Partition (politics)

The internal partition of Bosnia and Herzegovina as established by the Dayton Agreement of 1995 that ended the Bosnian War. Bosnia and Herzegovina remains a single state but is internally divided into the Bosniak-Croat-dominated territorial entity known as the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Serb-dominated territorial entity known as Republika Srpska.

In politics, a partition is a change of political borders cutting through at least one territory considered a homeland by some community.^[1] That change is done primarily by diplomatic means, and use of military force is negligible.^{[citation needed]}

Common arguments for partitions include:

historicist — that partition is inevitable, or already in progress^[1]
last resort — that partition should be pursued to avoid the worst outcomes (genocide or large-scale ethnic expulsion), if all other means fail^[1]
cost-benefit — that partition offers a better prospect of conflict reduction than the if existing borders are not changed^[1]
better tomorrow — that partition will reduce current violence and conflict, and that the new more homogenized states will be more stable^[1]
rigorous end — heterogeneity leads to problems, hence homogeneous states should be the goal of any policy^[1]

Common arguments against include:

It disrupts functioning and traditional state entities
It creates enormous human suffering
It creates new grievances that could eventually lead to more deadly violence, such as the Korean and Vietnamese wars.
It prioritizes race and ethnicity to a level acceptable only to an apartheid regime
The international system is very reluctant to accept the idea of partition in deeply divided societies

Examples

Notable examples are: (See Category:Partition)

Partition of Africa (Scramble for Africa), between 1881 and 1914.
Partition, multiple times, of the Roman Empire into the Eastern Roman Empire and the Western Roman Empire, following the Crisis of the Third Century.
Partition of Prussia by the Second Peace of Thorn in 1466^[2] ^[3] creating Royal Prussia, and Duchy of Prussia in 1525^[4]
Partition of Catalonia by the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659: Northern Catalan territories (Roussillon) was given to France by Spain.
In the 1757 Second Treaty of Versailles, France agreed upon the partition of Prussia^[5]
Partition of the United States during the American Civil War.
Partition of Prussia in 1919^[6]
German occupation of Czechoslovakia^[7] and Munich Agreement of 1938
Partition and Elimination^[8] of East Prussia^[9] among People's Republic of Poland and Soviet Union^[10]
Three Partitions of Luxembourg, the last of which in 1839, that divided Luxembourg between France, Prussia, Belgium, and the independent Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
Three Partitions of Poland and Poland-Lithuania in the 18th, with the fourth one sometimes referring to events of 19th and 20th centuries
1905 Partition of Bengal and 1947 Partition of Bengal
Partition of Tyrol by the London Pact of 1915
Partition of the German Empire in 1919 by the Treaty of Versailles
Partition of the Ottoman Empire
Partition of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire in 1919 by the Treaty of St. Germain
Partition of Ireland in 1920 into the independent Irish Free State and (British) Northern Ireland
Treaty of Kars of 1921, which partitioned Ottoman Armenia between the republic of Turkey and the then Soviet Union (Western and Eastern Armenia)
Partition of Germany and Berlin after World War II, annexation of former eastern territories of Germany
Partition of Korea in 1945
1947 UN Partition Plan for Palestine (region); this partition was abortive, as the proposed Palestinian state was never formed; Israel took most of the territory, with some going to Transjordan and Egypt.
Partition of India (colonial British India) in 1947 into the independent dominions (later republics) of India and Pakistan (which included modern-day Bangladesh)
Partition of Korea in 1953
Partition of Punjab in 1966 into the states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh
Partition of Pakistan in 1971, when East Pakistan became the independent nation of Bangladesh after the Bangladesh Liberation War
Partition of Vietnam in 1954
The hypothetical partition of the Canadian province of Quebec
Partition of Yugoslavia in the 1990's
Possible Partition of Kosovo after disputed independence in 2008.
Partitions of China (See 瓜分中國)

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Brendan O’Leary, DEBATING PARTITION: JUSTIFICATIONS AND CRITIQUES
^ Norman Davies: God's Playground [1]
^ Stephen R. Turnbull, Tannenberg 1410: Disaster for the Teutonic Knights [2]
^ Elements of General History: Ancient and Modern, by Millot (Claude François Xavier) [3]
^ Arthur Hassall, The Balance of Power. 1715–1789 [4]
^ Norman Davies: God's Playground [5]
^ The Polish Occupation. Czechoslovakia was, of course, mutilated not only by Germany. Poland and Hungary also each asked for their share – Hubert Ripka: Munich, Before and After: A Fully Documented Czechoslovak Account of the ..., 1939 [6]
^ Samuel Leonard Sharp: Poland, White Eagle on a Red Field, [7]
^ Norman Davies: God's Playground [8]
^ Debates of the Senate of the Dominion of Canada [9]

[bol-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Brendan O’Leary, DEBATING PARTITION: JUSTIFICATIONS AND CRITIQUES

[2] Norman Davies: God's Playground [1]

[3] Stephen R. Turnbull, Tannenberg 1410: Disaster for the Teutonic Knights [2]

[4] Elements of General History: Ancient and Modern, by Millot (Claude François Xavier) [3]

[5] Arthur Hassall, The Balance of Power. 1715–1789 [4]

[6] Norman Davies: God's Playground [5]

[7] The Polish Occupation. Czechoslovakia was, of course, mutilated not only by Germany. Poland and Hungary also each asked for their share – Hubert Ripka: Munich, Before and After: A Fully Documented Czechoslovak Account of the ..., 1939 [6]

[8] Samuel Leonard Sharp: Poland, White Eagle on a Red Field, [7]

[9] Norman Davies: God's Playground [8]

[10] Debates of the Senate of the Dominion of Canada [9]

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Examples

See also

References