Protectorate

A protectorate (from Latin protegere, "protect" ) is a semi- sovereign state territory for whose external representation and defense are another state mandated by an international agreement. In contrast, colonies or overseas territories owned by the respective colonial power, the inhabitants of their subjects. However, this definition has solidified until the end of the 19th century. Until then - especially in the era of " race for Africa " in the last quarter of the 19th century - the word usage was still blurry, and some African territories, which had no law in the modern sense, were called protectorates. It was a precursor to the actual colony, in which not a local government, but their own interests were protected in this area against rival European states. These protectorates were all converted at the beginning of the 20th century in colonies.

If the subordinate State has a right of final decision and thus "Lord of the business" remains, is not to be spoken of a protectorate. Whether the protected municipal its international legal personality reserves because of the relationship with the parent protectorate during the period of the Protectorate, is controversial. According to a legal opinion it retains its sovereignty, but they can exercise only limited. After the other side considers the Protectorate with the external sovereignty is missing an essential feature of the law, so it can not be regarded as a subject of international law; the Protectorate may still be awarded a contract capable of international legal personality and thus a separate international legal transactions are allowed without the supervision of the protector state.

Protectorates by countries and organizations

British protectorates

1914 declared the British the former Ottoman province for independent Sultanate of Egypt under their " protectorate " until the country in 1922 formally - but the Egyptian foreign policy remained until 1936 as well as the joint administration of the Sudan under British control - was released as the Kingdom 's independence. The subject from 1885 in what is now Nigeria units were consolidated in 1899 in the Northern Nigeria and Southern Nigeria units protectorate. The countries were managed within the meaning of " indirect rule " of the traditional rulers, but were subject to the legislation of the Governor General, and therefore were more colonies as protectorates. The same was true for the northern part of the colony of the Gold Coast (now Ghana), but the Ashanti Kingdom from 1935 to 1951 was a real protectorate. The Kingdom of Swaziland in 1894 protectorate of the Boer State South African Republic ( Transvaal ), a British protectorate from 1902 to 1968. More protectorates were Bechuanaland (now Botswana ) 1865-1966, Basutoland ( Lesotho ) 1868-1966, the Sultanate of Zanzibar from 1890 to 1963, the Emirate of Kuwait from 1914 to 1961, Scheichtum Bahrain from 1880 to 1971, 1916 to 1971 of Qatar, Gulf emirates ( Pirate Coast, now United Arab Emirates) 1892-1971/72, emirates in the Western Aden protectorate and Hadramaut (now the Republic of Yemen) 1849/1903-1967, Indian princely states, inter alia, Sikkim ( India → ) 18-19. Century to 1947, the Federated Malay States (now part of Malaysia) 19th century until 1957 and the Sultanate of Brunei 1888-1984 and the Kingdom of Tonga from 1900 to 1970.

German protectorates

The so-called German Reserves German South-West Africa (now Namibia), German East Africa (now Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi), Cameroon, Togo (now Togo and eastern part of Ghana ) and German New Guinea (now part of Papua New Guinea and Micronesia), Jiaozhou Bay and German Samoa (now Samoa) were up to the First world War under international law considered colonies.

Interruption of the Munich Agreement of 1938, the former Czechoslovakia was not already assigned areas of the Sudetenland and Slovakia, independently declared himself the First Slovak Republic and was spun off in 1939 formally converted into the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (→ destruction of the remainder of Czechoslovakia ). De facto was the annexed territory rather an autonomous province of the German Reich or international law, a sub- state in the sense of a state government.

French protectorates

Principality of Monaco since 1861, but in recent times, with foreign policy special rights (eg 1993 accession to the UN ). Sultanate of Morocco ( French zone ) 1912-56; Beylik Tunisia 1881-1956; Cambodia 1863-1945/46 (independent since November 1953); Tahiti (1842-1880), now part of French Polynesia; Annam 1883-1945/46; Partial kingdoms of Laos 1893-1945/46; the Saar protectorate from 1946 to 1957.

Italian protectorates

Abyssinia regardless 1935-1941, then

Japanese protectorates

Wholesale Korea 1905-1910; Empire of Manchukuo 1932-1945 ( Oiso )

Austro-Hungarian protectorate

Bosnia and Herzegovina (1878-1908)

Russian protectorates

Khanate of Bukhara 1868-1920; Khanate of Khiva 1873-1920; Urianhai 1914-1917, Poland - Lithuania since 1768

Spanish protectorates

Sultanate of Spanish Morocco 1912-56/58; Monaco 1542-1641, then to France

U.S. protectorates

Cuba 1906-1909; Dominican Republic from 1916 to 1924. 1915 the U.S. intervened in Haiti. They held the land until 1934 occupied and treated it as a de facto protectorate.

Mandated territories of the League

Even the A- League of Nations mandates - such as the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine, or the British Mandate of Mesopotamia ( in the area of ​​present-day Iraq ) - were not protectorates, because they were not states in its own right. As they should be, but be led to the status of independent states, they protectorates were very similar. The B Mandates were actually colonies; the C mandates (eg, the former German South West Africa ) were administered as part of the territory of the Mandatory Power.

International protectorates

Territories, which are under the sovereignty of an international organization. The term is now applied to the following territories: Bosnia, Kosovo (disputed ), Afghanistan (at times), Iraq (temporarily). It is disputed may be circumstances under which spoke of an international protectorate or when can no longer be called a protectorate. An auxiliary structure could be: A territory is so long regarded as a protectorate, as it can not ensure the maintenance of national sovereignty without the international community. The international footprint generated in the protectorates often economic processes and structures that are similar to those of rentier economies ( Dauderstädt / Schildberg 2006).