Americas Argentina Argentina considers the British-controlled
Falkland Islands to be part of the
Tierra del Fuego Province. In 1994, Argentina's claim to the territories was added to
its constitution. During the
interwar period, the Argentine fascist ideology
Nacionalista and organizations such as the
Alliance of Nationalist Youth openly supported plans to annex
Uruguay,
Paraguay,
Chile and some southern and eastern parts of
Bolivia, which they claimed belonged to Argentina via past territories of the
Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata.
Mexico Some Mexican nationalists consider the
Southwestern United States to be Mexican territory that must be returned. The territory belonged to Mexico until 1836 when Texas established itself as its own nation. Texas citizens then voted to join the United States in the
Texas annexation (1845) leading to the 1846–48
Mexican–American War and, as a consequence of the war, the
Mexican Cession of further territory that now constitutes much of the western US. In 1865, as the
American Civil War ended,
Maximilian "was actively recruiting Confederate refugees to colonize northern Mexico and bring their slaves with them.
Grant foresaw that Maximilian was creating a base from which diehard rebels would carry on a revanchist war against the United States and create an obstacle protecting Maximilian's empire against invasion by U.S. forces".
Asia China The People's Republic of China (PRC) has used historical claims in the
South China Sea (SCS) as justification for island building activities and revised territorial claims. The "
nine-dash line" map extends the area that the PRC identifies as within its sovereign territory disregarding several international laws of the sea. In addition to civil and military confrontations in the SCS, other territorial disputes have affected Japan, India, and
Taiwan. See also
Chinese irredentism.
Iraq was invaded and
annexed by Iraq (under Saddam Hussein) in August 1990.
Saddam Hussein's government sought to annex several territories. In the
Iran–Iraq War (1980–1988), Saddam claimed that
Iraq had the right to hold sovereignty to the east bank of the
Shatt al-Arab river held by
Iran. The Iraqi government, echoing claims made by
Iraqi nationalists for years, justified the
Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 by claiming that
Kuwait had always been an integral part of Iraq and only became an independent nation due to the interference of the British government. It has been suspected that
Saddam Hussein intended to invade and annex a portion of Saudi Arabia's
Eastern Province on the justification that the Saudi region of
Al-Hasa had been part of the
Ottoman province of Basra that the British had helped Saudi Arabia conquer in 1913.
Philippines The Philippines maintains a "dormant claim" on portions of
North Borneo as part of its territory, which is currently administered as part of
Malaysia's
Sabah state. The Philippines' territorial claim is based on the disputed territory being formerly administered by the
Sultanate of Sulu under the 1878 Lease Agreement signed between the Sultan of Sulu Jamalul Azam and
Baron de Overbeck of
North Borneo Chartered Company Turkey The 21st century has seen a domestic trend in
Turkish politics, where the revival of Ottoman traditions and culture has been accompanied by the rise of the
Justice and Development Party (AKP, founded in 2001) which came to power in 2002, along with claims to territory once held by the
Ottoman Empire. The use of the ideology by Justice and Development Party has mainly supported a greater influence of Ottoman culture in domestic social policy which has caused issues with the secular and republican credentials of modern Turkey. The
AKP have used slogans such as '''' ("descendant of the Ottomans") to refer to their supporters and also their former leader
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (who was
elected President in 2014) during their election campaigns. These domestic ideals have also seen a revival of neo-Ottomanism in the AKP's foreign policy. Besides acting as a clear distinction between them and ardent supporters of
secularism, the social Ottomanism advocated by the AKP has served as a basis for their efforts to transform Turkey's existing
parliamentary system into a
presidential system, favouring a strong centralised leadership similar to that of the Ottoman era. Critics have thus accused Erdoğan of acting like an "Ottoman
sultan". The rise in Ottomanism has also been accompanied by claims to sovereign Armenian territory, with prominent examples including in 2015, a crowd of Turkish youth rallying in Armenian populated districts of Istanbul chanted "We must turn these districts into Armenian and Kurdish cemeteries." In September 2015, a 'Welcome' sign was installed in
Iğdır and written in four languages, Turkish, Kurdish, English, and Armenian. The Armenian portion of the sign was protested by an ultra-nationalist Turkish group who demanded its removal. In October 2015, the Armenian writing on the 'Welcome' sign was heavily vandalized. The Armenian portion of the sign was ultimately removed in June 2016. The Mayor of Igdir also claimed that the existence of the Armenian state was a "historical mistake", and that Armenia is actually Turkish territory, illegally occupied by Armenians, waiting to be re-integrated into Turkey. Paintings that emphasized the humiliation of the defeat came in high demand, such as those by
Alphonse-Marie-Adolphe de Neuville.
Greece Greek revanchism refers to the political sentiment or movement advocating for the restoration or reclaiming of territories historically or culturally once associated with
Greece, but currently under the control of other states. Stemming from unresolved territorial disputes, Greek revanchism often manifests in nationalist rhetoric, diplomatic tensions, and occasional military confrontations. Historical grievances, such as the
population exchanges between Greece and Turkey following
World War I, also fuel revanchist sentiments. While Greek revanchism has influenced foreign policy decisions and public discourse, it remains a contentious and complex issue in the broader context of regional geopolitics and international relations.
Hungary : Kingdom of Hungary lost 72% of its land and 3.3 million people of Hungarian ethnicity. The idea of
Greater Hungary is associated with Hungarian revisionist aims at least to regain control over
Hungarian-populated areas in Hungary's neighbouring countries. The outcome of the
Treaty of Trianon of 1920 is to this day remembered in Hungary as the
Trianon trauma. According to a study, two-thirds of Hungarians agreed in 2020 that parts of neighbouring countries should belong to them.
Poland In the 1920s and 1930s,
Poland was trying to reclaim ethnic Polish lands that had been seized by German, Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires:
Russia The
annexation of the Crimean peninsula by the Russian Federation in April 2014, together with accusations by Western and Ukrainian leaders that Russia is supporting
separatist actions by ethnic Russians in the secessionist
Donbas region, has been cited by a number of political observers in the West as evidence of a revanchist policy on the part of the Kremlin and Russian President
Vladimir Putin. The
invasion of
Ukraine in 2022 has the same origins. Some Russian nationalists consider
Alaska to be Russian territory that must be returned. Alaska was
legally sold to the United States by Russia in 1867.
Spain Spain ceded
Gibraltar to Britain under the terms of the
Treaty of Utrecht of 1713. Spain's claim to Gibraltar became government policy under the regime of the dictator
Francisco Franco and has remained in place under successive governments following the Spanish transition to democracy.
Sweden Sweden lost
Finland to Russia at the conclusion of the
Finnish War (1808–09), ending nearly 600 years of Swedish rule. For most of the rest of the 1800s there was talk, but few practical plans and little political will, of reclaiming Finland from Russia. Since Sweden was never able to challenge Russia's military might on its own, no attempts were made. During the
Crimean War in 1853 to 1856, the Allied nations initiated talks with Sweden to allow troop and fleet movements through Swedish ports to be used against Russia. In return, the Allies would help Sweden reclaim Finland with the help of an expeditionary force. In the end, the plans fell through and Sweden never became involved in the fighting.
Ukraine , with
Crimea at bottom and two self-proclaimed separatist republics in
Donbas at right On 24 March 2021, Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the
Decree No. 117/2021 approving the "strategy of de-occupation and reintegration of the
temporarily occupied territory of the
Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of
Sevastopol", complementing the activities of the
Crimean Platform. On 10 May 2022, Ukrainian Foreign Minister
Dmytro Kuleba said that "In the first months" of the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine "the victory for us looked like withdrawal of Russian forces to the positions they occupied before February 24 and payment for inflicted damage. Now if we are strong enough on the military front and we win the battle for Donbas, which will be crucial for the following dynamics of the war, of course the victory for us in this war will be the liberation of the rest of our territories", including
Donbas and
Crimea. ==See also==