There were quite a few British "giveaways of the Realm" during the
war. Maybe there was a parliamentary confirmation of the gift to the
Yugoslav government. A number of countries occupied by the Germans
formed exile governments in England - more than just embassies for the
duration. I have a lot stamps cancelled by these exile governments,
which used their own nation's stamps as well as some they prepared in
exile for the use of their citizens who managed to flee, but have
cancellation marks that indicated the mail was from exile. The
Yugoslav grant was obviously different at least to the extent that it
or a part of it (a hotel room) that started in the turmoil that
followed the war and continued to exist. What the nature of its
status in the '40s was and whether it is now any different than what
it was initially is something maybe our UK-based members can find out.
Maybe Claridges Hotel knows. I know it isn't a situation like that
of the UN HQ, which expands to an exclave in San Francisco once every
five years, it's continual even if seemingly dormant for long periods.
I doubt if the grant was diplomatic, as though it was attached to the
Yugoslav embassy or consular operation in the UK, because it's very
purpose was to be a refuge for the former Yugoslav royalty who were
stripped of their titles and citizenship by the then-nascent communist
state under Tito, whose people in the Embassy across town would have
been the royal's enemies. (Of course, we - the USA - did the same with
the Baltic states' embassies in D. C. - the accredited exiles stayed
in place even though the Russians had "cashed in" the countries they
had once belonged to).
A second UK relinquishing of realm properties also occurred during the
war - a trade deal with the USA. The US traded warships to England in
return for territory in the British run colonies under the Realm in
the Carribean. We may still have a couple of those - I visited the
base areas on Bermuda, but I know they are now gone; the US gave them
up voluntarily. The one in Antigua may still be there. These had a
very different status than those that the US had, for example, in
Iceland (which we stil have at Reykjavik) and France, which we got by
lease or treaty. Their natures are different from those that were on
held over territory from conquests, where the US subsequently
relinquished sovereign rights of occupiers (as in Germany, Austria and
Italy). These Carribbean properties status more resembled the
sovereign nature of the US former bases in the Phillippines and those
UK bases on Cyprus which were kept after the U.S. colony was
transmogrified into the Republic we know and love today.
By the way, there are works in progress for another givaway - the UK
is contemplating relinquishing sovereigty over parts of it's realm in
Cyprus, to contribute to a clearing of the way for reunification of
Cyprus so it can join the European Union. So, giveways are still the
order of the day. There is a very interesting Army or DoD judge
advocate general manual from the 70s or 80s that goes through the
various "statuses" of the property and sovereign rights the US had on
various bases at the time. I wish I had it now; I wonder where I
might locate one.
Regards
LN
--- In
BoundaryPoint@yahoogroups.com, "Lowell G. McManus"
<mcmanus71496@m...> wrote:
> I've never heard of this "enclave," but it probably had/has
something on the
> order of extraterritorial status analogous to that of a diplomatic
mission. I
> seriously doubt that any Prime Minister, not even Churchill, could
give away
> part of the sovereign's realm on his own authority.
>
> Lowell G. McManus
> Leesville, Louisiana, USA
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "L. A. Nadybal" <lnadybal@c...>
> To: <BoundaryPoint@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, October 15, 2003 7:58 PM
> Subject: [BoundaryPoint] Yugo exclave in London used again.
>
>
> > The Washington Post ran an article today about the granting and
> > restoration of citizenship by the government of Serbia and Montenegro
> > (rump-Yugoslavia) to the family of and to Crown Prince Alexander II.
> > The prince was stripped of his citizenship by Tito in 1947.
> >
> > The ceremony was held in February 2001 in the suite in Claridge's
> > Hotel that Churchill declared in 1947 as Yugoslav territory. The
> > Prince and his family returned to Belgrade in July 2001 where they now
> > live in their ancestral palace, according to the article.
> >
> > I think the group had a discussion about vertical sovereignty some
> > time back, and the suite came up when someone asked whether Yugoslavia
> > ended at the floor and ceiling.
> >
> > It's interesting that the exclave still fulfills a need once in
> > awhile. When Yugoslavia isn't using it, and a "foreigner" stays there,
> > I wonder if there are any "border" formalities at the door
> > (immigration control at the concierge or check-in counter?). Maybe we
> > have here also a case of Co- or joint or shared sovereignty? Sterling
> > accepted (alongside dinars?)
> >
> > Regards
> >
> > Len Nadybal
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
> >
> >
> >