Partitions

The Partition of Ireland

The partition of Ireland was caused by the Irish debate on whether to remain part of the United Kingdom. In 1920, in response to violence against the United Kingdom of Ireland, the British Government divided Ireland into two parts: the Free State of Ireland (population mostly Catholic) and Northern Ireland (Protestant). Northern Ireland remains a part of the United Kingdom, while the Free State of Ireland was given independence. However, this independence was partial, as the British soldiers continued to operate in the Free State of Ireland until 1922 and the British monarchy still claimed sovereignty over it. Due to a disagreement over whether that commitment should have a treaty signed, a civil war in the Free State of Ireland, which lasted from 1922-1923.

When the treaty was signed in 1921, Lloyd George promised that a Boundary Commission will meet to decide the permanent boundaries between the two parts of Ireland. The decision of the Commission was abolished in 1925 because of unfavorable public opinion, and temporary borders became permanent.

When Ireland declared a republic in 1949, the British government gave Northern Ireland remain part of the United Kingdom. Violence erupted in Northern Ireland between those who struggle for a united Ireland and those wishing to stay in the United Kingdom.

Relations between England and Ireland have improved since the Good Friday Agreement on the future of Northern Ireland in 1998.

The partition of Germany

The Potsdam Conference of 1945 was convened to decide how to administer the Nazi Germany after its defeat in World War II. The Soviet Union, United States and United Kingdom participated in this conference, and divided Germany into four occupation zones - French, British, Americans and Soviets. In 1946, the first three areas were combined. In 1955, West Germany was a sovereign state. The Soviet zone was also the sovereignty and was known as East Germany.

While the East and West Germany were sovereign states, the four powers kept the troops in the country. Germany became a focal point of the Cold War, tensions between the Allies and the Soviet Union.

At the beginning of the occupation, the Soviets seized large quantities of industrial equipment from eastern Germany as war reparations. This greatly damaged the economy of East Germany and led many citizens to flee to West Germany, where the economy prospered. The high rate of emigration more crippled economy. In 1961, the Berlin Wall was built to prevent emigration. In 1989, demonstrations against the government of East Germany caused its leaders to resign. The Berlin Wall was opened and thousands of East Germans poured into West Germany. Instead of forming a democratic East Germany, it was decided that East Germany merged with West Germany. Germany was officially reunited on October 3, 1990.

The partition of Korea

Korea was occupied by the Japanese during the Sino-Japanese war of 1894-95, and remained a Japanese colony until the end of World War II.

North and South Korea were established in 1945, towards the end of the Second World War when the United States and its allies partitioned Korea. The Korean peninsula was divided into a communist north and a pro-Western south. The border between the two states were observed at random, without regard to geographical or political factors.

Russia and the United States sees Korea as an important part of the ideological debate that raged between them. Each denies the legitimacy of the other half of Korea, and each hopes to reunify Korea under his leadership and political ideology. Thus, Korea became a pawn in the Cold War between Russia and the U.S.

In 1950, North Korea attacked South Korea. The United Nations, led by the United States, joined the war to defend South Korea, while China fought alongside North Koreans. The war ended in a stalemate in 1953. No peace treaty was signed, technically leaving the North and South Korea is still at war. Since the end of the Korean War until very recently, the citizens of North and South Korea have lived in isolation from others. Relations between the two states have thawed slightly in recent years.

The partition of India

Beginning in the sixteenth century, traders from Europe began arriving in India. Taking advantage of the weakness of government, established colonies in the country. In 1856, the British East India Company controlled most of India. British rule in India caused discontent among the population india. The Indians believed that the British did not respect their traditions and culture. Formed nationalist movements.

From the outset, the British had ruled the Muslims and Hindus separately. Therefore, when he left India on August 14, 1947, which divided into two states, India and Pakistan. Pakistan was created as an Islamic state and India as a secular. Although Gandhi opposed the partition, could not prevent it.

The decision of partition of India was made in haste by the British government, who realized he could not afford to maintain their vast empire. The boundaries between the two states have been developed by a British lawyer named Cyril Radcliffe, who had little knowledge of the conditions of India and used outside of the date of the census materials and maps.

Once the British left India, millions of people fled their homes, either to travel to India or Pakistan. One million died in religious riots. They began with economies in ruins and devastated land. Governments do not have, and lost many of its leaders soon after the partition, including Gandhi.

The British left undecided some limits, and consequently, boundary issues have been the cause of two wars between India and Pakistan and are still unresolved. The territory of Kashmir remains controversial.

The partition of Vietnam

In the late nineteenth century, Vietnam was colonized by the French. In WWII, Japan ousted the French in Vietnam. The French tried to regain its territory in the First Indochina War, which began in 1946, after the Second World War. The French were supported by the National Army of Vietnam, but opposed by the army of the Viet Minh (Communist national liberation movement). The Viet Minh defeated the French in 1954.

At the end of the war, the Geneva conference divided Vietnam temporarily, pending elections in 1956. The elections were never held. Instead, North Vietnam became a communist regime, while South Vietnam changed its system of government on many occasions during his short life. Soon after the partition of Vietnam, nearly one million North Vietnamese - mainly Catholics - fled to South Vietnam for fear of persecution. This fear proved well founded as 50,000 Catholics were executed and another half million have died of hunger.

The conflict between North and South Vietnam led to the Vietnam War in 1959. The Soviet Union and China fought with the North while the United States joined with the South. When the war ended in 1975, Vietnam was reunited in a communist state.

The partition of Cyprus

In 1878, the Ottoman Empire gave Cyprus to the British as an assembly base for the British could help prevent further Russian penetration into the Ottoman Empire. Although Cyprus was never used for this purpose, the British Empire remained the administrative control of the island. The population of Cyprus was 80% less than the Greeks and 19% Turks. The Greek population harbored hopes that the British would return Cyprus to Greece.

In 1914, during the First World War, the British annexed Cyprus, and as part of the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, Turkey renounced all claims to it. In 1950, the population of Cyprus began to resist British colonial rule and demanded independence. However, the two populations could not agree if Cyprus was a Greek or a Turkish nation. Violence erupted between the two groups.

Cyprus was granted independence by Britain in 1960 and became a member of the Commonwealth in 1961, but clashes between Greeks and Turks continued. In 1974, Turkey took over one third of the island of Cyprus, thus a de facto partition of Cyprus. As a result of the invasion, over 160,000 Greek Cypriots were forced to leave their homes and become refugees. Immediately after the occupation, the talks were held in an attempt to resolve the diplomatic crisis, but failed. Since then, numerous attempts have been made to reconcile the two parties, including the 2004 UN referendum, but so far the country has remained divided, with half of the island under Turkish domination and the other half is an independent state. The two halves are divided by a "Green Line".

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