A government in exile is a political group which claims to be a country's legiti

mate government, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a
foreign country.[1] Governments in exile usually plan to one day return to their
native country and regain formal power. A government in exile differs from a ru
mp state in the sense that a rump state controls at least part of its former ter
ritory.[2] For example, during World War I, nearly all of Belgium was occupied b
y Germany, but Belgium and its allies held on to a small slice in the country's
west.[citation needed] A government in exile, conversely, has lost all its terri
tory.
Governments in exile frequently occur during wartime occupation, or in the after
math of a civil war, revolution, or military coup. For example, during German ex
pansion in World War II, some European governments sought refuge in the United K
ingdom, rather than face destruction at the hands of Nazi Germany. A government
in exile may also form from widespread belief in the illegitimacy of a ruling go
vernment. For instance, the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Oppo
sition Forces was formed as a result of the Syrian civil war, which sought to en
d the rule of the ruling Ba'ath Party.
The effectiveness of a government in exile depends primarily on the amount of su
pport it can receive, either from foreign governments or from the population of
its own country. Some governments in exile develop into a formidable force, posi
ng a serious challenge to the incumbent regime of the country, while others are
maintained chiefly as a symbolic gesture.
The phenomenon of a government in exile predates formal use of the term. In peri
ods of monarchical government, exiled monarchs or dynasties sometimes set up exi
le courts as the House of Stuart did when driven from their throne by Oliver Cromw
ell and at the Glorious Revolution, or the House of Bourbon did during the Frenc
h Revolution and the rule of Napoleon. With the spread of constitutional monarch
y, monarchical governments in exile started to include a prime minister, such as
the Dutch government during World War II headed by Pieter Sjoerds Gerbrandy.