Since the late 19th century, the term annexation (from Lat. annectere, “link, join”) has been understood to denote the acquisition or incorporation of part or all of a foreign state by another state, whether in war or peace. It implies an extension of the territorial sovereignty of a state to a territory that had previously not been subject to it, in principle without affecting the question of land as private property. Its German equivalent (Annexion) was first used in t…