Part I. Introduction and Context Note should be made of the fact that the aftermath of World War II also saw the decline of colonialism as an “integral part of the structural change in the world political constellation which had been developing since the turn of the century”.425 This, of course, had major consequences for the countries that were former colonies and their nationality laws. Within Europe, that influence was perhaps less felt. At the same time, European states saw themselves confronted – from time to time – with complicated situations that needed to be addressed in their nationality laws. There were no specific international standards on decolonization and nationality matters, but the situation could often be considered a situation of state succession and treaties concluded in the period after the war – in particular the 1961 Convention that contains provisions regarding state succession, as well as the 1930 Hague Convention – could provide further guidance. But that is not to say that statelessness would not occur. One example concerns the Moluccans, who were transferred by the Dutch government to the Netherlands in the wake of Indonesian independence (1945–1949) in 1951–1952. They had served in the Dutch Colonial Army and it was understood that the residence of Moluccans in the Netherlands would be temporary. At the time, there was the belief that the Moluccas would become an autonomous state and therefore, most Moluccans in the Netherlands had no interest in acquiring Dutch citizenship. But as they continued to stay in the Netherlands, they had become stateless as their Indonesian nationality was lost due to residence abroad for five years without expressing the wish to remain a national.426 “By the 1970s about 30,000 stateless persons of Moluccan origin lived in the Netherlands. The Dutch Government recognized the need for improvement and in 1976 the Law pertaining to the position of Moluccans (“Faciliteitenwet Molukkers”) was approved, granting Moluccans (nearly) the same rights as Dutch nationals, without actually making them citizens. In their passports it was stated that they were to be treated as Dutch nationals on the basis of the 1976 Act. As this gave rise to practical problems, the Dutch Government decided in 1991 that all stateless Moluccans would be Dutch nationals for the purpose of the Passport Act.”427 An important event that marks further development, in particular with regard to matters relating to nationality and statelessness, is presented by the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union that followed in 1991. Later in the 1990s, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia also dissolved. Not only did this lead to unrest and conflict in certain situations, it also led to statelessness: “After the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia and the break-up of Yugoslavia, millions of people needed to confirm a new citizenship status. Was a former Czechoslovak citizen now Czech or Slovak? Was someone born in Belgrade, raised in 425 426 427 78 Rudolf von Albertini, ‘The Impact of Two World Wars on the Decline of Colonialism’ (1969) 4 Journal of Contemporary History 17, 35. UNHCR, ‘Mapping Statelessness in the Netherlands’ (2011) 16 <https://www.refworld.org/ docid/4eef65da2.html> accessed 26 September 2021. Ibid. Intersentia