Suzerainty

A suzerain (, from Old French "above" + "supreme, chief") is a person, state or polity who has supremacy and dominant influence over the foreign policy and economic relations of another subordinate party or polity, but allows internal autonomy to that subordinate. the France conquering Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam into Indochina, and Japan annexing Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan and Korea after the Ryukyu Disposition and First Sino-Japanese War. The downward spiral of the Qing dynasty over the second half of the 19th century also caused mainland China to become semi-colonized, with many of its coastal regions turning into foreign concessions that lasted through the First and Second World Wars. Most of the foreign colonies were returned to Chinese control before the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, with the last three concession territories being returned in by the Soviets in 1952, by the British in 1997 and by the Portuguese in 1999.

Since colonial times, Britain had regarded Tibet as being under Chinese suzerainty, but in 2008 the British Foreign Secretary David Miliband called that word an "anachronism" in a statement, and recognized Tibet as sovereign part of China.

Ancient Israel and Near East

Suzerainty treaties and similar covenants and agreements between Middle Eastern states were quite prevalent during the pre-monarchic and monarchy periods in Ancient Israel. The Hittites, Egyptians, and Assyrians had been suzerains to the Israelites and other tribal kingdoms of the Levant from 1200 to 600 BC. The structure of Jewish covenant law was similar to the Hittite form of suzerain.

Each treaty would typically begin with an "Identification" of the Suzerain, followed by an historical prologue cataloguing the relationship between the two groups "with emphasis on the benevolent actions of the suzerain towards the vassal".

Hittite suzerainty treaty form

Below is a form of a Hittite suzerainty treaty.

Prologue: Lists the deeds already performed by the Suzerain on behalf of the vassal. This section would outline the previous relationship the two groups had up until that point with historical detail and facts that are very beneficial to scholars today, such as scholar George Mendenhall who focuses on this type of covenant as it pertained to the Israelite traditions.

Second World War

Despite being occupied by the Axis powers, several Western and Asian countries were allowed to exercise self-rule. Several states were created in order to facilitate their occupation, including Vichy France, Manchukuo, the Empire of Vietnam, the Independent State of Croatia in Croatia and the Lokot Autonomy in Central Russia.

Historical suzerainties

Ottoman Empire

Principality of Serbia
Principality of Samos
Cretan State
Crimean Khanate
Septinsular Republic
Principality of Bulgaria
Principality of Moldavia
Republic of Ragusa
Principality of Romania
Serbian Despotate
Principality of Transylvania
Principality of Upper Hungary
Principality of Wallachia
Khedivate of Egypt
Vilayet of Tripolitania
Eyalet of Tunis
Regency of Algiers
Emirate of Mount Lebanon

Duchy of Prussia / Kingdom of Prussia / North German Confederation / German Empire

Electorate of Brandenburg (Brandenburg-Prussia)
Principality of Neuchâtel
County of Stolberg-Wernigerode
County of Stolberg-Schwarza (after 1748)
County of Stolberg-Gedern (after 1804)
Grand Duchy of Posen
Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg
Grand Duchy of Baden (Franco-Prussian War)
Kingdom of Bavaria (Franco-Prussian War)
Kingdom of Württemberg (Franco-Prussian War)
Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (Franco-Prussian War)
Duchy of Courland and Semigallia
United Baltic Duchy
Duchy of Courland and Semigallia
Duchy of Estonia and Livonia
Kingdom of Lithuania
Kingdom of Poland
Belarusian Democratic Republic
Ukrainian People's Republic (Treaty of Brest-Litovsk)
Ukrainian State
Crimean Regional Government
Don Republic
Kuban People's Republic
Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus
Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic (Otto von Lossow mission)
Democratic Republic of Georgia (Treaty of Poti)

Qing dynasty

Mongolia
Tibet
Korea
Vietnam
Myanmar
Thailand

Empire of Japan

Ryukyu Kingdom
Korea

In Europe

Habsburg control, as Holy Roman Emperor, over Liechtenstein (1719–1918), previously Schellenberg (1499–1719) and County of Vaduz (1322–1719)
Ireland, under the control of the High King of Ireland.
Piombino (Kingdom of the Two Sicilies)

In Indonesia

Kingdom of Larantuka

<big>In Africa</big>

The Orange Free State, under British control (1854–1902).

Suzerainties in fiction

In J.R.R. Tolkien's The Return of the King, the Mouth of Sauron proposes terms of surrender that would effectively give Mordor suzerainty over Gondor and Rohan: "The rabble of Gondor and its deluded allies shall withdraw at once beyond the Anduin, first taking oaths never again to assail Sauron the Great in arms, open or secret. ... West of the Anduin as far as the Misty Mountains and the Gap of Rohan shall be tributary to Mordor, and men there shall bear no weapons, but shall have leave to govern their own affairs."

In Season 7 of Supernatural, Castiel briefly attains god-like powers and takes direct control of Heaven. He then meets with the King of Hell, Crowley, to propose an arrangement in which Crowley maintains control over Hell's internal affairs but pledges allegiance to Castiel. He also requires Crowley to give him control over the distribution of souls between Heaven and Hell, as souls are a source of supernatural power that Castiel needs to maintain his dominance. Reasoning that he has no choice, Crowley promptly agrees to this arrangement.