What is a protectorate: examples from history

How many people know about what a protectorate is? Probably, not so already and it is a lot of. After all, today this word is practically not used, except in historical films and books. However, some 200 years ago everyone knew its meaning. And therefore let us also plunge into the depths of history and try to understand what a protectorate is.

A special form of government

The protectorate is a special form of government, in which one country recognizes the supremacy of the other. And while the former retains most of its rights and powers, its sovereignty is no longer considered absolute.

Semicolonial form of government - that's what a protectorate is. If we analyze the internal structure of such relations, then the states fall into two categories: the protectorate (dependent country) and the protector (the dominant power).

What can be the relationship between such states?

To begin with, the protector state (from the Latin protector - defender) takes responsibility for the future of another country. In connection with this, a number of powers are transferred to him, allowing him to manage both the domestic and foreign policies of the protectorate. Moreover, most of the important decisions in the protectorate were taken only with the permission of the lord-protector.

As for the subordinate state, it functions autonomously. That is, there is its own power, culture and economy. Yes, and minor problems and political issues can be resolved without permission of the protector.

Examples of what a protectorate is, in history

For the first time such a form of government appeared in the middle of the XVII century, in England. It was then that the title of lord-protector was introduced in this country. However, the heyday of the era of protectorates fell on the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when Europe began to colonize countries in Africa and Asia. For example, the French protectorate was Madagascar (1885-1896). I also knew very well what a protectorate, Korea, was, for five years (from 1905 to 1910), under the yoke of Japan.