Editing Irredentism (section)

== Definition and etymology ==
The term ''irredentism'' was coined from the [[Italian language|Italian]] phrase {{lang|it|Italia irredenta}} (unredeemed Italy). This phrase originally referred to territory in [[Austria-Hungary]] that was mostly or partly inhabited by ethnic [[Italians]]. In particular, it applies to [[History of Trentino#Part of Austria|Trentino]] and [[Trieste#19th century|Trieste]], but also [[Gorizia#Habsburg rule|Gorizia]], [[Italian irredentism in Istria|Istria]], [[Fiume question|Fiume]], and [[Italian irredentism in Dalmatia|Dalmatia]] during the 19th and early 20th centuries.{{sfn|Barrett|2018|loc=[https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199670840.001.0001/acref-9780199670840-e-674;jsessionid=20C53DCF2E34236F1773CFDFBFD16B38 irredentism]}}{{sfn|Ambrosio|2011|pp=1346–1348|loc=irredentism}}{{sfn|Stibbe|2018}} Irredentist projects often use the term "Greater" to label the desired outcome of their expansion, as in "[[Greater Serbia]]" or "[[Greater Russia]]".{{sfn|White|Millett|2019|p=420}}{{sfn|Ambrosio|2011|pp=1346–1348|loc=irredentism}}

Irredentism is often understood as the claim that territories belonging to one [[State (polity)|state]] should be incorporated into another state because their population is [[Ethnicity|ethnically]] similar or because it historically belonged to the other state before.{{sfn|Lagasse|Goldman|Hobson|Norton|2020|loc=[https://www.encyclopedia.com/reference/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/irredentism Irredentism]}}{{sfn|White|Millett|2019|p=419}}{{sfn|Barrett|2018|loc=[https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780199670840.001.0001/acref-9780199670840-e-674;jsessionid=20C53DCF2E34236F1773CFDFBFD16B38 irredentism]}} Many definitions of irredentism have been proposed to give a more precise formulation. Despite a wide overlap concerning its general features, there is no consensus about its exact characterization.{{sfn|Kornprobst|2008|pp=8–10}}{{sfn|White|Millett|2019|p=421}} The disagreements matter for evaluating whether irredentism was the cause of war which is difficult in many cases and different definitions often lead to opposite conclusions.{{sfn|Kornprobst|2008|pp=8–10}}{{sfn|White|Millett|2019|pp=420–421}}

There is wide consensus that irredentism is a form of [[territorial dispute]] involving the attempt to [[Annexation|annex]] territories belonging to a neighboring state. However, not all such attempts constitute forms of irredentism and there is no academic consensus on precisely what other features need to be present. This concerns disagreements about who claims the territory, for what reasons they do so, and how much territory is claimed.{{sfn|Kornprobst|2008|pp=8–10}}{{sfn|White|Millett|2019|p=420}}{{sfn|Horowitz|2011|p=160}} Most scholars define irredentism as a claim made by one state on the territory of another state.{{sfn|Kornprobst|2008|pp=8–10}} In this regard, there are three essential entities to irredentism: (1) an irredentist state or parent state, (2) a neighboring host state or target state, and (3) the disputed territory belonging to the host state, often referred to as {{lang|it|irredenta}}.{{sfn|Siroky|Hale|2017|p=2}}{{sfn|White|Millett|2019|pp=419–420}} According to this definition, popular movements demanding territorial change by [[non-state actor]]s do not count as irredentist in the strict sense. A different definition characterizes irredentism as the attempt of an [[ethnic minority]] to break away and join their "real" motherland even though this minority is a non-state actor.{{sfn|Kornprobst|2008|pp=8–10}}

The reason for engaging in territorial conflict is another issue, with some scholars stating that irredentism is primarily motivated by ethnicity. In this view, the population in the neighboring territory is ethnically similar and the intention is to retrieve the area to unite the people.{{sfn|Kornprobst|2008|pp=8–10}}{{sfn|White|Millett|2019|p=420}} This definition implies, for example, that the majority of the [[border dispute]]s in the history of [[Latin America]] were not forms of irredentism.{{sfn|Horowitz|2011|p=160}} Usually, irredentism is defined in terms of the motivation of the irredentist state, even if the territory is annexed against the will of the local population.{{sfn|Siroky|Hale|2017|p=2}} Other theorists focus more on the historical claim that the disputed territory used to be part of the state's ancestral homeland.{{sfn|Kornprobst|2008|pp=8–10}}{{sfn|White|Millett|2019|p=420}} This is close to the literal meaning of the original Italian expression {{lang|it|terra irredenta}} as "unredeemed land".{{sfn|White|Millett|2019|p=419}}{{sfn|Griffiths|O'Callaghan|Roach|2008|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=9vU7xX4eNf4C&pg=PA175 175–177]}} In this view, the ethnicity of the people inhabiting this territory is not important. However, it is also possible to combine both characterizations, i.e. that the motivation is either ethnic or historical or both.{{sfn|Kornprobst|2008|pp=8–10}}{{sfn|White|Millett|2019|pp=419–420}}{{sfn|Ambrosio|2011|pp=1346–1348|loc=irredentism}} Some scholars, like Benjamin Neuberger, include [[geographical]] reasons in their definitions.{{sfn|Lagasse|Goldman|Hobson|Norton|2020|loc=[https://www.encyclopedia.com/reference/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/irredentism Irredentism]}}{{sfn|White|Millett|2019|p=420}}

[[File:Map korea english labels.png|thumb|upright=0.7|alt=Map of the Korean Peninsula|It depends on the definition of irredentism whether [[South Korea]]'s and [[North Korea]]'s claim over the entire [[Korean Peninsula]] constitutes a form of irredentism.]]
A further disagreement concerns the amount of area that is to be annexed. Usually, irredentism is restricted to the attempt to incorporate some parts of another state.{{sfn|Kornprobst|2008|pp=8–10}} In this regard, irredentism challenges established borders with the neighboring state but does not challenge the existence of the neighboring state in general.{{sfn|Clarke|Foweraker|2003|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=eT9PEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA375 375–376]}} However, some definitions of irredentism also include attempts to absorb the whole neighboring state and not just a part of it. In this sense, claims by both South Korea and North Korea to incorporate the whole of the Korean Peninsula would be considered a form of irredentism.{{sfn|Kornprobst|2008|pp=8–10}}

A popular view combining many of the elements listed above holds that irredentism is based on incongruence between the borders of a state and the boundaries of the corresponding [[nation]]. State borders are usually clearly delimited, both physically and on maps. National boundaries, on the other hand, are less tangible since they correspond to a group's perception of its historic, [[cultural]], and ethnic boundaries.{{sfn|Kornprobst|2008|pp=8–10}} Irredentism may manifest if state borders do not correspond to national boundaries. The objective of irredentism is to enlarge a state to establish a congruence between its borders and the boundaries of the corresponding nation.{{sfn|Kornprobst|2008|pp=7–8}}{{sfn|Hinnebusch|2002|pp=[https://books.google.com/books?id=OOGTyh675JYC&pg=PA7 7–8]}}