int.rel. |
irredentism (from Italian irredento, "unredeemed") is any position advocating annexation of territories administered by another state on the grounds of common ethnicity or prior historical possession, actual or alleged.: Notable examples of irredentism include Nazi Germany’s claims on the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia; the “Megali Idea” that sought to create a Greater Greece; China’s desire to reincorporate the territories lost during periods of historical weakness; Somalia’s invasion of Ethiopia during the Ogaden War of 1977–78; the attempt by Hungary to reverse the 1920 Treaty of Trianon and reclaim territories in Slovakia, Romania, and Yugoslavia during World War II; and the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Armenian-populated Nagorno-Karabakh region. ML) |