Free state (polity)
Free state is a term occasionally used in the official titles of some
The republican sense of the term derives from libera res publica (literally, "the free public thing/affair"), a term used by Latin historians for the period of the Roman Republic, though not all "free states" have been republics. The historical German free states and the Orange Free State of Southern Africa were republican in form, however the Congo Free State and Irish Free State were governed under forms of monarchy.
Overview
Republican England
English Parliament, in the act forming the Commonwealth of England of 1649 to 1660, declared that "England is confirmed to be a Commonwealth and Free State and shall from henceforth be Governed as a Commonwealth and Free State."[1] The Commonwealth had a republican constitution.
Germany
In
After the Nazis came to power, they abolished the concept of a federal republic and all the states and re-organized Germany into
The states were re-established within the
Free Cities
Historically, Germany had
Africa
In
In contrast, the Congo Free State came into being between 1877 and 1884 as a private kingdom or dictatorship of King Leopold II of Belgium. In this case, the term free emphasised the new state's freedom from major colonial powers and the Belgian parliament, as the colony was ruled only by the king.
Irish Free State
The
Puerto Rico
The official Spanish name of the
List of 'free states'
Contemporary
- Free State of Bavaria
- Free State of Saxony
- Free State of Thuringia
- Free State, South Africa
- Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico
Historical
- Commonwealth of England (1649–1660)
- Free State of Costa Rica (1838–1847)
- Orange Free State (1854–1900)
- Free State of Jones(1863–1865)
- Congo Free State (1884–1908)
- Klein Vrystaat "Little Free State" (1886–1891)
- Free State of Icaria(1912)
- Free State of Fiume (1920–1924)
- Kamchatka Free State(1921–1922)
- Irish Free State (1922–1937)
- Free Territory of Trieste (1947–1954)
- Free Lebanon State(1979-1984)
Germany
- Free State of Coburg (1918–1920)
- Free State of Bottleneck(Flaschenhals) (1919–1923)
- Free State of Waldeck-Pyrmont (1918–1929)
- Free State of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1918–1933)
- Free State of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1918–1933)
- Free State of Anhalt (1918–1945)
- Free State of Brunswick (1918–1945)
- People's State of Hesse (1918–1945)
- Free State of Oldenburg (1918–1946)
- Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe (1918–1945)
- Free State of Lippe (1918–1947)
- Free State of Prussia (1920–1947)
- Free People's State of Württemberg (1918–1945)
- Free Republic of Schwarzenberg (May–June 1945)
- Freistaat Baden (1945–1952; called Südbaden "South Baden" until 1947)
See also
References
- ISBN 9780674603196.
- ISBN 9781444324150.