The polity of Tibet (བོད་) (jul 10, 1912 – may 23, 1951)

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The polity of Tibet was a de facto independent state between the collapse of the Qing dynasty in 1912 and the annexation of Tibet by the People's Republic of China in 1951.

The Tibetan Ganden Phodrang regime was a protectorate of the Qing dynasty until 1912. When the Provisional Government of the Republic of China replaced the Qing dynasty as the government of China, and signed a treaty with the Qing government inheriting all territories of the imperial government into the new republic, giving Tibet the status of a "protectorate" with high levels of autonomy as was the case during the Qing dynasty. Prior to this period, the British had expanded their influence from neighboring India into Tibet via the Treaty of Lhasa. At the same time, Tibet and Mongolia signed a treaty proclaiming mutual recognition of their independence from China, although the Government of the Republic of China did not recognize its legitimacy. With its proclamation of independence and conduct of its own internal and external affairs in this period, Tibet is regarded as a "de facto independent state" as per international law, although its independence was not formally recognized by any foreign power.

In 1931 and again in 1946, the Tibetan government sent emissaries to the Chinese National Assembly to discuss Tibet's status but they came back empty-handed.

After the 13th Dalai Lama's death in 1933, a condolence mission sent to Lhasa by the Nationalist government to start negotiations about Tibet's status was allowed to open an office and remain there, although no agreement was reached.

The era ended after the Nationalist government of China lost the Chinese Civil War against the Chinese Communist Party, when the People's Liberation Army entered Tibet in 1950 and the Seventeen Point Agreement was signed with the Chinese reaffirming China's sovereignty over Tibet the following year.

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