Successor state

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A successor state is a state that takes over from a previously well-established state some or all of the territory and assets. As a term of international law, this concept is discussed under the succession of states theory.

In a broader context, successor state is applied where the international law concept would be at best anachronistic; for example in universal history or comparative history. Arnold J. Toynbee used it to describe the fragments of an empire (for him, a universal state), so that it could properly be applied both to the kingdoms set up by the generals of Alexander the Great after he died, and to Belarus as a contemporary successor state to the USSR. This usage is by now quite common, though not all obviously attributable to Toynbee and followers.

There are therefore several, quite different possible connotations of successor state, in terms of the continuity implied.

• The international law term implies legal links, on rights and the recognition of legitimacy of claims, but also on continuing treaty obligations, and the status of citizens who otherwise may become stateless.
• Cultural continuity is implicit in Toynbee's usage, and this can be snapped.
• As a loose organisational term for historians, it implies not much more than a plausible link of parentage in a 'family tree' of groups of rulers; there need be no specific legacy going beyond physical possession.

See also

• Predecessor state