STATES AND REGENTS OF THE WORLD
AN ALPHABETICAL LISTING OF STATES AND TERRITORIES AND
THEIR REGENTS IN THE 19th AND 20th CENTURIES
INTRODUCTION
Welcome,
If you don't like introductions, try one of these :
States and Territories
The states and territories covered include :
- Independent states and territories with a special international position
(such as Danzig 1918 - 1939),
- Colonies, protectorates and other dependent territories,
- Subdivisions of both these entities such as states or provinces of federal
units, autonomous territories, major regional governments (such as the
Russian Governments-general)
This category also includes a selection of traditional states of Africa,
Asia and Oceania as far as they survived colonial conquest and were fully
integrated into the new colonial structures.
Also included are some historical regions and islands without separate
organisation.
And after some hesitation, I decided also to include the leadership of the
Roman Catholic Church. I did this for several reasons. Firstly because this
religious community has a state-like organisation, secondly because its
impact on political life was still important in the covered period(s) and
last - but not least - because I noticed there exists really an intrest for
this kind of information.
With the exception of some minor entities which can be found under the
heading of the state or territory to which they belonged, all states
and territories are listed separately, in alphabetical order.
They are linked to all other units to which they were historically or
politically related.
Regents
The lists of "Regents" comprise :
- The heads of state of the independent states and - as far as the office
existed - of their subdivisions and of the traditional states under
colonial rule,
- The chief executives of states, autonomous regions, colonies,..
- The representatives of colonial powers in protectorates,
- The ministers (secretaries of state, councillors, ...) :
- for the majors powers (France, Great-Britain, USA, ...), for Belgium
and the Netherlands : all ministers
- for the other independent countries : at least the prime ministers and
the ministers of foreign affairs and if possible also the ministers of
defence, home affairs, justice, finance, and colonies.
- for the other territories : in most cases only the prime ministers.
- The Roman Catholic central and regional hierarchy,
- Leaders of other religious communities and military commanders as far as
they had political functions or great political influence
- Important civil servants (mostly of colonial services) and leaders of the
important political parties of the 20th century.
If available have also been included :
- De facto and rebel leaders, including leaders and royal pretenders in exile
- All members of collective leaderships such as junta's.
Introductions and Notes
As probably not all visitors will be familiar with the Roman Catholic
Church the lists of the "Regents" of this religious community are preceded
by extended introductions on its history and structures.
For the other lists there are only brief historical introductions to the
different territorial units, augmented in some cases by brief explicative
notes.
Additional information not fitting directly in the lists (such as lists
of pretenders, of rebels, ...) is given in footnotes or, when very extended,
in separate pages.
Period and dates
For the moment the period covered extends from 1871 (Proclamation of the German
Empire) to 1945 (End of the Second World War and of the German and Japanese Empires),
with some extentions to 1848, the year of the great revolutions)
New periods - I hope to go back to 1806 (End of the Holy Roman Empire) - will be
added as work progresses.
For the moment also the lists mention only years. This will be extended to include
full dates at a later stage.
Conventions
1871 : exact year.
1871 : approximative year.
name* : indicates that the person was acting.
name° : indicates that the person was a woman.
s.a. : see above - indicates that the person is already mentioned in
a previous list of the same state/territory.
(.x) : indicates the number of times the person held this office.
r. : ruled.
Corrections, Comments and Additions
Although I tried to be as complete and accurate as possible, errors can not
be excluded. So all documented corrections are very welcome, as are all other
comments.
Copyright - Terms of Use
Copyright 2000 - 2003 by Bob Hilkens. Permission to use for non-commercial
purposes granted on condition credit is given and copyrightholder notified
of intended use and user.
Bob Hilkens on 31 May 2000
email : beerke_beer@yahoo.com