The term “partition” in our modern political lexicon invariably conjures up images of mass displacement and population transfer. The idea that creating ethnically-homogeneous spaces, or a homeland for a given national group, is a viable solution to inter or intra-state conflict has been employed throughout recent history as the means to end an armed struggle.
The partition of the British Raj into the modern states of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh was devised to end ethnically-motivated violence between Muslims and Hindus, while the division of Ireland into the Free State and Northern Ireland (which remained part of the United Kingdom) was designed to create territorial entities for Catholic and Protestant populations there.
The concept of partition is politically related to, but practically distinct from, nationalistic aspirations to secession, which assume the breaking away of one part of a given territory or state from another.
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