ABSTRACT
Secession is a special kind of territorial separatism involving states. It is an abrupt unilateral move to independence on the part of a region that is a metropolitan territory of a sovereign independent state. Secession is opposed by the 'Centre',1 the central government of the state. In secession there is a formal act of declaration of independence on the part of the region in question. Secession thus defined can be called secession stricto sensu or secession simpliciter. Secession in the wider sense can be regarded as including what can be called 'incremental secession', that is, political activity of a violent or non-violent nature which is aimed at independence or some form of self-rule short of independence from autonomy to a loose binational or multi-state federal system. In incremental secessions there is no formal declaration of independence: secession is a process. Needless to say, the post-Second World War period has seen more incremental secessions than stricto sensu ones.
