Irredentism is an international relations term that involves advocating annexation of territories administered by another state on the grounds of common ethnicity and/or prior historical possession, actual or alleged. It is a feature of identity politics and cultural and political geography. Since most borders have been moved and redrawn at one point, a great many countries could theoretically present irredentist claims to their neighbours.
However, some countries are the subject of potential irredentism from birth. Many of Africa's borders were artificially imposed by European colonial powers. The result split ethnic groups between different countries, such as the Igbo who are divided between Nigeria, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.
An area that may be subjected to a potential claim is therefore sometimes called an irredenta. Not all potential irredentas are involved in actual irredentism.
Origins
The word was coined in Italy from the phrase Italia irredenta ("unredeemed Italy"). This originally referred to Austro-Hungarian rule over mostly or partly Italian-inhabited territories in the northern Adriatic such as Trentino and Trieste during the 19th and early 20th century. Today, Pakistan refers to the part of Kashmir controlled by its own forces as "redeemed" or "liberated", using the name Azad Kashmir, meaning "Free Kashmir".
A common way to express a claim to adjacent territories on the grounds of historical or ethnic association is by using the epithet "Greater" before the country name, as in Greater Syria, Greater Serbia, Greater Albania or Greater Morocco. This conveys the image of national territory at its maximum conceivable extent with the country "proper" at its core, e.g. Serbia proper. It must be noted that the use of "Greater" does not always convey an irredentistic meaning. For instance, Greater Romania is the common translation given to the Romanian term "Romania Mare", which is the name given between the two World Wars to the Kingdom of Romania.
Irredentist states and disputes
See main article: List of Irredentist states
"Triadic nexus" of irredenta conflict
In his 1996 book, Nationalism Reframed, Rogers Brubaker outlined a pattern to describe a common theme of irredentist conflict, referred to as the "triadic nexus". In this view, irredenta conflict is a conflict between three parties: a nationalizing state, a national movement representing an ethnic minority within that state, and an external national homeland, to which that minority is construed as ethnically belonging. Brubaker's triadic nexus is a visual representation of this, granting each party a corner of the triangle. The implication is that the national minority is caught between the nationalizing state within whose borders it exists, and the external homeland to which it is seen as belonging.
Constitutional irredentism
Some states formalize their irredentist claims by including them in their constitutional documents.
Argentina Part III, Section 1 of the Constitution of the Argentine Nation states that "The Argentine Nation ratifies its legitimate and non-prescribing sovereignty over the Malvinas, South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands and over the corresponding maritime and insular zones, as they are an integral part of the national territory. The recovery of said territories and the full exercise of sovereignty, respectful of the way of life of their inhabitants and according to the principles of international law, are a permanent and unrelinquished goal of the Argentine people." Section 35 mentions that the Argentine Nation is the modern name of the United Provinces of the River Plata, which included Uruguay as the Province of Montevideo until 1830.
China The preamble to the constitution of the People's Republic of China states "Taiwan is part of the sacred territory of the People's Republic of China. It is the lofty duty of the entire Chinese people, including our compatriots in Taiwan, to accomplish the great task of reunifying the motherland."
Republic of Ireland From 1937 until 1999 Articles 2 and 3 of the Constitution of Ireland claimed Northern Ireland as part of the state's "national territory".
Somalia Prior to its break-up as a functioning state, the Somali constitution contained paragraphs explicitly claiming adjacent territories.
In addition, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Suriname and Venezuela have all at one point in their recent history inscribed territorial claims extending into other states in formal documents, such as constitution.
Some of the most violent irredentist conflicts of recent times in Europe flared up as a consequence of the break-up of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990's. The wars in Crotia and Bosnia Herzogivina were largely about creating a new political framework of states, each of which would be ethnically and politically homogeneous. The conflict erupted further south with the ethnic Albanian majority in Kosovo seeking to switch allegiance to the adjoining state of Albania. (See Chazan, 1991, Irredentism and international politics)