessful ratification process in 2005. In 2007 theTreaty on European Union includedArticle 50 of the Treaty on European Union, establishing a mechanism for withdrawal from the EU.
As a result of the successfulconstitutional referendum held in 2003, every municipality in thePrincipality of Liechtenstein has the right to secede from the Principality by a vote of a majority of the citizens residing in that municipality.[35]
Indigenous peoples have a range of different forms ofindigenous sovereignty and have the right ofself-determination, but under current understanding of international law they have a mere "remedial" right to secession in extreme cases of abuse of their rights, becauseindependence andsovereign statehood is a territorial and diplomatic claim and not one of self-determination andself-government, respectively, generally leaving rights to secession to the internal legislation of sovereign states.
National secessionist movements advocate for the claim that a population within a state is a nation that has the right to form its own nation-state.[36] Movements that work towards political secession may describe themselves as beingautonomy,separatist,independence,self-determination,partition,devolution,decentralization,sovereignty,self-governance ordecolonization movements instead of, or in addition to, being secession movements.
During the 19th century, the singleBritishcolony in eastern mainland Australia,New South Wales (NSW) was progressively divided up by the British government as new settlements were formed and spread.Victoria (Vic) was formed in 1851 andQueensland (Qld) in 1859.
However, settlers agitated to divide the colonies throughout the later part of the century; particularly incentral Queensland (centered inRockhampton) in the 1860s and 1890s, and inNorth Queensland (withBowen as a potential colonial capital) in the 1870s. Other secession (or territorial separation) movements arose and these advocated the secession ofNew England in northern centralNew South Wales,Deniliquin in theRiverina district also in NSW, andMount Gambier in the eastern part ofSouth Australia.
Secession movements have surfaced several times in Western Australia (WA), where a1933 referendum for secession from theFederation of Australia passed with a two-thirds majority. The referendum had to be ratified by theBritish Parliament, which declined to act, on the grounds that it would contravene theAustralian Constitution.
ThePrincipality of Hutt River claimed to have seceded from Australia in 1970, although its status was not recognised by Australia or any other country.
After being liberated by theRed Army and theU.S. Army,Austria seceded fromNazi Germany on April 27, 1945. This took place after seven yearsunder Nazi rule, which began with theannexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in March 1938. The secession only took place once Nazi Germany had been defeated by the Allies.
The Banga Sena (Bangabhumi) is a separatist[37]Hindu organisation, which supports the making of aBangabhumi/separate homeland forBengali Hindus in thePeople's Republic of Bangladesh.[38] The group is led by Kalidas Baidya.[37]
The Shanti Bahini (Bengali:শান্তি বাহিনী, "Peace Force") is the name of the military wing of theParbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti - the United People's Party of theChittagong Hill Tracts aims are to create an indigenousBuddhist orientatedChacomas state within SEBangladesh.
On August 25, 1830, during the reign ofWilliam I, the nationalistic operaLa muette de Portici was performed inBrussels. Soon after, theBelgian Revolt occurred, which resulted in the Belgian secession from theKingdom of the Netherlands.
In 1825, soon after theEmpire of Brazil managed to defeat theCortes-Gerais and thePortuguese Empire in anIndependence War, the Platinean nationalists inCisplatina declared independence and joined theUnited Provinces, which led to astagnated war between both, as they were both weakened, lacking manpower and politically fragile. The peace treaty acceptedUruguay's independence, reasserted the rule of both nations over their land and some important points like free navigation in the Silver River.
Three rather disorganized secessionist rebellions happened inGrão-Pará, Bahia, and Maranhão, where the people were unhappy with the Empire (these provinces were Portuguese bastions in the Independence War). TheMalê Revolt, in Bahia, was an Islamic slave revolt. These three rebellions were bloodily crushed by the Empire of Brazil.
ThePernambuco was one of the mostnativist of all Brazilian regions. Over a series of five revolts (1645–1654, 1710, 1817, 1824, 1848), the provinceousted the Dutch West India Company and tried to secede from the Portuguese and Brazilian Empires. In each attempt, the rebels were crushed, the leaders shot and their territory divided. Nevertheless, they kept revolting until Pernambuco's territory was a little fraction of what it was before.
In theRagamuffin War, theProvince of Rio Grande do Sul was undergoing a (at that time common)liberal vsconservative "cold" war. After EmperorPedro II of Brazil favoured the conservatives, the liberals took the Capital and declared anindependent Republic, fighting their way to theProvince of Santa Catarina and declaring theJuliana Republic. Eventually they were slowly forced back, and made a reunification peace with the Empire. This was not considered a secessionist war, even if it could have resulted in an independent republic if the Empire had been defeated. After the Empire agreed to aid Santa Catarina's economy by taxingArgentina's products (like dry meat), the rebels reunited with the Empire and joined its military ranks.
In modern times, theSouth Region of Brazil has been the centre of a secessionist movement led by an organization calledThe South is My Country since the 1990s. Reasons cited for Southern Brazil's secession movement are taxation, due to it being one of the wealthiest regions in the country; political disputes with the northernmost states of Brazil;2016 scandal revolving around theWorkers' Party's involvement in akickback scheme with state-owned oil companyPetrobras;[39] and the impeachment of then-PresidentDilma Rousseff. Additionally, there is an ethnic divide as the South Region is predominatelyEuropean, populated primarily byGermans,Italians,Portuguese and other European groups. In contrast, the rest of Brazil is amulticulturalmelting pot. The South Region in 2016 voted in an unofficial referendum called "Plebisul" in which 95% of voters supported secession and the creation of an independent South Region.
There is also a push for secession movement in the state ofSão Paulo, which seeks to become a country independent from the rest of Brazil.
In October 2017,Ambazonia declared its independence fromCameroon. Less than a month beforehand, tensions had escalated intoopen warfare between separatists and theCameroon Armed Forces.The conflict, known as the "Anglophone Crisis", is deeply rooted in the October 1, 1961 incomplete decolonization of the formerBritish Southern Cameroons (UNGA Resolution 1608). On January 1, 1960,French Cameroon was granted independence from France as the Republic of Cameroon and was admitted into the United Nations. The more advanced democratic and self-ruling people ofBritish Cameroon were instead limited to two choices. Through a UNplebiscite, they were directed to either join the federation ofNigeria or the independent Republic of Cameroon as a federation of two equal states. While the Northern Cameroons voted to join Nigeria, the Southern Cameroons voted to integrate into the Republic of Cameroon, but they did so without a formal Treaty of Union on record at the UN. In 1972, Cameroon used its majority population to abolish the federation and implement a system which resulted in the occupation of the former South Cameroons territory by French-speaking Cameroon administrators. In 1984, Cameroon heightened tensions by returning to its name at independence, "Republic of Cameroun", which did not include the territory of the former British Southern Cameroons or Ambazonia. For more than fifty years the English-speaking people of the Former British Southern Cameroons made multiple attempts both nationally and internationally to get the Cameroon government to address these issues and possibly return to the previously agreed federation at independence. In 2016, after all these attempts failed, Cameroon engaged in a military crackdown, including cutting the internet in the English-speaking regions. In response, the people of Southern Cameroon declared on October 1, 2017, the restoration of their UN state of Southern Cameroons, which they called the "Federal Republic of Ambazonia".
Throughout Canada's history, there has been tension betweenEnglish-speaking andFrench-speaking Canadians. Under theConstitutional Act of 1791, theProvince of Quebec (including parts of what are todayQuebec,Ontario andNewfoundland and Labrador) was divided in two:Lower Canada (which retainedFrench law and institutions and is now part of the provinces of Quebec andNewfoundland and Labrador) andUpper Canada (a new colony intended to accommodate the many new English-speaking settlers, including theUnited Empire Loyalists, and now part ofOntario). The intent was to provide each group with its own colony. In 1841, the two Canadas were merged into theProvince of Canada. The union proved contentious, however, resulting in a legislative deadlock between English and French legislators. The difficulties of the union, among other factors, led in 1867 to the formation of theCanadian Confederation, afederal system that united theProvince of Canada,Nova Scotia andNew Brunswick (later joined by otherBritish colonies in North America). The federal framework did not eliminate all tensions, however, leading to theQuebec sovereignty movement in the latter half of the 20th century.
Other occasional secessionist movements have included anti-Confederation movements in the 19th centuryAtlantic Canada (seeAnti-Confederation Party), theNorth-West Rebellion of 1885, and various small separatist movements in Alberta particularly (seeAlberta separatism) andWestern Canada generally (see, for example,Western Canada Concept).
After the 1823 collapse of theFirst Mexican Empire, the formerCaptaincy-General of Guatemala was organized into a newFederal Republic of Central America. In 1838,Nicaragua seceded. The Federal Republic was formally dissolved in 1840, all but one of the states having seceded amidst general disorder.
ThePeople's Republic of China government claims control overTaiwan and describes thepolitical status of Taiwan as an issue of secession, despite having never governed the territory. TheRepublic of China (Taiwan) government administers control over Taiwan and outlying islands but lacks widespread official international recognition. TheAnti-Secession Law, passed in 2005, formalized the long-standing policy of the People's Republic of China to use military means againstTaiwan independence in the event peaceful means become otherwise impossible.
Western regions ofXinjiang (East Turkistan) andTibet are the focus of secessionist calls by theTibetan independence movement andEast Turkestan Independence Movement. TheEast Turkistan Government in Exile does not view East Turkistan as a part of China but rather an occupied country, so it does not view independence from China as "secession" but rather "decolonization".
TheSpecial Administrative Region of Hong Kong has a secessionist movement in the city that theChinese Communist Party has placed on the national security agenda in 2017 which is called theHong Kong independence movement.
In 1960, theState of Katanga declared independence from theDemocratic Republic of the Congo.United Nations troops crushed it inOperation Grand Slam.
In 1974, Greekirredentistslaunched acoup d'état inCyprus, in an attempt to annex the island withGreece. Almost immediately, theTurkish Armyinvaded northern Cyprus to protect the interests of theethnic Turkish minority, who in the following year formed theTurkish Federated State of Cyprus and in 1983 declared independence as theTurkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, recognized only byTurkey.
TheDemocratic Republic of Timor-Leste (also known as East Timor) has been described as having "seceded" fromIndonesia.[40][41][42] AfterPortuguese sovereignty was terminated in 1975,East Timor was occupied by Indonesia. However, theUnited Nations and theInternational Court of Justice refused to recognize this incorporation. Therefore, the resulting civil war and eventual 1999 East Timorese vote for complete separation are better described as an independence movement.[43]
Following the May 1991 victory ofEritrean People's Liberation Front forces against the communistDerg regime during theEritrean War of Independence,Eritrea (formerly known as "Medri Bahri") gainedde facto independence from Ethiopia. Following the United Nations observation1993 Eritrean independence referendum, Eritrea gainedde jure independence.
Before theTreaty of Lisbon entered into force on 1 December 2009, no provision in thetreaties orlaw of the European Union outlined the ability of a state to voluntarily withdraw from the EU. The European Constitution did propose such a provision and, after the failure to ratify theTreaty establishing a Constitution for Europe, that provision was then included in the Lisbon Treaty.
The treaty introduced an exit clause for members who wish to withdraw from the Union. This formalised the procedure by stating that a member state may notify theEuropean Council that it wishes to withdraw, upon which withdrawal negotiations begin; if no other agreement is reached, the treaty ceases to apply to the withdrawing state two years after such notification.[44]
On June 23, 2016, the United Kingdom voted to leave theEuropean Union in a binding referendum voted for by parliament, and finally left the European Union on January 31, 2020.[45] This is informally known asBrexit.
Finland successfully and peacefully seceded from the newly-formed and unstableRussian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in 1917. The latter was led byLenin, who had sought refuge in Finland during theRussian Revolution. Unsuccessful attempts at greater autonomy or peaceful secession had already been made during the precedingRussian Empire but had been denied by the Russian emperor. However, with the country still at war and under great pressure, Lenin allowed Finland to secede. Its peripheral location made it difficult to defend and less strategically important than Russia's other territories, so he conceded sovereignty to the Finns rather than try to defend it.[46]
France was one of theEuropean Great Powers with populous foreign empires. Like the others – the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and formerly Germany and the Ottoman Empire – its populous states abroad have all seceded, in most cases been granted independence. These secessionist movements generally took place at similar stages by continent. Seedecolonization of the Ottoman Empire,Americas,Asia andAfrica.As to France's contiguous state, these have few present representatives at the national level, see:
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After a decade of tumultuous federalism,Ecuador andVenezuela seceded fromGran Colombia in 1830, leaving the similarly tumultuousUnited States of Colombia (now theRepublic of Colombia), which also lostPanama in 1903.
Pakistan seceded from theBritish-Indian Empire in what is known asthe Partition.Today, theConstitution of India does not allowIndian states to secede from the Union.
TheIndian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir hosts someparamilitary nationalists who advocate for a Muslim state, in opposition to the Indian establishment. They are mostly in theValley of Kashmir since 1989, where theIndian Army sometimes patrols, having bases along thenearby international border. They are supported by Pakistan, which has allegedly funded many terrorist, separatist outfits with the goal of destabilizing India, according to theIndian Research and Analysis Wing, though the country denies any direct involvement. TheKashmir insurgency reached at its peak influence in the 1990s.
Other secessionist movements inNagaland,Assam,Manipur,Punjab (known as theKhalistan movement),Mizoram andTripura,Tamil Nadu . The violentNaxalite–Maoist insurgency operates ineastern rural India is rarely considered secessionist as its goal is to overthrow thegovernment of India. TheCommunist Party of India (Maoist)'s commanders idealise aCommunist republic to be made up swathes of India.
Active secession movements include:Iranian Azeri,Assyrian independence movement, Bakhtiarylurs movement in 1876,Iranian Kurdistan;Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI),Khūzestān ProvinceBalochistan and independence movement for free separated Balochistan, (Arab nationalist); Al-Ahwaz Arab People's Democratic Popular Front, Democratic Solidarity Party of Al-Ahwaz (SeePolitics of Khūzestān Province: Arab politics and separatism), and Balochistan People's Party (BPP) supportingBalochSeparatism.[47]
TheMovement for the Independence of Sicily (Movimento Indipendentista Siciliano, MIS) has its roots in theSicilian Independence Movement of the late 1940s; it was active for around 60 years. Today, the MIS no longer exists, though many other parties have emerged. One isNation Sicily (Sicilia Nazione), which still believes in the idea that Sicily, due to its deeply personal and ancient history, should be a sovereign country. Moreover, a common ideology shared by all theSicilian independentist movements is to fight againstCosa Nostra and all the otherMafia organizations, which have a very deep influence over Sicily's public and private institutions. The Sicilian branch of theFive Star Movement, which polls show is Sicily's most popular party, has also publicly expressed the intention to start working for a possible secession from Italy if thecentral government would not collaborate in shifting the nation's administrative organization from a unitary country to afederal state.
In Southern Italy, several movements have expressed a will to secede from Italy. This newborn ideology is calledneo-Bourbonism, because theKingdom of the Two Sicilies was under the control of the House of Bourbon. The Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was created in 1816 after theCongress of Vienna, and it comprised both Sicily and continental Southern Italy. The Kingdom came to an end in 1861, being annexed to the newborn Kingdom of Italy. However, the patriotic feelings shared among the southern Italian population is more ancient, starting in 1130 with the Kingdom of Sicily, which was composed by both the island and south Italy. According to the neo-Bourbonic movements the Italian regions which should secede areSicily,Calabria,Basilicata,Apulia,Molise,Campania,Abruzzo, andLatio's provinces ofRieti,Latina andFrosinone. The major movements and parties which believe in this ideology areUnione Mediterranea,Mo! andBriganti.
Lega Nord has been seeking the independence of the region known to separatists asPadania, which includes lands along thePo Valley innorthern Italy. Some organizations separately work for theindependence of Venetia or Veneto and thesecession or reunification ofSouth Tyrol with Austria. Lega Nord governingLombardy has expressed a will to turn the region into a sovereign country. Also, the island ofSardinia is home to a notablenationalist movement.
The ethnicRyukyuan (a branch of modern Okinawan) people had their own state historically (Ryukyu Kingdom). Although some Okinawan people have sought independence from Japan since they were annexed by Japan in 1879, and especially after 1972 when the islands were transferred from U.S. rule to Japan, their activism and movement have been consistently supported by single digit[48] of Okinawan people.[49]
When racial andpartisan strife erupted,Singaporewas expelled from the Malaysian federation in 1965.
TheUnited Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to historiographically as theDutch Republic, was afederal republic formally established from the formal creation of a federal state in 1581 by severalDutch provincesseceded fromSpain.
Secession movements have surfaced several times in theSouth Island of New Zealand. APremier of New Zealand, SirJulius Vogel, was amongst the first people to make this call, which was voted on by theParliament of New Zealand as early as 1865. The desire for South Island independence was one of the main factors in moving the capital of New Zealand fromAuckland toWellington in the same year.
TheNZ South Island Party, with a pro-South agenda, fielded only five candidates (4.20% of electoral seats) candidates in the1999 General Election but achieved only 0.14% (2622 votes) of the general vote. The reality today is that although South Islanders have a strong identity rooted in their geographic region, secession does not carry any real constituency; the party was not able to field any candidates in the 2008 election, as they had less than 500 paying members, a requirement by the New Zealand Electoral commission. The party is treated more as a "joke" party than any real political force.
Between 1967 and 1970, theEastern Region seceded from Nigeria and established theRepublic of Biafra, which led to awar that ended with the state returning to Nigeria.[50] In 1999, at the beginning of anew democratic regime, other secessionist movements emerged, including theIndigenous People of Biafra led byNnamdi Kanu formed as a Political wing of theRepublic of Biafra.[51]
Sweden, having left theKalmar Union withDenmark–Norway in the 16th century, entered into a loosepersonal union withNorway in 1814. Following aconstitutional crisis, on June 7, 1905, theNorwegian Storting declared that KingOscar II had failed to fulfil his constitutional duties. He was therefore removed asKing of Norway. Because the union depended on the two countries sharing a king, it was dissolved. After negotiations, Sweden agreed to mutual independence on October 26 and on April 14.
After theAwami League won the1970 national elections, negotiations to form a new government floundered, resulting in theBangladesh Liberation War by whichEast Pakistan seceded, becomingBangladesh. TheBalochistan Liberation Army (also Baloch Liberation Army or Boluchistan Liberation Army) (BLA) is aBaloch nationalist militant secessionist organization. The stated goals of the organization include the establishment of an independent state ofBalochistan free of Pakistani,Iranian and Afghan Federations. The name Baloch Liberation Army first became public in the summer of 2000, after the organization claimed credit for a series of bomb attacks in markets and removal of railways lines.[52]
The island ofBougainville has made several efforts to secede fromPapua New Guinea.
Somaliland is an autonomous region,[53] which is part of theFederal Republic of Somalia.[54][55] Those who call the area theRepublic of Somaliland consider it to be the successor state of the formerBritish Somalilandprotectorate. Having established its own local government in Somalia in 1991, the region's self-declared independence remainsunrecognized by any country or international organization.[56][57]
In 1910, following theBoer Republics defeat by theBritish Empire in theBoer Wars, four self-governing colonies in the south of Africa were merged into theUnion of South Africa. The four regions were theCape Colony,Orange Free State,Natal andTransvaal. Three other territories,High Commission Territories ofBechuanaland (nowBotswana),Basutoland (nowLesotho) andSwaziland (now Eswatini) later became independent states in the 1960s. Following the election of theNationalist government in 1948, someEnglish-speaking whites in Natal advocated either secession or a loose federation.[58] There were also calls for secession, with Natal and the eastern part of theCape Province breaking away[59] following thereferendum in 1960 on establishing arepublic. In 1993, prior to South Africa's first elections under universal suffrage and the end of apartheid, someZulu leaders inKwaZulu-Natal[60] again considered secession as did some politicians in the Cape Province.[61]
In 2008, a political movement calling for the return to independence of the Cape resurged in the shape of the political organisation, theCape Party. The Cape Party contested their first elections on 22 April 2009.[62] They finished the Western Cape provincial elections in 2019 with 9,331 votes, or 0.45% of votes, gaining no seats[63]
The idea gained popularity in the early half of the 2020s, with polling suggesting that 58% of Western Cape Voters want a referendum on independence in July 2021.[64]
Areferendum took place in Southern Sudan from 9 to 15 January 2011, on whether the region should remain a part of Sudan or become independent. The referendum was one of the consequences of the2005 Naivasha Agreement between theKhartoum central government and theSudan People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M).[65]
On 7 February 2011, the referendum commission published the final results, with 98.83% voting in favour of independence. While the ballots were suspended in 10 of the 79 counties for exceeding 100% of the voter turnout, the number of votes was still well over the requirement of 60% turnout, and the majority vote for secession is not in question.[66]
A simultaneous referendum was supposed to be held in Abyei on whether to join Southern Sudan but it has been postponed because of conflict over demarcation and residency rights. In October 2013, a symbolic referendum was held in which 99.9% of voters in Abyei voted to join Southern Sudan. However, this resolution was non-binding.[67] As of February 2024, an official referendum still has not taken place. Abyei currently holds "special administrative status".[68]
The predetermined date for the creation of an independent state was 9 July 2011.
On November 15, 1917, the day in whichDeclaration of the Rights of the Peoples of Russia was declared by theBolsheviks,Finland seceded after the non-Socialist Senate proposed that Parliament declare Finland's independence, which wasvoted by the Parliament on 6 December 1917. On December 18, 1917, it was recognized byCouncil of People's. It was followed by theFinnish Civil War.
TheConstitution of the Soviet Union guaranteed allSSRs the right to secede from the Union. In 1990, after free elections, theLithuanian Soviet Socialist Republicdeclared independence and otherrepublics soon followed. Despite the Soviet central government's refusal to recognize the independence of the republics, theSoviet Union dissolved in 1991.
Present-day Spain (known officially as "theKingdom of Spain") was assembled as acentral state in the French model between the18th and19th centuries from various component kingdoms with varying languages, cultures and legislations. Spain has severalsecessionist movements, the most notable ones being inCatalonia, theBasque Country andGalicia.
TheLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, operated a de facto independent state forTamils calledTamil Eelam in eastern and northernSri Lanka until 2009.
In 1847, seven disaffectedCatholic cantons formed a separate alliance because of moves to change thecantons of Switzerland from aconfederation to a morecentralized governmentfederation. This effort was crushed in theSonderbund War and a newSwiss Federal Constitution was created.[69]
In 2014 after the start ofRussian intervention in Ukraine, several groups of people declared the independence of several Ukrainian regions:
The Irish republicans attempted to withdrawIreland from theUnited Kingdom during theEaster Rebellion of 1916. Ireland gained independence as theIrish Free State in 1922, except for fourUlster counties which chose to remain in the United Kingdom asNorthern Ireland. The United Kingdom has a number of secession movements:
Discussions and threats of secession often surfaced inAmerican politics during the first half of the 19th century, and secession was declared by theConfederate States of America in theSouth during theAmerican Civil War. However, in 1869, theUnited States Supreme Court ruled inTexas v. White that unilateral secession was not permitted, saying that the union between a state (Texas in the case before the bar) and the other states "was as complete, as perpetual, and as indissoluble as the union between the original States. There was no place for reconsideration or revocation, except through revolution or through consent of the States."[32][31] Current secession movements still exist, the most notable example of which is the Hawaiian sovereignty movement which formed after the illegal annexation of theKingdom of Hawaii by the United States under theNewlands Resolution passed by Congress in 1898. Many international organizations consider Hawaii under American occupation.[citation needed]
North Yemen andSouth Yemen merged in 1990; tensions led to a 1994 southern secession which was crushed in acivil war.[74]
On June 25, 1991,Croatia andSlovenia seceded from theSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.Bosnia and Herzegovina andNorth Macedonia also declared independence, after which the federation broke up, causing the separation of the remaining two countriesSerbia andMontenegro. Severalwars ensued between theFederal Republic of Yugoslavia and seceding entities and among other ethnic groups inSlovenia,Croatia,Bosnia and Herzegovina, and later,Kosovo. Montenegro peacefully separated from its union with Serbia in 2006.
Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008, and was recognized by around 100 countries, with the rest considering it remaining underUnited Nations administration.
