A Study On The Sovereignty Of Gibraltar During The Cold War

The issue of the sovereignty of Gibraltar between Britain and Spain originated after Spain’s war of succession to the throne.Britain obtained Gibraltar through Article 10 of the Treaty of Utrecht signed in 1713.Spain has since begun the long process of retaking Gibraltar.The two countries are in constant conflict over their sovereignty.After the end of the Second World War,with the beginning of the Cold War,Spain’s international status rose and made a claim to the British for sovereignty over Gibraltar.Rather than facing the sovereignty issue of Gibraltar,the two countries hope to improve their relations and restore their domestic economy as soon as possible,so they avoid discussing this issue.In 1963,Spain had referred the question of Gibraltar’s sovereignty to the United Nations,which,in the trend of decolonization,had adopted resolutions in Spain’s interest,as it wished.Between 1963 and 1969,the United Kingdom and Spain had repeatedly negotiated in accordance with the UN resolutions to no avail.In1969,Spain closed the border and began a 16-year blockade of Gibraltar.During the border blockade,due to changes in the international situation and the development of Spain’s democratization process,Spain began to seek to join the EC and NATO.Britain’s support for this has gradually improved relations,and in 1980 the Lisbon Agreement between the United Kingdom and Spain began to move towards reconciliation.Despite some setbacks in the reconciliation process,the United Kingdom and Spain had strengthened their communication and compromised with each other,and while the question of Gibraltar’s sovereignty had not yet been resolved,consensus had been reached on other issues.The issue of Gibraltar’s sovereignty,which had been under way for more than 300 years,was one of the few outstanding territorial issues in the world today,and there were many international issues similar to the sovereignty dispute over Gibraltar.During the Cold War,Britain and Spain insisted on solving the sovereignty issue of Gibraltar on the negotiation table,and kept the territorial disputes within the framework of diplomacy and international law.To some extent,the two countries can be called a model for handling international territorial disputes.