Post-1950 efforts to modify national borders along ethnic/religious lines using force?

[mwruckman]

Originally Posted by bus man

I don't recall Serbia wanting to annex territory. What they wanted to do was expel any non-Serbs from their territory so that they could create an ethnically homogeneous state. I believe this is when the term "ethnic cleansing" came into being.

Are you including ethnic cleansing in your question, or are you only looking at cases where borders were redrawn?

The problem is Serbia was trying to take over almost half of Bosnia-Herzgovina (The so-called Republic of Serpska) and cleanse it of both Bosnians (Muslims ) and Croats (Catholics). The also tried to kick the Albanians (Muslims) out of Kossovo. The Serbians also would like to recover Macedonia which was created out of the former Kingdom of Serbia that was included in the Kingdom of Jugoslavia in 1919

The tactic Serbia used in Bosnia where a convenient insurgency just happens when you want to take someone else's lands (an insurgency run by your secret police, military and commandos), is being repeated by Vladimir Putin in the Ukraine today. The best way to deal with this tactic is for someone to bomb the **** out of the so called insurgents. This would put Putin in a sling since he probably doesn't want to take credit for his dirty work.

[mwruckman]

Originally Posted by Futurist110

The thing is, though, that as far as I know, all of the Jewish settlements in the West Bank were only created after Israel conquered the West Bank from Jordan back in 1967. Thus, unless I am missing something here, your example here does not appear to work for this.

It does deserve inclusion as an example of changing national geography for Israel has absolutely no intention of sharing any of Palestine with the "Palestinians (both Muslim and Christian). Israel is erasing both the so called 1947 Partition borders, the 1948 borders created when the Armistice was agree to ending th War of Independence. or the 1967 borders that existed on May 31, 1967 prior to the Six day War. Israel will take this to the point if need be of driving the last Muslim or Christian communities out of the West Bank and if need be Gaza. Israel does not accept the Two State Solution.

[mwruckman]

Originally Posted by Futurist110

After 1950, exactly which cases have there been where countries tried modifying national borders along ethnic and/or religious lines using military force?

So far, I can think of:

Kashmir (Pakistan unsuccessfully tried using military force to acquire the Muslim-majority parts of Kashmir under Indian rule in both 1965 and 1999):



Khuzestan (Iraq unsuccessfully tried using military force to acquire Arab-majority Khuzestan in the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War):



Ogaden (Somalia unsuccessfully tried using military force to acquire the Somali-majority region of Ogaden in the 1977-1978 Ogaden War):





Crimea (Russia successfully used military force to acquire Russian-majority Crimea in 2014):





Anyway, exactly which similar efforts, if any, am I forgetting to list here?

Any thoughts on this?


Moderator cut: Map images removed due to copyright violations. OP can provide links to maps in another post.

In 1962 China and India fought over the border between China and India and China took two chunks of Indian territory in Assam and Kashmir.

There is a big example you are missing, The 1975 unification of Vietnam under the control of The Democratic Republic of Vietnam. Thus bringing an end to The Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) created at the insistence of the USA at the 1954 Geneva Conference that brought an end to French Colonial Rule in Indochina. The main ruling families in South Vietnam were mostly Catholic having been converted to the religion by the French.

In the late 1970s Morocco invaded and annexed the Spanish Sahara, Spain thanked Morocco for getting it and its insurgency out of Spanish hands. Moroccans have been fighting the insurgency ever since.

Also in the 1970s, Mummar Ghadafy of Libya invaded Chad and Niger attempting to take deposits of Uranium from both nations. The French put a stop to it. This why France still has the Foreign Legion!

A unsuccessful attempt to change borders was Argentina's 1982 attempt to take over the Falkland Islands and its British colony ( Malvinas Islands ) and South Georgia Island . It drew an unexpected British response that saw Argentine forces crushed and the Flag ship of the Argentine Navy The Cruiser General Belgrano sent to the bottom with its crew of 1200 and the Union Jack raised again over Port Stanley. It made Britons feel that Britain still had some of that spirit that once saw Britannia Rule the Waves.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by Futurist110

After 1950, exactly which cases have there been where countries tried modifying national borders along ethnic and/or religious lines using military force?

The division of what was known as the Ottoman Empire hasn't worked any better.