national self-determination

Cultural  

1. Creation of national governmental institutions by a group of people who view themselves as a distinct nation (for example, because they have a common language). National self-determination is opposed to colonialism and imperialism. (See Fourteen Points.)

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Example Sentences

During the First World War, as Britain invaded and captured the territory from the crumbling Ottoman Empire, it drew on growing forces of national self-determination.

From BBC • Oct. 2, 2023

The world has been attempting throughout history to get nations to honor the ideals of national self-determination, sovereign borders and peaceful coexistence.

From Washington Post • Mar. 14, 2022

In the 19th century, Afrikaners created several countries designed to fulfil their quest for national self-determination, among them the Transvaal and the Orange Free State.

From The Guardian • Mar. 7, 2019

His unstated argument is that the courts advance an abstract concept of citizenship, which, unchecked, will erode the concept of Jewish national self-determination.

From The New Yorker • Dec. 2, 2014

Sun Yat-sen later gave a graphic description of the world-wide appeal of Woodrow Wilson's principle of national self-determination.

From The Political Doctrines of Sun Yat-sen: An Exposition of the San Min Chu I by Linebarger, Paul Myron Anthony