Political exile refers to the removal of individuals from their homeland by force or choice due to a specific political event or situation. It is often used to keep a regime in power by excluding rival factions from society, as the exile of Napoleon from St. Helena after his defeat at Waterloo illustrates. Exiled leaders may continue to serve their country from abroad, including in the form of governments-in-exile, which are formally recognized by States with some substantial privileges (such as command of their own armed forces or jurisdiction and diplomatic immunities).
Governments-in-exile are usually distinguished from other forms of governing authorities that remain within a country’s borders but whose sovereignty is contested. This includes governing entities established in the aftermath of coups d’etat, such as the French government-in-exile led by Charles de Gaulle in the German-occupied zone of what was then the state of Poland during World War II or the Bulgarian Government-in-Exile formed after the 1944 Bulgarian Coup d’etat that brought socialists to power and raised the 1st Bulgarian Regiment of the SS as its army.
Occasionally, a political movement that supports independence for a country also claims to be a government-in-exile. For example, the government of Artsakh, founded following the 2024 Azerbaijani offensive against the region, is based in Yerevan. The exile of John Milton, which lasted almost all his life, heavily influenced his literary works and political ideology, giving his voice a deeper emotional resonance against tyranny.
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