Annexation, the act of a nation claiming sovereignty over a territory outside its borders, has been a common strategy of nations in modern times. Instead of an area purchased or given through a treaty, such as the Louisiana Purchase, annexation is the actual possession of territory and is frequently legitimized by general recognition. Sometimes conquest and military occupation precede annexation.
The latest example of using annexation occurred in early December in South America. Venezuelans on Dec. 3 approved a referendum called by President Nicolás Maduro’s government to claim sovereignty over an oil- and mineral-rich area of neighboring Guyana that Venezuela contends was stolen when the border was drawn more than 100 years ago.
24/7 Tempo has assembled a list of notable annexations that have occurred over the last 100 years by culling information from resources such as Britannica, Macalester College, Michigan State University, the National Endowment for the Humanities, History Today, the digital library JSTOR, and media sources including the BBC.
Annexation has been a political tool to gain territory to consolidate ethnic enclaves, reclaim historical land, gain access to freshwater ports, or make a land grab for natural resources.
Annexation was used frequently just before and during the first years of World War II. Under pressure from Nazi Chancellor Adolf Hitler, Austrians voted by almost 100% for political union with Germany in 1938. The Soviet Union extended its borders after Germany invaded Poland, claiming to unify historically Ukrainian and Belorussian lands with the Soviet Union. (Click here for the 24 most famous undercover missions of WWII.)
Israel has expanded its frontiers multiple times since its founding in 1948, claiming all of Jerusalem, occupying the Golan Heights, and gradually taking over the West Bank, with little approval from most of the rest of the world.
Some annexation tries were thwarted, most notably Iraq’s attempt to seize oil-rich Kuwait as its 19th province in 1990. A coalition of Western powers and Arab states expelled Iraq from Kuwait the following year.
Germany
- Annexed region: Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia
- Year span: 1938
- Reason: Germany annexed German-speaking regions of the central European nation.
Soviet Union
- Annexed region: Eastern Poland
- Year span: 1939
- Reason: On Sept. 17, 1939, as justification for invading eastern Poland, the Red Army claimed it was reuniting territory historically belonging to Ukraine and Belarus with the Soviet Union.
Soviet Union
- Annexed region: Finland
- Year span: 1939-40
- Reason: The Soviet Union annexed the western part of Karelia in Finland and was granted permission to establish a naval base on the Hanko Peninsula following the Winter War.
Soviet Union
- Annexed region: Baltic states
- Year span: 1940
- Reason: Soviet Union annexed the Baltic nations of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia after the start of World War II.
Soviet Union
- Annexed region: Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina
- Year span: 1940
- Reason: Soviet troops invaded the Romanian provinces of Bessarabia and northern Bukovina, subsequently incorporating them into the Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
India
- Annexed region: Hyderabad state
- Year span: 1948
- Reason: The predominantly Muslim princely state resisted joining India after partition. However, India compelled its inclusion into the newly formed Indian nation.
Jordan
- Annexed region: West Bank of Mandatory Palestine
- Year span: 1950
- Reason: In 1950, the area was annexed to Jordan at the request of a Palestinian delegation following the expiration of the British Mandate of Palestine in 1948.
China
- Annexed region: Tibet
- Year span: 1959
- Reason: China annexed the autonomous Tibet region in 1959.
India
- Annexed region: Goa
- Year span: 1961
- Reason: In 1961, India annexed the state of Goa, which had been a Portuguese colony since 1510.
Ethiopia
- Annexed region: Eritrea
- Year span: 1962
- Reason: Ethiopia annexed the African nation, terminating its federation and sparking a 30-year war that concluded with Eritrean independence.
Israel
- Annexed region: West Bank
- Year span: 1967
- Reason: Israel’s annexation has been described as “creeping,” meaning gradual, as the country considers the possibility of formal annexation.
Indonesia
- Annexed region: West Papua
- Year span: 1969
- Reason: In 1961, Indonesia threatened to invade West Papua. Subsequent negotiations resulted in the UN-sponsored Act of Free Choice, during which Indonesian authorities orchestrated a vote where 1022 West Papuans unanimously expressed public support for integration with Indonesia.
India
- Annexed region: Sikkim
- Year span: 1975
- Reason: In 1975, a referendum took place, with 97.5% of the participating voters (representing 59% of the eligible population) choosing to join the Indian Union. This decision marked the integration of the region as India’s 22nd state.
Morocco
- Annexed region: Western Sahara
- Year span: 1976
- Reason: In 1975, Morocco annexed the region following the withdrawal of Spanish troops.
Israel
- Annexed region: East Jerusalem
- Year span: 1980
- Reason: In 1980, Israel enacted the Jerusalem Law as an integral component of its Basic Law, officially declaring Jerusalem as the ‘complete and united’ capital of Israel. This action effectively amounted to the annexation of East Jerusalem.
Israel
- Annexed region: Golan Heights
- Year span: 1981
- Reason: In the aftermath of the Six-Day War in 1967, Israel enacted the Golan Heights Law, applying it to the captured area. The international community and some members of the Israeli opposition view this move as an annexation of the territory.
Russia
- Annexed region: Crimea
- Year span: 2014
- Reason: In a controversial referendum, Crimeans voted by nearly 100% to join the Russian Federation.
Venezuela
- Annexed region: Guyana
- Year span: 2023
- Reason: On December 3, Venezuelans endorsed a government-called referendum led by President Nicolás Maduro to assert sovereignty over an oil- and mineral-rich area in neighboring Guyana. Venezuela contends that the region was unlawfully taken from it when the border was established over a century ago.