"Terra Nullius"

The New Press - "Terra Nullius" by Sven Lindqvist

A provocative journey through the dark history of the creation of white Australia, exposing the hidden genocide of the Aboriginal people
At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate and replace throughout the world the savage races.—CHARLES DARWIN, THE DESCENT OF MAN
“Terra nullius”—no man’s land—was the legal fiction employed to justify the white invasion of Australia. Aboriginal lands were declared “terra nullius” because, it was claimed, they were inhabited by people who would soon die out—and who could be helped on the way to extinction if they lingered.
Author of the acclaimed “Exterminate All the Brutes” and A History of Bombing, Sven Lindqvist is one of the most innovative writers and historians at work today. He brings his original sensibility to bear as he travels 12,000 kilometers through so-called no man’s land in search of places where belief in the rights of the white man and the inevitable extinction of the “lower races” were put into practice. The world the Aborigines had known for centuries ended as young boys were kidnapped to dive for pearls, then whipped and abandoned when the bends ruined them for work; “half-caste” children were taken from their mothers; and natives were put in neck irons and sent to internment camps under false diagnoses of STDs.
Mining history, popular fiction, anthropology, and his own travels, Lindqvist brilliantly weaves together an illuminating and disturbing history of how “no man’s land” became the province of the white man.

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/terra%20nullius

Terra nullius (English pronunciation IPA: /ˈtɛrə nəˈlaɪəs/, Latin pronunciation IPA: [ˈtɛrːa nʊlːˈiʊs]) is a Latin expression deriving from Roman Law meaning "nobody's land" i.e. "empty land", applying the general principle of res nullius to real estate, in terms of private ownership and/or as territory under public law.
RationaleIn antiquity peace was considered an exceptional condition between states, only established by peace treaty, war being their natural rapport; states were often founded, split or annihililated by military force. Any territory that was not explicitly recognized as legitimately possessed by a treaty partner was considered free to be legitimately occupied, even by offensive war. As civilisations adopted more pacifist ideologies by considering peace normal unless there were legitimate reasons for war, territories considered controlled by any legitimate state could in principle no longer be invaded to seize them by force . The reasoning could be stretched, as the population (if any) was supposed to benefit from the introduction of the principles of law and morality (as there usually was a state religion, these could be held universally valid by divine law, alternatively general principles were found in natural law), supposed to be guaranteed by a legitimate state. Thus colonisation was soon justified as "bringing faith and civilisation" to the 'savage infidels', even if that meant the subjugation or even destruction, of their native polities, religion and culture. Modern applications of the term terra nullius stem from 16th and 17th century doctrines describing land that was unclaimed by a sovereign state recognized by European powers. During the 18th century the doctrine gave legal force to the settlement of lands occupied by "backward" people, where no system of laws or ownership of property was held to exist. The Swiss philosopher and international law theorist Emerich de Vattel, building on the philosophy of John Locke and others, proposed that terra nullius applied to uncultivated land. As the indigenous people were not (in this view) using the land, those who could cultivate the land had a right to claim.

Monarquia Absolutista.

Durante a Idade Moderna a Monarquia absoluta ou absolutista, era muito comum, segundo a definição clássica, é a forma de governo onde o Monarca ou Rei exerce o poder absoluto, isto é, independente e superior ao de outros órgãos do Estado. Tem como principal característica o seu detentor estar acima de todos os outros poderes ou de concentrar em si os três poderes do constitucionalismo moderno - legislativo, executivo e judicial.
Esse tipo de governo foi muito comum na Europa ocidental entre o século XVII e meados do Século XIX. Actualmente ainda existem monarquias absolutas no mundo árabe, etc., embora por vezes mais atenuadas e com um pouco mais de distribuição do poder.

Um exemplo de Estado que teve monarquia absoluta foi a Inglaterra, que adaptou essa forma de governo com Henrique VIII até à Revolução de 1688. Atualmente, é uma Monarquia Constitucional. A Áustria, por exemplo, já foi absolutista. De fato, a grande maioria das nações européias, na segunda metade do século XVI e nos inícios do século XVII, teve um estreito relacionamento com o absolutismo, tendo este sido fortalecido nos países protestantes pelo desenvolvimento da teoria do "direito divino dos reis". Do lado asiático, temos como exemplos absolutistas o antigo Império Otomano, na actual Turquia.
Algumas formas de monarquias absolutistas ainda sobrevivem nos dias de hoje. Algumas são mais atenuadas (mistas), enquanto outras são completamente absolutas.

[editar] Monarquias absolutas na atualidade:

Arábia Saudita
Bahrein
Sultanato de Brunei - é uma Monarquia islâmica e quem manda no país é o Sultão
Catar
Vaticano
Ainda há outras, que já estão sob a forma de Monarquia constitucional, como a Jordânia e Arábia Saudita. Esses países, apesar de serem monarquias constitucionais, quem manda realmente e emite os decretos reais é a família real, que age independentemente da acção do Parlamento.