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[[Image:Annexation of hawaii.jpg|200px|thumb|Ceremonies during the annexation of Hawaii.]]
'''Annexation''' ([[Latin]] ''ad'', to, and ''nexus'', joining) is the legal incorporation of some territory into another geo-political entity (either adjacent or non-contiguous). Usually, it is implied that the territory and population being ''annexed'' is the smaller, more peripheral or weaker of the two merging entities. It can also imply a certain measure of coercion, [[expansionism]] or [[unilateralism]] on the part of the stronger of the merging entities. Because of this, more [[Politically correct]] terms like [[political union]] or [[reunification]] are sometimes preferred.

Annexation differs from [[cession]], because unlike cession where territory is given or sold through treaty, annexation is an unilateral act where territory is seized and held by one state and made legitimate by the recognition of the [[international community]].<ref name=EB-Annexation>[http://www.britannica.com/ebi/article-9007693 Annexation], [[Encyclopaedia Britannica]]</ref>

During World War II the use of annexation deprived whole populations of the safeguards provided by international laws governing military occupations. Changes were introduced to international law through the [[Fourth Geneva Convention]] that makes it much more difficult for a state to bypass international law through the use of annexation.<ref name=GCIV> Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. Geneva, 12 August 1949.[http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/WebPrint/380-600054-COM?OpenDocument Commentary on Part III : Status and treatment of protected persons #Section III : Occupied territories Art. 47] by the [[ICRC]]</ref>

==Annexation and international law after 1948==
The [[Fourth Geneva Convention]] (GCIV) of 1949, emphasised an important change in international law.<ref name=GCIV/> The [[United Nations Charter]] ([[June 26]], [[1945]]) had prohibited war of aggression (See articles 1.1, 2.3, 2.4) and GCIV [[Wikisource:Fourth Geneva Convention#Article 47|Article 47]], the first paragraph in Section III: Occupied territories, restricted the territorial gains which could be made through war by stating:
{{quotation|Protected persons who are in occupied territory shall not be deprived, in any case or in any manner whatsoever, of the benefits of the present Convention by any change introduced, as the result of the occupation of a territory, into the institutions or government of the said territory, nor by any agreement concluded between the authorities of the occupied territories and the Occupying Power, nor by any annexation by the latter of the whole or part of the occupied territory.}}
[[Wikisource:Fourth Geneva Convention#Article 48|Article 48]] prohibits mass movement of people out of or into occupied territory:<ref> Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. Geneva, 12 August 1949.[http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/COM/380-600055?OpenDocument Commentary on Part III : Status and treatment of protected persons #Section III : Occupied territories Art. 48] by the [[ICRC]]</ref>
{{quotation|Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive. ... The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.}}

[[Protocol I]] (1977): "Protocol Additional to the [[Geneva Conventions]] of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts" has additional articles which cover military occupation, but many countries including the [[United States]] are not signatory to this additional protocol.

==Examples of annexation after 1948==
===Ogaden===
In 1954, former British [[Ogaden]] (a [[Somali Region]]) was annexed by [[Ethiopia|Abyssinia]]. Somali nationalists have waged wars of liberation since 1954. Currently, the [[Ogaden National Liberation Front]] (ONLF) leads this nationalist effort and is engaged in a fierce military confrontation with Ethiopia.

===Rockall===
On [[18 September]] [[1955]] at precisely 10.16 am, in what would be the final territorial expansion of the [[British Empire]], [[Rockall]] was officially annexed by the [[United Kingdom]] when [[Lieutenant-Commander]] Desmond Scott [[Royal Navy|RN]], [[Sergeant]] Brian Peel [[Royal Marines|RM]], [[Corporal]] AA Fraser RM, and James Fisher (a civilian [[natural history|naturalist]] and former Royal Marine), were deposited on the island by a [[Royal Navy helicopter]] from [[HMS Vidal|HMS ''Vidal'']] (coincidentally named after the man who first charted the island). The team cemented in a brass plaque on Hall's Ledge and hoisted the [[Union Flag]] to stake the UK's claim.

===Tibet===
Tibetan nationalists have argued that [[Tibet]] was occupied and annexed by [[People's Republic of China]] in 1959. This position is disputed by the PRC government and Chinese nationalists who argue that has exercised sovereignty over Tibet since at least the 18th century, and that this sovereignty had been internationally recognized since at least the 20th century. Hence they would argue that the action in 1959 was an internationally acceptable example of a central government reasserting control over an internal region.

===Goa===
In 1961 the former [[Portugal|Portuguese]] colony of [[History of Goa#After the Independence of India|Goa]] was annexed by [[India]].

===East Timor===
Following an Indonesian invasion in 1975, [[East Timor]] was annexed by Indonesia and was known as Timor Timur. It was regarded by Indonesia as the country's 27th province, but this was never recognised by the [[United Nations]] or [[Portugal]]. The people of East Timor resisted Indonesian forces in a prolonged guerilla campaign. (See: [[History of East Timor#Indonesian rule|Indonesian rule in East Timor]]).
Following a referendum held in 1999, under a [[UN]] sponsored agreement between [[Indonesia]] and [[Portugal]], in which its people rejected the offer of autonomy within Indonesia, East Timor achieved independence in 2002 and is now officially known as [[East Timor|Timor-Leste]].

===Western Sahara===
In 1975, and following the [[Madrid Accords]] between [[Morocco]], [[Mauritania]] and [[Spain]], the latter withdraw from the territory and ceded the administration to Morocco and Mauritania. This was challenged by an [[independentist]] movement, the [[Polisario Front]] that waged a [[guerilla war]] against both Morocco and Mauritania. In 1979, and after a military [[putsch]], Mauritania withdrew from the territory which left it controlled by Morocco. A [[United Nations]] peace process was initiated in 1991, but it has been stalled, and as of mid-2007, the UN is holding direct negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario front to reach a solution to the conflict.

===Jerusalem===
In the aftermath of the 1967 [[Six Day War]], in which [[Israel]] had captured East [[Jerusalem]] as well as [[Judea]] and [[Samaria]] (popularly referred to as the [[West Bank]]), [[Gaza]] and the [[Golan Heights]], Israel declared East and West Jerusalem one united city, incorporating the eastern part into one municipality and awarding its residents with citizenship, but soon after declaring to the UN that its measures were annexation. In 1980 Israel passed the [[Jerusalem Law]], which redeclared the unity of Jerusalem as Israel's capital, but did not declare its borders. Some consider the latter act annexation, but without explicit declaration of sovereignty this is in doubt. Most countries choose not to notice the change.

===Golan===
In 1981, Israel extended its "laws, jurisdiction and administration" to the [[Golan Heights]] (including the [[Shebaa Farms]]/Har Dov), which it captured from [[Syria]] in the 1967 [[Six Day War]]. This not entirely clear "annexation" declaration was declared "null and void and without international legal effect" by [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 497]]. As of today, the only state to accept the validity of this annexation is [[Federated States of Micronesia|Micronesia]].

===Kuwait===
After being allied with [[Iraq]] during the [[Iran-Iraq War|Iran – Iraq War]] (largely due to desiring Iraqi protection from [[Iran]]), [[Kuwait]] was invaded and annexed by Iraq (under [[Saddam Hussein]]) in August 1990. Hussein's primary justifications included a charge that Kuwaiti territory was in fact an Iraqi province, and that annexation was retaliation for "economic warfare" Kuwait had waged through [[slant drilling]] into Iraq's oil supplies. The monarchy was deposed after annexation, and an Iraqi governor installed.

[[United States]] President [[George H. W. Bush]] ultimately condemned Iraq's actions, and moved to drive out Iraqi forces. Authorized by the [[UN Security Council]], an [[United States|American]]-led coalition of 34 nations fought the [[Persian Gulf War]] to reinstate the Kuwaiti [[Emir]]. Iraq's invasion (and annexation) was deemed illegal and Kuwait remains an independent nation today.

==See also==
* [[Expansionism]]
* [[Fait accompli]]
* [[Status quo ante bellum]]
* [[Lebensraum]]
* [[Irredentism]]
* [[Revanchism]]
* [[Reunification]]
* Canadian [[Annexationist Movement]]

==References==
<references />
{{refimprove|date=June 2007}}

==Further reading==
* Adam Roberts. ''[http://ccw.politics.ox.ac.uk/publications/roberts_militaryoccupation.pdf Transformative military occupation: applying the laws of war and human rights]'', 100 The American Journal of International Law. vol 100 pp. 580-622 (2006)

[[Category:International law]]
[[Category:Political geography]]

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