Separatism is a type of doctrine that encourages the distancing or detachment of one or more parts of an entity. These principles are promoted by so-called “separatist” movements, who represent a kind of social groups of a political nature that are in favor of autonomy, with respect to a political body, to which they are subordinate.
The factors that drive this separation are diverse: cultural, political, racial, regional, linguistic, religious, etc.
There are those who think that separatism is a serious danger, since it promotes the disunity of a nation, causing a part of the country to move away and become independent, ending the national identity of a nation. Europe, Asia and Africa are the continents where most of the separatist movements exist; In the case of American countries, this type of movement is not very common. There is only one well known and it was that of Gran Colombia, an event that occurred during the 19th century; It should be remembered that the great Colombia was made up of three countries: Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela and that for nationalist reasons they ended up separating.
It is important to point out that there are some separatist movements that use terrorism to create confrontations, while others decide to go legally in order to achieve a gradual autonomy attached to the law, as what happened in Quebec, Scotland and Catalonia.
While it is true that there are several factors that cause separatism, it is also true that in all these cases, nationalism or identity is a common factor among all of them; since most of the confrontations are caused by issues of a nationalist nature. In other words, when a part of society identifies with their country, it is difficult for some kind of problem to arise; The conflict arises when certain people in that sector do not feel the same as others, based on any element, it is at that moment when separatism begins.
In Europe there was a clear example of separatism and it was the case of Belgium and the Netherlands, both countries were united by the dialect, since both spoke similar languages: Dutch and Flemish. Although, one of the causes that led to their separation during the 16th century was religious in nature.
During the 20th century, the religious factor ceased to be a reason for separation for Belgium and Holland, now identity was given by language; observing then that the inhabitants of these areas, formerly considered some Catholics and other Protestants, now begin to distinguish themselves by language, then the dialect becomes a factor of identity.
