List of nationalizations by country
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This is a list of industries, services, products, or companies that have been nationalized at various times, grouped by country.


List


Argentina

* 1946
Central Bank of Argentina The Central Bank of the Argentine Republic (, BCRA) is the central bank of Argentina, being an autarchic entity. Article 3 of the Organic Charter lists the objectives of this Institution: “The bank aims to promote, to the extent of its powers ...
* 1946 Natural gas services (later privatized in 1992) * 1947 Telephone network (later privatized in 1990) * 1947
Radio networks There are two types of radio network currently in use around the world: the one-to-many (simplex communication) broadcast network commonly used for public information and mass media, mass-media entertainment, and the two-way radio (Duplex (teleco ...
(later privatized between 1980 and 1993) * 1948
Rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
(privatized between 1991 and 1999) * 1959
Oil reserves An oil is any chemical polarity, nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobe, hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilicity, lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable ...
(the state oil enterprise, YPF, had been established in 1922; mineral resources were nationalized with Article 40 of the 1949 Constitution; the latter was abrogated in 1956, but oil was renationalized in 1958 and private firms operated afterward via leases) * 1949 Port administration (privatized in 1992) * 1949 Merchant marine (privatized in 1991) * 1951 LR3 TV Canal 7 (the first and only existing television network in the country at the time; despite not being founded by the state itself, it began as a state-owned venture. It was briefly privatized in 1954 and renationalized in 1955) * 1952 Buenos Aires Metro (operations privatized in 1994) * 1958
Electric utilities An electric utility, or a power company, is a company in the electric power industry (often a public utility) that engages in electricity generation and Electricity retailing, distribution of electricity for sale generally in a regulated market. El ...
(privatized in 1992) * 1974
Television networks A television broadcaster or television network is a telecommunications network for the distribution of television show, television content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations, pay television providers or ...
(privatized between 1982 and 1998) * 1980 Austral Líneas Aéreas (privatized in 1987, renationalized in 2008) * 2003
Postal service The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal sy ...
renationalized (state-owned between 1949 and 1997) * 2006 AySA, the water utility serving
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
(its state-owned precursor, OSN, was established in 1912 and privatized in 1993) * 2008 Aerolíneas Argentinas renationalized (state-owned between 1949 and 1990) * 2008
Pension fund A pension fund, also known as a superannuation fund in some countries, is any program, fund, or scheme which provides pension, retirement income. The U.S. Government's Social Security Trust Fund, which oversees $2.57 trillion in assets, is the ...
s (transferred to ANSES) * 2010 FAdeA (state-owned between 1927 and 1995) * 2012 YPF renationalized (state-owned between 1922 and 1993) * 2013 Metrogas (part of the ''Gas del Estado'' state-owned enterprise privatized in 1992) * 2015
Rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
(renationalization of commuter lines began under the auspices of SOFSE in 2013)


Australia

*1946 The South Australian Government nationalised the Adelaide Electricity Supply Company into the
Electricity Trust of South Australia The Electricity Trust of South Australia (ETSA) was the Government of South Australia, South Australian Government-owned monopoly vertically integrated electrical power industry, electricity provider from 1946 until its privatisation in 1999. ...
*1948 The government attempted to nationalize the
banking industry {{set category, first= industries (branches of an economy), alternative=industries, topic=Industry (economics) For other meanings of "industries", see :Industries. ...
, but the act was declared unconstitutional by the
High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation. The High Court was establi ...
in the case '' Bank of New South Wales v Commonwealth''.The Constitutional Centre of Western Australia , The Role of The High Court
/ref> *2023 The
Government of the Australian Capital Territory The Government of the Australian Capital Territory, also referred to as the Australian Capital Territory Government or ACT Government, is the executive branch of the Australian Capital Territory. The leader of the party or coalition with the Con ...
nationalised Calvary Hospital, Canberra.


Bahrain

*1975-1980 Nationalisation in three steps of Bahrain Petroleum Company, originally founded in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
in 1929 by
Standard Oil of California Chevron Corporation is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, energy corporation predominantly specializing in Petroleum industry, oil and gas. The second-largest Successors of Standard Oil, direct descenda ...
. The company had found oil in
Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...
in 1932 and was wholly nationalized 48 years later.


Bangladesh

*1971 The State Bank of Bangladesh was founded by nationalization of the private shares in the eastern section of the State Bank of Pakistan. *1972-1974 Through this three years period after independence of
Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...
in 1971, the government had taken over 786 industrial undertakings. Included in this number, the government nationalized 245 enterprises in 11 industries: 76 jute mills, 52 textile mills, 30 textile tanneries, 17 engineering companies, 16 food producers, 15 sugar mills, 10 paper industry companies, 9 companies within the fertilizer, pharma and chemical industries, 8 steel companies, 6 oil and gas companies, and 6 forest industry undertakings. A further 375 state-owned enterprises were founded in the same period, but 320 of them were placed for later re-privatization to Bengali owners, of which 211 had been privatized by 1978. *1972 On March 26, 1972, the Government of Bangladesh formally took over all assets having belonged to (West) Pakistani citizens. Many enterprises expropriated 1971-1974 were owned by West Pakistanis (citizens of present-day
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
) who had fled the country during war and liberation. This included all jute exports and 6 private shipping companies. *1972 On March 26, 1972, the government nationalised 12 commercial banks belonging to both (West) Pakistani and Bangladeshi shareholders. *1975 A reversal of policies started, with large-scale divestment of state-owned enterprises and reimbursement of compensation to previous private owners. *1977 This year, a total of 371 of the previously nationalized enterprises, still remained under state ownership. Approximately 400 companies had been de-nationalised and transferred to private owners.


Bolivia

Most utilities were nationally owned before being privatized in 1994. * 2006 On May 1, 2006, newly elected
Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...
n president Evo Morales announced plans to nationalize the country's natural gas industry; foreign-based companies were given six months to renegotiate their existing contracts. * 2008 On May 1, 2008, the nationalization of Bolivia's leading telecommunications company Entel was completed, previously having been owned by Telecom Italia. * 2010 On May 1, 2010, the government nationalized the country's main hydroelectric plant, thereby assuming control over most of Bolivia's electrical generation and end-user sales. * 2012 On May 1, 2012, the Morales government nationalized
power grid ''Power Grid'' is the English-language version of the second edition of the multiplayer German-style board game ''Funkenschlag'', designed by Friedemann Friese and first released in 2004. ''Power Grid'' was released by Rio Grande Games. I ...
operator ''Transportadora de Electricidad'' (''TDE''), until then 99.94% owned by Red Eléctrica de España. TDE owns and runs 73% of the power lines in Bolivia.


Canada

* 1918
Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...
s, created from several systems nationwide following their bankruptcy during and after World War I, and since privatised in 1995. (
Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada, by size and passengers carried. Air Canada is headquartered in the borough of Saint-Laurent in the city of Montreal. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and cha ...
,
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...
, Marine Atlantic and
Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada. As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight ...
(still government-owned) were all subsidiaries of the company at one time) * 1943 Eldorado Resources, private radium and uranium mining company nationalized by the Canadian federal government after it was contracted to supply uranium for the
Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the ...
. Privatized after merging with the Saskatchewan Mining Development Corporation to form Cameco in 1988. * 1944
Hydro-Québec Hydro-Québec () is a Canadian Crown corporations of Canada#Quebec, Crown corporation public utility headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. It manages the electricity generation, generation, electric power transmission, transmission and electricity ...
, first created through partial nationalisation of electricity concerns around
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
in
Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
by the Liberal government of Adélard Godbout. During the
Quiet Revolution The Quiet Revolution () was a period of socio-political and socio-cultural transformation in French Canada, particularly in Quebec, following the 1960 Quebec general election. This period was marked by the secularization of the government, the ...
of the early 1960s, the remaining 11 privately owned electricity companies in Quebec were nationalised by the Liberal government of Jean Lesage. * 1975 Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, Province of Saskatchewan nationalised part of the potash industry. Many potash producers agreed to sell to the government instead of being nationalised.


Chile

* 1972 Chilean nationalization of copper mining industry, after a unanimous modification to the Constitution by the Chilean Congress on 11 July 1971, nationalising the operations of the US companies Anaconda, Kennecott, and Cerro. The act was carried out by the
Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
government of Salvador Allende.


China

In the period of Republican China,
Sun Yat-sen Sun Yat-senUsually known as Sun Zhongshan () in Chinese; also known by Names of Sun Yat-sen, several other names. (; 12 November 186612 March 1925) was a Chinese physician, revolutionary, statesman, and political philosopher who founded the Republ ...
had sweeping land reforms and nationalized many industries. The rise of the People's Republic of China under
Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...
nationalized all private assets, restricted private ownership, even of land, and the state determined output and price levels. Some of these were reversed after
Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping also Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Teng Hsiao-p'ing; born Xiansheng (). (22 August 190419 February 1997) was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary, and political theorist who served as the paramount leader of the People's R ...
loosed restrictions in 1978, allowing private and foreign investment to enter the country. After the end of martial law period and democratization in Taiwan, the Republic of China began to privatize many government-owned assets, even those owned by the
Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...
.


Colombia

* 1998 Granahorrar Bank nationalization


Croatia

On the break-up of Yugoslavia, The HDZ government nationalized private agricultural property and rezoned it under the guise of forest statesmanship, when their publicly professed agenda was to only complete the nationalization of the communists. Much of this land is in the process of being reinstated and the model rethought.


Cuba

After the
Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...
of 1959 the Castro government gradually expropriated all foreign-owned private companies, most of which were owned by American corporations and individuals. The immediate trigger was the refusal by American-owned oil refineries to refine the
crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring u ...
received from the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. Faced with the prospect of no oil, Cuba nationalized the three American refineries. This action escalated the US embargo on Cuba, which responded by nationalizing all American owned property. Eventually all Cuban private property was nationalized. Beginning in 1966, the Castro government nationalized all remaining privately owned businesses in Cuba, down to the level of
street vendors A hawker is a vendor of merchandise that can be easily transported; the term is roughly synonymous with costermonger or peddler. In most places where the term is used, a hawker sells inexpensive goods, handicrafts, or food items. Whether stationa ...
. The process accelerated on March 14, 1968, with a new "revolutionary offensive." Castro had offered bonds at 4.5% interest over twenty years to U.S. companies, but U.S. ambassador Philip Bonsal requested the compensation up front and rejected the offer. A minor amount of $1.3 million, was paid to U.S. interests before deteriorating relations ended all cooperation between the two governments. The U.S. established a registry of claims against the Cuban government, ultimately developing files on 5,911 specific companies. The Cuban government has refused to discuss the compensation of U.S. claims and the U.S. government continues to insist on compensation for U.S. companies.


Czechoslovakia

* 1945 Large manufacturing enterprise nationalized by the National Front government. * 1948 All manufacturing enterprises nationalized by
Klement Gottwald Klement Gottwald (; 23 November 1896 – 14 March 1953) was a Czech communist politician, who was the leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia from 1929 until his death in 1953 – titled as general secretary until 1945 and as chairman f ...
's
Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
government after the 1948 Czechoslovak coup d'état.


Egypt

* 1956 In the
Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, also known as the Second Arab–Israeli War, the Tripartite Aggression in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel, was a British–French–Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. Israel invaded on 29 October, having done so w ...
, on July 26, 1956
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
ian President
Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 a ...
nationalized the
Suez Canal Company Suez (, , , ) is a seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest city of the ...
's assets in Egypt, including the
Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...
, and placed them under the control of the
Suez Canal Authority Suez Canal Authority (SCA) is an Egyptian state-owned authority which owns, operates and maintains the Suez Canal. It was set up by the Egyptian government to replace the Suez Canal Company in the 1950s which resulted in the Suez Crisis. After ...
.


Finland

* 1993 A minor part of the banking sector is nationalized, Omaisuudenhoitoyhtiö Arsenal was created to solve the banking crisis. *2015: Talvivaara Sotkamo Ltd which operated a nickel mine in Sotkamo, went bankrupt in November 2014, and the Finnish state immediately took over the mine in order to stabilize the mine's operations in order to prevent environmental damage. Terrafame, which is wholly owned by the Finnish state, bought the mine from the bankruptcy estate for one euro in August 2015. Since then, efforts have been made to privatize the mine. The state's holding in November 2020 was still 71.2%.


France

Nationalisation dates back to the 'regies' or state monopolies organized under the ''
Ancien Régime ''Ancien'' may refer to * the French word for " ancient, old" ** Société des anciens textes français * the French for "former, senior" ** Virelai ancien ** Ancien Régime ** Ancien Régime in France {{disambig ...
'', for example, the monopoly on tobacco sales. Communications companies France Telecom and La Poste are relics of the state postal and telecommunications monopolies. There was a major expansion of the nationalised sector following World War II.Myers (1949) A second wave followed in 1982. * 1938 Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français (
SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...
) (originally a 51% State holding, increased to 100% in 1982) * 1945 Several nationalisations in France, including most important banks ( Crédit lyonnais, le Comptoir national d'escompte de Paris and the Société générale among others), the schemes and companies comprising the insurance sector, and the car-maker
Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...
. The firm was seized for Louis Renault's alleged collaboration with
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
, although this condemnation was without judgement and after his death, making this case remarkable and rare. A later judgement (1949) admitted that Renault's plant never collaborated. Renault was successful and profitable whilst nationalised and remains successful today, after having been partially privatized in 1996. France increased its 15% minority share holding in Renault to 19% in 2015. * 1946 Charbonnages de France, Electricite de France (EdF), Gaz de France (GdF) nationalized as établissements public à caractère industriel et commercial * 1982 François Mitterrand's proposals in the 110 Propositions for France and alliance with Jean-Pierre Chevènement's Socialist Party faction CERES, committed France to an explicitly socialist ‘rupture with capitalism’. Full nationalisation (100%): the Compagnie Générale d'Electricité, the Compagnie Générale de Constructions Téléphoniques, Pechiney-Ugine-Kuhlmann, Rhône-Poulenc, Saint-Gobain-Pont-à-Mousson, Thompson-Brandt. Partial nationalisation (51%+): Dassault, Honeywell-Bull,
Matra Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a major French industrial Conglomerate (company), conglomerate. Its business activities covered a wide range of industries, notably aerospace manufacturer, aerospace, defence industry, def ...
, Roussel-Uclaf, Sacilor, Usinor. Thirty-nine banks, two financial houses, and the remaining 49% of the SNCF were also nationalised, taking the size of the French state to unprecedented levels within a year of Mitterrand's
election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...
as president in 1981. The Paris regional transport operator,
RATP Group The RATP Group () is a French state-owned enterprise (Établissement public à caractère industriel et commercial, EPIC) that operates public transport systems primarily in Paris, France. Headquartered in Paris, it originally operated under th ...
, can also be counted as a nationalised industry.


Germany

The
railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to roa ...
were nationalised after World War I. Partial privatisation of Deutsche Bahn was planned in 2008 but stopped due to the World Economic Crisis. As of 2020 there are no plans for privatisation. Large sections of the mining,
banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...
, and shipping industries either became dependent on government money or were placed entirely under care of the
Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...
in the wake of the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
; these were later reprivatized between 1934 and 1937 by the Nazi regime. In
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
, private businessmen had the ability to influence government policy, and most of them remained committed to the principle of ''Gewerbefreiheit'' – business freedom – seeking to prevent any nationalization of industry. R. J. Overy, ''War and Economy in the Third Reich'', Oxford University Press, 1994, p. 16 Nevertheless, as the Nazi government confiscated the assets of conquered nations during World War II, over 500 state enterprises were expanded to absorb those assets, one of the largest being the Hermann Göring Works (iron), mostly operated by the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
apparatus. In
East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
, most enterprises were nationalised in the years following World War II. After
German reunification German reunification () was the process of re-establishing Germany as a single sovereign state, which began on 9 November 1989 and culminated on 3 October 1990 with the dissolution of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic and the int ...
, an agency called Treuhand was established to return them to private ownership, however many were liquidated. * 2008 Renationalization of the " Bundesdruckerei" (Federal Print Office), which had been privatized in 2001. * 2022 Nationalised Gazprom Germania assets as Securing Energy for Europe * 2022 Nationalised Rosneft's German assets as Securing Energy for Europe


Greece

* 1974 Nationalization of Olympic Airlines, main airline of Greece. Its founder,
Aristotle Onassis Aristotle Socrates Onassis (, ; , ; 20 January 1906 – 15 March 1975) was a Greek and Argentine business magnate. He amassed the world's largest privately-owned shipping fleet and was one of the world's richest and most famous men. He was marri ...
, sold all his shares to the Greek state. * 2011 Proton Bank is effectively nationalized in the midst of the
Greek government-debt crisis Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family ** Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kn ...


Guernsey

* 2003
Aurigny Air Services Aurigny Air Services Limited company, Limited (pronounced ), commonly known as Aurigny, is the flag carrier airline of the Bailiwick of Guernsey with its head office next to Guernsey Airport in the Channel Islands, and wholly owned by the Sta ...
was bought by the
States of Guernsey The States of Guernsey (), officially the States of Deliberation and sometimes referred to as the Government of Guernsey, is the parliament and government of the British Crown dependency of Guernsey. Some laws and ordinances approved by the ...
to keep important routes from the island to
Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport , also known as London Gatwick Airport (), is the Airports of London, secondary international airport serving London, West Sussex and Surrey. It is located near Crawley in West Sussex, south of Central London. In 2024, Gatwic ...
.


Iceland

* 2008 Renationalization of Iceland's largest
commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make a profit. It can also refer to a bank or a division of a larger bank that deals with whol ...
s: Kaupþing, Landsbanki, Glitnir and Icebank. * 2009 Nationalization of Straumur Investment Bank and the
savings bank A savings bank is a financial institution that is not run on a profit-maximizing basis, and whose original or primary purpose is collecting deposits on savings accounts that are invested on a low-risk basis and receive interest. Savings banks ha ...
SPRON.


India

* 1949 (1 January)
Reserve Bank of India Reserve Bank of India, abbreviated as RBI, is the central bank of the Republic of India, and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system and Indian rupee, Indian currency. Owned by the Ministry of Finance (India), Min ...
nationalised. The
Reserve Bank of India Reserve Bank of India, abbreviated as RBI, is the central bank of the Republic of India, and regulatory body responsible for regulation of the Indian banking system and Indian rupee, Indian currency. Owned by the Ministry of Finance (India), Min ...
was state-owned at the time of Indian independence. * 1953 Air India under the Air Corporations Act 1953. * 1955 Imperial Bank of India and its subsidiaries ( State Bank of India and its subsidiaries) * 1969 Nationalization of 14 Indian banks. * 1972 Nationalisation and restructuring of 107 insurance companies under the
General Insurance Corporation of India General Insurance Corporation, (abbreviated as GIC), is an Indian Public Sector Undertakings in India, public sector Reinsurance, reinsurance company, headquarters in Mumbai, India. It was incorporated on 22 November 1972 under Companies Act, ...
. * 1973 Coal industry under Coal India Limited and the oil and gas industry under the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. * 1980 Another six banks nationalized.


Indonesia

* 1953 Bank of Java nationalized, after nationalization this bank became Bank Indonesia * 1957 During the height of Western New Guinea dispute, Dutch companies were nationalized. * 1964 During the height of Konfrontasi, British companies were nationalized. * 1998 Four banks were nationalized as a result of the
1997 Asian financial crisis The 1997 Asian financial crisis gripped much of East Asia, East and Southeast Asia during the late 1990s. The crisis began in Thailand in July 1997 before spreading to several other countries with a ripple effect, raising fears of a worldwide eco ...
: Bank Danamon, Bank BCA, Bank Tiara Asia, and Bank PDFCI.


Iran

* 1953
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
ian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh nationalized the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in Iran. After the 1953 Iranian coup d'état it was reprivatized as an international
consortium A consortium () is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations, or governments (or any combination of these entities) with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a ...
eventually known as the " Seven Sisters." * 1953
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
ian Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh nationalized all buses in Iran.


Ireland

Railways were nationalised in the 1940s as Córas Iompair Éireann. * 2007 On 3 August 2007, the Irish government were offered a stake in Eircom's copper network infrastructure.Eircom and State in broadband swap?
/ref> Ireland's telephone networks were privatised in 1999. * 2009 On 16 January 2009, the Irish Government nationalised Anglo Irish Bank to secure the bank's viability.Government nationalises 'fragile' Anglo Irish Bank
/ref> * 2010 State-owned Anglo Irish Bank is to take majority control of one of Ireland's largest companies QUINN group bringing it under Public ownership.Anglo Irish Bank's €700m Quinn plan
/ref>


Israel

* 1983 Nationalization of the major banks: Bank Hapoalim, Bank Leumi, Discount Bank, Mizrachi Bank due to the Bank stock crisis that struck in 1983.


Italy

* 1905 The railways were nationalised as Ferrovie dello Stato. * 1978 The formation of the National Health Service provided free healthcare to all citizens, still some private spending but 77% is public. The regime of
Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...
extended nationalisation, creating the Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale (IRI) as a State holding company for struggling firms, including the car maker Alfa Romeo. A parallel body, Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi (
Eni Eni is an Italian oil and gas corporation. Eni or ENI may refer to: Businesses and organisations * Escuela Nacional de Inteligencia, the Argentine intelligence academy * Groupe des écoles nationales d’ingénieurs (Groupe ENI), a French engi ...
) was set up to manage State oil and gas interests.
Fascist Italy Fascist Italy () is a term which is used in historiography to describe the Kingdom of Italy between 1922 and 1943, when Benito Mussolini and the National Fascist Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictatorship. Th ...
had nationalized over three-quarters of its economy by 1939, more so than any nation other than the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. Mussolini had earlier boasted in 1934 that “Three-fourths of Italian economy, industrial and agricultural, is in the hands of the state." By 1939 the Italian state had taken over four-fifths of Italy's shipping and shipbuilding, three-fourths of pig iron production, and nearly half of the steel industry.


Japan

* 1906 Railway Nationalization Act of nationalized 17 railway companies to form the nationwide railway network that was later called Japanese National Railways. * 2003 Resona Holdings was effectively nationalized after the bank's capital adequacy went too low. * 2010
Japan Airlines Japan Airlines (JAL) is the flag carrier airline of Japan. JAL is headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. Its main hubs are Tokyo's Narita International Airport, Narita and Haneda Airport, Haneda airports, as well as secondary hubs in Osaka's Kansai ...
was nationalized after its bankruptcy. * 2012 Tokyo Electric Power Company was partially nationalized by the Tokyo Metropolis after the
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster The Fukushima nuclear accident was a major nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan, which began on 11 March 2011. The cause of the accident was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which r ...
.


Korea

* 1946 USAMGIK nationalized all railroad companies in southern Korea and formed the Department of Transportation. These are now a part of
Korail The Korea Railroad Corporation () is the national railway operator in South Korea. It is branded as KORAIL () and changed its official Korean name () in November 2019. Currently, KORAIL is a public corporation, managed by Ministry of Land, ...
. Many lands, enterprises and industries were also nationalized by the
Soviet Civil Administration The Soviet Civil Administration (SCA) was the government of the northern half of Korea from 24 August 1945 to 9 September 1948 though governed concurrently after the setup of the Provisional People's Committee for North Korea in 1946. Even thou ...
and the Worker's Party-dominated
provisional government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revoluti ...
in northern Korea after World War II, which later became the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
in 1948.


Lithuania

In 2011 Snoras bank was nationalized.


Latvia

In 2008 Parex Bank was nationalized.


Malta

* 1974 Bank of Valletta is founded following nationalisation of the National Bank of Malta


Mexico

* 1938 The Expropriation of the Petroleum Industry: President
Lázaro Cárdenas Lázaro Cárdenas del Río (; 21 May 1895 – 19 October 1970) was a Mexican army officer and politician who served as president of Mexico from 1934 to 1940. Previously, he served as a general in the Constitutional Army during the Mexican Revo ...
issued a decree that the petroleum companies were in rebellion against the government and under the powers granted him under the Expropriation Act passed by the
Congress of Mexico A congress is a formal meeting of the Representative democracy, representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political party, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle Engl ...
in late 1936 expropriated them. March 19, 1938, union personnel took control of the properties, eventually reorganizing it as
Pemex Pemex (a portmanteau of Petróleos Mexicanos, which translates to ''Mexican Petroleum'' in English; ) is the Mexico, Mexican State ownership, state-owned Petroleum industry, petroleum corporation managed and operated by the government of Mexico, ...
. * 1960 President
Adolfo López Mateos Adolfo López Mateos (; 26 May 1909 – 22 September 1969) was a Mexican politician and lawyer who served as President of Mexico from 1958 to 1964. Previously, he served as Secretariat of Labor and Social Welfare, Secretary of Labor and Social ...
nationalized the electrical system on September 21, 1960, under the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE). President Carlos Salinas de Gortari reprivatized the system in 1992, although the state-owned CFE remains influential. * 1982 The nationalization of the Mexican
banking system A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...
made by President José López Portillo in response to the Latin American debt crisis. Under the Carlos Salinas de Gortari presidency (1988–1994) the nationalized banks were
privatized Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...
very rapidly between 1991 and 1992 to Mexican family groups.


Nepal

* 1951 The government after a revolution nationalized private and communal
forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...
s throughout the country.


The Netherlands

* 2008 The state nationalizes the Dutch activities of Belgian-Dutch banking and insurance company Fortis, which had come in solvability problems due to the
2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...
. * 2013 SNS Bank is nationalized. It had been in trouble for more than a year, not able to find a private investor. On February 1, 2013, Jeroen Dijselbloem ( Dutch Minister of Finance) declares SNS nationalized.


New Zealand

*1945 The Bank of New Zealand was nationalised. It was later sold to the National Australia Bank in 1992. * 2001 Government purchased the
Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
railway network from Tranz Rail. * 2003 The Labour Government took an 80% stake in near-bankrupt national air carrier
Air New Zealand Air New Zealand Limited () is the flag carrier of New Zealand. Based in Auckland, the airline operates scheduled passenger flights to 20 domestic and 28 international destinations in 18 countries, primarily within the Pacific Rim. The airline h ...
in exchange for a large financial infusion. * 2004 The rest of the country's rail network is purchased from Toll New Zealand, formerly Tranz Rail. A new
state owned enterprise A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a business entity created or owned by a national or local government, either through an executive order or legislation. SOEs aim to generate profit for the government, prevent private sector monopolies, provide goo ...
, ONTRACK, was established to maintain the rail infrastructure. * 2008 The
rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, Railroad car#Freight cars, freight and Passenger railroad car, passenger cars (or coaches) ...
and ferries of Toll New Zealand was purchased, bringing the rail system under state ownership, renamed KiwiRail.


Pakistan

* 1972: On January 2, 1972,
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, after
East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...
broke away, announced the nationalisation of all major industries, including iron and steel, heavy engineering, heavy electricals, petrochemicals, cement and public utilities except textiles industry and lands. The process was effectively ended after the overthrow of Prime Minister Bhutto in Operation Fair Play. *2011: On December 15, 2011,
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
Yousaf Raza Gilani nationalized all privately held shares in PIA,
Railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to roa ...
, and Steel Mills, in order to protect capital flight of the state-owned enterprises. Pakistan Railways as well as Pakistan International Airlines. The current nationalization programme remains intact to restructured and made profitable while remaining within government ownership.


Philippines

During the term of Philippine President
Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...
, important companies such as Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT),
Philippine Airlines Philippine Airlines (PAL) is the flag carrier of the Philippines. Headquartered at the Philippine National Bank, PNB Financial Center in Pasay, the airline was founded in 1941 and is the oldest operating commercial airline in Asia. Philippine ...
,
Meralco The Manila Electric Company, also known as Meralco (, , stylized in uppercase), is an electric power distribution company in the Philippines. It is Metro Manila's only electric power distributor and holds the power distribution franchise for 3 ...
and the Manila Hotel were nationalized. Other companies were sometimes absorbed into these government-owned corporations, as well as other companies, such as National Power Corporation (Napocor) and the Philippine National Railways, which in their own right are monopolies (exceptions are Meralco and the Manila Hotel). Today, these companies have been reprivatized and some, such as PLDT and Philippine Airlines, have been de-monopolized. Others, like government-owned and controlled corporation Napocor, are in the process of privatization.


Poland

*1946: Following World War II the Soviet-sponsored
Provisional Government of National Unity The Provisional Government of National Unity (, TRJN) was a puppet government formed by the decree of the State National Council (, KRN) on 28 June 1945 as a result of reshuffling the Soviet-backed Provisional Government of the Republic of Pola ...
nationalized all enterprises with over 50 employees under the Three-Year Plan.


Portugal

* 1974: In the years following the
Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution (), code-named Operation Historic Turn (), also known as the 25 April (), was a military coup by military officers that overthrew the Estado Novo government on 25 April 1974 in Portugal. The coup produced major socia ...
, the Junta de Salvação Nacional and Provisional Governments nationalized all the banking, insurance, petrol and industrial companies. Among those companies were Companhia União Fabril (CUF), the assets of the Champalimaud family and
SONAE Sonae is a multinational business group headquartered in Maia, Portugal. It operates in 90 countries, working in various sectors, among which retail (food, electronics, and fashion), real estate, media and telecommunications, technology investme ...
. Along with the telecommunications companies, which were state-owned even before the Revolution, many of the nationalized companies were reprivatized in the 1980s and 1990s. In the agricultural sector, according to government estimates, about of agricultural land were occupied between April 1974 and December 1975 in the name of land reform; about 32% of the occupations were ruled illegal. In January 1976, the government pledged to restore the illegally occupied land to its owners, and in 1977, it promulgated the Land Reform Review Law. Restoration of illegally occupied land began in 1978. * 2008: BPN - Banco Português de Negócios bank nationalised to prevent its collapse.


Romania

* 1948 With the Decree 119 of June 11, 1948, the new Communist regime nationalised all private companies and their assets leading to the transformation of the economy from a
market economy A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production, and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand. The major characteristic of a mark ...
to a
planned economy A planned economy is a type of economic system where investment, production and the allocation of capital goods takes place according to economy-wide economic plans and production plans. A planned economy may use centralized, decentralized, ...
. * 1950 With the Decree 92 of April 19, 1950, a huge number of private houses and lands are confiscated.


Russia/Soviet Union

* 1918 All manufacturing enterprises, many retailing enterprises, any private enterprises, the whole banking sector, agrarian sector, transportation sector, mining sector, and others nationalized by the new
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...
under War Communism. Later the government of
Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...
introduced the New Economic Policy that shifted the country somewhat towards market economics until the end of the revolutionary period and
Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
's acquisition of power. * 1998 The Yeltsin government began seizing
Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐsˈprom) is a Russian State-owned enterprise, majority state-owned multinational Energy industry, energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. The Gazprom name is a contract ...
assets, claiming that the company owed back taxes. Privatization of
Gazprom PJSC Gazprom ( rus, Газпром, , ɡɐsˈprom) is a Russian State-owned enterprise, majority state-owned multinational Energy industry, energy corporation headquartered in the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg. The Gazprom name is a contract ...
from the mid-1990s had been reduced to 38.37% with the intention of achieving full
privatization Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...
. However, the stake of the
Russian Government The Russian Government () or fully titled the Government of the Russian Federation () is the highest federal executive governmental body of the Russian Federation. It is accountable to the president of the Russian Federation and controlled by ...
in Gazprom has since been increased to 50% with
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
's plan to increase the stake to a controlling position. Gazprom is also buying up both Russian and other international utility companies. * 2013 The space industry is renationalized. The
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
created a new corporation— United Rocket and Space Corporation—in August 2013 because of a string of recent rocket launch failures. According to
Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...
Dmitry Rogozin, "The failure-prone space sector is so troubled that it needs state supervision to overcome its problems." * Since 2023, Russia has nationalized 15 defense companies valued at approximately 333 billion rubles ($3.6 billion), according to Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov. This initiative is part of the government's effort to regain control over the defense industry amid the ongoing conflict with Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin and other officials have denied broader economic nationalizatio


Saudi Arabia

* The government nationalized the oil producer company Aramco in 1980.


Spain

* 1927-1930 Petroleum industry was nationalised. * 1941
Railways Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to roa ...
were nationalised, as RENFE, by the
Francoist state Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of History of Spain, Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . ...
in the aftermath of the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
. * 1944. Nationalization of the Airline
Iberia The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, compri ...
under the Instituto Nacional de Industria. * 1945. The State buys a 79% share of telephone operator Telefónica. * 1983 Nationalization without compensation of Rumasa .


Sri Lanka

* 1 November 1957 Katunayake air base and Trincomalee naval base taken from the British. * 1 January 1958 Bus transport nationalised, creating the Ceylon Transport Board. * 1 August 1958 Port of Colombo nationalised, creating the Port (Cargo) Corporation. * 14 January 1961 Private schools nationalised. * 27 July 1961 Bank of Ceylon nationalised. * 1961 Insurance industry nationalised, creating the Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation. * 1961 American and British oil companies nationalised, creating Ceylon Petroleum Corporation. * 1971 Graphite mines nationalised, creating the State Graphite Corporation. Partially privatised in the 1990s. * 1972 Locally owned tea, rubber and coconut plantations nationalised. * 23 July 1973 Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited nationalised. * 1975 Foreign owned plantations nationalised. * August 1977 Times of Ceylon Limited nationalised. * 2009 Seylan Bank nationalised to prevent its collapse. * 2011 The Expropriation Act passed. The government will take over "underperforming or underutilized assets of 37 enterprises".


Sweden

* 1939-1948 Nationalisation of most of the private railway companies. * 1957 The mining company LKAB is nationalized. The state had owned 50% of the corporation's shares, with options to buy the remainder, since 1907.A Historic Journey
Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara Aktiebolag, April 2006
* 1970s The Swedish government nationalised the
pharmacies Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...
, where the state-owned Apoteksbolaget AB was given a retail monopoly. * 1992 A minor part of the banking sector is nationalized.Stopping a Financial Crisis, the Swedish Way
/ref>


Tanzania

* 1967 The Arusha Declaration was proclaimed in 1967 by President
Julius Nyerere Julius Kambarage Nyerere (; 13 April 1922 – 14 October 1999) was a Tanzanian politician, anti-colonial activist, and political theorist. He governed Tanganyika (1961–1964), Tanganyika as prime minister from 1961 to 1962 and then as presid ...
, which aimed to achieve self-reliance through nationalising key sectors of the economy such as banks, large industries and plantations were therefore nationalised. This failed, worsening Tanzania's economic problems until foreign aid and liberalisation took effect in the 1980s and 1990s.


Turkey

* 1928-1940 After the abolition of
Capitulations of the Ottoman Empire Capitulations of the Ottoman Empire were contracts between the Ottoman Empire and several other Christian powers, particularly France. Turkish capitulations, or Ahidnâmes were generally bilateral acts whereby definite arrangements were enter ...
by the Treaty of Lausanne (1923), foreign concessions were suppressed,
rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
, electric power generation and distribution, telephone network and other big industrial firms were nationalized by Turkish government between 1928 and 1940.


United Kingdom

* 1858
British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
-In the aftermath of the Indian Rebellion, under the provisions of the Government of India Act 1858, the British Government nationalised the East India Company. * 1868 Nationalisation of inland telegraphs under the
General Post Office The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Established in England in the 17th century, the GPO was a state monopoly covering the dispatch of items from a specific ...
with the Telegraph Act 1868. * 1875
Suez Canal Company Suez (, , , ) is a seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest city of the ...
- The Egyptian share in the company was bought by the government. * 1912 Nationalisation of
National Telephone Company The National Telephone Company (NTC) was a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, British telephone company, which from 1881 to 1911 consolidated smaller local companies in the early years of telephone adoption. The British government natio ...
under the GPO, apart from
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
and Hull. The Portsmouth telephone service was nationalised the following year. * 1916 Liquor Trade - The nationalisation of pubs and breweries in
Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...
, Gretna, Cromarty and Enfield under the State Management Scheme; mainly an attempt to restricting alcohol consumption by armaments factory workers. The scheme was
privatised Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation wh ...
by asset transfer in 1973.http://www.historytoday.com/dt_main_allatonce.asp?gid=9859&g9859=x&g9857=x&g30026=x&g20991=x&g21010=x&g19965=x&g19963=x&amid=9859 * 1926
Central Electricity Board The United Kingdom Central Electricity Board (CEB) was established by the Electricity (Supply) Act 1926. It had the duty to supply electricity to authorised electricity undertakers, to determine which power stations would be 'selected' stations ...
introduced under Electricity (Supply) Act 1926 established the National Grid and set up a national standard for electricity supply. * 1927 British Broadcasting Company (a privately owned company) became the
British Broadcasting Corporation The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public broadcasting, public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved in ...
(
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
), a public corporation operating under a
Royal Charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...
. * 1933 London Transport * 1938 Nationalisation of UK Coal Royalties under the Coal Commission by the Coal Act 1938.SN 1825 -Nationalisation of the UK Coal Royalties, 1938 : Compensation Payments
/ref> * 1939
British Overseas Airways Corporation British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the United Kingdom, British state-owned national airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II ...
(BOAC), later
British Airways British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...
- combining the private British Airways Ltd and the state owned Imperial Airways and placing its control under National Air Communications. * 1939-45 During World War II, much of British industry was subjected to close regulation or control, although not nationalised as such. * 1943 North of Scotland Hydro-Electricity Board * 1945-51 The Labour Party comes to power in the Attlee ministry with a program for nationalising weak sectors of the economy. * 1946 Coal industry under the National Coal Board with the
Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946 The Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946 (9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 59) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which nationalised, or brought into state control, the coal industry in the United Kingdom. I ...
. * 1946
Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...
- its private shareholders who were bought out by the state. * 1947
Central Electricity Generating Board The Central Electricity Generating Board (CEGB) was responsible for electricity generation, transmission and bulk sales in England and Wales from 1958 until privatisation of the electricity industry in the 1990s. It was established on 1 Januar ...
and area electricity boards. Privatized in the 1990s.Brady, ''Crisis in Britain '' pp 132-8 * 1947 Cable & Wireless Ltd - the latter had had private shareholders who were bought out by the state. * 1948
National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...
created taking over hospitals and making medical services free by the
National Health Service Act 1946 The National Health Service Act 1946 ( 9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 81) came into effect on 5 July 1948 and created the National Health Service in England and Wales thus being the first implementation of the Beveridge model. Though the title 'National Hea ...
which came into effect in 1948. * 1948 National rail, inland (not marine) water transport, some road haulage, some road passenger transport and Thomas Cook & Son under the British Transport Commission. Separate elements operated as British Railways, British Road Services, and British Waterways. * 1949 Gas Act 1948 nationalises local authority and private gas supply undertakings in England, Scotland and Wales * 1951 Iron and Steel Industry under the Iron and Steel Corporation of Great Britain (denationalised by Conservative Government in 1955) * 1967 British Steel Corporation Re-nationalized (Reprivatized by the Conservative Government in September 1988) * 1969 National Bus Company, combining former interests of the British Transport Commission with others acquired from the British Electric Traction group. * 1969
Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...
Corporation created by the Post Office Act 1969. * 1971 Rolls-Royce (1971) Ltd - The strategically important aero-engine part of the recently bankrupt
Rolls-Royce Limited Rolls-Royce Limited was a British luxury car and later an aero-engine manufacturing business established in 1904 in Manchester by the partnership of Charles Rolls and Henry Royce. Building on Royce's good reputation established with his Crane ( ...
. * 1973 Water Act 1973 nationalises local authority water supply undertakings in
England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...
* 1973 British Gas Corporation created, replacing regional gas boards. * 1974 British Petroleum - the combination of a 50% stake bought by
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
as First Lord of the Admiralty after World War I with around a 25% stake acquired by the
Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...
from Burmah Oil made the government directly or indirectly BP's majority shareholder, though commercial independence was maintained. The shares were all sold during the 1980s. * 1975 National Enterprise Board - a State holding company for full or partial ownership of industrial undertakings * 1976
British Leyland British Leyland was a British automotive engineering and manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate formed in 1968 as British Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd (BLMC), following the merger of Leyland Motors and British Motor Holdings. It wa ...
Motor Corporation - became ''British Leyland'' upon nationalization under the National Enterprise Board. Later became known simply as the holding company "BL Ltd", it was later reorganised into several standalone businesses - the best known being Austin Rover, Leyland Trucks,
Freight Rover Freight Rover was a British commercial vehicle manufacturer based in the Washwood Heath area of Birmingham, England. History Freight Rover was created as a division of the Land Rover Group of British Leyland (BL) in 1981, creating a new singl ...
, Land Rover and
Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...
. * 1977
British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft manufacturer, aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer that was formed in 1977. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. ...
- combining the major aircraft companies
British Aircraft Corporation The British Aircraft Corporation (BAC) was a British aircraft manufacturer formed from the government-pressured merger of English Electric, English Electric Aviation Ltd., Vickers-Armstrongs, Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft), the Bristol Aeroplane ...
,
Hawker Siddeley Hawker Siddeley was a group of British manufacturing companies engaged in list of aircraft manufacturers, aircraft production. Hawker Siddeley combined the legacies of several British aircraft manufacturers, emerging through a series of mergers ...
and others. British Shipbuilders - combining the major shipbuilding companies including
Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...
, Govan Shipbuilders, Swan Hunter, Yarrow Shipbuilders under the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977. * 1981 British Telecom (later styled as BT) created, taking control of telecommunications services from Post Office Telecommunications under the British Telecommunications Act 1981. * 1984 Johnson Matthey Bankers - purchased for a nominal sum of £1 by the Thatcher government"What was the last nationalisation?", ''BBC News'', 18 February 2008
/ref> on fears of a banking crisis and sold to Westpac in 1986. * 1990 The Caledonian Steam Packet Co. spun off its ferry arm, Caledonian MacBrayne, with all shares in the new company being purchased by the
Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland (; ), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Scotland Office. The incum ...
. Since Scottish devolution Caledonian MacBrayne has been owned by the
Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...
. * 1997
Docklands Light Railway The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated medium-capacity rail system, light metro system primarily serving the redeveloped London Docklands, Docklands area of London and providing a direct connection between London's two major financi ...
- John Prescott announced to the 1997 Labour Party Conference that he had nationalised this, although it was already in public hands anyway. * 2001
Railtrack Railtrack was a group of companies that owned the railroad, track, railway signalling, signalling, tunnels, bridges, level crossings and all but a handful of the railway station, stations of the Transport in England#Rail, British railway syste ...
- The owner and operator of the railway infrastructure, Railtrack, was not nationalised as such. However, its replacement
Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and railway infrastructure manager, infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. ...
, whilst not a state-owned company, had no shareholders ''(
company limited by guarantee A company limited by guarantee (CLG) is a type of company where the liability of members in the event the company is wound up is limited to a (typically very small) amount listed in the company's articles or constitution. Most have no share ca ...
)'' and was underwritten by the state. Prior to this the government began to make use of a residual shareholding of 0.2% (including voting rights) in Railtrack Group Plc left over from the original sale.House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 12 February 2002 (pt 16)
/ref> * 2003 The Strategic Rail Authority took control of the South Eastern franchise after the failure of the private operator Connex South Eastern. The franchise was re-privatised in 2006 as part of the Integrated Kent franchise. * 2008 Northern Rock -
Nationalization Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with p ...
announced by
Alistair Darling Alistair Maclean Darling, Baron Darling of Roulanish, (28 November 1953 – 30 November 2023) was a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under prime minister Gordon Brown from 2007 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party ...
,
Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...
on 17 February 2008 as 'a temporary measure'. The bank will be run at 'arm's length' as a commercial business and sold to a private buyer in the future. * 2008 Bradford & Bingley (mortgage book only) - announced by
Alistair Darling Alistair Maclean Darling, Baron Darling of Roulanish, (28 November 1953 – 30 November 2023) was a British politician who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer under prime minister Gordon Brown from 2007 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party ...
,
Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and the head of HM Treasury, His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, t ...
on 29 September 2008. The loans part of the company was nationalised, while the commercial bank was sold. * 2008 In October, the
Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland Public Limited Company () is a major retail banking, retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest and Ulster Bank. The Royal Bank of Sco ...
, and the newly merged
HBOS HBOS plc is a banking and insurance company in the United Kingdom, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Lloyds Banking Group, having been taken over in January 2009. It was the holding company for Bank of Scotland, Bank of Scotland plc, which ...
- Lloyds TSB was partly nationalised. The Government took approximately 60% of RBS (later increased to 70%, then 80%) and 40% of HBOS-Lloyds TSB as part of the £500bn bank rescue package. The Lloyds Bank and TSB businesses were operationally demerged in 2013 in preparation for a full demerger and reprivatisation. * 2009 In June the Department for Transport took control of London & Continental Railways. * 2009 On 13 November, Directly Operated Railways, a government company, took over the InterCity East Coast franchise that National Express East Coast had been awarded in 2007 with £1.4 billion premium to be paid over seven years. The nationalised service operated as East Coast and included services from
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
to
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
and
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
. It returned to the private sector in April 2015 with
Virgin Trains East Coast Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC) (legal name East Coast Main Line Company Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom that operated the InterCity East Coast franchise on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, the No ...
* 2013
Cardiff Airport Cardiff Airport () is an airport in Rhoose, Vale of Glamorgan. It is the only airport offering commercial passenger services and cargo services in Wales. The airport is owned by the Welsh Government, operating it at arm's length as a commercia ...
was purchased by the
Welsh Government The Welsh Government ( ) is the Executive (government), executive arm of the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of Cabinet secretary, cabinet secretaries and Minister of State, ministers. It is led by the F ...
from its private owners for £52 million. * 2013 In December it was acknowledged that
Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and railway infrastructure manager, infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. ...
would be reclassified as a "public sector body" in 2014 with its financial liabilities now formally included as part of the national debt. Much debate continues however, whether this still constitutes "nationalisation" in a broader context. *2013 Glasgow Prestwick Airport was purchased by the
Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...
for £1 from its previous owner Infratil. *2018 Following the collapse of Carillion, facilities management at 52 prisons in England was transferred to a new government-owned company, Gov Facilities Services Limited. * 2018 On 24 June
London North Eastern Railway London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is a British train operating company which operates most services on the East Coast Main Line. It is owned by DfT Operator for the Department for Transport (DfT). The company's name echoes that of the Londo ...
took over the InterCity East Coast franchise after
Virgin Trains East Coast Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC) (legal name East Coast Main Line Company Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom that operated the InterCity East Coast franchise on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, the No ...
overbid. *2019 Ferguson Marine Engineering nationalised by the Scottish government. *2020 The ONS announced that private train operating companies were to be temporarily reclassified as "public non-financial corporations" from 1 April due to the government assuming the financial risk of their rail franchises during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. The train operating companies' debt is to be included in public borrowing figures and their employees are to be counted as public sector employees. *2021 In November 2020, the British government announced that AWE plc, operator of the Atomic Weapons Establishment, would become wholly owned by the Ministry of Defence from June 2021. *2021 Probation services in England and Wales for low- and medium-risk offenders brought back under public control after being privatised in 2014. *2021 Steel manufacturer Sheffield Forgemasters is purchased by the Ministry of Defence. *2021 Government-owned
Operator of Last Resort An operator of last resort is a business in the United Kingdom that operates a Passenger rail franchising in Great Britain, railway franchise on behalf of the government when a train operating company (TOC) is no longer able to do so, and it is n ...
takes over train operator Southeastern from its franchise holder Govia. *2021 Bulb Energy nationalised due to increasing wholesale energy costs and the energy price cap. *2022 In January 2022 the Scottish government announced that, from 1 April, Scotrail operations would be transferred from Abellio to a Scottish government owned company. *2024 A semiconductor factory owned by Coherent is purchased by the Ministry of Defence for £20 million. *2024 National Grid ESO purchased nationalised for £630 million and renamed National Energy System Operator. Nationalization was a key feature of the first post
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
Labour government, from 1945 to 1951 under
Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British statesman who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. At ...
. The
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...
and
steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...
industries were just two of many industries or services to be nationalised, while the formation of the
National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...
in 1948 entitled everyone to
universal health care Universal health care (also called universal health coverage, universal coverage, or universal care) is a health care system in which all residents of a particular country or region are assured access to health care. It is generally organized a ...
. The subsequent
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
governments led by
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
,
Anthony Eden Robert Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon (12 June 1897 – 14 January 1977) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1955 until his resignation in 1957. Achi ...
,
Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986), was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Nickn ...
,
Alec Douglas-Home Alexander Frederick Douglas-Home, Baron Home of the Hirsel ( ; 2 July 1903 – 9 October 1995), known as Lord Dunglass from 1918 to 1951 and the Earl of Home from 1951 to 1963, was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative ...
and
Edward Heath Sir Edward Richard George Heath (9 July 1916 – 17 July 2005) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1965 ...
allowed practically all of the nationalized industries and services to remain in public ownership, as part of the Post-War Consensus. However, the election victory of Margaret Thatcher's Conservatives in 1979 saw the vast majority of nationalized industries, services and utilities privatized within a decade, although the National Health Service was allowed to continue. The Labour Party initially opposed Thatcher's privatization, but the party's commitment to nationalisation had been abandoned by the time it swept back into power in 1997 under
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
. However, in February 2008, Blair's successor
Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...
nationalized the failing Northern Rock bank during the
Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.
. The much larger
Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland Public Limited Company () is a major retail banking, retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest and Ulster Bank. The Royal Bank of Sco ...
and Halifax Bank of Scotland were partially nationalized for the same reason in October of that year. After nearly four years in public ownership, Northern Rock was sold to
Virgin Money Virgin Money may refer to: * Virgin Money (brand), a financial services brand owned by Virgin Group * Virgin Money UK, a British banking and financial services company owned by Nationwide Building Society Nationwide Building Society is a Bri ...
and Royal Bank of Scotland agreed a branch sale to the Santander Group in November 2011. However, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds remain in public ownership five years later and in November 2012 the Public Accounts Committee warned that it could be many years before the banks are sold and the £66 billion so far invested in these banks may never be recovered.


British assets nationalised by other countries

* 1940s Argentine railways * 1953 British Petroleum's Iranian assets (actually a nationalisation of part of a part-nationalised company) * 1956 The Egyptian Government nationalised the
Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...
, owned by the Suez Canal Company which was part owned by the British government. * 1962 The
Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
Government nationalised the assets of the partly British-owned
Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New ...
company. * 1975 The
Sri Lanka Government The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) (; ) is a Semi-presidential republic determined by the Constitution of Sri Lanka, Sri Lankan Constitution. It administers the island from both its commercial capital of Colombo and the administrative capital o ...
nationalised the assets of the British-owned
plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...
companies.


United States

*1775: Postal roads in the former
Thirteen Colonies The Thirteen Colonies were the British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America which broke away from the British Crown in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), and joined to form the United States of America. The Thirteen C ...
placed under control of the U.S. Post Office led by Postmaster General
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...
by decree of the
Second Continental Congress The Second Continental Congress (1775–1781) was the meetings of delegates from the Thirteen Colonies that united in support of the American Revolution and American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War, which established American independence ...
during the
American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
. Succeeded by the U.S. Post Office Department enabled by the
Postal Clause Article I, Section 8, Clause 7 of the United States Constitution, known as the Postal Clause or the Postal Power, empowers Congress "To establish Post Offices and post Roads." The Post Office has the constitutional authority to designate mail ro ...
of the U.S. Constitution, and eventually the
U.S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...
after the
Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 The Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 was a law passed by the United States Congress that abolished the then U.S. Post Office Department, which was a part of the Cabinet, and created the U.S. Postal Service, a corporation-like independent agen ...
. *1862 United States Military Railroad (USMRR), organized under the U.S. War Department by the Railways and Telegraph Act of 1862, took over and merged into this state-owned entity all captured Confederate trains and other railway assets. *1917: Merck & Co. seized by the U.S. federal government during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
under the Trading with the Enemy Act, later became a private company, separate from the original
Merck Group The Merck Group, branded and commonly known as Merck, is a German Multinational corporation, multinational science and technology company headquartered in Darmstadt, with about 60,000 employees and a presence in 66 countries. The group include ...
operating in Germany. *1917: All U.S. railroads were operated (but not owned) by the Railroad Administration during
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
as a wartime measure. Railroads were returned to private control in 1920 under the Esch-Cummins Act. * 1918: The U.S. telephone system was nationalized on July 31, 1918, and placed under control of the Post Office Department. It was returned to private ownership on July 31, 1919. * 1939: Organization of the
Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolin ...
entailed the nationalization of the Tennessee Electric Power Company. * 1943: On December 27, 1943, President Roosevelt nationalized the railroads for a few weeks to settle a strike. About 3,300 coal mines were nationalized. * 1950: President Truman nationalized the railroads for 21 months. * 1952: President Truman nationalized all American steel companies for a short time. * 1971: The National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) is a government-owned corporation created in 1971 for the express purpose of relieving American railroads of their legal obligation to provide inter-city rail, inter-city passenger rail service. The (primarily) Rail freight transport, freight railroads had petitioned to abandon passenger service repeatedly in the decades leading up to Amtrak's formation. * 1976: The Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail) was created by the Regional Rail Reorganization Act to take over the operations of six bankrupt rail lines operating primarily in the Northeastern United States, Northeast; Conrail was privatized in 1987 under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987, Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act when it was acquired by CSX Transportation and the Norfolk Southern Railway, although it continues operations as an Conrail Shared Assets Operations, asset management and network services provider. Initial plans for Conrail would have made it a truly nationalized system like that during World War I, but an alternate proposal by the Association of American Railroads won out. * 1984: In May, Continental Illinois bank nationalized. * 1989: Resolution Trust Corporation seized control of hundreds of failed savings and loan associations under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989, Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act in response to the Savings and loan crisis, 1980s savings and loan crisis. * 2001: In response to the September 11 attacks, the airport security industry was nationalized and put under the authority of the Federal Aviation Administration, FAA-controlled Transportation Security Administration under the Aviation and Transportation Security Act. * 2008: Some economists consider the government's Federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, takeover of the Freddie Mac, Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation and Fannie Mae, Federal National Mortgage Association to have been nationalization (or renationalization).US rescue of Fannie, Freddie poses taxpayer risks
/ref>Diamond and Kashyap on the Recent Financial Upheavals
/ref> The conservatorship model used with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is looser and more temporary than nationalization. * 2009: Some economists consider the government's actions through the Troubled Asset Relief Program and the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, Emergency Economic Stabilization Act with regards to Citigroup to have been a partial nationalization.Nature of Citi stake debatable
/ref> A proposal was made that banks like Citigroup be brought under a conservatorship model similar to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, that some of their "good assets" be dropped into newly created "good bank" subsidiaries (presumably under new management), and the remaining "bad assets" be left to be managed under the supervision of a conservatorship structure. The government's actions with regard to General Motors in replacing the CEO with a government-approved CEO is likewise being considered as nationalization.Am I the Last Capitalist? Obama Falters on Rick Wagoner, GM, and the Auto Industry - Mary Kate Cary (usnews.com)
/ref>"If, in fact, Wagoner resigned because somebody in government said, 'You have to resign,' then I think we have nationalized the auto industry, at least GM, and I think that's bad to have the government have a socialized car industry," -Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)
/ref> On June 1, 2009, General Motors General Motors bankruptcy, filed for bankruptcy during the Automotive industry crisis of 2008–2010, automotive industry crisis, with the government investing up to $50 billion in debtor-in-possession financing and taking 60% ownership in the company. In addition to a U.S. Government ownership, the Governments of Government of Canada, Canada and Government of Ontario, Ontario also took ownership of 7.9% and 3.8% of General Motors, respectively. President Barack Obama stated that the nationalization was temporary, saying, "We are acting as reluctant shareholders because that is the only way to help GM succeed"


Venezuela

*1975 Nationalisation of the iron and steel industry. *1976, foundation of PDVSA with the nationalization of the Venezuelan oil industry under the presidency of Carlos Andrés Pérez. * 2007 On May 1, 2007, the government stripped the world's biggest oil companies of operational control over massive Orinoco Belt crude projects, a controversial component in President Hugo Chávez's nationalization drive. * 2008 On April 3, 2008, Chávez ordered the nationalization of the cement industry.Al Jazeera English – Americas – Chavez nationalises cement industry
* 2008 On April 9, 2008, Chávez ordered the nationalization of Venezuelan steel mill SIDOR, Sidor, in which Luxembourg-based Ternium currently holds a 60% stake. Sidor employees and the Government hold a 20% stake respectively. * 2008 On August 19, 2008, Chávez ordered the take-over of a cement plant owned and operated by Cemex, an international cement producer. While shares of Cemex fell on the New York Stock Exchange, the cement plant comprises only about 5% of the company's business, and is not expected to adversely affect the company's ability to produce in other markets. Chávez has been looking to nationalize the concrete and steel industries of his country to meet home building and infrastructure goals. * 2009 On February 28, 2009, Chávez ordered the army to take over all rice processing and packaging plants. * 2010 On January 20, 2010, Chávez signed an ordinance to nationalize six supermarkets under the system of retail stores of a France, French company because of increasing price and speculation hoarding illicit.Venezuela quốc hữu hóa 6 siêu thị ngoại quốc
* 2010 On June 24, 2010, Venezuela announced the intention to nationalize oil drilling rigs belonging to the U.S. company Helmerich & Payne. * 2010 On October 25, 2010, Chávez announced that the government was nationalizing two U.S.-owned O-I Glass, Owens-Illinois glass-manufacturing plants. * 2010 On October 31, 2010, Chávez said his government will take over the Sidetur steel manufacturing plant. Sidetur is owned by Vivencia, which had two mineral plants appropriated by the government in 2008. * 2015 Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro promises to nationalize food distribution.


Vietnam

* According to the Constitution of Vietnam, Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1980, land ownership of farmers disappeared, the State owned land across the country and people have the right to temporary use of land, as a slow result of the Land reform in North Vietnam from 1953 to 1956. * After the Fall of Saigon in 1975, the government nationalized nearly all the property of the "landlords" and "comprador" in Provisional Revolutionary Government of the Republic of South Vietnam, South Vietnam, property of the church and of the government of South Vietnam. All private enterprise was nationalized without compensation down to the street vendors, however "shadow companies" continued to operate.


Zambia

* 1968 Government under Kenneth Kaunda nationalized the Copper extraction, copper industry, represented by Anglo-American Corporation and American Metal Climax, formerly having been controlled partly by the British South Africa Company.


Zimbabwe

* Zimbabwe has nationalized its food distribution infrastructure.


Other countries

* Nationalization of the oil industry in numerous countries, including Libya, Kuwait, Mexico, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq


See also

* Nationalization * Privatization * List of privatizations by country


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nationalizations by country Nationalization Political history-related lists Economics lists by country, Nationalizations