Divisions of territory or states that created new nations and displaced millions.
5 events
The division of British India into India and Pakistan (West Pakistan and East Bengal) along broadly religious lines, causing one of history's largest mass migrations (10-20 million displaced) and an estimated 1-2 million deaths in communal violence.
Viceroy Curzon partitioned Bengal along religious lines — creating a Muslim-majority East Bengal and Hindu-majority West Bengal — claiming administrative necessity. The massive backlash and Swadeshi movement forced its reversal in 1911, but the idea of religious partition had been seeded.
Korea was divided at the 38th parallel after WWII between Soviet-occupied north and US-occupied south, eventually hardening into two separate states still divided today.
Germany was divided into West Germany (democratic, NATO-aligned) and East Germany (communist, Soviet-aligned) after WWII, with the Berlin Wall built in 1961 to stop East Germans fleeing west.
Yugoslavia broke apart into seven successor states following the end of the Cold War, accompanied by brutal ethnic wars in Croatia (1991-95), Bosnia (1992-95), and Kosovo (1998-99).