Editing History of Andorra

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{{History of Andorra}}
{{Catalan-Valencian cultural domain|expanded=History}}
[[Andorra]], officially the Principality of Andorra ({{langx|ca|Principat d'Andorra}}), also called the Principality of the Valleys of Andorra<ref>''Funk and Wagnalls Encyclopedia'', 1993</ref> ({{langx|ca|Principat de les Valls d'Andorra|links=no}}), is a sovereign [[landlocked country|landlocked]] [[microstate]] in [[Iberian Peninsula|southwestern Europe]], located in the eastern [[Pyrenees]] mountain range and is bordered by [[Spain]] and [[France]].

==9th to 19th centuries==
Andorra claims it is the last independent survivor of the [[Marca Hispanica]], a military [[buffer zone]] made up of counties, created by [[Charlemagne]] to keep the [[Islam]]ic [[Moors]] from advancing into the [[Christianity|Christian]] [[Frankish empire]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=May 2000|title=Background Note: Andorra|url=http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3164.htm|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020605232138/http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3164.htm|archive-date=June 5, 2002|publisher=[[U.S. Department of State]]|postscript=. {{PD-notice}}}}</ref> Tradition holds that Charlemagne granted a charter to the Andorran people in return for fighting the Moors.<ref name=":1" /> In the 9th century, Charlemagne's grandson, [[Charles the Bald]], named the [[Counts of Urgell|Count of Urgell]] as overlord of Andorra.<ref name=":1" /> A descendant of the count later gave the lands to the [[Diocese of Urgell]].<ref name=":1" />

In the 11th century, fearing military action by neighboring lords, the Bishop of Urgell placed himself under the protection of the [[Lord of Caboet]], a [[nobility|nobleman]].<ref name=":1" /> Later, the [[Count of Foix]] became heir to the Lord of Caboet through marriage to [[Ermessenda de Castellbò]] in 1208, and a dispute arose between the Occitan Count and the Catalan bishop over Andorra.<ref name=":1" />

In 1278, the conflict was resolved by the signing of a [[Paréage of Andorra 1278|pareage]] (''pariatges''), which provided that Andorra's sovereignty be shared between the Count of Foix and the [[Bishop]] of [[La Seu d'Urgell]] (Catalonia).<ref name=":1" /> The pareage, a feudal institution recognizing the principle of equality of rights shared by two rulers, gave the small state its territory and political form.<ref name=":1" /> Andorra's borders have remained unchanged since 1278.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/webcast/ga/61/pdfs/andorra-e.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120127110231/http://www.un.org/webcast/ga/61/pdfs/andorra-e.pdf |archive-date=January 27, 2012 |title=Statement by H.E. Mr. Albert Pintat; President of the government of the principality of Andorra |publisher=61'st session of the United Nations General Assembly |date=September 21, 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Andorra was briefly annexed to the [[Crown of Aragon]] twice, in 1396 and 1512.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

==20th and 21st centuries==

Andorra did not officially participate in World War I,<ref>{{cite book |last= Guillamet Anton |first= Jordi |year= 2009 |title= Nova aproximació a la història d'Andorra |publisher= ALTAIR |page= 216 |isbn= 978-8493622046}}</ref> although there were three Andorran volunteers who fought: Valentí Naudi, Josep Estany and René Huguet.<ref>{{cite book |last= Martínez Fiol |first= David |year= 1991 |title= Els "voluntaris catalans" a la gran guerra (1914–1918) |publisher= L'Abadia de Montserrat |isbn= 84-7826-269-5}}</ref> North American newspapers in 1958 claimed that Andorra had declared war on Germany in 1914 but failed to sign a peace treaty until 1958,<ref>{{cite news |title = 44-Year Mystery War Ends |agency = Newhouse Newspapers |work = St. Louis Globe-Democrat |date = 19 September 1958 |page = 20 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title = World War I Ends in Andorra |agency = United Press International |work = The New York Times |date = 25 September 1958 |page = 66 }}</ref> and this claim has appeared in later sources,<ref>E.g., "[https://books.google.com/books?id=fCVXAAAAYAAJ&q=andorra+war+1914 Skin-flicks in Shangri-La]", ''The Economist'', 1974; [https://books.google.com/books?id=6uo3TFy6xC4C&q=1914+war+declaration ''Time''], 1960.</ref> but there appears to be no contemporary evidence of such declaration. In 2014, the news outlet Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra investigated the 1958 claim and could find no documentation of any original declaration of war. Historian Pere Cavero could only find an exchange of letters between the German consul in Marseille and the Catalan Ombudsman, where the former asks if there is a state of war with Andorra and the latter responds they could find nothing in their archive to indicate this.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.andorradifusio.ad/noticies/andorra-va-declarar-guerra-alemanya-1914|title= Andorra va declarar la guerra a Alemanya el 1914?|author=<!--Not stated--> |date= 4 February 2014 |website= AndorraDifusió |publisher= Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra |access-date= 12 March 2021}}</ref>

In 1933, France occupied Andorra as a result of social unrest before elections. On 12 July 1934 an adventurer named [[Boris Skossyreff]] issued a proclamation in Urgel, declaring himself Boris I, sovereign prince of Andorra, simultaneously declaring war on the Bishop of Urgell. He was arrested by Spanish authorities on 20 July and ultimately expelled from Spain.<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 May 1936 |title=King of Andorra' Is Arrested |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1936/05/18/archives/king-of-andorra-is-arrested.html |access-date=31 August 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=p12 |date=21 July 1934 |title=Andorran Pretender arrested. Ten days' 'reign' |work=The Times}}</ref> From 1936 to 1940, a French detachment was garrisoned in Andorra to prevent encroachment as a result of the [[Spanish Civil War]] and [[Francoist Spain]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 January 1939 |title=More Guards Sent to Andorra |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1939/01/18/archives/more-guards-sent-to-andorra.html |access-date=31 August 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

During [[World War II]], Andorra remained neutral and was an important smuggling route from Spain into France. The [[French Resistance]] used Andorra as part of their route to get downed airmen out of France.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=15 March 2012 |title=Andorra country profile |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17028050 |access-date=31 August 2023}}</ref>

In 1943, Andorra carried out its first execution since the 19th century: [[Antoni Arenis]] was executed for double fratricide by firing squad because a trained executioner was unavailable to operate the legal method, by [[garrote]].

Long an impoverished land with little contact with any nations other than adjoining France and Spain, Andorra, after World War II, achieved considerable prosperity through a developing [[Tourism in Andorra|tourist industry]]. That development, abetted by improvements in transport and communications, has tended to break down Andorra's isolation and to bring Andorrans into the mainstream of European history. Public demands for democratic reforms led to the extension of the franchise to women in the 1970s and to the creation of new and more fully autonomous organs of government in the early 1980s.

===Since the 1990s===
Andorra formally became a parliamentary democracy in May 1993 following approval of a new [[Constitution of Andorra|constitution]] by a popular referendum in March 1993. The new constitution retained the French and Spanish co-princes although with reduced and narrowly defined powers. Civil rights were greatly expanded, including the legalisation of political parties and the provision for an independent judiciary.<ref>{{Cite news |date=15 March 1993 |title=Andorra Adopts Constitution For a Parliamentary System |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/15/world/andorra-adopts-constitution-for-a-parliamentary-system.html}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Constitució del Principat d'Andorra, Casa de la Vall, 28 d'abril de 1993 |url=http://www.andorramania.ad/constitucio-principat-andorra.php |access-date=31 August 2023 |website=andorramania}}</ref>

Andorra joined a customs union with the [[European Communities]] (now the [[European Union]]) in 1991 and was admitted to the [[United Nations]] on 28 July 1993.<ref>{{Cite news |date=29 July 1993 |title=U.N. Makes Room for Andorra |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/07/29/world/un-makes-room-for-andorra.html |access-date=31 August 2023}}</ref> It became a member of the [[Council of Europe]] in 1994. Andorra opened diplomatic relations with other countries such as the United Kingdom in 1994 and the United States in 1995.

The country has been seeking ways to improve its export potential and increase its economic ties with its European neighbours. The [[financial services]] sector of the economy is highly important because of Andorra's status as a [[tax haven]] and its banking secrecy laws.<ref name=":0" />

==See also==
* [[List of Co-Princes of Andorra]]
* [[History of Europe]]
* [[History of Catalonia]]
* [[History of France]]
* [[History of Spain]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{EB1911 poster|Andorra}}
*[http://www.andorramania.com/histoire_gb.htm Geography and History of the Principality of Andorra]
*[http://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/History_of_Andorra:_Primary_Documents History of Andorra: Primary Documents]
*[https://2009-2017.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3164.htm Background Note: Andorra]
*[http://www.rulers.org/rula2.html#andorra Rulers of Andorra]

{{Andorra topics}}
{{History of Europe}}
{{European history by country}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Andorra}}
[[Category:History of Andorra| ]]
[[Category:1930s in France]]
[[Category:History of Catalonia|Andorra]]