These international cities had limited self-governance (as in Danzig, with supervision from the
League of Nations), or were administered by a body of representatives from external nation-states (as in
Shanghai from 1845 to 1944 and the International Zone of
Tangier from 1923 to 1957).[2]
The
Holy See has had a long-held position on Jerusalem and the protection of the
holy places in the
Holy Land which predates the
British Mandate for Palestine. The Vatican's historic claims and interests, as well as those of
Italy and
France were based on the former
Protectorate of the Holy See and the
French Protectorate of Jerusalem, which were incorporated in article 95 of the
Treaty of Sèvres (1920), which incorporated the
Balfour Declaration, but also provided: “it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine“. The Balfour Declaration and the proviso were also incorporated in the Palestinian Mandate (1923), but which also provided in articles 13 and 14 for an international commission to resolve competing claims on the holy places. These claimants had officially lost all capitulation rights by article 28 of the
Treaty of Lausanne (1923). However, Britain never gave any effect to Mandate provisions arts 13 & 14. During the drafting of proposals that culminated in the
United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine (also known as Resolution 181) in 1947, the historic claims of the Vatican, Italy and France were revived, and expressed as the call for the special international regime for the city of Jerusalem. This was also confirmed in
UN General Assembly Resolution 194 in 1948, which maintained the position that Jerusalem be made an international city,[3] under United Nations supervision.
Pope
Pius XII supported this idea in the 1949
encyclicalRedemptoris nostri cruciatus. It was proposed again during the papacies of
John XXIII,
Paul VI,
John Paul II and
Benedict XVI.[4] The Vatican reiterated this position in 2012, recognizing Jerusalem's "identity and sacred character" and calling for freedom of access to the city's holy places to be protected by "an internationally guaranteed special statute". After the
US recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital in December 2017,
Pope Francis repeated the Vatican’s position: "I wish to make a heartfelt appeal to ensure that everyone is committed to respecting the status quo of the city, in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations."[5]
Gulangyu Island (1902–1943), extraterritorial zone of various international concessions under Chinese sovereignty established in
Xiamen by the
Treaty of Nanking. Abolished after the Second Sino-Japanese War.
Memel (1920–1923), a League of Nations protectorate established by the
Treaty of Versailles between Germany and Lithuania, annexed by Lithuania after the
Klaipėda Revolt.
International cities may be essentially a form of
condominium, a territory where ultimate sovereignty is jointly held by more than one state. In the case of international cities, the sovereignty might lie with one or more foreign states, or with an international body such as the League of Nations or United Nations.