International city
An international city is an autonomous or semi-autonomous
Rationale for establishment
International cities have had either one or both of the following characteristics:
- they were ethnically mixed;
- authority over the city had previously been contested by different nation-states.
International cities were established mainly in the 1920s and 1940s, following World War I and World War II.
Instruments of state and governance
For a period in the early nineteenth century the
Some international cities, such as the Free City of Danzig and the Free Territory of Trieste, had their own currency and practised tariff-free trade.[1]
These international cities had limited self-governance (as in Danzig, with supervision from the League of Nations), or were administered by a body of representatives from external nation-states (as in Shanghai from 1845 to 1944 and the International Zone of Tangier from 1923 to 1957).[2]
Status of Jerusalem
The
Pope
Examples
- Danzig (1920–1939), semi-independent zone between Germany and Poland administered by the League of Nations and in a customs union with Poland. Annexed by Nazi Germany after the German invasion of Poland at the beginning of World War II, and then by Poland after the war.[6]
- Fiume (1920–1924), contested by Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Divided between the two by the Treaty of Rome.
- Krakow (1815–1846), a protectorate of Austria, Prussia and Russia created at the Congress of Vienna after the Napoleonic Wars. Annexed by Austria after the Kraków uprising.
- Tangier (1925–1956), extraterritorial zone within Spanish Morocco administered by Spain, France, the United Kingdom and others. Integrated into the independent Kingdom of Morocco in 1956.[6]
- Trieste (1947–1954), independent territory between Italy and Yugoslavia administered by the United Nations Security Council. Partitioned between Italy and Yugoslavia.[6]
- international concessions under Chinese sovereignty established in Shanghai by the Unequal Treaties. Fully reintegrated into China during World War II.
- Beijing, extraterritorial zone of various international concessions under Chinese sovereignty established in Beijing after the Boxer Rebellion. Abolished after the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War.
- Gulangyu Island (1902–1943), extraterritorial zone of various international concessions under Chinese sovereignty established in Xiamen by the Treaty of Nanking. Abolished after the Second Sino-Japanese War.
- Memel (1920–1923), a League of Nations protectorate established by the Treaty of Versailles between Germany and Lithuania, annexed by Lithuania after the Klaipėda Revolt.
- Saar Basin (1920–1935), a League of Nations mandate established by the Treaty of Versailles between France and Germany. Fully integrated into Nazi Germany after the 1935 Saar status referendum.
- West Berlin (1948–1990), an enclave of the Western Allied occupation zones of Berlin within East Germany. Ceased to exist after German reunification.
- Headquarters of the United Nations, extraterritorial complex containing the headquarters of the principal organs of the United Nations within New York City in the United States
Similar concepts
International cities may be essentially a form of condominium, a territory where ultimate sovereignty is jointly held by more than one state. In the case of international cities, the sovereignty might lie with one or more foreign states, or with an international body such as the League of Nations or United Nations.
See also
References
- ^ "Economics of an Internationalized Jerusalem," Richard J. Ward, International Journal of Middle East Studies, Vol. 2, No. 4 (Oct., 1971), pp. 311-317
- Virginia Gazette. Archived from the originalon 20 November 2008. Retrieved 2008-07-27.
- ^ Vatican hails UN Palestine vote, wants guarantees for Jerusalem
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
- ^ a b c "Countries > Cities". GeneralAnswers.org. Archived from the original on 2008-11-21. Retrieved 2008-09-21.
See also
- Corpus Separatum