Editing Revanchism

{{Short description|Will to recapture a lost territory}}
{{redirect2|La Revanche|Revanchist|the 1916 film|La Revanche (film){{!}}''La Revanche'' (film)|the Evian Christ album|Revanchist (album){{!}}''Revanchist'' (album)}}
{{see also|Reactionary|Irredentism}}
{{wiktionary}}
[[File:The Geography Lesson or "The Black Spot".jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|In [[Albert Bettannier]]'s ''La Tache Noire'' (The Black Stain, 1887) French students are taught about the provinces of [[Alsace-Lorraine]], taken by Germany in 1871.]]

'''Revanchism''' ({{langx|fr|revanchisme|links=no}}, from ''revanche'', "[[revenge]]") is the political manifestation of the will to reverse the territorial losses which are incurred by a country, frequently after a war or after a [[social movement]]. As a term, ''revanchism'' originated in 1870s France in the aftermath of the [[Franco-Prussian War]] among nationalists who wanted to avenge the French defeat and reclaim the lost territories of [[Alsace-Lorraine]].<ref name="jay">{{cite journal |last1=Jay |first1=Robert |title=Alphonse de Neuville's 'The Spy' and the Legacy of the Franco-Prussian War |journal=Metropolitan Museum Journal |date=1984 |volume=19–20 |pages=151–162 |doi=10.2307/1512817|jstor=1512817 |s2cid=193058659 }}</ref>

Revanchism draws its strength from patriotic and [[retributive justice|retributionist]] thought and is often motivated by economic or geopolitical factors. Extreme revanchist ideologues often represent a hawkish stance, suggesting that their desired objectives can be achieved through the positive outcome of another war. It is linked with [[irredentism]], the conception that a part of the cultural and ethnic nation remains "unredeemed" outside the borders of its appropriate [[nation-state]].<ref>[[Margaret MacMillan]], ''The War That Ended Peace: The Road to 1914'' (2013), ch. 6.</ref>

Revanchist politics often rely on the identification of a [[nation]] with a nation state, mobilizing sentiments of [[ethnic nationalism]] to claim territories outside of where members of the ethnic group currently live.  Such claims are often presented as being based on ancient or even [[indigenous peoples|autochthonous]] occupation of a territory since "[[time immemorial]]".

==Historical and current examples==

=== Americas ===

==== Argentina ====
{{see also|Falklands War|Falkland Islands sovereignty dispute}}
Argentina considers the British-controlled [[Falkland Islands]] to be part of the [[Tierra del Fuego Province (Argentina)|Tierra del Fuego Province]]. In 1994, Argentina's claim to the territories was added to [[Constitution of Argentina|its constitution]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Constitución Nacional |url=http://www.senado.gov.ar/web/interes/constitucion/cuerpo1.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040617152239/http://www.senado.gov.ar/web/interes/constitucion/cuerpo1.php |archive-date=17 June 2004 |website=Argentine Senate |language=es |quote=La Nación Argentina ratifica su legítima e imprescriptible soberanía sobre las Islas Malvinas, Georgias del Sur y Sandwich del Sur y los espacios marítimos e insulares correspondientes, por ser parte integrante del territorio nacional.}}</ref>

During the [[interwar period]], the Argentine fascist ideology [[Nacionalismo (Argentine political movement)|Nacionalista]] and organizations such as the [[Nationalist Liberation Alliance|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 ====
{{See also|Reconquista (Mexico)}}
Some Mexican nationalists consider the [[Southwestern United States]] to be Mexican territory that must be returned.<ref>{{cite web |last=Fuentes |first=Carlos |author-link=Carlos Fuentes |year=2003 |title=Unidad y diversidad del español, lengua de encuentros |trans-title=Unity and Diversity of the Spanish Language, Language of Encounters |url=https://congresosdelalengua.es/valladolid/paneles-ponencias/unidad-diversidad/fuentes-c.htm |access-date=April 29, 2022 |website=Congresos de la Lengua |language=es}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Krauze |first1=Enrique |date=April 6, 2017 |title=Will Mexico Get Half of Its Territory Back? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/06/opinion/will-mexico-get-half-of-its-territory-back.html |work=The New York Times}}</ref> 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 I of Mexico|Maximilian]] "was actively recruiting Confederate refugees to colonize northern Mexico and bring their slaves with them. [[Ulysses S. Grant|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".<ref>[[Don H. Doyle|Doyle, Don H.]] (2024). ''The Age of Reconstuction: How Lincoln's New Birth of Freedom Remade the World''. Princeton & Oxford: Princeton University Press, p. 74.</ref>

=== Asia ===

==== China ====
{{See also|Century of humiliation|Political status of Taiwan}}
The People's Republic of China (PRC) has used historical claims in the [[Territorial disputes in the South China Sea|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,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lee |first=John |date=2013-03-02 |title=Beware a revanchist China |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2013/03/02/commentary/world-commentary/beware-a-revanchist-china/ |access-date=2021-06-27 |website=The Japan Times |language=en-US}}</ref> India,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Taming the Revanchist Dragon |url=https://www.delhipolicygroup.org/publication/policy-papers/taming-the-revanchist-dragon.html |access-date=2021-06-27 |website=www.delhipolicygroup.org}}</ref> and [[Taiwan]]. See also [[Chinese irredentism]].

==== Iraq ====
[[File:Iraq Kuwait Locator.svg|thumb|[[Kuwait]] was invaded and [[Kuwait Governorate|annexed]] by Iraq (under Saddam Hussein) in August 1990.]]
[[Ba'athist Iraq|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|Shatt al-Arab river]] held by [[Iran]].<ref name=Goldstein>{{cite book|first=Erik|last=Goldstein|title=Wars and Peace Treaties: 1816 to 1991|page=133|isbn=9781134899128|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2005}}</ref>

The Iraqi government, echoing claims made by [[Iraqi nationalism|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.<ref>R. Stephen Humphreys, ''Between Memory and Desire: The Middle East in a Troubled Age'', University of California Press, 1999, p. 105.</ref>

It has been suspected that [[Saddam Hussein]] intended to invade and annex a portion of Saudi Arabia's [[Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia|Eastern Province]] on the justification that the Saudi region of [[Al-Ahsa Oasis|Al-Hasa]] had been part of the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] [[Basra Vilayet|province of Basra]] that the British had helped Saudi Arabia conquer in 1913.<ref>Amatzia Baram, Barry Rubin. Iraq's Road To War. New York, New York, USA: St. Martin's Press, 1993. Pp. 127.</ref>

==== Philippines ====
{{Main|North Borneo dispute|Greater Philippines|Brunei Civil War|Jabidah Massacre}}

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]]<ref>{{cite book |title=Twenty years Indonesian foreign policy 1945–1965 |date=3 December 2018 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG |page=472 |chapter=Indonesias foreign policy since the implementation of guided democracy}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kadir |first1=Norozan |date=July 2017 |title=The Formation Of Malaysia And The Philippines' Alternative Plan To Claim Sabah After Its Unsuccessful Irredentism Mission, 1963-1965 |url=https://ejournal.ukm.my/jebat/article/view/19138/6138 |journal=Jebat: Malaysian Journal of History, Politics & Strategic Studies |volume=44 |issue=1 |pages=180–214}}</ref>

==== Turkey ====
{{See also|Neo-Ottomanism|Turkish occupation of northern Syria}}
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 (Turkey)|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.<ref>{{Cite web|title=İstanbul Barosu'ndan AKP'li vekile çok sert tepki|url=https://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/istanbul-barosundan-akpli-vekile-cok-sert-tepki-187001|access-date=2020-10-08|website=www.cumhuriyet.com.tr|language=tr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=AKP'li vekil: Osmanlı'nın 90 yıllık reklam arası sona erdi|url=https://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/akpli-vekil-osmanlinin-90-yillik-reklam-arasi-sona-erdi-185737|access-date=2020-10-08|website=www.cumhuriyet.com.tr|language=tr}}</ref> The [[Justice and Development Party (Turkey)|AKP]] have used slogans such as ''{{lang|tr|Osmanlı torunu}}'' ("descendant of the Ottomans") to refer to their supporters and also their former leader [[Recep Tayyip Erdoğan]] (who was [[2014 Turkish presidential election|elected President in 2014]]) during their election campaigns.<ref>{{Cite web|title=İslami Analiz|url=http://www.islamianaliz.com/index.php|access-date=2020-10-08|website=www.islamianaliz.com|archive-date=2020-10-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028031605/https://www.islamianaliz.com/index.php|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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]]".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gercekgundem.com/yazarlar/baris-yarkadas/2406/akpnin-osmanli-sevdasi-ve|title=AKP'nin Osmanlı sevdası ve... - Barış Yarkadaş|access-date=8 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208105310/http://www.gercekgundem.com/yazarlar/baris-yarkadas/2406/akpnin-osmanli-sevdasi-ve|archive-date=8 February 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Yeniden Osmanlı hayalinin peşinden koşan AKP, felaketi yakaladı!..|url=https://www.sozcu.com.tr/2013/yazarlar/ugur-dundar/yeniden-osmanli-hayalinin-pesinden-kosan-akp-felaketi-yakaladi-291359/|access-date=2020-10-08|website=www.sozcu.com.tr|date=15 May 2013 |language=tr}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Kılıçdaroğlu: AKP çökmüş Osmanlıcılığı ambalajlıyor|url=https://t24.com.tr/haber/kilicdaroglu-akp-cokmus-osmanliciligi-ambalajliyor,284360|access-date=2020-10-08|website=T24|language=tr}}</ref>

The rise in Ottomanism has also been accompanied by claims to territories held by [[Armenia]], 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."<ref>{{cite news|title=Armenian-Populated Districts of Istanbul Attacked|url=http://asbarez.com/139676/armenian-populated-districts-of-istanbul-attacked/|agency=Asbarez|date=9 September 2015|access-date=28 October 2020|archive-date=10 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410231207/http://asbarez.com/139676/armenian-populated-districts-of-istanbul-attacked/|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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 the "Fight against Armenian groundless allegations" alliance (ASIMDER) who demanded its removal.<ref>{{cite news|title=Kurdish Mayor of Igdir Installs 'Welcome' Sign in Armenian|url=http://asbarez.com/140032/kurdish-mayor-of-igdir-town-installs-welcome-sign-in-armenian/|agency=Asbarez|date=22 September 2015|access-date=28 October 2020|archive-date=29 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129144141/https://asbarez.com/140032/kurdish-mayor-of-igdir-town-installs-welcome-sign-in-armenian/|url-status=dead}}</ref> In October 2015, the Armenian writing on the 'Welcome' sign was heavily vandalized.<ref>{{cite news|title=İlçe girişindeki Ermenice yazıyı tahrip ettiler|url=http://www.cnnturk.com/turkiye/ilce-girisindeki-ermenice-yaziyi-tahrip-ettiler|agency=CNN Turk|date=12 October 2015|language=tr}}</ref> The Armenian portion of the sign was ultimately removed in June 2016.<ref name="armenian igdir">{{cite news|title=Armenian Signboards Removed in Igdir|url=http://asbarez.com/151966/armenian-signboards-removed-in-igdir/|agency=Asbarez|date=21 June 2016}}</ref> 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.<ref name="armenian igdir"/>

=== Europe ===

==== France ====
{{main|Alsace–Lorraine}}
[[File:Maurice Neumont, War is the National Industry of Prussia, 1917, Cornell CUL PJM 1185 01.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6| A French propaganda poster from 1917 portrays Prussia as an octopus stretching out its tentacles vying for control. It is captioned with an 18th-century quotation: "By 1788, [[Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau|Mirabeau]] was already saying that War is the National Industry of Prussia."]]
The instance of revanchism that gave these groundswells of opinion their modern name came in the 1870s. French revanchism was a deep sense of bitterness, hatred and demand for revenge against Germany, especially because of the loss of Alsace and Lorraine following defeat in the [[Franco-Prussian War]].<ref>Karine Varley, "The Taboos of Defeat: Unmentionable Memories of the Franco-Prussian War in France, 1870–1914." in Jenny Macleod, ed., ''Defeat and Memory: Cultural Histories of Military Defeat in the Modern Era'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008) pp. 62–80.</ref><ref>Karine Varley, ''Under the Shadow of Defeat: The War of 1870–71 in French Memory'' (2008)</ref> Paintings that emphasized the humiliation of the defeat came in high demand, such as those by [[Alphonse-Marie-Adolphe de Neuville]].<ref name="jay" />

[[Georges Clemenceau]], of the [[Radical Party (France)#Radicals before the party (1830–1901)|Radical Republicans]], opposed participation in the [[scramble for Africa]] and other adventures that would divert the Republic from objectives related to the "blue line of the [[Vosges]]" in [[Alsace–Lorraine|Alsace-Lorraine]]. After the governments of [[Jules Ferry]] had pursued a number of colonies in the early 1880s, Clemenceau lent his support to [[Georges Ernest Boulanger]], a popular figure, nicknamed ''Général Revanche'', who it was felt might overthrow the Republic in 1889. This [[Ultranationalism|ultranationalist tradition]] influenced French politics up to 1921 and was one of the major reasons France went to great pains to woo the [[Russian Empire]], resulting in the [[Franco-Russian Alliance]] of 1894 and, after more accords, the [[Triple Entente]] of the three great Allied powers of [[World War I]]: France, Great Britain, and Russia.<ref>See W. Schivelbusch, ''The Culture of Defeat'', p. 106 (Henry Holt and Co. 2001)</ref>

French revanchism influenced the [[Treaty of Versailles]] of 1919 following the end of World War I, which restored Alsace-Lorraine to France and extracted reparations from the defeated Germany. The conference was not only opened on the anniversary of the proclamation of the [[German Empire]]; the treaty also had to be signed by the new German government in the same room, the [[Hall of Mirrors]].

==== Germany ====
[[File:Map Europe 1923-en.svg|thumb|right|Map of territorial changes in Europe after [[World War I]] (as of 1923)]]
A German revanchist movement developed in response to the losses of World War I. [[Pan-Germanism|Pan-Germanists]] within the [[Weimar Republic]] called for the reclamation of the property of a German state due to pre-war borders or because of the territory's historical relation to Germanic peoples. The movement called for the reincorporation of Alsace-Lorraine, the [[Polish Corridor]] and the [[Sudetenland]] (see [[Bohemia]], [[Moravia]], [[Silesia]]{{mdash}}parts of the [[Austrian Empire]] and [[Austria-Hungary]] until its dismemberment after World War I). Those claims, supported by [[Adolf Hitler]], led to [[World War II]], with the [[invasion of Poland]]. This irredentism had also been characteristic of the [[Völkisch movement]] in general and of the [[Pan-German League]] (''Alldeutscher Verband''). The ''Verband'' wanted to uphold German "[[racial hygiene]]" and were against breeding with, in their eyes, inferior races like the [[Jews]] and [[Slavs]].<ref name="Levy">''Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia of Prejudice and Persecution'', Volume 1. Richard S. Levy, 528–529, ABC-CLIO  2005</ref>

==== Greece ====
{{see also|Megali Idea}}
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 exchange between Greece and Turkey|population exchanges between Greece and Turkey]] following [[World War I]], also fuel revanchist sentiments.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ploumidis |first1=Spyridon G. |title=Conservatives and Right Radicals in Interwar Europe |date=2020 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-429-27527-2 |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429275272-10/nationalism-authoritarianism-interwar-greece-1922%E2%80%931940-spyridon-ploumidis |chapter=Nationalism and authoritarianism in interwar Greece (1922–1940)|pages=215–236 |doi=10.4324/9780429275272-10 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dedja |first1=Stiljan |title=Greece continues to hinder Albania on its European path |url=https://sot.com.al/english/opinion-editorial/greqia-vazhdon-te-pengoje-shqiperine-ne-rrugen-e-saj-europiane-i637158 |access-date=6 April 2024 |work=Sot News |date=22 January 2024}}</ref>

==== Hungary ====
[[File:Magyarorszag 1920.png|thumb|The [[Treaty of Trianon]]: Kingdom of Hungary lost 72% of its land and 3.3 million people of Hungarian ethnicity.]]
The idea of [[Hungarian irredentism|Greater Hungary]] is associated with Hungarian revisionist aims at least to regain control over [[Hungarians|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 syndrome|Trianon trauma]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Kulish |first=Nicholas |date=7 April 2008 |title=Kosovo's Actions Hearten a Hungarian Enclave |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/07/world/europe/07hungarians.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Szekler&st=nyt&oref=slogin |access-date=8 April 2008 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> According to a study, two-thirds of Hungarians agreed in 2020 that parts of neighbouring countries should belong to them.<ref>{{cite web |date=10 February 2020 |title=NATO Seen Favorably Across Member States |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2020/02/09/nato-seen-favorably-across-member-states/ |access-date=24 April 2020 |publisher=pewresearch.org}}</ref>

==== 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:
{{blockquote|Poland counted herself among the revisionist powers, with dreams of a southward advance, even a Polish presence on the [[Black Sea]]. The victim of the revisionist claims of others, she did not see the Versailles frontiers as fixed either. In 1938 when the Czech state was dismembered at the [[Munich Agreement|Munich conference]], Poland issued an ultimatum of her own to Prague, demanding the cession of the [[Trans-Olza|Teschen region]]; the Czech government was powerless to resist.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Overy|first1=Richard|author-link1=Richard Overy|last2=Wheatcroft|first2=Andrew|title=The Road to War|url=https://archive.org/details/roadtowar00over|url-access=registration|year=1999|publisher=Penguin|isbn=978-0-14-028530-7|page=[https://archive.org/details/roadtowar00over/page/9 9]}}</ref>}}

==== Russia ====
{{See also|Dissolution of the Soviet Union|Second Cold War}}
[[Image:Cold War border changes.png|thumb|250px|Changes in national boundaries after the end of the [[Cold War]]]]
The [[Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation|annexation of the Crimean peninsula]] by the Russian Federation in April 2014, together with accusations by Western and Ukrainian leaders that Russia is supporting [[War in Donbas (2014–2022)|separatist actions]] by ethnic Russians in the secessionist [[Donbas]] region, has been cited by a number of prominent media outlets in the West as evidence of a revanchist policy on the part of the Kremlin and Russian President [[Vladimir Putin]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Romano |first=Carlin |author-link=Carlin Romano |date=21 July 2014 |title=Revanchism and Its Costs |url=http://chronicle.com/article/RevanchismIts-Costs/147797/ |access-date=27 Jul 2014 |newspaper=The Chronicle of Higher Education}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Niblett |first=Robin |author-link=Robin Niblett |date=12 April 2014 |title=The West must not blame itself for Putin's revanchism |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2014/04/12/opinion/ukraine-putin-niblett/ |access-date=27 Jul 2014 |newspaper=CNN.com}}</ref> The [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine|invasion]] of [[Ukraine]] in 2022 has the same origins.<ref>{{cite news |date=29 March 2022 |title=Putin's revanchist excuses for going to war |url=https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/putins-revanchist-excuses-for-going-to-war/ |work=The Strategist}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=9 June 2022 |title=Hailing Peter the Great, Putin draws parallel with mission to 'return' Russian lands |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/hailing-peter-great-putin-draws-parallel-with-mission-return-russian-lands-2022-06-09/ |work=Reuters}}</ref>

Some Russian nationalists consider [[Alaska]] to be Russian territory that must be returned.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Farand |first1=Chloe |date=31 March 2017 |title=Russian nationalists want Alaska back - 150 years after it was sold to the US |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/russia-nationalists-want-alaska-sold-us-150-years-later-a7659941.html |access-date=25 November 2019}}</ref> Alaska was [[Alaska Purchase|legally sold]] to the United States by Russia in 1867.

==== Spain ====
{{See also|Status of Gibraltar}}
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.<ref>{{cite news |date=13 April 2017 |title=Spain won't dare invade Gibraltar – They'd lose more than a war |url=https://www.jpost.com/blogs/jake-of-all-trades/spain-wont-dare-invade-gibraltar-theyd-lose-more-than-a-war-486930 |work=The Jerusalem Post}}</ref>

==== 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 ====
{{See also|Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine}}
[[File:Map of Ukraine with Cities.png|thumb|[[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 [[Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine|temporarily occupied territory]] of the [[Autonomous Republic of Crimea]] and the city of [[Sevastopol]]", complementing the activities of the [[Crimea Platform|Crimean Platform]].<ref>{{cite news |date=24 March 2021 |title=Zelensky enacts strategy for de-occupation and reintegration of Crimea |url=https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-polytics/3214479-zelensky-enacts-strategy-for-deoccupation-and-reintegration-of-crimea.html |work=[[Ukrinform]] |publisher=[[Government of Ukraine]] |quote=''Decree No. 117/2021'' of March 24 on enactment of the relevant decision of the National Security and Defense Council was published on the website of the Head of State.}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite news |date=10 May 2022 |title=Ukraine has upgraded its war aims as confidence grows, says foreign minister |url=https://www.ft.com/content/8db0d387-fb41-4142-b78f-6619d36d8be0 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/8db0d387-fb41-4142-b78f-6619d36d8be0 |archive-date=2022-12-10 |work=Financial Times}}</ref>

==See also==
{{columns-list|
*[[Conquest#Recapture]]
*[[Decolonization]]
*[[Expansionism]]
*[[Franco-Prussian War]] (1870)
*[[French–German enmity]]
*[[French Third Republic]] (1870–1940)
*[[Former eastern territories of Germany]]
*[[Greater Israel]]
*[[Greater Palestine]]
*[[Historical revisionism]]
*[[Independence movement in Puerto Rico]]
*[[Irredentism]]
*[[Irish republicanism]]
*[[Legal status of Hawaii]]
*[[Legal status of Texas]]
*[[Lists of active separatist movements]]
*[[Karelian question]]
*[[Mutilated victory]]
*[[Ogaden War]]
*[[Polish–Czechoslovak border conflicts]]
*[[Polish–Lithuanian War]]
*[[Polish–Ukrainian War]]
*[[Quebec sovereignty movement]]
*[[Reconquista (Mexico)]]
*[[Recovered Territories]]
*[[Right of conquest]]
*[[Self-defence in international law|Right of self-defence]]
*[[Rump state]] (a geopolitical state of existence that revanchism may create, seek to correct, or both)
*''[[Status quo ante bellum]]''
*''[[Uti possidetis]]''
* [[Self-determination]]
}}

==Further reading==

* Alexander B. Murphy. 1990. “Historical Justifications for Territorial Claims.” ''Annals of the Association of American Geographers'' 80(4):531–548.

==References==
{{reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===

* {{Citation |last=Akçam |first=Taner |title=A Shameful Act |year=2007 |place=London |publisher=Macmillan}}
* {{Citation |last=Akmeșe |first=Handan Nezir |title=The Birth of Modern Turkey: The Ottoman Military and the March to World War I |volume= |pages= |year=2005 |place=London |publisher=IB Tauris}}
* {{Citation |last=Kieser |first=Hans-Lukas |title=Talaat Pasha: Father of Modern Turkey, Architect of Genocide |date=26 June 2018 |publication-date=2018 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-15762-7}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Irredentism| ]]
[[Category:Political theories]]
[[Category:Aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War]]