Annexation

thumb|upright|Austrian citizens gather on the Heldenplatz to hear Hitler's declaration of annexation. thumb|upright|right|Territory of the Nazi Germany|German Reich and Austria before the Anschluss

Annexation, in international law, is the forcible acquisition and assertion of legal title over one state's territory by another state, usually following military occupation of the territory. In current international law, it is generally held to be an illegal act. It is distinct from the concepts of conquest, which describes the gaining of physical control, and cession, in which territory is given or sold through treaty.

Japanese colonial period in Chōsen (Korea), 1910–1945

1990 major conflict between the Ba'athist Iraq and the state of Kuwait

1909 international relations crisis ᅟafter Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina

military occupation 1940–1991

thumb|The full extent of the empire of Alexander the Great, assembled in the 4th century BCE as he strove to conquer the lands of Asia and the Mediterranean Expansionism refers to states obtaining greater territory through military empire-building (e.g. imperialism) or colonialism. In the classical age of conquest moral justification for territorial expansion at the direct expense of another established polity was often as unapologetic as "because we can", treading on the philosophical grounds of "might makes right".

German military presence in Czechoslovakia between 1939–1945

Indian military operation in December 1961 to annex Goa into Indian Republic

2022 referendum in Russian-occupied Ukraine

process by which China seized the territory of Tibet

1940 Soviet annexation of territory in eastern Romania; Moldavian SSR established

former eastern territories of Germany that became part of Poland

law passed by Israel in 1980 declaring united West and East Jerusalem as its capital

1948 military operation by the Indian Dominion to merge Hyderabad with India

the incorporation of the Republic of Texas into the United States

policy of the British East India Company, in force until 1858, that British India will annex any Indian princely state under British suzerainty if its ruler was “incompetent” (according to British judgment) or died without a male heir

thumb|The Triumph of Victory by Peter Paul Rubens (painted )

former Iraqi governorate

former province of Indonesia

1950 annexation event

de facto annexation of the Golan Heights by Israel

post–Second World War annexation of West German territory by the Netherlands

after the German invasion of Poland in 1939 the Soviet Union invaded the eastern regions of the Second Polish Republic

policy that the United States of America will not recognize countries created by aggression

war in the early sixteenth century

series of military campaigns, agreements and penetrations to incorporate the southern part of Chile

areas annexed by Germany before and during the Second World War

laws passed during the reign of King Henry VIII to make Wales a part of the Kingdom of England

aspect of Canadian history

part of Yugoslavia occupied then annexed by Hungary

1967 effective annex of East Jerusalem and part of the West Bank by Israel

former department of Bolivia

1822 military invasion

resolution for U.S. annexation of Hawaii, 1898

World War II event

Japanese annexation of the Ryukyu Kingdom

administrative district of Iraq during the Iraqi military occupation of Kuwait (1990–1991)

a princely state of British India, located in what is now Gujarat

World War II event

proposals to assume sovereignty over occupied Palestinian territory

two documents proposing redrawn borders of Southeast Europe

treaty between Mauritania and Morocco