Decolonization
18th century to World War I

Decolonization

Section Title: 18th century to World War I
Table Section Text: None

Year	Colonizer	Decolonized state	Event

1776	Great Britain	United States	Thirteen colonies of British America declare their independence a year into a general insurrection. Recognized by Great Britain in 1783 at the Treaty of Paris.

1804	France	Haiti	After initially revolting only to restore French control, Saint-Domingue declares its independence as Haiti. Recognized by France in 1825 in exchange for a ₣150 million indemnity, financed through French banks.

1810	Spain	West Florida (today part of the United States)	West Florida declares independence, but is almost immediately annexed by the United States as part of Orleans Territory under its claims from the Louisiana Purchase.

1811	Spain	Paraguay	Paraguay achieves independence. Recognized by Spain in 1880.

Venezuela	Venezuela declares its independence. During its revolution, it joins Gran Colombia, before seceding to achieve independence in 1830.

Gran Colombia (today Colombia and Panama)	Cartagena declares its independence. Cundinamarca and the United Provinces of New Granada followed suit in 1813.

1815	Spain	Uruguay	The Federal League declares its independence of the restored Spanish crown, after having successfully revolted against Napoleonic Spain in 1811. Attacked by Portugal, some provinces united with the future Argentina; others, after a protracted struggle, successfully formed Uruguay in 1828.

1816	Spain	Argentina	The United Provinces of South America formally declare their independence of the restored Spanish crown, after having successfully revolted against Napoleonic Spain in its name in 1810.

1818	Spain	Chile	Chile declares its independence of the restored crown, after having unsuccessfully revolted against Napoleonic Spain in its name in 1810. Recognized by the Spanish in 1844.

1819	Spain	East Florida (today part of the United States)	The Adams-Onís Treaty cedes Florida to the United States in exchange for US cession of its claims to Texas under the Louisiana Purchase and in exchange for settling $5 million of its residents' claims against Spain.

1821	Spain	Mexico	Following a failed liberal insurrection in New Spain, the colony declares its independence as the Mexican Empire after a liberal mutiny succeeds in Spain.

Central America (today Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, and part of Mexico)	Chiapas and then all of Guatemala declares its independence as part of the Mexican Empire. Independent from Mexico in 1823 as the Federal Republic of Central America.

Dominican Republic	Santo Domingo declares independence as Spanish Haiti, requests union with Gran Colombia, and is swiftly annexed by Haiti. It will achieve independence in 1844 only to restore Spanish rule in 1861.

Peru	A Chilean expeditionary force declares the independence of Peru. Bolivia formed from Upper Peru in 1825.

Ottoman Empire	Greece	Greece revolts. Recognized by the Porte in 1832 in the Treaty of Constantinople.

1822	Spain	Ecuador	Quito declares independence as a part of Gran Colombia. Independent from Colombia as Ecuador in 1830.

Portugal	Brazil	Brazil, long the seat of the Portuguese royal government, declares independence under a rogue prince after the king returns to Lisbon.

1847	United States	Liberia	Liberia declares its independence as an organized nation. Independence was officially recognized by the United States in 1862

1852	Ottoman Empire	Montenegro	Montenegro declares its independence. Recognized in 1878 at the Congress of Berlin. Voluntarily united with Serbia as Yugoslavia in 1918.

1864	United Kingdom	Ionian Islands (today part of Greece)	The United States of the Ionian Islands, a majority Greek protectorate, peaceably united with modern Greece by the Treaty of London.

1865	Spain	Dominican Republic	Santo Domingo regains independence as the Dominican Republic after four years as a restored colony.

1867	United Kingdom	Canada	Britain grants internal autonomy to Canada, while keeping control of foreign policy. Britain retained legal powers over Canada until 1931, and a role in Canada constitutional law until 1982.

1869	Ottoman Empire	Serbia	Serbia declares its full independence from the Ottoman Empire. Recognized in 1878 at the Congress of Berlin.

1877	Ottoman Empire	Romania	The United Principalities of Romania declare their independence. Recognized in 1878 at the Congress of Berlin.

1898	Spain	Cuba, Philippines	The United States (barred from annexing Cuba itself by the Teller Amendment) forces Spain to abjure its own claims to the island in the Treaty of Paris ending the Spanish–American War.

1900	United Kingdom	Australia	Britain grants internal autonomy to Australia, while keeping control of foreign policy. Britain retained legal powers over Australia until 1942, and shared a role in Australia constitutional law until 1986.

1902	United States	Cuba	Cuba granted independence. Guantanamo Bay is leased in perpetuity as a US Naval base.

1908	Ottoman Empire	Bulgaria	Bulgaria, largely autonomous since the Congress of Berlin, declares itself fully independent of the Ottoman Empire.

1910	United Kingdom	South Africa	Britain grants internal autonomy to South Africa, while keeping control of foreign policy. Britain retained legal powers over South Africa until 1931, and shared a head of state until 1961.

1912	Ottoman Empire	Albania	Albania declares independence. Recognized in the 1913 Treaty of London.

Sentence(s)

In 1804, Haiti secured independence from France.

final_sentence: In 1804, Haiti secured independence from France.