Protectorate
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Categories: Cleanup from April 2006 | All pages needing cleanup | Cleanup from July 2006 | Incomplete lists | Colonialism | Constitutional state types | Dependent territories | States by power status
This article is about states protected and/or dominated by a foreign power. For the republic in the British Isles governed by Lords Protector, see The Protectorate.
In international law a protectorate is a political entity (a sovereign state or less developed native polity, such as a tribal chiefstainship or feudal princely state) that formally agrees by treaty to enter into an unequal relationship with another, stronger state, called the protector, which engages to protect it (diplomatically or, if needed, militarily) against third parties, in exchange for which the protectorate usually accepts specified obligations, which may vary greatly, depending on the real nature of their relationship.
RationaleIn the case of so-called amical protection, mainly extended by the great powers to fellow Christian (generally European) states and tiny ones without significant intrinsic importance, the terms may often be very favorable for the protectorate. The political interest of the protector is often moral (a matter of image, prestige, ideology, internal popularity, dynastic, historical or ethno-cultural ties, etc.), and/or countering a rival or enemy power, e.g. preventing the Ottoman empire from maintaining or obtaining control of areas of strategic importance. Even if this involves the very weak protectorate surrendering control of its external relations, this may not constitute any real sacrifice, since they would not have been able to have similar use of them without the protector's strength. Conditions are often much less generous for areas of colonial protection. Here the protectorate was often reduced to a de facto condition rather similar to a colony, but using the pre-existing native state as an agent of indirect rule. Sometimes a protectorate was even established by and/or exercised by the other form of indirect rule: a chartered company, which truly becomes a de facto state 'in' its European home state (but geographically overseas), allowed to be an independent country which has its own foreign policy and generally its own armed forces. In fact, 'protectorates' were even declared which were not even duly entered into by pre-existent traditional states, or only by a party in its internal politics of dubious authority, while colonial 'protectors' frequently decided on their own to 'reshuffle' several protectorates into a new, artificial unit, a logic not quite respectful of the theoretical duty of a protector to help maintain the protectorate's status and integrity. The Berlin agreement of February 26, 1895 actually stipulated that the colonial powers could declare in Black Africa (the last region to be divided among them) protectorates that could be established by diplomatical notification, even without actual possession on the ground. A similar case is the formal use of such terms as 'colony' and 'protectorate' for an amalgamation, convenient only for the colonizer/protector, of geographically proximious territories over which it held (de facto) sway by protective or 'raw' colonial logic. In practice, a protectorate often has direct foreign relations only with the protecting power, so other states must deal with it by approaching the protector. Similarly, the protectorate rarely takes military action on its own, but relies on the protector for its defence. This is distinct from annexation, in that the protector has no formal power to control the internal affairs of the protectorate. Protectorates differ from League of Nations Mandates, and similar United Nations Trust Territories, which gave in practice similar authority to "responsible" Western powers or Japan in various areas of the non-European world over former colonial possessions (including protectorates) of the losers in World Wars I and II, since a protectorate formally enters into the protection itself, while the international mandates are imposed upon them by the 'world community-representing body'.
British & Commonwealth protectoratesProtection is a long-established term in English law for the duty of a sovereign to keep the subject safe from harm, including harm done by the sovereign; the subject has a corresponding duty of allegiance and obedience. Thus, in 1775, George III declared the thirteen colonies "out of his protection" for their disobedience — almost equivalent to a declaration of war. When the British took over Cephallenia in 1809, they proclaimed that "We present ourselves to you, Inhabitants of Cephalonia, not as Invaders, with views of conquest, but as Allies who hold forth to you the advantages of British protection." When the British continued to occupy the Ionian Islands after the Napoleonic wars, they did not formally annex the islands, but described them as a protectorate. The islands were constituted by the Treaty of Paris in 1815 as the independent United States of the Ionian Islands under British protection. Other British protectorates followed. In 1894 Prime Minister William Gladstone's government officially announced that Uganda was to become a British Protectorate, where Muslim and Christian strife had attracted international attention. The British administration installed carefully selected local kings under a program of indirect rule through the local oligarchy, creating a network of British-controlled civil service. Most British protectorates were overseen by a Commissioner or a High Commissioner, rather than a Governor. British law made a distinction between a protectorate and protected state. Constitutionally the two were of similar status:
Persons connected with former British protectorates, protected states, mandated or trust territories may still be British protected persons if they did not acquire the nationality of their country at independence. (See British nationality law) This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Americas
Middle East
South and South East Asia
Subsaharan Africa
Oceania
Dutch
GermanThe German Empire (Second Reich) used the word Schutzgebiet, literally 'protectorate', for its true colonies as well until they were lost during World War I. Cases involving indirect rule included; In the Pacific:
In Africa:
Besides these colonial uses, within Europe the Nazi Third Reich established:
French protectorates
Most French protectorates were rather colonial: Asia
North African and Indian Ocean Muslim cultures
Sub-saharan Africa
Oceania
ItalianIn Europe:
In the colonial empire:
Japanese
|
