Free state (polity)

Free state is a term occasionally used in the official titles of some states throughout the world with varying
meanings depending on the context. In principle, the title asserts and emphasises a particular freedom of the
state in question, but this is not always reflected in practice. Some states use the title to assert sovereignty or
independence from foreign domination, while others have used it to assert autonomy within a larger nation-
state. Sometimes "free state" is used as a synonym for "republic".

The republican sense of the term derives from libera res publica (literally, "the free public thing/affair"), a
term used by Latin historians for the period of the Roman Republic, though not all "free states" have been
republics. The historical German free states and the Orange Free State of Southern Africa were republican
in form, however the Congo Free State and Irish Free State were governed under forms of monarchy.

Overview

Republican England
English Parliament, in the act forming the Commonwealth of England of 1649 to 1660, declared that
"England is confirmed to be a Commonwealth and Free State and shall from henceforth be Governed as a
Commonwealth and Free State."[1] The Commonwealth had a republican constitution.

Germany
In Germany, the term free state (in German, Freistaat pronounced [ˈfʁaɪ̯ ˌʃtaːt] )
comes from the 19th century as a German word for republic. After the German
Revolution of November 1918, when Imperial Germany became a democratic
republic, most of the German states within the German Reich called
themselves a Free State. Others used expressions like Republik or Volksstaat
Flag of the modern Free
(people's state) – though unpopular, as that term was associated with the enemy
State of Bavaria
France. According to the Versailles Treaty, Danzig was split off from Germany
in 1919, becoming the Free City of Danzig.

After the Nazis came to power, they abolished the concept of a federal republic and all the states and re-
organized Germany into Gaue, with appointed leadership.

The states were re-established within the reduced German borders after World War II; however, from 1952
only Bavaria (successor (but not de jure) to the Kingdom of Bavaria) still called itself a Free State and that
made Freistaat a synonym for Bavaria. After the reunification, the reestablished Saxony (successor (but not
de jure) to the Kingdom of Saxony) used the name again in 1992 and Thuringia began to use it for the first
time in 1993.

Free Cities
Historically, Germany had Imperial Free Cities, who were subject only to the Emperor of the Holy Roman
Empire. In 1871 Germany knew three Free Cities, Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck; the last lost its status in
1937. Since 1949, the Federal Republic of Germany has Hamburg (Freie und Hansestadt, Free and
Hanseatic City) and Bremen (Freie Hansestadt), as well as Berlin, as a city which is also a state. Like the
Free States these three cities have no special rights in the federation.

Africa
In South Africa, the term free state was used in the title of the nineteenth
century Orange Free State (Oranje Vrystaat in Afrikaans) and is today used in
the title of its successor, Free State; both entities were established as republican
in form.

In contrast, the Congo Free State came into being between 1877 and 1884 as a Flag of the now defunct
private kingdom or dictatorship of King Leopold II of Belgium. In this case, Orange Free State
the term free emphasised the new state's freedom from major colonial powers
and the Belgian parliament, as the colony was ruled only by the king.

Irish Free State

The Irish Free State of 1922–1937 was a dominion of the British Empire. The
term free state was deliberately chosen as a literal translation of the Irish word
saorstát. At the time in which Irish nationalist leaders (who generally favoured
a republican form of government) were negotiating the secession of most of
Ireland from the United Kingdom, the word saorstát was a commonly used The modern Republic of
Irish-language word for republic. The British government was opposed to the Ireland was known from
1922–1937 as the Irish
Free State being established as a republic (which would mean severing
Free State.
Ireland's links with the British Crown) and so insisted that the literal translation
of saorstát be used in the new state's English title instead.[2] The term saorstát
thus represented a compromise in terminology: British officials could accept it as a less explicit rejection of
Ireland's links to the Crown than the term republic itself, while Irish republicans could choose to interpret it
as signifying a republic by any other name.

Puerto Rico
The official Spanish name of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is Estado
Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, literally, "Associated Free State of Puerto
Rico", expressing a "politically organized community” or “State,” which is
simultaneously connected by a compact to a larger political system and hence
does not have an independent and separate status. However, according to the
United States Supreme Court, Puerto Rico is not free or associated; it is only a Flag of the Estado Libre
state in the general sense, not as a state of the Union in the U.S. constitutional Asociado de Puerto Rico
sense. According to consistent U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence, Puerto Rico ("Associated Free State
of Puerto Rico")
belongs to but is not an integral part (Organized incorporated territory) of the
United States. Moreover, the said jurisprudence has determined that regardless
of what nominal or cosmetic veneer has moted Puerto Rico's political status, it is essentially a U.S. colonial
territory, since it is under the plenary powers of the U.S. Congress. At its most basic, this Supreme Court
doctrine expresses that Puerto Rico is more like property, far from a free-governing community or nation,
and thus "domestic in a foreign sense" (not for the taking or meddling by free foreign nations), but "foreign
in a domestic sense" (not a partner or an equal). In the Insular Cases, the Court ruled that the United States
Constitution does not automatically apply in Puerto Rico.

List of 'free states'

Contemporary
Free State of Bavaria
Free State of Saxony
Free State of Thuringia
Free State, South Africa
Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico

Historical
Commonwealth of England (1649–1660)
Free State of Costa Rica (1838–1847)
Orange Free State (1854–1900)
Free State of Jones (1863–1865)
Congo Free State (1884–1908)
Klein Vrystaat "Little Free State" (1886–1891)
Free State of Icaria (1912)
Free State of Fiume (1920–1924)
Kamchatka Free State (1921–1922)
Irish Free State (1922–1937)
Free Territory of Trieste (1947–1954)
Free Lebanon State (1979-1984)

Germany
Free State of Coburg (1918–1920)
Free State of Bottleneck (Flaschenhals) (1919–1923)
Free State of Waldeck-Pyrmont (1918–1929)
Free State of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (1918–1933)
Free State of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (1918–1933)
Free State of Anhalt (1918–1945)
Free State of Brunswick (1918–1945)
People's State of Hesse (1918–1945)
Free State of Oldenburg (1918–1946)
Free State of Schaumburg-Lippe (1918–1945)
Free State of Lippe (1918–1947)
Free State of Prussia (1920–1947)
Free People's State of Württemberg (1918–1945)
 Free Republic of Schwarzenberg (May–June 1945)
Freistaat Baden (1945–1952; called Südbaden "South Baden" until 1947)

See also
Free city (disambiguation)
Freetown
List of former sovereign states

References
1. Greenfeld, Liah (1992). Nationalism: Five Roads to Modernity (https://books.google.com/boo
ks?id=MnwmMOWK-PsC&dq=%22Governed+as+a+Commonwealth+and+Free+State%22&
pg=PA41). Harvard University Press. p. 41. ISBN 9780674603196.
2. Jackson, Alvin (2010-03-16). Ireland 1798-1998: War, Peace and Beyond (https://books.goo
gle.com/books?id=jzjmfa43JWkC&dq=saorst%C3%A1t+republic+british&pg=PA258). John
Wiley & Sons. p. 258. ISBN 9781444324150.

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